Happy wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me.“I love you, and I know my brother loves you. He’s very worried about you, so get back there before he loses his mind. I won’t be around to bother you anymore. I’m moving to the between so I can rebirth. I wanna do this again, ya know. Maybe I’ll be lucky enough to run into you and Holden.”
She kissed my cheek and pulled back.“Please, take care of him. He gets cranky when he’s worried. I’m afraid he’s going to tear into your mom because he’s scared to death that he’s going to lose you. Has your mother always been this way?”
I laughed. “Which way? Bitchy? Overbearing? Self-righteous? Over-protective? I think it sort of happened when we found outI was going to die if I didn’t get a heart transplant. Did you see your parents after you died?”
I didn’t know Holden and Holly’s parents. I had yet to meet them, though I hoped I could someday. If Holly and Holden were raised by them, they would have to be incredible people.
“Well, Betsy loves you. She’s going to give Holden a run for his money, though. B-T-W, you gotta tell him you have my heart, doll. He’s going to find out very soon, so be ready. I’ll try to give you a hand if I’m allowed, but it’s gonna be up to you to bring it home.”
Happy took my hand and we began walking...somewhere.“Just so you know, you’ll be fine. No permanent damage to you, so no worries. EZ did it because he needed you with him to find me, and it was the easiest way for that to happen so you could go back to live the rest of your life. Sorry, not sorry. It was time for me to decide about my eternity, and seeing you again helped a lot. I know you’ll take good care of my family, especially Holy, and—”
“Holy? His nickname isHolyand your nickname isHappy?” I couldn’t stop the laugh, even if I wanted to. Thankfully, she laughed with me.
“Bring that out during frisky time. He hates that nickname. I gave it to him when I was little—after Daddy started calling me Happy instead of Holly. Anyway, you’ll feel like crap for a few days. Let Holden take care of you. It’s the only way he’ll accept that you are okay.”
“Okay. Anything else?” I touched her shoulder.
“His ribs are ticklish and his feet are worse. He laughs like a little girl when he gets going. Make him laugh more. Hell, see if you can get a laugh out of Mom and Dad. They haven’t laughed in seven years.”She kissed my cheek.
“That’s a tall order, but I’ll do what I can. If my mom would have ever been able to have another child, I hope she’d havebeen like you.” We hugged again and then a weird, deafening beep filled my ears.
“And Steve said, ‘Hey, you fuckers. I’m not afraid to ask her out, but if I do and she says yes, then y’all are payin’.’ I almost shot soda out of my nose. Anyway, that was my day.
“I saw Brooke and Kyle leaving just now. Brooke said your parents left earlier. I hope everything is going well with your business.
“Ossie misses you. I had to put your shoes on the shelf in my closet because he wanted to chew on them. I don’t know how many pairs of shoes you have, so I let him sniff them every now and again because I know how sad he is that you’re not around. He gets mad when I take them away, and he pisses in my boots. You need to come back to me so I’m not putting my feet into wet work boots every morning, sweetheart.”
Soft lips grazed my hand, sending a tingling sensation up my arm to my chest. I opened my eyes and turned to my left, seeing my hand between both of Holden’s. He was in an ugly chair next to my bed, talking to me like it was any other day... What day was it?
“Baby.” My voice was hoarse and my throat hurt. I had an IV in one arm and a blood pressure cuff on the other. My index finger had a clip on it that monitored something, but seeing Holden’s watery blue eyes as his gaze met mine had my own eyes tearing up.
“Sweetheart! You’re back. I was so afraid I’d lost you.” The sound of his voice sent a warm sensation through my chest as if my heart recognized him.
“Can I have something to drink?” I wasn’t sure if I’d been intubated like when I had my transplant. My throat hurt the same way that it had when I awoke from that surgery.
“Let me go ask. I think you can have ice chips, but I don’t know for sure. I’ll be right back.” Holden kissed my forehead.
He started to walk away, but I grabbed his wrist to stop him. “I love you, Holy.”
The beautiful man’s eyes lit up. “God, Avery, I love you too. I need to call your friends so they can call your parents. They just left.”
I let go of his hand as he hustled out of the room, and I sighed. “I’ll miss you, Happy.”
I meant it with all my heart. The happiness I anticipated in my future... I owed it all to Holly Rose.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Holden
As I walked out of the hospital room to get to the nurse’s station, Avery’s words echoed through my head.I love you, Holy.
I froze in my tracks.Holy?
I hadn’t heard that nickname in years. It was the one my sister gave me when she was little. How on earth did Avery know that name?
“Do you need something, Holden?”
I glanced up to see Avery’s nurse, Jack Barnes, with a kind expression. Jack was in his early sixties and worked the swing shift from noon until eight at the hospital.
