Page 110 of Goode Tidings

"I can think of a few reasons." I turn on my blinker and signal my lane change.

Justin sends me a dirty look. "Mind your own business. I'm not even sure why you're here."

"Eden is my business. Which makes Oliver my business."

Justin slumps back and takes out his phone, directing his attention there for the rest of the long drive. I'm able to talk Eden into eating a little more food and drinking some water, but it's not much. She stopped checking Oliver's location a while ago when it showed he was at the hospital.

"Baby," I say in a low volume, and she looks over at me. Her eyes are wide and frightened. I wish there were a way I could remove that look from her face, and that fear from her heart. "Oliver is in the best place he could possibly be in right now. This would've happened even if he was at home with you. None of this happened because of something you did, or didn't do."

"Thank you," she mouths. I reach for her over the center console, grasping her hand with mine. I don't give a shit about the man-child in the backseat watching and listening. Making Eden feel better is all that matters right now.

We arrive at the hospital and I hardly have the car in Park before Eden is opening the door and heading for the entrance.

"Good to see she hasn't stopped being headstrong," Justin mutters. "Are you sure you're up for that?" He nods his head at Eden's figure, striding quickly toward the building.

My glare cuts his way. "She's worried about her kid."

"Our kid," he shoots back.

I open up the passenger door, gathering the water and snacks. Justin's already walking inside.

"We're prepping him for surgery," Dr. Mendelson says. "His appendix has not ruptured yet, but we need to get it out before it does." He glances between me, Eden, and Justin. "I heard he was camping when this happened. Good work to whoever figured out it was appendicitis. You never know with these things. Sometimes you have days, other times, only hours. I'll let you know as soon as the surgery is over. Expect an hour, laparoscopic." With a curt nod he strides from the room, leaving the three of us in a waiting room filled with uncomfortable plastic chairs and decidedly non-soothing abstract artwork.

The mom who was chaperoning the trip and drove Oliver here waits on the periphery. Eden goes to her and says a few words. The woman is visibly shaken and worried, and she gives Eden a hug before she leaves. Presumably to return to the students, who are still in the middle of their fun weekend away.

Eden rejoins us, running a hand up and down her neck as she tips her head to the ceiling and takes a deep breath.

"It's going to be ok," I tell her, reaching for her hip. I want her to know I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. She won't have to walk through this without me.

Eden lowers her head. Tries her best to offer a weak, shaky smile. "I still can't believe you were able to diagnose him over the phone."

"It was a guess." If everything happens for a reason, this must be why I was with Justin when his ruptured. I remember the way he complained of stomach pain earlier that day, how he asked to stay home from school. His dad scoffed and told him to toughen up. After we arrived home from school, fourteen-year-old Justin writhed on the floor in distress, his body hot to the touch. Delirious from fever and pain, he'd wet himself. I'd called his dad and my mom, over and over. No answer. Finally, I called for an ambulance. When our parents finally showed up at the hospital, and Justin was in emergency surgery, his dad yelled at me for calling an ambulance because it wasn't covered by insurance. It was the beginning of a long overdue ending to their marriage.

Because of that day, I read everything I could about how to spot appendicitis.

Eden's arms wrap around me. She buries her face in my chest. "Thank God you were nearby when I talked to Oliver's teacher."

"Yeah," Justin mutters sharply. "Thank God."

I let the comment pass. Eden doesn't need Justin and I going toe-to-toe at the hospital when Oliver's in surgery.

"I'm going to see if I can get coffee," Eden says. "I saw a sign for a cafeteria."

"I can get it for you," I offer. I'd be happy to be put to use.

"I'd like to walk a little. Say a prayer." She tries to smile, but it doesn't stick.

Justin slumps in a chair when Eden's gone. I do the same, two seats down.

The woman at the registration desk chats in a low volume with a man in scrubs. A bank of elevators to our left dings and opens, swooshes closed, and does it all again two minutes later. The silence stretches between me and Justin, bursting with old frustrations and new grievances.

I don't know what I was thinking taking over the cabin the way I did. Or what I was expecting to do with it at some undetermined time when I was ready to move on. Should I tell Justin that the cabin gave me a sense of purpose? That I'm sorry for being shady, even if my intentions were honorable? Would he understand?

"You're a noisy thinker. You always have been." Justin's eyes are closed, his arms crossed.

My initial reaction is to tell him to shut the fuck up, but I stow it. Maybe I should try something different now. I'm serious about Eden, and Eden comes with Oliver, and Oliver comes with Justin.

"Lots to think about," I say, stretching my legs out in front of me.