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Jarrett looked like he’d been asked to eat leftovers that had turned green in the refrigerator. “Uhmm…”
The door opened and a man in scrubs walked in. “Mr. and Mrs. Alvarez?”
“Yes.” Jarrett rose to his feet, and Rylie moved to stand beside him.
Rylie kept her eyes trained on the doctor while he explained that the surgery had gone well. But she felt Juanita’s gaze boring a hole in the back of her head. The moment the doctor left the room, Juanita cleared her throat, commanding their attention.
When Rylie and Jarrett turned to face her, she was standing with her arms crossed and her foot tapping on the floor. “Is there something you forgot to tell me?”
Jarrett groaned aloud. “It’s a long story.”
“Fortunately,” Juanita said, as she lifted an eyebrow, “we’ve got a lot of time on our hands.”
Chapter 9
Jarrett sat up and swung his foot to the cold hospital floor. He rubbed his sore shoulder muscles and winced at the ache. The convertible couch was too short and hard for comfort.
The door cracked open and Finn’s face appeared, a medical mask covering his nose and mouth to protect him against infections he might acquire in the hospital.
“Good morning,” Finn whispered, eyeing the sleeping Gabe as he entered the room. “How’s our patient?”
“He slept great.” Jarrett stretched his arms over his head, groaning. “A lot better than I did.”
“Yes, that bed is terrible. I tried to sleep, but gave up and worked all night. I’ll do that again tonight and get some sleep tomorrow morning.”
“I really appreciate you coming. I didn’t realize how exhausting this was going to be.”
Finn waved off his thanks as he reached to pull the blanket over Gabe’s exposed arm. “You know you’d do the same for me. In fact, you sat with me multiple times when I was stuck in the hospital.”
Finn’s cystic fibrosis had required frequent hospitalizations, which he’d usually kept a secret except from their tightly-knit group.
“Yes, but this time you have a wife and a new baby, so I know it’s a sacrifice.”
Finn chuckled. “I’m getting more sleep here than I do at home with a four-month-old.”
“But it’s worth it? Going without sleep?” Jarrett attached his prosthesis with a shoe and sock already in place and added a matching pair to his foot.
“It’s totally worth it, Jarrett.” For once, Finn looked serious. “I can’t even explain how much I love Larkin. I’d do anything for her. You know what I mean?”
A strange lump formed in Jarrett’s throat, thinking about the baby. Though he’d always wanted kids, he’d never really thought about having an infant until he’d seen all three of his buddies with babies of their own. Though the chances of him fathering a child were slim after his chemo and radiation, he could adopt a baby like his buddies had. He wondered if Carlie would be happy with that option.
“I can imagine,” Jarrett said. “I already feel that way about Gabe.”
“I knew I’d love kids if I ever had them.” Finn sat down in the adjacent chair. “You know how it is. You have nieces and nephews, too. I just never thought it would happen to me.”
Finn referred to his reticence to have a family because of his shortened life-expectancy. Fortunately, Laurie had convinced him it wouldn’t be selfish to marry and have a family.
Jarrett stood up and folded his sheets and blanket, pushing the bed back into couch form.
“I don’t know when I’m going to find time to sleep. I have to get some work done at the office this morning, and this afternoon, Rylie and I have our appointment with Matthew.”
“Explain what the plan is, again. I don’t understand how you’re going to divorce Rylie and still keep Gabe. Won’t that affect your adoption approval?”
“Evidently not. Matthew specializes in adoptions of all kinds, and he’s the one who advised me to marry Rylie. He said we would take care of the paperwork today, so I assume he’s going to either arrange an annulment or a quick divorce. And then I guess Carlie and I will have a civil ceremony to make it legal.”
Why did his stomach knot up every time he talked about marrying Carlie? Probably because he hated rushing into the marriage before they’d had time to settle their differences.
“I just don’t see how that’s going to work. I know how meticulous our home study was before we adopted Larkin. Seems like they wouldn’t approve of you divorcing and remarrying like that.” Finn shook his head. “But I guess Matthew knows what he’s doing.”
