Page 9 of Let Me Love You (Excess All Areas 5)

“Chaya,” her father said. “You can’t leave when Rachel has gone to all this effort.”

Asher sighed. “You meanBenwould like your help.”

“Ben asked. But Nan is as much a grandparent to me as my own, Asher. I need to go for her. To advocate for her. You know how frightening it can be for patients. And Nan trusts me. I can get an Uber. You don’t need to leave.”

“Go and see him later, Chaya,” her mum said. “Or call him to see how bad it is before you just leave.”

Why hadn’t she just texted everyone her apologies and snuck out the side gate? “It must be urgent. Ben and I haven’t been talking much. I doubt he would message unless he really needed my help. I’m sorry.”

“I thought you were over this,” her father said, his tone one step shy of angry.

Asher looked to his dad. “We’ll be back within the hour, before Safta cuts the birthday cake.”

Chaya wasn’t sure about that. “It could be a while, Asher. You know that.”

“I’m sure between the two of us, we can get them all the information they need and come back here for Safta and our families. I’ll drive, it will be faster than ordering a car.”

As Asher led them to the front door, she stopped him. “Are you coming with me because you want to help and support me, or are you coming with me because you don’t want me to go alone to Ben?”

Asher slipped on his aviator sunglasses. “I trust you. But I also know you’ll stick around because it’s them, longer than you need to. It’s just…I get this is rough news for Ben and Nan. But it’s also a really important day for our family. And this is likely Safta’s last birthday, and I really don’t want either of us to miss it. We won’t be able to get that back.”

“But if something happens to Nan and I’m not there to help or say goodbye, I’ll never forgive myself, either. Which is why I said you should stay.”

“I know. But it won’t be the same without you. So, let’s just get this done, okay?”

“This is not your fault.” Alex pulled him into a hug. Alex’s eyes were red-rimmed and Ben envied Alex the easy way he expressed his emotions.

Itwashis own fault.

If he’d not fallen off the stage last night, she wouldn’t have been worried.

If he’d not stunk of booze when he got to her house, she wouldn’t have been upset.

If he’d taken the time to change out of his clothes, she wouldn’t have been doing his laundry.

And if he hadn’t been hungover to hell, he wouldn’t have been sleeping in her spare room while she was downstairs trying to cook him breakfast.

He was a shit of a human being to do that to his nan.

His fucking nan.

And while the kind and supportive eyes of everyone else were on him, he knew one thing for sure. If he hadn’t done any of that, Nan would be baking them all something special today.

Instead…

He looked over to the hospital bed, surrounded by blue curtains on rails, where Jase was tearfully whispering something in Nan’s ear as she lay cabled up to machines that periodically beeped. Cerys’s engagement ring sparkled as she rubbed his back with tears in her eyes.

Alex leaned against the wall, his arms around Zoe.

It was the first moment there hadn’t been a squad of people around Nan shouting out requests for tests and words he had no idea what they meant. They’d been kept in the dark, figuratively, as doctors and nurses rushed to keep Nan alive. They’d been given permission to each spend a quick minute with her and then clear the cubicle again.

The next twenty-four hours, and the battery of tests the hospital was running, would be crucial in determining just what had happened to her.

Ben stepped out of the cubicle and took a deep breath. Matt looked up at him from his spot on the floor. Iz rested her head on his shoulder. There wasn’t room for all of them in there, so they were rotating. Each taking turns to talk to Nan so she knew they were there.

“Try to take another picture of my kid and you’ll eat that fucking phone.” The voice came from down the hallway, but by Luke’s tone, he was pissed.

He burst through the poorly fitting double doors, car seat in one hand and Willow in the other. “How is she?” he asked, putting Zale’s car seat on the ground and tugging Ben in for a hug.

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