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Gran shot the three of us a look. “Nick doesn’t need to worry about that, does he? He was amazing in getting Lala here so fast and he hasn’t let her out of his sight. If anything, I think he deserves a raise.”
Jones groaned. “You and your granddaughter are painfully alike. We aren’t firing anyone. Stick around, Nick. We’ll be with Layla from now on, though, so if you want to spend time with Hilary, consider it a paid vacation.”
Gran nodded approvingly. “And that’s how you build employee loyalty.”
“I’ll be back with Hilary later tonight. Let Layla know.”
“I don’t know where all the men built like y’all were when I was young and eager, but I just have to say, it’s not right. That man is fine. Y’all are fine. Everyone these days is a fucking model. In my day? I was lucky if I found a guy with a higher IQ than tooth count and considering I married a man missing several of his teeth, let that tell you something.”
The door in front of us opened and a nurse stuck her head out. She had to be older than Gran by twenty years, which was impressive. “Everyone in this hospital just heard what you said, Louis. Watch your mouth because we both know you ain’t repenting at church on Sundays.”
“Nope. I’m too busy taking all your hard earned money from your loser husband. It’s no wonder you look like you’ve been sucking on a lemon your whole life.” Gran rolled her eyes and looked up at us, somehow making us co-conspirators in her fight. “Ignore Gertie. She’s a pain in the ass, but she’s a good nurse.”
Gertie made the mistake of looking a little too proud, apparently.
“Unless you catch her trying to lap up the holy water at the church like a dog in the summer sun. Then you know she’s been eating those special seeds with Bill Nethers. I wouldn’t let her nurse a hangover on those days.”
I shocked myself and everyone else when I let out a loud laugh. I tried to cover it with a cough but it was useless.
Gertie gave me the stink eye and Gran high-fived me. “You better hope you don’t get sick while you’re here, though. That’s one vindictive bitch. She’s got a memory like an elephant. An ass like one, too, if you ask me.”
Jones made a pained sound. “We can’t hang out with you, can we? You would get us sent to jail. I can feel it in my bones.”
“That’s just arthritis. Take a couple of ibuprofen and you’ll be fine.”
41
Layla
“Jesus,Gran…”Ishook my head at hearing her swearing in the hallway. “You can’t take her anywhere.”
Jagger glared at where I held his pain button. “I swear to god, Layla, if you hit that before I get to talk to Gran for a minute, I’m telling Gertie on you.”
I glanced over at where Gertie had her head sticking out of the room and shuddered. “Don’t you dare.”
He looked down at the button and held out his hand. “Give it here or I’m telling.”
“What are you? Five?” I gave it back and frowned. “Snitch.”
“When are you going home? You look like shit.”
“One more word about how I look and I’m taking the button back. You can’t tell on me if you’re unconscious.” I didn’t just look like shit. I also felt like shit. “And I’m not going home until you do.”
“Layla…”
I glared down at him when I felt him start to say something morbid. “Shut up, Jagger. You’re going home.”
“Layla. I love you.” He stared up at me with eyes that looked so similar to my own, to our parents. “I’m sorry.”
“Stop. Don’t do that, Jagger. Don’t apologize like you’re trying to let me down easy. Don’t fucking apologize like you’re not going to try to do anything about this.” My chest heaved with the weight of the world as I scanned his face. “You promised me. You promised that you’d always be with me and I know that this isn’t a choice you made, but not fighting, Jagger? Not fighting is a choice. I can’t let you do that. I can’t let you leave me all alone, not when you promised. So don’t you dare apologize.”
In true Jagger fashion, he smiled after managing to get me worked up. His eyes moved towards the door behind me and that smile grew even larger. “I don’t think you’d be all alone, Layla Rose.”
“She’ll never be alone. That’s the benefit of there being three of us.” Jones’ voice felt like a figment of my imagination. “It’s good to finally meet you, man.”
I gawked with my mouth open when I saw Jones, Mack, and Xavier all standing at the foot of Jagger’s bed with Grandma at their side. With a growing sense of horror, I felt the lump of emotion in my throat growing and coming closer to the surface until I couldn’t control it anymore. Seeing them there, at my brother’s hospital bed in Backtop, Tennessee, was so shocking and knowing they’d made the effort just destroyed the last barriers I’d been able to keep up.
“You’re here.” My voice cracked and I lost it. I dropped into the chair behind me and buried my face in my hands as I cried like a baby. Big, gasping sobs shook my body hard enough that I didn’t feel Mack’s hands on me until he was lifting me out of the chair.
