“Hi, I’m Willow, and my grandpa Vern is here. I was wondering if we could get back there to see him.” The receptionist must be in her late sixties, lowers her glasses to get a look at Weston and me, with a knowing grin, she says, “He said you guys would be on your way. Let me take you back.” She waves her hand for us to follow.
Weston comes up behind me and places a reassuring hand on my lower back as we walk into the treatment bay area.
When my grandpa comes into view, my hand flies to my chest. He’s connected to all sorts of wires and has an oxygen hose up to his nose. I hate seeing him like this.
I rush to his side. “Grandpa, how are you feeling?”
“Oh, Lolo, I’m doing fine. There’s no need for all those tears. Weston, what are you doing here?” But he says it sarcastically enough that I’m pretty sure he somehow knew we would be together when we arrived.
“I told you to lay off the bacon.” My voice is full of authority. “And he’s with me. I needed a ride out here.” Because my luck with vehicles since I’ve been here has been downright terrible.
“Hm. Well, it looks like my health crisis might’ve done some good after all.” He wags his eyebrows at me.
My eyes roll. "Yeah, yeah. Did they say what the plan is?” Clearly, he’s doing pretty darn well. He’s back to his meddling.
“Well, looks like I’m gonna need a stent. I think they’re gonna have me stay here tonight and transfer me out in the morning to a facility with a cardiologist to do the stent. But you know, doctors and all their medical mumbo-jumbo, who knows. But I do know they said I’m gonna be all right and that they caught it in time.”
I pull up a chair to sit beside him and grab his hand. His skin feels warm, and when he gives me a little squeeze, he still feels strong, which gives me more reassurance that he’s feeling strong too. Weston comes up beside me and places a hand on my shoulder, grounding me as always.
After about twenty minutes of chit-chatting, the doctor walks in and extends his hand to me. “You must be Willow, the granddaughter.”
“That would be me. I’m hoping you can give me more information than this old man can.”
“Your grandpa has coronary artery disease and will need a stent as of right now. I don’t believe he’s in any major danger. We have an accepting facility that we will ambulance him to in the morning, and he has surgery scheduled for eleven am tomorrow. We’re going to keep him overnight for observation. I have no reason to believe he’s not going to make a full recovery.”
Hearing it come from the doctor's mouth himself has me finally believing that he’s really okay. Well, mostly, apart from the coronary artery disease, but realistically, that’s relatively common in people his age. But I’m definitely going through his fridge while he’s in the hospital and restocking it with healthier foods. I want this man around as long as humanly possible.
We stay and visit, the nurse even has a deck of cards, so we challenged Grandpa to a game of rummy. With no sleeves, Grandpa couldn’t cheat, so he only won one of the games.
He lets out a big yawn. “You two should get out of here. It’s getting late and I already know you’re gonna be following me around tomorrow.”
“You scared me so bad that I’m probably gonna be following you around for the rest of your life.” He’s probably never going to be allowed out of my sight again.
He widens his eyes as he looks over to Weston for help. “Looks like I’ll be changing the locks at the house.”
“Grandpa!” I scold him as I stand up out of my chair.
“I’m only joking. Weston, you take care of my girl tonight. Make sure she gets something to eat.”
Weston nods as he slips his hands into his pockets, a lazy smile on his face. “I can do that.”
Judging by the smile on his face, I think he’s all too happy to be taking care of me. And judging by the way my heart is racing right now, I think I’m a little too happy, too.
Chapter 30
Weston
The whole walk to my truck is spent fighting the urge to take her hand in mine. It was easy to justify when she needed comfort, but she seems calmer now that she’s laid eyes on her grandpa. My own heart dropped when I got the call, so I can’t imagine how she felt.
We make our way to the truck, and I open her door, and she hops into the cab. I pause before shutting the door. The way she looks at me right now has my heart feeling like it could soar.
A piece of hair falls into her face, and I tuck it behind her ear. “Are you feeling better?”
She puts her hand up against mine and holds it against her face. “Better, thank you for being there with me, it meant…everything.”
“I know I let you down in the past, but I won’t ever again. I mean that,” I say, holding eye contact.
“I know.” Her gaze moves from my eyes down to my lips as she pulls the corner of hers between her teeth. Her beautiful eyes land back on mine, and in the softest voice ever, she murmurs my name, “West…”
