Page 113 of As Long As You'll Have Me
“There she is, our sweet honey bee,” a voice says from down the hall. Hanna turns her head and smiles widely at the small group of people walking towards us. She almost skips toward her dad who’s the only one I recognize in the group and flings her arms around his neck. Two other people, a man and a woman, stand and wait for her to embrace them too. Turning around, she walks back to stand by my side and they follow.
“Miles, this is my family. You’ve met Richie.” She nods in his direction and he gives me a friendly nod. “And this is his partner, George, and my mom, Melissa, but you can call her Mel.”
Melissa steps closer and pulls me into a hug. “It’s so lovely to meet you, Miles. Richie has told me you’re quite the catch.”
“Thanks a lot, Mel. He didn’t need to know that,” Richie deadpans, glaring at his ex-wife.
“He also told me that you wereverygood looking. It’s a good thing he only dates men his age or I might be in trouble,” George adds with a hint of humor in his voice.
“I’m sorry, but did someone forget to tell me that it’s ‘gang up on Richie day?’ I’ll just see myself out, I guess,” he groans, tossing his arms into the air. Hanna starts to laughand it seems to be contagious. It isn’t long until we’re all laughing.
“It’s lovely to see you all,” I say, glancing between the three of them. “I don’t mean to be rude but, uhm, what are you doing here?”
“I asked them to come; I hope that’s okay,” Hanna says at my side.
“We brought food,” Richie says, holding up a brown paper bag.
“And coffee,” George adds with a smile.
“And the willingness to run errands or make calls while you’re here,” Mel finishes. “We’re here to help however we can, even if that’s only to sit with you while you wait for answers.”
“They’re here to take care of you,” Hanna starts, biting her bottom lip. “You and your family take care of other people all the time. I thought it was time someone took care of all of you for once.”
Looking down at her, I can’t believe she’s mine. That she had the thought and care for not only me but for my family to notice that we could use a little love and support. We’re a strong group of people, but even the strongest people need a little help sometimes. I’m about to speak when the door to Carter’s room opens and Ivy and Willow step out. We all turn to face them and Ivy looks at us, confused.
“What’s this?” she asks, removing her paper gown and discarding her isolation gear.
“Hanna’s family is here to make sure we all eat and are taken care of,” I explain, wrapping an arm around Hanna’s shoulder and pulling her into my side. She embraces me and smiles at Ivy.
“We brought food, coffee, phone chargers, magazines.Everything you want while you’re camping out in a hospital,” Richie explains with a wide smile.
Tears well up in Ivy’s eyes at their gesture of kindness. True to Ivy form, she walks up and pulls the three of them into a hug. “Thank you for helping our family.”
Seeing our two families coming together like this makes my heart squeeze. It’s all I ever wanted as a kid—to have a family. A big family. One that’s filled with endless love and care. And somehow, I managed to find that in not only my family but also in Hanna’s. I kiss her on the forehead, and rest my chin on her head, soaking in the moment with her.
“While I’d love to stay, I have to get back to work. I’m off in another hour and will come back down to check on Carter. Will you all still be here when I am done?” Willow asks, looking between me and Ivy.
“I don’t plan on leaving unless someone physically removes me,” Ivy says matter-of-factly. She might be old but she’s stubborn as a bull so I know she means what she says.
“I’ll be here too. The firehouse knows where I am and Trev has things covered for me.” She purses her lips at me and nods her head.
“I think I saw a private room down the hall, maybe we could use that to eat,” George offers. The group nods in agreement and begins to follow him and Hanna’s family down the hall. She takes a few steps but stops when she doesn’t see me coming too.
“I’ll be right there,” I assure her. She glances at me and then to Willow who’s standing a few feet from me with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She doesn’t say anything, just gives me a knowing smile and nods. When she’s gone, I turn to look at Willow.
“You okay?” I ask, feeling the weight of my words sitting on my chest.
She wraps her arms around herself tighter and keeps her eyes on the worn linoleum floor. I can see she’s clenching her jaw and chewing on the inside of her lip. Willow has lived through a lot—losing her mom and then her dad. It made her strong but also forced her to grow this hard outer shell that she uses to protect herself. To keep herself safe. Growing up, she and Carter had this relationship that was different from the rest of us. He’s the only one who seems to be able to get her to come out of that shell and let her guard down.
I take a step closer to her and rest my hand on her arm. The move seems to snap the last remaining resolve she had been clinging to and she breaks down into tears. Shielding her eyes with her hands, her shoulders slump over themselves, shaking as she cries. I close the gap between us and use a strong arm to pull her into my chest, wrapping her up like a safety blanket. Her hands cover her face as she sobs and I can feel my shirt becoming stained with her tears.
“He could have died,” she weeps against my chest.
“But he didn’t,” I say, trying to comfort her with the truth.
“But he could have. And if he had, the last thing we would have done together was get into a stupid fight.”
“What were you fighting about?” I ask.
