Page 13 of Please Save Me

I nodded. “I want a doughnut and chocolate milk.”

Part of me wished she’d choose to eat a little healthier while growing our child, but I’d be an asshole if I told her that. Plus, I had a feeling no matter what I got, she’d be asleep by the time I got back. I could get her something healthier to eat when we left in the morning. “Any specific type?”

She paused like I had asked her a question that actually mattered in the long run.

“I want one of the filled ones.” She sounded confident in her choice. “Specifically, one with the raspberry jelly. If they don’t have that, I want one with chocolate on top and cream in the middle.”

“I’ll find both,” I assured her before standing up.

I patted my pockets to make sure I had my wallet before heading to leave the room.

“Hey, Seb?” Mason's voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Hmm?”

I looked back to see she had nestled further into the blanket I had brought for her.

“Thank you.” Her words were mumbled through a yawn.

“Of course, taking care of you two is mytoppriority.”

She closed her eyes and smiled softly before I left the room. Hartwood General wasn’t a large hospital, but it was well-staffed. When I entered the cafeteria, I knew by the room full of people in scrubs that it would still be open despite how late it was.

But, just because it was opened didn’t mean it was well stocked. The restaurant was moderately sized but overcrowded with bars for both hot and cold food. In the far corner was a clear pastry cabinet, and I figured that would be my best bet to find a doughnut.

I meandered over to the cabinet just as a short man in clerical attire did the same. He made it to the doors before I did, which meant I’d have to wait.

At first, that was fine. But, seconds quickly turned to minutes as the man weighed his options as if he would cure cancer simply by choosing the right bagel.

I wondered if he was stupid before deciding he had to be.

I cleared my throat, hoping this man would realize he had someone behind him.

Slowly, he looked back. The man had to be in his seventies, if not older. His hair was mostly silver except for the thin streaks of chestnut brown concentrated near his temples. Green eyes pinned on mine, and his grin widened.

The deep-set smile lines told me this was an expression he wore more often than not.

“My, aren’t you a fine-looking young man.” A southern drawl was the last thing I expected out of his mouth.

“Thank you?”

He nodded once and went back to the great debate of blueberry versus poppy seed. “Tell me, what brings a young man to a place like this so late?”

That question seemed a bit invasive, but I had learned that’s just how people in small towns act.

“My…” I stopped at just what to call Mason. Sure, I couldn’t actually marry her until she had some sort of formal education, but with everything happening in Hartwood, I wanted her to be as closely linked to me as possible. “Wife.” Still, it felt strange calling her that, but not in a bad way. “She is almost thirty-three weeks pregnant, and we had a little bit of a scare.”

The man grabbed a wax paper sheet from near the cabinet before selecting a Danish with something red in the middle. I guessed that in the great debate of carbs, bagels would always be losers.

He stepped back, and I stepped forward.

“Oh, that’s terrible. Is she okay?” The man sounded genuinely concerned.

“She’s fine,” I assured him as I looked through the glass.

The selection was mostly gone and very dry-looking. All they had in the way of doughnuts were the plain, individually wrapped ones. My nose wrinkled a bit at the idea of Mason eating something so terrible, but I realized this was more a gesture than anything.

So, I grabbed two of the packets and headed to the coolers. The stranger followed behind me like a lost puppy.

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