“You waltzing in like that”—I gestured below his waist—“will not help the situation with my parents.”
“But I want you.”
“When do you not?”
He shrugged, the motion innocent and sweet. “I can’t help it. You’re perfect.”
My cheeks warmed. “You tell me that a hundred times a day.”
“Because I can’t say it enough.”
I huffed. “I wish my family felt that way.”
His eyes darkened with concern. “They’re blind.”
My life at home had taken a turn for the worse once Garrett entered the picture. Whatever semblance of normal I’d maintained with my parents had completely shattered. Suddenly, every moment of every day became a battle. Between tiptoeing around the matrimonial tension in our home, struggling to raise my sub-par grades, practicing for regionals in March, babysitting the littles while my parents shuffled Peter to and from the hospital, and sneaking out to see Garrett…the chaos in my life went full throttle.
Dad forbade me to ever see Garrett again. But Peter was sixteen and he had a girlfriend. So why did he hate Garrett so much? I lost it on my dad. When I threatened to move in with Garrett instead, Dad put down his weapons. But Mom pushed harder for my submission. Her determination to keep me away from Garrett lit the flame under us, incinerating whatever we had left as mother and daughter. Part of me wondered if she wanted me gone.
Garrett encouraged me to stand strong.
I gave him a sad smile. My eyes danced down his sculpted chest and then I chuckled. “We cannot get out of this elevator until you calm down.”
“We’ll ride a few more times.”
So we did. Up and down, making eyes at each other while scrubbed nurses, surgeons, and hospital visitors bustled in and out. Eventually, we exited on the fifth floor and searched the hallways for room 208.
My heart leapt to my throat as I stood in front of 208. Soft voices and gentle guitar music filtered under the door. I wanted to be everything Garrett believed I could be—mature, strong, and unyielding. So I fought the tremble out of my lips. I blinked my welling tears away, wishing there was a nice way to tell Garrett to wait in the car for me. His presence would only complicate matters. I had tried to explain that earlier, but it didn’t go well. He felt like I was choosing peace over him.
I wasn’t. I just…
What if this was the last time I saw Peter? According to the doctors, he was on borrowed time. The leukemia had ravaged his body so quickly. And the radiation had squeezed the life out of him. I should’ve come to the hospital before now.
Two days ago, Bea angrily confronted me in my bedroom and accused me of being too wrapped up in my stupid boyfriend to care about Peter dying. I did care, but Bea wouldn’t understand. I couldn’t exactly tell her Mom was set against me and Garrett because I’d pulled the plug on her long-standing affair. To make things more complicated, Garrett was more sensitive than I expected him to be. When I needed to choose between him and my family, he got his feelings hurt and sulked.
I hated that. Another thing I could blame on Mom.
I couldn’t respond to the nurse’s quiet questions as she helped us disinfect our hands and put on face masks to protect Peter’ssuppressed immune system. Tears soaked the top of my mask before we even opened the door. Would Peter be awake? Or even know I was there?
What would my family say when Garrett walked in behind me?
With shaky hands, I swung open the door. My entire family had seats around the room. The Rockies baseball game played on the muted TV. Vases of flowers lined on the window sill. Bea sat on the sage green couch, her guitar draped across her lap. Her soft strumming set a reverent tone for the room. Mom leaned into Dad’s side and he had his arm around her. My younger siblings quietly played Chutes and Ladders on a table in the room.
Sarah, Peter’s girlfriend, laid next to him on the bed, her fiery red hair a stark contrast against his pale skin. Tubes and wires were draped across her body, connecting Peter to the machines softly beeping. She gently tickled his thin arm with her nails and whispered to him.
Finally, I forced myself to look at my brother. His eyes were closed, lips slightly parted, his Rockies hat slipped sideways over his bald head. Oxygen tubes were in his nose and his arm was strapped with IVs and monitor cords and God only knew what else.
I stood in the doorway, frozen at the sight of him.
It had been a week or so since I’d seen Peter, but…he already looked lifeless. Garrett pressed his hand to the small of my back, gently urging me into the room.
Everyone’s gaze lifted to us.
My mother’s face tightened and she instantly looked away, focusing on Peter instead. Bea shook her head in disbelief. Dad rose from the couch, making his way across the room to us. Garrett’s hand on my back grew firm. If Dad asked Garrett to leave, I needed to stand my ground because I loved him.
Dad’s eyes were weary as he approached us. He wrapped his arms around me in a tender hug. His whisper brought more tears to my eyes. “I’m glad you’re here.”
I sniffed, wanting to hang onto my dad for a few moments longer. But he pulled away to extend a hand to Garrett. “Hey, Garrett.”
