“The man plants flowers for the elderly folks in town, and he bakes bread for them too, what the feck is that about?”
My smile widens.
“And everyone fecking loves him for it,” he adds.
A quiet laugh slips out of me.
“It’s infuriating.”
But after a moment, his smile softens, his gaze drifting back toward Aiden.
“I suppose it’s about time I admit our rivalry’s been fairly childish,” he says. “Hate to admit it, but the man pushed me. Made me better at what I do. Made me work harder.”
He exhales slowly.
“Helped me become the best version of myself.”
I squeeze his hand gently as I listen.
A knock interrupts the quiet moment, and the door opens, and Paula, the on-duty nurse, steps in.
“Hi, May, sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Holloway’s uncle has arrived,” she says kindly. “Unfortunately, we can only have two visitors at a time.”
Finn immediately begins to stand.
“I’ll head out.”
I rise with him.
“I’ll come with you,” I say. “Nathan is probably with Uncle Mike. He should be able to come see him too.”
I look at Aiden and lean down and press a soft kiss against his forehead.
“I’ll be right back,” I whisper.
Finn and I step out into the hallway and make our way toward the waiting room.
As soon as the doors open, I see Uncle Mike standing there with his cane, worry written clearly across his face. Not far behind him, Nathan stands near the wall.
“Uncle Mike.”
I hurry toward him and wrap my arms around him.
He hugs me tightly in return.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nathan shake Finn’s hand before pulling him into a quick embrace, clapping him firmly on the back.
“How is he?” Uncle Mike asks when we finally pull apart.
“He’s doing okay,” I answer. “He’s stable. They’re doing everything they can to warm him up, and the doctors think he should wake up soon.”
Relief flickers across his face.
“You should go back and see him.”
It’s then that I notice a couple standing a few steps away near Nathan and Finn.
The sight of them stops me cold.
