Page 98 of Dear Henry, Love Edith
“My toes,” she whispered, wiggling her feet back and forth. Bright-pink polish spread across every one of her nails, smearing onto her skin. “They painted my toenails.”
“You were pretty out of it, but they thought it might help you feel better.”
“It did. It does.” With a laugh and a sob, Edith collapsed against her pillow. “I feel very loved, Henry.”
“Hey, and that’s just a few of the messages from people I’ve met here.” Henry helped situate the sheets back over her. “I don’t know if you’re ready to hear what everyone back home has to say. Julie’s been trying to figure out how to get a delivery of her scones past customs, and Peg wants the US Coast Guard to put a bounty on every pirate’s head.” He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Oh, you’re loved, sweetheart. There’s no doubt about that.”
Edith let herself get lost in Henry’s gorgeous blue eyes,a part of her still unable to believe they were really together. Here. In South Africa. Had she ever been happier?
Yes, actually. The moment before he said he was leaving. She gripped his hand. “Stay. I’m finally awake. We have so much to talk about. Don’t go.”
“I’m so sorry.” Henry dropped a kiss on her forehead. “But I have to. Now that you’re doing better...” He shrugged. “There’s things I need to take care of.” A sense of urgency hummed in his voice.
Sure. Edith nodded. Of course. Just because he loved her didn’t mean his responsibilities back home disappeared. He still had a company to run. How much time had he wasted flying all this way just to tell her he loved her? Too much, based on the way his feet shuffled back and forth.
Edith opened her mouth, searching desperately for something to say.Wait, I’ll go with you?But Mama Peace stepped past the curtain, giving Henry a look that suggested visiting hours were over. Though to be fair, that was the look Mama Peace gave everyone. Either way, it was all the excuse Henry needed to make his escape.
“Take care, Edith. Get some rest,” he said over his shoulder.
“Okay, just—” His footsteps faded down the hallway. Edith sank against her pillow. “Don’t leave without me,” she whispered.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
After Henry left, it took Edith less than five minutes to realize she couldn’t stick around in this hospital bed a second longer. She needed to go after him.
Swinging her legs to the side, she jumped up from the bed. Then would have promptly face-planted into the chair if Dr. Reddy hadn’t entered and caught her under the armpits before the black cloud enclosing her vision knocked her out completely.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He guided her back to the bed.
“To stop Henry.”
“Yeah, well, that might be hard to do if you’re passed out on the floor.”
“I feel fine.” Well, once she was settled back on the bedand not quite on the verge of blacking out, she felt fine. “I just got up too fast. I’m better now. See?”
Edith stood, slower this time, while Dr. Reddy wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm and started pumping it up. When he released the pressure valve, Edith was just about to wave her arms out to the side and sayta-dawhen that blasted tunnel vision started closing in on her again.
“Yep, that’s what I thought,” Dr. Reddy said, directing her back to the bed. “You need more fluids. Your blood pressure drops whenever you stand.”
“Then get me a wheelchair. I just need to get to Henry. He could already be halfway to the airport by now.”
“Sisi—”Edith’s lips couldn’t help quirking into a smile over his use of the Xhosa word forsister. “Do you remember where we are? Even if he left two hours ago, he wouldn’t be halfway toanywhere.”
“You and your wife are just full of jokes, aren’t you? Fine. One fluid bolus, then I’m out here.” She held up her hand with the IV. “Shake a leg on it, Doc.”
He rolled his eyes, disappearing behind the curtain as he muttered something about Americans and nurses. Specifically American nurses. But a few minutes later, Mama Peace was at her side, hooking up a bag of saline to Edith’s IV.
“Run it as fast as you can,” Edith told her. “Which is to say whatever rate you deem appropriate because I trust your judgment completely,” Edith added after receiving one of Mama Peace’s trademark scowls.
They ended up giving her two boluses, but Edith could tell it had done the trick. No more dark tunnels. “I’m cured,”she told Dr. Reddy after she hustled to the bathroom, emptying out half the fluids they’d pumped inside her.
“We’ll get you out of here soon. We had a power outage, so we’re running a little behind. Hang tight.”
Hang tight?She was starting to understand why a person might tie bedsheets together to escape out the window. Lucky for her, this was a one-story hospital.
“Are you ready to leave?” Mama Peace poked her head past the curtain.
“Yes.”Edith tempered her voice. It was Mama Peace after all. “I mean, sure. If that’s all right with you. I’m in no rush. I can wait until you’re ready.”
