Page 59 of Heal You
Morgan would always make herself available.That wasn’t a question Jan ever needed to ask.
Of course.I’ll see you when you get here x
As Morgan locked her phone, Jan walked into the bar and headed directly for her.Honestly, she looked like she’d seen a ghost.“Hey, are you okay?”
Jan’s hand shook as she held on tightly to her handbag, frown lines between her brows concerning Morgan.“I, um…I’ve parked my car up outside.Will it be okay there until tomorrow?”
It was Morgan’s turn to frown this time.Janknewit would be okay there.She’d parked it up on a few occasions now.“What’s going on?”Morgan slid from her stool and took Jan’s hand.“Babe?”
Jan eventually looked up at Morgan.“Could I make coffee upstairs?W-would you mind?”
Morgan guided Jan towards the door to her flat and turned her back on her customers.“You know you’re welcome to come here andbehere whenever you need or want to.”
“I need a moment to myself, and then I’ll explain.I just…couldn’t face going back to that hotel room on my own.”
Morgan felt Jan trembling.She hated seeing her like this.Still, Jan would talk to her when she was ready to.“Go up.Do what you need to do.Put the TV on and get comfortable.The moment I’m able to, I’ll come up and see you, okay?”
“Don’t worry about me.You’re working, and I understand that.I just feel…better here.Less alone.”Jan smiled weakly.“That’s pathetic, isn’t it?To feel alone.While he’s happy and looking forward to a new future.”
Morgan wrapped Jan up in her arms, not caring who could potentially walk in.“You’reneveralone.Not while I’m here.I promise you that.And it’s not pathetic.It’s completely understandable.”
“Thank you for always being here.”Jan turned her face into the crook of Morgan’s neck.She inhaled, and then Morgan felt her smile against her skin.“You mean a lot to me, Morgan.I hope you know that.”
“Hey,” Morgan whispered as she drew back.“I’ve got you.Whatever you need.Okay?”
Jan smiled.“I know.I’ll just…head up.”
Morgan reached out and opened the door for Jan, sighing as she watched her take the stairs slowly.She had no idea what Jan was about to face, but it had certainly shaken her up.Morgan closed the door again and eyed the clock on the wall.Ben was due in for a shift in the next ten minutes, so Morgan would wait impatiently, and then she would be with Jan for as long as she possibly could.She didn’t make it a habit to leave her staff alone on a shift, but Ben had been here since Morgan opened the bar, and he knew what he was doing.Unless they had a huge influx of customers, Morgan wouldn’t likely be needed at all.
As if someone had been listening to her wishes, Ben came through the door with a huge smile on his face.“Hi, Eric.Nice to see you here again.”
“Is he being funny, Morgan?”Eric piped up from the other end of the bar.“Thinks he’s a bloody comedian, this one.”
Morgan laughed and smiled back at Ben as he approached her.“God, am I happy to see you.”
“Everything okay?”Ben took his rucksack from his shoulder and shoved his phone in the pocket of it.“I’m not late, am I?”
“You’ve never been late.I just have a few things I need to take care of.Can you hold down the fort here?”
“Oh, yeah.No problem at all.”Ben cleared his throat.“Tyler called me when I was on my way in.He’s looking for an extra shift or two a week, and I told him I’d run it by you.No harm asking and all that.”
Morgan nodded.Someonehadto be looking over her today.“Any chance he can make it in today?I’ll pay you both extra if I can have the rest of the dayandnight off.”
“I don’t need extra.But I’ll call Tyler now and see when he can get here.You go and take care of whatever it is you have going on.”Ben sat a hand on Morgan’s shoulder.“I’ll just text you and let you know what he says.”
“Thanks, Ben.I owe you one.”Morgan took her phone from the shelf and rushed up the stairs to her flat.When she opened the door, Jan was sitting on the edge of the couch with her head in her hands as she whimpered.“Hey.”Morgan was with Jan in seconds, crouched on the floor in front of her.“Babe, come here.Whatever it is, it’ll all be okay.”
Jan sobbed uncontrollably into Morgan’s shoulder.The longer it went on, the more concerned Morgan became, but she would never show Jan that.She needed someone who could listen without judgement.Not someone panicking and worrying alongside her.
As Jan pulled back, trying to catch her breath, she wiped a hand across her cheek.God, the look on her face was devastating.Morgan wasn’t sure she even knew how to console Jan in this moment.“Take a minute.Relax.No matter what’s going on, you’re safe here, and you don’t have to talk about it until you’re ready to.”
“She’s pregnant,” Jan said, quite clearly deflated beyond belief.“The woman he’s been seeing…she’s pregnant.”
Morgan sat back on her knees and sighed.No wonder Jan was beside herself this afternoon.Anyone with a heart would be.“Fuck.I’m so sorry.”
“And it’s not even that I’m bothered.”Jan reached out a hand and stroked Morgan’s cheek.“I’m in a different headspace now that you’re in my life.It’s just…I have to wonder if he did it because he wants kids.”
“It’s not something you ever talked about when you were married?”Morgan frowned.Surely, Phil would have had that conversation with Jan in the early days.“I mean, you can’t just decide randomly that you want kids.Or can you?I don’t know.”This wasn’t really Morgan’s area of expertise.But she would still do anything she could to ease Jan’s pain.If that meant talking this through, then so be it.
