Page 54 of Fragile Touch (Fragile 1)
“Was work okay, Andrew?” She almost hit herself. That’s the best you can do? First, it’s blowing that stupid kiss at Cayden last night, and now it’s asking Andrew about work when he’s having a silent and passive standoff with Cayden?
It took longer than it should have for Andrew to slide his gaze away from Cayden’s stone face. “It was fine,” he said.
Uh-oh. The ‘It’s fine’ line. That wasn’t a good sign, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that now wasn’t the time for talking about work.
“What I want to know,” Andrew began, “is why I’m just now finding out after the whole day that you’ve been in the hospital.”
“Cayden didn’t have your number.”
“I’m sure he had access to your phone.”
“I was passed out, Andrew. I was literally gone since this morning.”
“It just scares me, is all.” Suddenly Andrew’s voice softened. “I lost someone close to me once. I don’t want it to happen again.”
All the memories of Amelia flickered between Lillian and Andrew. “I don’t want it to, either.” Lillian wanted to smile, to lighten the mood somehow, but she couldn’t.
“Listen, you two.” Cayden stepped forward. “Lil hasn’t eaten the whole day. She’s emotional and weak. The doc’s gonna want to come in and check on her, too. Plus, it’s dinnertime now, so I think we should give her some alone time and go get food ourselves. We could probably use a little time to get acquainted.”
“Why does Lillian need alone time?” Andrew put an emphasis on her full name.
“I think it’s a good idea, considering she woke up less than half an hour ago and was unconscious for the whole day.”
Before the standoff resumed, Lillian straightened and raised her voice. “Alone time sounds great. I’m just going to eat this and sleep until I’m deemed healthy again.”
“That’s cold now,” Cayden pointed out. “I should go warm it up for you.”
“No, really.” Frazzled, Lillian waved him away. “It’s just fine. Please, go.”
Grumbling something inaudible to himself, Cayden nodded at Andrew and they walked out. “Behave!” she called after them, probably too loudly. Whether they were out of earshot or just ignoring her she wasn’t sure, but she knew which one was more likely.
Well, she thought as she picked up a plastic fork and poked it into a small bowl of green beans, how on earth am I supposed to handle these two?
She spent the duration of her meal figuring out how to confront the two men about their conflict. Even the doctor coming to check on her didn’t distract. It occurred to her, just as she was dozing off again, that she didn’t actually know what the conflict was really about.
Mental note to talk to Cayden. He can speak in “girl language.”
Pulling the sheets up to her chin, she welcomed sleep this time.
THE PHARMACIST HANDED Lillian the bottles. “Here you go. Enjoy.”
“Won’t it just be a party?” she asked sarcastically, giving him a smile. This wasn’t the first time he had handed her the bottles of colonoscopy prep liquid.
“If it was, I might want to join you.” The man winked. “You’re brave, you know. Didn’t you just have one of these a year ago?”
“Less than a year, actually. It doesn’t really faze me much anymore. It doesn’t hurt at all; it’s just like a nice nap.” Lillian chuckled. “It’s just this stuff that isn’t fun.”
He looked at the bottles. “Apparently it tastes like lemonade. Wish that flavor was available back when I had mine.”
“I don’t remember what I had last time. Guess I’ve gotten used to it. This’ll be my third colonoscopy in two years.”
“You’re looking better now than you did a few months ago, if it’s any consolation.”
She smiled. “Thanks. I’ve been working hard to stay healthy.”
“Well, whatever you’ve been doing is working.”
Hearing those words spread her smile out more. “I appreciate it. I’ve got to run now. My...” She hesitated. Calling Cayden her boyfriend was still so weird. “I’ve got someone in the car waiting for me.”
