“That’s good, honey.”
He sighed. “Gonna need to stick around for a bit.”
“Any idea how long you’ll need to be here?”
“No. We’ll figure it out once she’s released.”
I nodded, my heart racing. “Okay.”
“It might be a few weeks.”
“Yeah,” I rasped.
“Are you crying?”
I blinked back tears. “No.”
“It’s not gonna be forever, baby. I’m coming home to you.”
“I know,” I lied.
“Did you rest?”
“Yes.”
“Baby, you sound so sad.”
I shook off my melancholy. “I’m good.”
“Are you being brave for me?”
“I would never,” I retorted.
“Mom’s gotta have some testing done around four which is going to take an hour or so. How about you come by then and we can go somewhere for dinner?”
“Just us?”
“Yeah. Just us. Hatch said you could borrow a car.”
I smiled. “Okay. That sounds really nice.”
“I gotta go, sweetheart. Mom just woke up.”
“Okay,” I said, but he was already gone.
I sat up and dropped my bag on the bed, opening it in order to figure out what to wear just as my phone rang.
I glanced at the screen and smiled. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Hey, baby. You doin’ okay?”
“That’s a loaded question.”
“Yeah, just got off the phone with Aero.”
“I don’t want to leave without him.”
“I know, but you got school and work.”
