“I need half the amount of sleep you do. There’s a big chair in there, so if I need to, I can curl up in that.”
Before I could respond, Hatch returned, his arms laden with food.
“Did you leave anything in the café?” I asked, and he grinned.
“Not much, no.” He gave Aero a chin lift. “How’s your mom?”
“She was awake but groggy. She just fell asleep, so I figured I’d update everyone.”
“Good,” Hatch said, handing him a bag of food.
“I thought I’d stick around. Do you mind taking Letti home so she can rest?”
“Course not,” he said.
“Figured we’d meet back up for dinner.”
“Sounds good,” Hatch said. “You give me a call if you need anything or you want to get out earlier.”
He nodded, and I wrapped my arms around him. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, baby. I’m good. I’ll call you if anything changes.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “Okay.”
He kissed me gently, then walked back to his mom.
“Come on, sweetheart. Maisie’ll get you sorted at home,” Hatch said.
I nodded and followed him to the car.
Aero
My heart broke as I walked away from Violet. Thelastthing I wanted was to be without her, but she needed to rest. I stepped into my mom’s room as quietly as I could, her tiny body looking so vulnerable in the big bed.
I needed to talk to her doctor and find out just what the fuck was going on, but she wasn’t due back in until after nine. It wasn’t even six, so I was gonna have to wait a few hours. Mom was still out cold, so I pulled the food Hatch had bought out of the bag, not realizing how hungry I was until I took the first bite.
