Page 72 of It Was Always You

He stood, pulling his brow inward. ‘Take it easy, Jess. God, I was going to say that she wouldn’t ring unless it was important. I have to answer it.’ He began to walk over to the lounge when the ringing stopped. He paused but the house phone began to ring.

He vaulted over the sofa and grabbed the receiver. ‘Lil?’ He heard sobbing from the other end of the phone. ‘Lily, what’s wrong? Where are you?’

‘I’m at Borders General, Adam…’

His heart thundered in his chest. ‘Why are you at the hospital, Lily, what’s happened? Are you okay?’

She sniffed. ‘I’m sorry to bother you, Adam, I know you’ve got⁠—’

‘Lily? Tell me what’s wrong, please?’

‘It’s my dad. He’s… he’s had a heart attack.’ She sobbed down the line.

‘I’ll be right there. Hang tight, Lil, I’m coming.’ He hung up and ran his hands through his hair. He turned to find Jessica standing, arms folded in the doorway with a sour look fixed in place.

She shook her head. ‘So, you’re going to her then?’

He scrunched his face at her incredulous question. ‘Of course I’m going to her. Her dad’s had a heart attack, Jess. Surely you can’t begrudge me going to her for that?’

Her cheeks coloured. ‘Doesn’t she have other friends? Or family?’

Anger bubbled inside him, and he did his best to keep his tone calm. ‘No, she doesn’t. She has her mum and me… that’s it. So, excuse me for wanting to be by my best friend’s side when she’s going through this. She was there for me all through losing Eve.’

Jessica snorted derisively. ‘So, you owe her, I get it. I just thought we were going to have a nice evening together. I guess I was wrong.’

He gaped open-mouthed for a few seconds as he tried to process Jess’s words. She was acting like some scorned lover. It was their second date, for goodness’ sake.

Eventually, he managed to speak through gritted teeth. ‘I think you need to leave, Jessica. I owe Lily everything. But this is not obligation. This is what real friends do. And regardless of what mixed-up, twisted idea you have in your head, this heart attack was not a conspiracy! Now, please leave so that I can go to my best friend when she needs me!’ His voice became louder as his anger rose.

Jessica grabbed her bag from the sofa and stormed to the bottom of the stairs to get her coat. ‘I’m not going to compete with her, Adam.’ She smiled sardonically. ‘So your Achilles’ heel wins out. I won’t be seeing you again. This is your last chance!’

His responding laugh was humourless. ‘You think I would want to see you again? After this? Sorry, lady, but Achilles’ heel or not, I’d choose Lily every time… no competition.’

Jessica slammed the door behind her. Adam stood, chest heaving. How dare she? She has no bloody clue!

Thirty minutes later, Adam ran down the hospital corridor towards the Intensive Care Unit. He asked at the nurses’ station and was pointed to the family room. He burst through the door and found Lily in a crumpled heap on a corner sofa. She looked so small. So young and fragile. Immediately he went to her side and pulled her into his lap. She latched onto his neck and let out a pain-filled groan.

Adam stroked her hair. ‘Hey… shhh… I’m here… it’s okay… shhh.’ He rocked her gently as she poured her anguish out onto him, clinging on for dear life.

Eventually when her sobs had subsided, she looked up into his eyes. He was doing his best not to let his own tears fall, but seeing Lily like this was too much to bear. A tear escaped and he rubbed his cheek on his upper arm.

She held his face in her hands. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much for coming. I know you were⁠—’

He rested his forehead on hers. ‘Shhh. It doesn’t matter what I was doing, Lil. It never matters what I’m doing. I’ll always come to you when you need me. You know that.’

She closed her eyes, which forced more tears to trail down her face, and she quickly pressed her mouth to his. ‘Thank you, Adam. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

He felt a strange jolt of electricity when her lips touched his, which startled him.

Trying not to show it, he pulled away and looked into her bloodshot eyes. ‘Hey, you don’t have to worry about that, Lil, because it’s never going to happen.’ He buried his face in her hair as her tears came again.

Having Adam near was such a comfort for Lily. She clung to him and he let her. He hadn’t flinched even when she had stupidly planted a kiss right on his mouth. She hadn’t been thinking straight. That’s all it was. She felt so guilty at interrupting his date with Jess.

She vowed to herself that she would make it up to Jessica in some way, especially if Adam really liked her. She’d have to try to be friends with the woman. Even though she had the very thing that Lily wanted more than anything. No… no… right at this moment what she wanted more than anything was for her dad to be okay and for him to come out of this alive. It had been a huge shock.

As she sat curled up on Adam’s lap, her mind whirred around with a million different things. Most of them silly. It was strange how, as a child, she had always thought of her dad as a hero. He hadn’t fought in wars or defended the helpless. He was just a normal man. But he was a good man, a strong man, and a wonderful father and husband.

He had always put Lily and her mother first, and above everything else; their happiness was paramount to him and that alone made him a hero in her opinion. But she had always thought of him as invincible. It was only now, as an adult, that she realised how fragile he was. Just like everyone else. He was no hero. Not in the true indestructible sense of the word. What he was was irreplaceable. A thought sprang into her mind as she was now faced with her dad’s mortality.