Page 56 of 40 and (So Over) Fixing It
Lily sat beside her and reached for her hand. “I guess coming here isn’t pleasant, huh?”
She took in the waiting room consciously for the first time since they’d arrived, realizing they were back in the hospital Scott had been brought to. The hospital Stephen had died in. “Yeah.”
Lily squeezed her hand. “You okay?”
“Me?” She shook her head. “Of course.”
Her friend leaned closer. “There’s no ‘of course’ about it.”
Erin sighed. “You’re right. I feel so…just… I don’t know.”
“Shock.”
“Probably right again.” Tears thickened her voice despite her attempted chuckle. She needed to stay calm, clearheaded, not cry. And yet… “Why do I keep ending up back here?”
“Erin—”
“You know Carter would never ask that of you.”
She glanced at JD in surprise. Of course Lily would have told him about Stephen. She frowned at him. “Carter didn’t have to ask anything of me. Neither did Thad. I’d be here regardless.” She straightened her shoulders. “I don’t abandon people I care about. For any reason.”
“That’s you, Erin. Always fixing things.”
Her stomach tightened at Lily’s soft words. “There are too many things that can’t be fixed, Lily. We just make do and move on.”
“I don’t think that’s the case with you at all, my friend.” She scooted closer to Erin and pulled her into a side hug. “I think you’re always so busy fixing things for other people, taking care of them, that you sometimes forget to take what you want into consideration.”
Erin glanced over at Thad a few seats down, still on the phone with his mom, and longing squeezed down on her heart. Was that what she wanted? Thad and Carter and a family of her own? Because that was impossible. Her business was here. Carter’s life was in New York. And even if his business was movable, Thad wasn’t.
Lily frowned. “Hey.” She reached up and wiped away a tear Erin hadn’t realized was on her face. “It’s all right. There’s nothing wrong with caring about other people, Erin.”
Except caring meant hurting; she knew that from past experience.
“Devereaux family?”
She looked toward the nurse waiting at the double doors to the ER.
“Erin?”
Thad had hung up the phone and stood, waiting expectantly for her. Because she’d promised.
“I’m coming.” She swiped away her tears and stood. “Let’s go see your dad.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
Carter woke the first time in the ambulance. A redheaded guy with a full beard told him what had happened, which explained why he felt like shit. He wasn’t surprised, though. He worked hard to stay healthy and stable, but this morning his focus had been solely on finding Thad, not on making sure he ate. A lot of people assumed diabetes was only about avoiding high blood sugar, but the opposite could be just as dangerous.
The paramedic had assured him Thad was following them to the hospital. Knowing that, he let exhaustion take over and slept for the rest of the journey. And again after the initial fuss of retaking his vitals and getting an IV in.
The next time he woke, it was to a warm, slight weight on the bed next to him, cuddled up to his side. The scent of antiseptic and the beep and whoosh of various machines reminded him where he was, why he was there, but when he raised a hand to investigate, the IV line restricted his movement.
“Dad?”
Thad scrambled to sit up at Carter’s side, worried eyes the same color as his staring down at him.
Carter lifted his unencumbered hand. “Come back here.” He needed to feel his son in his arms, know he was truly here and not lost out in the woods somewhere. Only as Thad lay down against him once more did he feel like he could take a full breath. “I love you.”
The most important three words in the English language. He said them to his son often, but now… A tingle told him tears weren’t far off.
