Page 134 of From Best Friend to Bride
Lonely.
Too final.
Too real.
Deli gripped my arm tightly as I gently knocked on the door and pushed it open. Aunt Bonnie was sitting next to Lucy who was cradling her swollen stomach. They both had tears streaking down their faces, and they slowly turned towards us as we stepped into the private room.
“Deli,” Aunt Bonnie whispered. “You’re here.”
She nodded. “Is it… Is this it?”
“Yeah,” Lucy said, her voice breaking. “She’s so tired. I don’t think she can fight it anymore.”
I walked Deli over to the bed, and she perched on the edge of it. I squeezed her shoulder before turning to Aunt Bonnie. “I’ll leave you alone with Nana for a bit. Is there anything I can get you?”
She looked at me, her brown eyes red and bloodshot. “I… Um, some water. Lucy… Lucy needs to eat, too.”
“So do you,” Lucy replied sadly. “You haven’t showered for three days, either.”
I looked between all three women. “Aunt Bonnie… There’s a relatives’ area nearby. Why don’t you take a break?”
“No, I…” Her voice broke as she looked at Nana. “I can’t leave her.”
“If she was awake right now, she’d tell you off for not looking after yourself.” I walked over and crouched in front of her, taking her trembling hands in mine. “One hour. Go and take a short shower, eat something, and I’ll stay here with Nana.”
“I don’t know,” she whispered. “What if she—”
“I’ll come running if anything changes.” I squeezed her hands. “I promise.”
“Go, Mum,” Deli said, her eyes fixed on Nana. “I’ll stay here for a bit then come and find you to eat.”
Aunt Bonnie sighed tiredly. “I… Oh, all right, fine, you’re right.”
I smiled sadly at her. “Do you need anything?”
“No, love.” She held my hands in hers, exhaustion seeping from her pores. “Just… I don’t want her to be alone.”
“I won’t leave her. Not even for a second, I promise.”
Slowly, she got up, and I offered Lucy my arm to help her to her feet. She eased herself out of the chair and took Aunt Bonnie’s arm, and they both quietly left with lingering looks in Nana’s direction.
“You don’t have to stay,” Deli said once we were alone, her gaze transfixed on Nana’s sleeping body.
“Stop talking bullshit.” I sat down in the chair Lucy had just vacated and stretched my legs out. “What would she say if she woke up and I wasn’t here, eh? She’d come and haunt me for not saying goodbye.”
Deli huffed through her nose the way she always did when she was trying to hide a laugh. “I’m just saying. You don’t have to sit here all day.”
“Delilah Elizabeth Wellington.”
She dragged her gaze to me. “Yes?”
“Shut up.”
Her lips parted, but she quickly pressed them together again, clearly thinking it was better to just not argue with me.
“There’s nowhere else for me to be other than by your side. Understood?”
She stared at me, then licked her lips and swallowed before jerkily nodding at me.
