Page 48 of The Golden Hour

“I’m sorry too,” Mason whispers, “For… a lot. Everything. Taking her for granted, not being there for her, not being the man she deserves. You trusted her with me and I… I failed her. Over and over.”

“It only gets worse from here,” Phil snorts. “I remember how terrifying this day was for me. Granted, Melissa held it all together with a grace I’ve never seen before. I was a complete wreck. Then I saw Honey, and it was like…”

Phil presses a hand over his chest.

Mason nods because it is that feeling of cataclysmic expansion in his chest. Like that scene in How the Grinch Stole Christmas when his heart grows, except more. More love, more joy, more terror, more everything. More, more, more.

Phil smiles.

“Unlike anything else. You look at your family, your daughter in your wife’s arms. You look at the most precious people in your life, and you feel this protective instinct rise.”

Phil’s voice grows more intense, the softness hardening into something stronger.

“Just the thought of anyone hurting them makes you go a little crazy. But life is full of bumps, bruises, and hurts, physical and emotional. So you protect them as much as you can, and you make sure you’re there for them when they do fall.”

Mason nods in agreement, feeling it in his chest already. He feels the need to have Honey and Daisy together, and close so he can watch over them, take care of them, protect them with everything in him from anyone who wants to hurt them.

Even himself.

“She was leaving me,” Mason rasps.

“She is,” Phil says, his voice firm. “You have to be prepared, Mason. You know how Honey is. Too soft-hearted for her own good, too scared to hurt feelings. But the Honey I saw right before she collapsed⁠⁠—”

Phil’s voice breaks, and his face works through a couple of emotions as he tries to shove away the unshed tears pooling in his eyes.

“That was Honey as a mother,” Phil says. “Protecting her daughter. You hurt her, and you can’t undo that. But you can forge a better path forward. Lord knows I’ve made my fair share of mistakes in my marriage. So has Melissa. We all do. What matters is how we react when we are confronted with those mistakes. What matters is what we are willing to sacrifice for our family to make things right.”

Mason doesn’t respond, but he lets the words settle over him.

The numbness is wearing off, and while fear is the main emotion running through his veins, there is one that is louder, more potent, and he grabs onto that as he waits.

Hope.

CHAPTER TWELVE

MASON

“How is she doing?”

Mason opens his eyes and looks at the whispered voice, seeing Ellen standing in the doorway.

For one disorienting second, he forgets where he is. He’d spent the last hour in that half-asleep state, not quite asleep, like his body wouldn’t let him have the rest he didn’t deserve. But he wasn’t awake either, because the reality was fucking awful.

The room comes back to him all at once, with the dimmed lights and humming and beeping of machines.

He’s in Honey’s room, and she’s still resting right in front of him.

Dr. Farah had walked him in herself after telling the family that Honey was stable enough for one visitor. He looked at Phil, who looked at him, and the older man said he was going to be with Melissa in the NICU, so Mason should go sit with his wife.

When he followed Dr. Farah into the room, he froze so hard it felt like every bone in his body locked into place. His stomach turned at how pale Honey was, lying in a hospital bed that practically swallowed her fragile form.

She looked so small, wrapped in wires and thick blankets. A cannula fed oxygen through her nose, a blood pressure cuff wrapped her arm, and IVs stood in both hands with a pulse ox on her finger. Beneath the blankets, her belly was still swollen, but empty now in a way that hurts to think about.

She’s slowly regaining some color in her cheeks, but she looks drained and exhausted, even as she rests.

Honey looked like survival had taken everything from her.

Slowly, he padded over to the chair next to her as Dr. Farah told him she would be back to check on Honey, dimmed the lights, and then left the room.