Me: Nicole
Dr. Sexy: That’s pretty
Me: I don’t want her to think badly of me
Dr. Sexy: She’s basically already planning the wedding, hun
Me: What do you mean?
Dr. Sexy: I told her about you when I moved here. She’s been texting for updates to see if I’d won you over yet
Me: Did you tell her I was a hard sell?
Dr. Sexy: I told her I was going to put a ring on that
Me: *laughing emoji
Rubbing my fingers across his note one last time, I smile, switch off the bathroom light, and make my way to my best friend and her babies.
Chapter 34
Holly
Knock, knock.
Stepping into the sunny hospital room, I see Sydney sleeping in the hospital bed, but the sight before me makes me catch my breath. A little blue-hatted boy lay sleeping quietly in the sunlight in a bassinet, but Colin sits beside him, with his daughter laying across his lap, the rays shining across their faces. Colin is so absorbed in his new role as daddy that he doesn’t even hear me knock. A soft smile pulls at his lips, and he looks down at that little girl as if his whole world begins and ends with her and the two other people in this room. He has wanted this for so long. Emotion clogs my throat, and I second-guess interrupting the moment. Before I can step back out into the hall, Colin chances a look up toward the door and notices me.
“Oh, hey. I didn’t hear you come in.”
“That was obvious. I didn’t want to intrude on your moment. It looked pretty special.”
Colin huffs, clearly worn out from everything.
“I haven’t been able to sleep. I just keep staring at all of them.” His eyes wander over to Sydney, and his expression scrunches up like he’s fighting another wave of emotion but doesn’t have anything left to come out.
“They’re all here. They’re all safe now.”
“They almost weren’t. These moments,” he rubs a little pink cheek with his pinky, “almost didn’t happen.”
I see where he’s coming from, and I refuse to minimize what he went through all because an acceptable outcome happened. We all realize how easily it could’ve went the other way, none of which we could’ve bared to handle.
“I know.AndI know that it’ll take a while to wrap our heads around. We’ll all be here to listen and help muddle through the hard days, okay?”
Colin looks up at me with weary eyes and nods, then looks over at his little man before his eyes wander back to his newest little sleeping beauty.
“How is she coping?”
Colin’s eyes slide back over to Sydney’s sleeping form and over the numbers on the monitor before taking a deep breath.
“She took it hard, but she assures me that it’s what she would’ve chosen as well. She’s thankful everyone’s here and okay, but I can tell it’ll be something she’ll need time to come to terms with. I will help her find someone to talk to. I told her you’d all be there if she didn’t want to talk about it with me.” He winces as though the idea that she wouldn’t want to share her deepest thoughts with him physically hurts.
“We’ve got her in those moments. Remember, you went through it too, so she may feel like some things will hinder your healing.”
“Yeah, yeah, doc…” he teases, trying to lighten the discussion. I go with it.
“Names?”
“Are you really going to share those with her while you think I’m sleeping?” Sydney breathes out with contempt, and I stifle a giggle. Sydney gets grumpy on pain meds. I probably should’ve warned him about that. Add in all the shit that went down…
