Page 67 of The Flight Risk

“Got it,” the nurse says. “Well, Miss Charlotte is doing great. I just need to read a few of her vitals and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Right, well, I just wanted to come and make sure Lottie was okay. And she is, so…” I pause. Hoping that Tess will tell me to stay.

Tess looks back up at me. Her lips part and her eyebrows crease together. But nothing comes out.

I want to know what Tess was going to say to me. I want to get inside her head so I can figure out how to fix this. To fix us.

Tess stays sitting and directs her gaze to her niece. She takes one of Lottie’s hands in hers and says, “Hey, Lottie. The nurse is here to check in on you.”

Lottie begins to stir and that’s my cue to leave. I don’t want my presence to be a distraction and keep her up. She needs to rest as much as possible. “I’m glad she’s okay. I better leave. I have an early morning training session.” Tess meets my gaze and before I completely break, I rip the Band-aid off and say my goodbye. “I’ll see you around, Tess.”

37

Iwake to the sound of Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield.” I push myself up from the most uncomfortable position and immediately have to massage the left side of my neck. Lottie is sitting upright, eating a cup of what looks like strawberry jello. I slowly turn my neck toward the television and see that Lottie is watching 13 Going on 30.

“Good morning, Aunt Tess. Jello?” Lottie nods to an extra cup of jello on her breakfast tray.

I haven’t had jello in years and yet it sounds like the most delicious thing on the planet right now. I stretch my back and say, “Sure.” Lottie reaches for it, but I stop her. “I can get it myself. You stay put. How are you feeling?”

“So much better. I mean the pain from surgery sucks, but the pain before the surgery was way worse. Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Of course, Lottie. I’m sorry I wasn’t as calm as I wanted to be in a situation like that.”

“But you were here. That’s all that matters. And I’m not going anywhere. Just like Oakley isn’t going anywhere.”

“What are you talking about?” I pierce the red jello with the plastic spoon.

“Did you really think I was completely asleep when Oakley stopped by?”

My jaw drops and before I can respond, a knock is at the door. My heart begins to race because I really want it to be a 6’7” golden retriever hockey goalie who I never stopped loving. Instead, my best friend appears with more coffee and fresh blueberry scones. My stomach gurgles and I realize I haven’t had anything other than half a cupcake since lunch yesterday. It’s hard for me to eat when I’m in survival mode.

“Good morning, sunshines!” Brooke sing-songs. She is of course dressed head to toe in pink: pink knotted headband, pink overalls, even pink sneakers. Her lipgloss is the same shade as the rest of her outfit. “How are we this Sunday morning? And Lottie! Look at you, sweetie. How are you doing?” She places the coffee carrier and box of scones on the table under the TV and is immediately at Lottie’s side.

“I’m doing a lot better. Thanks for checking in on me.”

“Of course. I had to come by. I closed the bakery today so I could be here for you and Tess. She’s my bestie of course and whoever is important to my bestie, is important to me. She’s my ride or die. In fact, I’ve been trying to convince my ride or die to come and work with me so we can see each other more.”

The chronic pit in my stomach rears its ugly head. I miss Brooke, too. We have been so busy with life I haven’t gotten the opportunity to tell her that while I want to leave teaching, I don’t want to work at the bakery. I had a plan with Oakley potentially but now that we ruined our friendship, everything is up in the air. I not only ruined our friendship, but I ruined my future with a man who wanted to start a foundation just so I could run it. I mean, what sane person runs away from that?

Just then the sweet nurse, Joanne, who has been checking in on Lottie since she came out of her surgery, enters the room again. “I’m here to do one last check up before I go home. The next nurse to see you today will be Nurse Ellie. She’s almost as awesome as me, if you can believe it. I want to come in and see if we can remove the catheter for you. I’m sure you are ready to pee on your own, Miss Lottie.”

“You have no idea.”

I take a coffee from the carrier and say to Brooke, “Do you want to go for a walk with me? I desperately need some fresh air.” I turn to the nurse and Lottie. “Is that okay?”

Lottie beats Joanne to the punch and responds, “Yes, please. I don’t want you to be here for this. And I know how much you need your hot girl walks, Aunt Tess.”

Brooke takes the other coffee cup and says, “Sounds great!”

Thankfully, the hospital has a nice walking path right on the campus so we set off on the trail and gab about all things Emily in Paris and all our reactions and hot takes from the latest season.

“Hey, I have been meaning to tell you something and please don’t hate me.” I finally have the guts to bring up the topic of shifting careers to Brooke.

“First off, I will never hate you. There is literally nothing you can say to me that will make me hate you. We are in this life together, Tess. There’s no way you’re getting rid of me. Second, I think I know what you’re going to tell me.”

“You do?”

“You don’t want to work with me at the bakery.”