Page 10 of Fragile Love (Fragile 3)
She and Cayden had gone for a snack at a nearby diner. They hadn’t been hungry—well, she hadn’t—but after a long day at the hospital, their stomachs were cold and the poster of a steaming bowl of minestrone on the front door of the restaurant seemed to be a message from the universe that this was the perfect place to end the night. They ate without talking much; she was so overwhelmingly relieved that Andrew was getting increasingly better each time the doctors checked on him. There were no words to describe how it felt— knowing that, although she lost her best friend in the same hospital, she wasn’t going to lose Amelia’s brother to a very similar accident.
They got back to the hotel and tried to sleep after long, hot showers, but her mood was on the rise and things had gotten frisky very quickly. After all was said and done, as sleep was rapidly enshrouding them in a dark cloud, she had realized how exactly much Cayden meant to her. Even despite their distance and her constantly pushing him away, he had never lost his motivation to be with her.
She wished she could see herself the way he saw her, and as she fought the urge to go back to sleep this morning she sent all the good energy she had out into the sky that one day this wish would come true.
“Breakfast!” Cayden shouted, springing up and pouncing on top of her. “I need bacon, Lil. Come on.”
She rolled her eyes sarcastically. “Is that all you can ever think about? Food?”
Making sure his face looked extra innocent, he nodded. “Yep. Food and sex. You know I’m a simple man.”
“I do know, indeed.” Lillian licked her lips and scanned her eyes down his body. “Now, get off me. My stomach is growling, too.”
Cayden obeyed and headed for the bathroom. Before getting up, Lillian checked her phone. There was a missed call from Andrew’s parents from about an hour ago. Heart pounding, she played the voicemail.
“It’s not bad, don’t worry!” came his mother’s voice cheerfully. “I just wanted to let you know that he’s woken up.” Lillian heard her sniff emotionally. “He’s okay, Lillian. We’ve got him back. No need to rush here. You’ve been here the whole time and I want you to have a good morning. He’ll be here when you get here.”
Tears gathered in her eyes as she stood and walked over to Cayden, who was in the middle of brushing his teeth. Without a word, she wrapped her arms around him from behind and wiped her eyes on his free arm.
“What happened?” he asked through a mouthful of foamy toothpaste. His body stiffened, braced for the impact of hearing something else negative.
“He’s awake,” Lillian whispered, kissing Cayden’s arm. “Andrew woke up earlier this morning. He’s back.”
“Really?” Turning to face her, Cayden propped his chin on the top of her head. “That’s awesome, Lil. I’m so happy.”
She smiled and took a deep breath. “Me, too. Now let’s go get some breakfast and then head back over there.” Cayden saw a glassy look come to her eyes for a moment before she wiped another tear away. “My family’s okay now, Cayden,” she said. “Andrew’s still here. We’re all okay now.”
THE LOOK OF PURE HAPPINESS on Lillian’s face overtook her entire body the whole time she was with the conscious Andrew. Cayden tried not to be jealous of it. He knew it was totally unfair. But the happiness on her face, had she ever felt that with him? Or because of him? He wasn’t sure.
She had been shaking from excitement after breakfast—although, in retrospect, the amount of coffee she chugged probably had something to do with her energy spike—so Cayden had to drive to the hospital again. The drive there had been much less stressful than it had been the day before. Lillian bounced up and down in her seat, trying to ease some of the jitters that possessed her, but nothing helped. Cayden dropped her off at the front entrance again, and she practically fell out of the car before it even stopped.
“See you inside—” he’d called, already feeling the tension rise inside him. Now that Andrew was awake, he would have to share her with him until they left Rodney to go back home. Cayden knew he would probably have to go back to Los Angeles before Lillian left Andrew’s side. The guy is family to her, he kept reminding himself, but the way she hadn’t even heard him as she ran into the hospital at full speed did nothing to help him feel less of an edge about the situation.
Scowling to himself, he had driven around to find a parking place and didn’t hurry to go inside. So many people in the small room, he grumbled silently, pressing the button for the elevator. He’s okay now. Maybe tomorrow it will be time to take Lil back home. He felt his inner pessimist start to surface, but tried to shove the negativity back down. Lil doesn’t need negative thoughts right now.
He walked into the hospital room, to see Lillian sitting on the edge of the bed, grasping Andrew’s hand. His eyes were open and, although he looked beyond tired and still slightly bruised, a hint of a smile was on his face.
Yeah, smile away, man, he thought. Holding my girl’s hand like that sure does make you happy, I bet.
Andrew’s parents and Lillian looked up when he opened the door, and big grins crossed their faces. “Cayden!” Andrew’s mother exclaimed, giving him a little hug. Andrew’s dad shook his hand and thanked him for being there.
“No problem,” he returned, shifting his attention to Andrew. “Hey, man,” he greeted, stepping forward and holding out his hand.
Andrew weakly took it and tried to shake back. “Hey, Cayden,” he said, his voice sounding like rocks were stuck in his throat. “Thanks for coming. It’s good to see you.”
“Better to see you,” Cayden replied, scanning all the machines in the room. “How’re you feeling?”
“Better than I look, I hope. I kind of feel like I got hit by a truck, though.” Cayden was the only one who snickered at the joke. “Sorry,” Andrew mumbled.
“Well, now that everyone has seen each other, back to our discussion,” Andrew’s mom directed toward his father.
“Frances, is now really the—”
“I think it is, Tanner,” Frances replied firmly. “Just while it’s fresh on our minds. And Lillian is here, too. She’s an organizer; maybe she can help us think of a creative solution.”
“I organize homes,” Lillian put in. “Not trips.”
“Listen, I really don’t think that there’s another way to handle it except to cancel the trip.” Tanner sighed, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I mean, it’ll be a lot of phone calls, since all our reservations are made, but it’s the only way.”
