Page 106 of Jilted

“I’ll come back later,” Dad said. “Bring you something to eat.” He kissed my cheek and nodded to Wilder. “I’ll meet you outside.”

Wilder looked stressed. “You gonna be okay? I hate to leave you.”

I smiled. “I’ll be fine.”

He searched my eyes. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to you.”

“I’m sorry I scared you.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay.” He brushed his lips against mine. “I’ll be back later.”

“What time is your flight tomorrow?”

“Already changed it. I’m not going anywhere for a while.”

God, I hoped that held true evenafterI told him the news.

“Hi.” That evening, Dr. Connolly popped her head into my room upstairs. “Thought I’d check on you before I left. My shift just ended.”

“Thank you.” I sat up a little taller in bed. “I’m doing good. Blood sugar has been stable.”

“Great.” She walked in and pulled over the chair that sat in the corner. “But I was less worried about your glucose levels and more worried about your stress levels.”

I sighed. “I didn’t tell Wilder yet. He came back to visit and stayed until they kicked him out. But I couldn’t bring myself to say the words.”

“Have you been together a long time?”

I shook my head. “It’s really new. We only met a few months ago.”

“Do you love him?”

I nodded. “I think I loved him before I finally agreed to go out with him.”

She smiled. “Played hard to get, huh?”

“In my case, it was more scared to get hurt, but yeah… it took me a while.”

“I don’t usually share personal information with patients, but I’m a single mom.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “Long story, but my daughter’s father is a good friend. We were residents together, and we quickly realized we were better off as friends.”

“Is he involved with her?”

“He is. He recently got married, and his new wife is great. I lookat it like my daughter’s lucky. She gets three parents. Hopefully four someday, if I ever meet Mr. Right.” She shrugged. “Anyway, after you left today, I was thinking a lot about how I felt when I found out, and I figured I’d come see if you wanted to talk. You may have already called a friend or spoken to someone, but just in case, I thought I’d pop in.”

“I appreciate it. I was going to call my best friend earlier, but it didn’t feel right telling anyone before Wilder.”

She smiled. “I felt the same way. It took me about a week to tell Mark, and I think I might’ve only told him because I was going to explode if I didn’t.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure I’ll make a week. I felt so guilty when Wilder was visiting tonight. Plus, he kept asking me what was wrong, and I hated lying to him. I’m in the hospital, so when I’m quiet, he thinks I’m in pain and not telling him so he won’t worry, and that just makes him worry.”

“He seems like a doting boyfriend.”

“He is. He’s the exact opposite of what I expected when we met.” I sighed. “Do you have any advice for how to tell him?”

“I do, actually. Two pieces of advice. One, figure out whatyouwant before you tell him. Did you see yourself having children?”

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