Page 47 of A Fighting Chance

“You should go back to sleep,” he whispers.

I look back at Harper and then over to Nan. She’s resting similarly, curled into a ball in her chair. She looks pitiful. I want to reach for her.

“She’s okay,” he says, reading my thoughts.

“How long has it been?” I ask.

“A little over an hour, almost two I think,” he says.

“We should hear something soon,” I say, hopeful.

“Hope so,” he says.

I feel his arm tighten around me and I exhale slowly. I feel so safe like this.

“Get some sleep,” he says.

I nod my head and lay my head back down on his shoulder, nuzzling against him. He brushes a light kiss to the hair on top of my head and rests his cheek against me. It takes me several minutes to fall back asleep after that, but I finally manage it. I concentrate on Gentry’s heartbeat and breathing, a symphony of peaceful percussion, filling my ears.

Sixteen

Lyla

I wake up later.How much later, I can’t say. As I open my eyes, I don’t know if it’s been a few minutes or a few hours. The sterile hospital walls and fluorescent lights overhead give me no hints. Looking around, I notice a few people have joined the waiting area but it’s still quite empty. Then I see that Nan and Harper are gone. I start searching around to see if perhaps they’ve just moved or walked to the nurses’ station, but I don’t see them anywhere.

Gentry’s arm moves underneath me. “Harper convinced Nan to go get something to eat in the cafeteria,” he informs me.

I nod my head, relieved to know Nan is eating. I know if we don’t force the issue, she won’t. “What time is it? How long have we been here? Do we know anything else?”

“It’s nearly seven,” Gentry says. “The doctor came out again, just to let us know the surgery was progressing well, but he hasn’t been back since. Everyone was asleep except for me at that point.”

“I’m sorry. I should have stayed awake,” I say, sitting up more in my seat.

Gentry’s arm reluctantly loosens in response, like letting me go is the exact opposite of what he wants to do. “No, it’s okay—really. You needed rest. And I rested, too. I just happened to be awake in that moment,” he says.

I give him a pointed look.

He brushes his thumb over my jaw and tilts his head slightly, his eyes trained on my face, as if he’s studying it, memorizing it.

I reach up and place my hand over his, closing my eyes and nuzzling my face into his palm. His touch soothes me and, regardless of what might happen later on with us, I’m glad he’s here right now. “Thank you for coming,” I say.

“Of course,” he says. “Do you need anything?”

“I’m actually a little hungry myself,” I say, despite not wanting to be.

He smiles at me and leans up in his chair. “Do you want to go join Harper and Nan?”

I nod my head and we stand slowly, stretching our bodies out once we’re up. Being cramped in these chairs has really done a number on my back. Of course, it’s the sort of thing you don’t realize until you stand and attempt to move.

As we walk down the hallway toward the elevators, Gentry takes my hand in his. He laces our fingers together and I let him do it. We haven’t talked about displays of affection in front of others or whether or not we should indulge in them, so I go along with it.

We find the cafeteria a few minutes later. It’s a couple of floors down and even though I’m hungry, almost nothing looks appealing. Sure, because it’s hospital cafeteria food. But also because suddenly, I feel a little sick at the thought of eating anything. I settle on a plate of hash browns and some apple juice.

Gentry meets me at the register and looks down at my plate, his eyes assessing and judging, all at once. “That’s all you want?” he inquires.

I nod. “I don’t think I can eat much.”

He concedes, most likely understanding that despite my body’s hunger, I have a mental block to battle as well.