She rubbed her hands down the length of her face before sitting up. “Where else would I be?”
He laced his fingers through hers, pulling her hand into his lap and covering their joined hands with his other one.
“You could be at home in your bed. You know you didn’t have to stay here, right?”
She nodded. “But I wanted to be here. I see how difficult it can be when families come here without support. You and your mom had enough to deal with, if I could lessen your anxiety by helping out, I wanted to do it.”
He leaned in, and kissed her forehead. It was a sweet gesture, meant to express gratitude. But somewhere deep inside, her heart swelled, making her chest feel tight.
If one of her patients described this feeling, she’d have them attached to a cardiac monitor and a stethoscope pressed against their chest faster than she could yell stat.
She was an experienced enough clinician to know there was nothing physically or medically wrong with her. This was something deeper than flesh, bone, and blood. This feeling, it touched her soul.
“Thank you,” he whispered against her temple and kissed her again. “My mother and I couldn’t have made it through this without you. But you gotta go home, babe. Go get some rest.”
“Are you sure?” She looked up to find sincerity twinkling in his eyes.
“Janae, if I could, I would keep you here by my side. But I know you’re gonna have to go back to work in another two days. I don’t want you worn out from being here with us. Go get some real sleep at home.”
Her heart had quivered just a little bit at him wanting to keep her near. The compassion in his voice coupled with the gentleness of his touch disarmed her, but she didn’t feel scared or skeptical. She felt secure.
“I’ll come back once I’ve rested. You’ll call me if anything changes, right?”
He nodded, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers. “Of course I will.”
Janae stood to leave and Adam gave her hand one last squeeze. “I’m sorry, Janae. I was out of line last night and I—”
She kissed him to stop whatever he was about to say.
“It’s forgotten. Focus on your dad, okay?”
She’d left him with a smile on his face and warmth in her heart. Making her way home, in short time, she’d texted her son to see how he was doing at his dad’s, showered, and collapsed into her bed in short order.
When she woke up, the first thing she did was check her phone for any messages from Adam.
There were none, so she decided she’d make a quick run to the local diner, pick up some food for Adam and his mom, and then head back over to the hospital.
And here she was, back again, walking to the stepdown ward, juggling her bags while she used her work ID to let herself inside.
She waved at the nurse sitting at the nursing station, and then headed for the room.
“Adam, you see how that Coach Prime is out there leading them young men to victory on the football field? If you’d listened to me, kept your head in the game, and had a little more backbone, you coulda found yourself coaching college ball in the NCAA after you retired from the NBA.”
“Pop.” Adam’s voice sounded weary, like his physical exhaustion had somehow bled into his soul. She’d walked into this building calm and replenished after Adam had forced her to go take care of herself, and hearing him sound so defeated took her from Zen to pissed the hell off in two-point-five seconds flat.
“Don’t ‘Pop’ me.”
She bristled at Grady’s reprimand and realized that she’d like to pop the old man, but in an altogether different way.
“I’m gonna call Coach Hadley and you’re gonna go see him about that job.”
“Pop, I told you no before and I meant it. You’re in the hospital. I don’t want to argue with you while you should be focusing on your recovery. I’m an educator. That’s who I chose to be, who Iwantto be.”
Grady harrumphed from his bed, grimacing his disapproval.
“All that book learning you got and ain’t got a licka sense, walking away from all that money, fame, and prestige, such a waste of potential. Now you’re about to walk away from another great opportunity simply because you don’t want to listen to me.”
Janae knew what it felt like to have your parent’s disappointment poured over you like a second, ill-fitting skin that compressed you in all the wrong places.
