A nurse invited me to follow her after I gave her Aria’s name. That told me at the very least that I was still wanted here. That he wanted me to be there.
I paused in the doorway to her ER room and just stared at them. Aria was asleep in bed, her curls a mess on her pillow. Her skin was blotchy with hives while an IV was taped to her arm and a nasal cannula sat under her button nose. The steady rise and fall of her chest sent a wave of relief through my body.
Harley sat beside her, hunched forward with his arms resting on the bed as he held her hand and his chin on his forearms.
“I…” The words caught, and I cleared my throat. Harley sat upright, running his hands over his face. “I brought her bear.”
“Thanks,” he said roughly. He shifted in his chair, reaching for it. The weight of the day was obvious in the worn expression on his face. I couldn’t blame him. I couldn’t imagine what was going through his head. I handed him the bear and watched as he tucked it under her arm. A little sigh escaped her as she hugged it tighter in her sleep.
“Is she…”Okay didn’t feel like the right words for this.
“She’ll be okay,” Harley replied as he turned back to her. “They’re monitoring her for a biphasic reaction—a reboundreaction. The hives will go away in a few days. She’ll be tired and anxious for a while, but usually it goes away within a few days. She’ll be okay… we’ll be okay.”
The‘we’ll be okay’wasn’t lost on me. He was saying that last part for himself—not me.
“That’s good,” I whispered.That didn’t quite seem like a good thing.So much of this could’ve been avoided if I’d done what I was supposed to. “Do you want me to stay?”
It was a loaded question. He had every reason not to want me there—to ask me to leave. I wasn’t sure what I’d do in his situation.
“Yeah,” he said and gestured to the chair on the other side of the room. I immediately took him up on the offer and quietly moved the chair closer to the bed. My hand rested on the small bump in the blanket that was her feet.
The guilt doubled down, surging inside me, and bile bit the back of my throat. She looked so small and helpless. It killed a little part of me.
“Harley, I’m—”
“I don’t want to talk right now, Mav,” he cut me off. I shut up out of respect. “I just… I just don’t want to talk right now.”
Yeah, I couldn’t blame him for that either.
CHAPTER 114
harley
I tried calling but couldn’t get through. I’m sorry to leave this as a text. I’m at the hospital with Aria after an allergic reaction to peanut oil. She’s going to be okay. They’re monitoring her right now. We’re staying here for another few hours. I’ll keep you posted.
HOLLY: I’ll be there shortly.
You don’t need to do that.
HOLLY: I’m coming whether you want me to or not.
HOLLY: Is there anything I can bring you?
Would you be willing to pick up pajamas for when we’re discharged? I threw out her dress to make sure we didn’t chance anything.
HOLLY: Absolutely.
Thank you. I’m sorry for interrupting.
HOLLY: Don’t be. She’s my favorite little hellion.
As I wrapped up texting her,Peaceful Pineslit up my phone. I quickly dismissed the call. They’d leave a message. They’d already left one today, asking me to call back. I just didn’t have the energy to do so.
Hours had passed. The chaos had settled into the kind of stillness that could only be described as the calm after the storm. The machines hummed softly, steady and reassuring. I tracked all of them. My gaze drifted between all of them and back to Aria on repeat.
I couldn’t help it. Like if I stopped, something might change. Like she might just disappear on me if I wasn’t paying close enough attention.
She was okay.
