I cut him off, “And what sleep? After all that lasagna and garlic bread, all I want to do is nap.” So maybe I was holding a tiny grudge, sue me. I felt badly. I shouldn’t do this, it’s his birthday, he was happy, he didn’t do anything wrong…why do I play these games?
I got over myself and took his hand. “We can at least snuggle,” I said, pasting a smile on my face. Let it go.
Napping is exactly what we ended up doing; the hot sex was curtailed until later.
Chapter 16
I woke up to heavy rain. Listening to it hit the window, I was glad to be warm under the covers. I’d intended on getting in a long run in the morning, but all I wanted to do was stay beside Austin. At least it was still late and I could sleep. Maybe I’d still get that run in, we’ll see. I made excuses while I curled into my lover.
When the phone rang, it took me by surprise. Who would be calling this late? I crawled out of bed and grabbed my cell phone off of the dresser. Weird, it was Scott. “Hello,” I whispered into the phone.
“Kate, it’s Scott, Heather was in an accident. We’re over at Mercy General,” he sounded disjointed.
“Is she okay, what about the baby?” I tried to remain calm.
“We don’t know yet,” he finished. “She’s asking for you, she’s scared. I need to call her parents, can you get here?”
“I’m on my way,” I quickly pulled on my jeans and woke up Austin.
“Austin, baby, wake up,” I said trying to gently nudge him awake. “Heather was in an accident, we need to go to the hospital.”
His face went pale. “Is she okay?”
“I don’t know, Scott just called,” I said pulling a shirt over my head. “Can you drive me?”
“Yeah,” he said, but something seemed off. I couldn’t place it.
Quickly gathering our things, we headed out to his car and rushed over to the hospital. Austin could wait with Scott and help him through, and apparently she was asking for me. Her parents didn’t live nearby, so maybe she just wanted those close to her around.”
“Do you know how bad it is?” He asked.
“He doesn’t know much yet, I asked about the baby, but I think they were still checking things.”
“Oh, I hope she doesn’t lose the baby, they were so happy.”
“I know,” we drove the rest of the way in silence.
Pulling up and parking, Austin stood at the car with his hands in his pockets.
“Come on, are you ready?” I prodded to get him moving. He seemed stuck.
“I don’t do hospitals well. Maybe I could just stay here, or wait outside. Just let Scott know I’m here,” he said, looking down.
“What? You don’t want to go inside?”
“I can’t…not right now. I know you don’t understand, but please don’t press me.”
I was confused, but if he can’t do hospitals he can’t do hospitals. I left him behind and went inside. I texted Scott telling him that I was here. He directed me to where he was, and then took me to see Heather.
“What’s going on?” I asked, worried about Heather.
He looked drained, tired from the stressful situation. “I don’t know all of the details. She was coming back from visiting friends, and it was late with low visibility. I got a call that she was here and rushed over. I’ve seen her, but she’s not sure of everything, and just said it happened really fast. A car was coming through a stop sign and didn’t stop, it clipped her car. She hit a tree and the airbag deployed, but her mind went foggy from the shock. She doesn’t remember much more. They’ve heard a heart beat, so we think the baby is okay, but they’re running some tests. They’ll probably keep her overnight, but she kept asking for you. I told her I’d call you.”
When she was back to her temporary room after a bunch of tests, I was allowed to go sit with her. “Hey,” I said, quietly walking behind the curtained space. “How are you doing?”
“Better now, I was so scared. It looks like she’s going to be okay,” she said, visibly relieved and rubbing her belly. I could tell she’d been shaken. “I was worried about the baby.”
“Scott said you were asking for me,” I said, wondering if there was something she wanted to say.
“I was so scared, what if something happened to me? I never got a chance to tell you, I want you to be a part of our child’s life. If something happened to me…” she stopped herself, not wanting to cry. “Would you step in, help out Scott. He’d be lost doing it all by himself. She could call you Aunt Kate,” she said.