Page 91 of Coastal Rewind

I was in the hospital.

I moved to sit up but a hand dwarfing mine made me pause. I followed the arm and saw my dad sitting in the recliner chair at my side.

“Dad?” I croaked as the tears started to fall.

“Shh, sweetie, it’s okay.” He reached up and swiped my tear away with his thumb. “You’re in the hospital. You collapsed at the party and had to have surgery.”

“How long have I been in here?”

“About a day and a half. They said your body might need time to rest so we’ve all been taking shifts waiting.”

“Mason?” I went to move again, but my dad stopped me.

“He’s been here the entire time. He just stepped out to get a coffee.”

As if I conjured him with my mind, Mason appeared in the doorway holding two cardboard to-go cups. The moment our eyes locked, I broke into a sob. Mason bolted into action, handing my dad the two steaming cups, and sliding into bed next to me. I fell into his chest as he gripped the back of my head and held me against him.

“It’s okay, baby. I’m right here. I got you.”

“I’m going to give you guys a minute and let the family know she’s awake.” My dad lifted one of the coffee cups, gesturing to the door. His eyes locked with Mason’s before he slipped out of the room.

I pulled away from Mason and looked up at him. “What happened?”

He looked away for a moment before his eyes found me again. I saw his throat move as he swallowed.

“You collapsed during your speech at the party and started bleeding. You were pregnant, Ry. The embryo implanted in one of your fallopian tubes and it burst. They had to rush you into surgery, and one of your ovaries didn’t make it. It was the same one that had the tumor on it. I know this is a lot to take in, but you’re going to be okay.”

I was silent as his words sank in.

I was pregnant.

My pregnancy failed.

The one thing my mother could do that I never will.

“Ryleigh, look at me.” Mason put his fingers under my chin and tilted my head up. “I know this is a lot, and it’ll take time to really sink in, but you are perfect the way you are. You are perfect with one ovary or no ovaries. You are perfect if you have a baby or if you don’t. I don’t want you to think for one second that this changes my mind about you or us or our future.”

“You still love me?” I croaked.

“Even more than I did yesterday, Sunshine.”

“I love you, too. I was going to tell you at the party.”

Mason smiled and leaned down to kiss me. “Too bad you had to give me a heart attack instead,” he whispered against my lips.

I let out a watery laugh as the tears refused to stop.

There was a knock on the door and two blonde heads popped in as soon as it opened. “We heard our girl is awake,” Keegan said, forcing a confident smile that I saw through immediately.

Keegan was the headstrong one who loved to act unaffected, but I’d seen her softer side more than a few times.

Mason kissed my head before shifting off the bed to stand. “I’ll let you guys talk. I’ll be right outside.”

He closed the door behind him as Keegan and Maeve stood awkwardly at the foot of my bed. Hospitals were collectively not our favorite place in the world. We all had some of our worst memories in places like this.

Keegan finally got the courage to look me in the eyes, but only for a second before she scrunched her face and squeezed her eyes closed while taking big deep breaths.

“Keegs, come here,” I said gently.