Page 40 of My Forever Soldier

“Are you with the boy?” the receptionist asked.

Olivia nodded. She was so numb she could hardly speak. “Y-yes.”

Luke squeezed her shoulder and moved forward, taking the forms from the woman behind the counter.

“We’ll need to get you to fill these out.”

Ollie wanted to go with Charlie, not sit around filling in paperwork! “Where are they taking him? I need to be with him.Please.”

“Ma’am, he’ll be just fine. A doctor will be looking over him already, and you can go in as soon as this is done.”

Olivia tried not to glare. She knew it wasn’t the woman’s fault, that it was procedure, but she just wanted to be by her son’s side. She watched as Luke scanned the forms and then started scribbling, fast. She’d never been more pleased to have someone with her. Dealing with everyday life was hard enough. She couldn’t have dealt with this on her own.

“Medical conditions? Medication?”

She shook her head. “No other conditions. Just his inhaler.”

Luke continued to tick boxes and write words that she couldn’t see.

“Has he had an asthma attack like this before? Anything worth noting?” He looked up, his eyebrows raised in question.

“No.”

Just reliving the moment, thinking about the asthma up tack again, brought tears to her eyes. She knew her blubbering wasn’t going to help, but it was hard holding it an in check. Being in the hospital, knowing Charlie was in some room down the never-ending corridor, smelling that sterile hospital smell… it was awful. The last time she’d been in a hospital was when Charlie had been born. Before that it had been holding her mom’s hand and saying goodbye to her.

A fresh wave of tears hit and Olivia couldn’t stop it as they dropped silently down her cheeks.

“Okay, we’re done.”

She sat still as Luke went back and handed in the forms. When he returned it was to offer her a hand up.

“He’s in room 105, Let’s go.”

Luke didn’t need to ask her twice. Olivia hurried atter him, her sandals flip-flopping as she walked as fast as her legs would move.

He stopped outside a closed door and turned to face her, reaching for both her hands. He touched her knuckles to his lips.

“Ollie, we need to be strong for Charlie. He’s already frightened, but he’s through the worst of it.”

Olivia closed her eyes for a heartbeat and turned his words over in her head. Luke was right. Charlie needed to see them okay, coping, so no more tears. No hysteria. They needed to be a team.

“I know.” Her words came out as little more than a puff of air.

“We can do this, Ollie,” he said.

Luke took her hand and opened the door with his other. She sucked buck her emotions and fought the bite of worry that gnawed in her throat.

Because right now, she had to trust her husband.

Charlie was awake.Luke had told Ollie not to cry, to sit night on her emotions, but he was struggling to hold it together himself. On the brink of crying like he’d never cried in his life. Sobbing.

Charlie might be awake, but he didn’t look good. Gone was the slightly tanned complexion; now his son was ghostly pale. His eyes looked tired, exhausted, and Luke knew only too well how that felt.

Even though it’d been years ago, he’d never forgotten the feeling of his worst asthma attack. The panicked sucking of air, not able to fill his lungs with oxygen. The terror of thinking you were going to die, to suffocate, and then blacking out…

But Charlie had people who loved him, were fighting to save him, whereas Luke had had only himself. Had suffered through it without anyone holding his hand or hoping he’d make it. And he’d been only nine years old.

He pushed the thoughts away, kept his memories buried, where they belonged. Instead, he focused on Olivia, stayed close to comfort her as she reached for Charlie then cradled him against her.

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