Page 72 of The One Timer

“Thank you, but I don’t deserve any credit. The doctors with her now are doing all the work. We’ll have to wait and see what they say. I’m hoping it was mild enough for a quick and complete recovery.”

Then Mr. and Mrs. Foster and Sheryl walk in. The family breaks away from me and they go to the Fosters, exchanging hugs. I want to ask Uvi if she got hold of Chase, but the woman leaves me to greet more family members as they arrive.

Retreat to a corner, stand against a wall with a direct view of the waiting room entry. I’m waiting for Chase. The power of my need to see him overwhelms me and I don’t care, don’t scold myself or try to reason it away.

Chapter Twenty-Five

CHASE

As soon as I walk in the door, I see Em in the corner, our eyes meeting in that heart-racing collision like always, giving me a much-needed jolt of joy, even if it’s only for a second. I head straight for her.

But Sheryl Foster intercepts me before I take more than a few steps and embraces me hard. “I know how hard this is for you Chase, because I was there when you first came to live with Grandma Molly, when you were so wounded you couldn’t deal properly with the loss of your parents.”

“I remember. You helped me.” She was a distraction and a friend, but not the kind I shared my soul with, not like Em.

She’s crying and telling me how broken up she is and I find myself consoling her now when my heart and soul cries out for consolation of my own from the one person who can give it, Em.

Dragging Sheryl with me because I need to see Em, I head for Emery and when I get to her I stare into her eyes, wanting to hug her and hold onto her for all I’m worth. I try to slip from Sheryl’s grip, but she hangs on.

“Em…’ It’s all I can say. I clear my throat “Uvi told me what happened, what you did…”

“I did what any nurse—or almost nurse—would do.” She smiles and I take her hand and squeeze it. She flashes a glance at Sheryl and pulls her hand from mine. The need to feel her warmth, to talk to her, to hear her soft voice in my ear, overwhelms me.

I turn to Sheryl. “Can you give us a minute. Alone.”

“Alone?”

“Yeah. I want to talk to Emery by myself.”

She stares up at me and her mouth quivers, but she nods. Fuck. I should smooth things over. Sheryl is one of my oldest and best friends, but I can’t right now. Control over my emotions hangs on by a thread.

She nods. “Okay.” She darts a smile at Emery and leaves, going to huddle with her family.

As soon as she’s gone, I take Emery in my arms and squeeze, but the most gratifying feeling is when she squeezes me back. We stay like that for I don’t know how long, feeling my heart beat against her chest, breathing in her scent. I could hold her forever, but she let’s go of me after too short a time.

She aims her honey gold eyes up at mine. “I’ve never been so glad to see someone as I am to see you right now,” she says. Tears start streaming down her face and my chest clenches. She swipes at them and pushes my hand away when I want to wipe them for her and take her back in my arms.

She gives a small derisive laugh. “I’m sorry. I know how hard this is for you and I want to console you—I should be consoling you, not crying like a big baby.”

“No you’re not, you’re my hero. You saved the day. If you weren’t with Gran—” I cut myself off and take a big swallow, trying to get rid of the clog of emotions. It doesn’t work.

“Don’t hold back, Chase. You should be upset and afraid and sad and all those things. Because you’re human and you’ve been through so much.”

I bury my face in her hair and choke out a sob. She holds me, stroking my back as I clutch her, holding on for dear life, trying not to fall apart.

“She’s everything to me, Em.”

“I know.”

She doesn’t try and talk me out of my desolation, doesn’t try and reassure me, or tell me to think of the rest of my family or how Gran is old and has had a great life or any of the other things I’ve heard, or hell, the kinds of things I’ve told myself on the way here.

Somehow her understanding, her letting me be vulnerable and have a moment of misery, gives me strength and I straighten. I let her wipe the tears from my face and then I kiss her. It’s the kind of kiss that seals our connection, what we have, that tells her how much she means to me, how grateful I am to her.

And when it ends I’m ready to face whatever I need to face. “Let’s go see how Kat and Uncle Walt are holding up,” I say.

We make our way to the knot of family and friends, all standing near the double doors with the sign that says medical personnel only. The initial shock has worn off and both Kat and Uncle Walt are impatient to get some news from the doctors.

“How long does this take?” Kat asks Emery.