"Where is your brother? And Casey? Are they at home?"
Now she nodded, her head bobbing against him before she pulled away. "Miss Iris was babysitting us."
Jilly's sister was there. That was good, right? Maybe if he went over there to watch Jilly's kids, Iris could go to the hospital and be with Jilly.
"She has two little boys," Lindsey said in a rush. "And they picked us up from school and Iris keeps going to the bathroom to throw up. I think she's sick."
Crap. That wasn't going to work.
He could maybe be responsible for Jilly's kids for a couple of hours, but not young twins. How old were they, anyway? Four? And if Iris was sick, what kind of help would she be for Jilly?
Lindsey let go of his waist but clung to his hand. Like she was depending on him.
"You got any ideas, Linds?"
"Meow meow." They were back to the kitty, then?
He had an idea. One he had no business putting into practice.
Jilly hated hospital waiting rooms.Sitting here with the same old antiseptic smells. The same receptionist behind the counter. The same stupid paintings on the wall. And even some of the same people, a woman in the corner hiding behind a book, her head wrapped in her scarf. An older man who played solitaire on the waiting room table. Mr. Peebly. Jilly had seen him so often when she’d been in for chemo that they’d become sort-of friends.
Being here brought back the feelings of helplessness, and grief, and even nausea.
She was paging through a magazine, her attention not really on it, when all of a sudden a broad-shouldered man filled the doorway. Someone she would recognize anywhere.
Noah.
Her traitorous heart leapt.
He had his cane in hand and stood in the doorway awkwardly. She abandoned the magazine and went to him, just in time to see someone heading down the corridor. Had someone from the hospital staff brought him up here?
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
Some fine tension bled out of him as she approached. "Looking for you."
She glanced around at the other patients in the waiting room. Scarf Lady was curiously watching them, while the receptionist was pretending to ignore them but was secretly listening.
She took Noah's arm and nudged him back out into the hallway, letting the door thunk closed behind them.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
An orderly rolled a metal cart loaded with food trays down the hall, and Noah turned to follow the noise. He seemed rattled, or distracted maybe. His frown was a thundercloud. "You tell me. Lindsey came over to my place to tell me you'd been in a car accident and that you were at the hospital. I went to the ER first, but you weren't there."
She released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The kids were okay. From the moment she'd seen him, her gut had been tight with worry.
She shook her head. "Lindsey must've misunderstood. I got in a fender bender on my way over here. I'm here for some scans and blood work. Normal stuff." Well, normal if you'd done battle with the cancer monster. This was Jilly's normal now. "I have to come in every couple of months and get checked." Because she could have a reoccurrence. Probably not now. But in another five years... Or ten...?
"So you're all right? Because Lindsey thought..."
She could imagine what Lindsey might've thought.
"I haven't told the kids about my cancer." She shrugged and rolled her eyes at herself for the gesture. He couldn't see it. "I guess that's a discussion we need to sit down and have."
"You might want to call your sister and have her explain at least a little bit to the kids."
She cleared her throat. "I'll do that."
"So... you're fine?"
