Page 212 of Keep This Promise
Icheck on Eden, she’s still fast asleep, and Harlow is sitting in a guest chair next to her bed.
“Did she wake at all?”
Harlow puts her e-reader down. “Not even a little. Do you feel better now that you got out of your clothes?”
My cheeks fill with heat, but then I realize she’s talking about wearing the scrubs. “Yes, yes, thank you. It was so kind of you to offer me these.”
“It’s nothing. If you need me to stay longer, I can . . . I don’t mind.” Harlow’s gaze moves to her device longingly.
“Are you at a good bit in your novel?” I ask.
“I’m at that point where I’m not sure if I want to hug or slap the author,” Harlow admits.
“What are you reading?”
“Romance. It’s the best genre.”
“I agree, I miss reading. Once I had Eden, my time became far too scarce, and I would fall asleep with the book in my hands after one page.”
I always loved to escape into another world that was filled with possibility and hope. The idea that love was strong enough to mend the broken bits in a person. There being a perfect soul who could help me become the best version of myself was a fantasy I desperately needed.
“I gave up reading a few years ago, but when my fiancé cheated on me, I found a story that was so similar in premise, I thought . . . maybe I could relate to her and figure out a path. I needed to know someone else, even if they were fictional, understood what it was like. Then I read every book by that author, which led me to an author friend of hers, and...here I am now, over five hundred books on my device and no end in sight.”
I chuckle softly. “The heart of a bookworm shouldn’t be denied, so I think I’ll take you up on your offer and maybe go get some fresh air.”
She grins. “I’ll stay here . . . for Eden’s sake.”
“I appreciate it.”
When I walk out of Eden’s room, Holden is standing at the nurses’ station, now wearing a pair of scrubs. His wide shoulders are pushed back as he talks to Dr. Baxter. I slink away, quietly moving down the corridor, hoping neither of them notice me since I look like a staff member.
It may be cowardly, but I am not ready to face him.
I begged him. Literally, begged him.
I may never meet his eyes again. I’m mortified by my behavior.
The electric doors slide open, and the cold air hits my face. I inhale through my nose, allowing my lungs to expand, and when I exhale, I do my best to let the stress go with it.
It doesn’t work, of course, but it was at least worth a try.
There is a bench over to the left where a garden is probably beautiful in the spring, and an ambulance sits under the canopy, but there isn’t another soul around.
There is so much rolling around my mind, questions on what to do now. Once again, our lives have been irrevocably changed. Eden will need to be monitored, our diet must change to account for her diabetes, and then there’s the fact I had unprotected sex with her father—again.
“What is wrong with me?” I say aloud. “Of all the cock ups in the world . . .” I groan. “As if I didn’t know what might happen and haven’t already reaped the consequences of that same action. Stupid, Sophie. I’m ridiculous. Absolutely mad.”
“Are you all right?” says a deep male voice to my left.
I startle, my hand moving to my chest as though I can catch my heart as it moves.
“Sorry I startled you. I just heard you talking and wanted to be sure you were okay.” He moves closer with his hands raised.
The young man moves a little more in the light, and I see his uniform. “Yes, sorry. I was just berating myself.”
He’s wearing a paramedic shirt and blue trousers. His dark hair is pushed to the side, and there’s scruff along his jaw. The man is very attractive, not nearly as good-looking as Holden, but still, he’s not at all ugly.
“I do that often. I’m Stephen.”
