Page 122 of From Best Friend to Bride
I scooped her legs into the footwell, secured her belt, and closed the door. Instead of rounding the front of the car on my way to the driver’s side, I went around the back, pausing in the backseat to grab my jumper.
When I got it, I reached over and tucked my jumper around her upper body. She smiled tiredly at me, gently clutching the top of the hoodie and pulling it up under her chin.
“Go to sleep,” I said as I started the engine.
She shook her head, but her eyes were closed by the time we’d left the hospital grounds.
I swallowed back a laugh at how quickly she’d given in and drove home as carefully as I could. I didn’t want to wake her because I’d gone speeding over a pothole or something stupidlike that, and I even drove a little slower than usual to make sure she wasn’t disturbed at all.
She was exhausted. Completely shattered—physically and emotionally. I had no idea what was going on with Nana right now, and although my worry for her was balled into a tight pit in my stomach, Deli was my priority.
If I didn’t look after her, nobody would.
Least of all herself.
That was the problem with her heart—she loved so deeply and fiercely that everyone else came before her. She was always last on her priority list
I sighed as I pulled up outside Hawthorne House. She was still fast asleep in the passenger seat with the gentle rise and fall of her chest strangely relieving to me. Her brows were drawn together in a soft frown, and her jaw ticked, almost as if she was clenching it.
She wasn’t at peace even as she slept.
I got out of the car, quietly closing the door, and walked around to the other side to fetch her.
Deli stirred when I unbuckled the seatbelt, and her copper eyes fluttered open. “Fred?”
“Shh,” I said. “We’re home. Come here.”
She held out her arms, using what little energy she had left to scoot towards me. Without her usual resistance, I lifted her out of the car and held her against my body, then kicked the door closed.
She flinched as it shut with a thud but wrapped her arms around my neck and curled in close to me, burying her face into the curve where my neck met my collarbone. Her breath skittered across my skin, and my hands twitched from their positions at her waist and lower thighs.
The door gently creaked open before I could even wonder how I was supposed to get my keys out of my pocket while I was carrying Deli like a princess. Mum appeared in the doorway, bathed in a gentle light, and she clenched her dressing gown against her waist. A sad, gentle smile stretched her lips as she looked at Deli.
Mum’s eyes traced her sleeping frame in my arms. “You came back.”
“She called.” I touched the tip of my nose to the top of Deli’s head. “Of course, I did.”
Her smile widened the tiniest bit. “Maybe my boat will set sail after all,” she murmured.
I shot her a look. “What happened here?”
She motioned for me to follow her upstairs, so I did just that. “Nana was diagnosed with a chest infection a couple of days ago.” She kept her voice low, staying one or two steps ahead of me. “I think she’d left it and hoped it’d go away, so she was already pretty rough by the time Deli picked up her antibiotics. She passed out just before dinner, so we called an ambulance. I brought your grandmother, Lucy, and Bonnie to the hospital. Deli said they suspected pneumonia and ran some tests.”
“And it is?” I whispered.
“Yeah, she’s not in good shape.” Mum shook her head. “It’s my fault. I should have forced her to go to the doctor when she started coughing, but she insisted it was just a little tickle.”
“It’s not your fault. You know that, right? Nana’s stubborn.”
“I know, love, but I wish I’d argued with her.” She opened the door to my bedroom and looked at Deli in my arms, briefly touching her knee. “I’m glad you’re back and got her. I’ve been worried about her all night, but she told me not to come and pick her up.”
“I wonder where she gets her stubbornness from,” I said dryly, carrying her inside. I gently laid her on the bed after Mum pulled the covers back and we walked back to the door. “Is Nana all right?”
She grimaced. “She’s only just managed to stay out of the ICU. The cancer has weakened her dramatically, Fred. More than any of us knew. It’s a fifty-fifty if she’s going to come home or not.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Fuck.”
“Yeah.” Mum gently rubbed my arm. “Just… be there for her, all right?”
