Felicia

Arriving at Swedish Medical Center, it’s been the longest four hours of my life. Luckily, they left a message that she survived the surgery, so I got that as soon as we landed. Talking to a nurse at the cardiology desk, she tells me that Mom is still in recovery and they expect her to wake up at any time.

“Thank you for everything,” I tell Rex as we take a seat in the waiting room.

“You’re very welcome. You don’t have to keep thanking me,” he says with a subdued smile, taking hold of my hand. “One of the scariest things in life is losing a parent, so I wanted to do everything I could for you.”

“Sally can handle it alone?” I ask, still feeling guilty for dumping everything on her.

“She’ll be fine. I’m paying the trucking crew extra to tear down everything so she doesn’t have to do it. I’m sure by now, things are pretty well sold out, so I told her just to take tomorrow and enjoy the show,” he says with a smile. “She wants to try one of those toys on Sylvester.”

“You told her about that?” I ask, completely horrified.

“Of course. Hell, it was so mind-blowing I had to tell someone. Other than you, she’s the only one I can talk to about shit like that.”

“You two are funny. Now I’m embarrassed.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. She knows that you and I are going to be an ongoing thing,” he says, giving me a loving look. “I told her it’s not about fucking the intern or anything like that.”

“That’s so sweet of you,” I reply, rolling my eyes. “What about Kathy?”

“What about her?” His brow immediately furrows.

“She’s going to come back to the booth at midnight and you’ll be gone.”

“Whatever. I couldn’t care less. I just said what I did to get her off my back,” he says with a leery look in his eyes. “I have no doubt that Sally will handle her just fine.”

The waiting room falls silent as we realize we are the only ones talking. A television overhead silently plays the news while the closed captions give us some idea what they’re talking about. I look around the waiting room at all the long faces, many people sitting alone, waiting for news on someone they love. I don’t want to say it again, but I really do appreciate his dropping everything and coming with me. I would’ve been an absolute basket case without him.

“Felicia?” a nurse asks after we’ve been waiting about twenty-five minutes.

“Yes.”

“Your mother is awake,” she says, leading both Rex and I to pop from our chairs. “She’s still in recovery, so I’m just going to take her back,” she tells him. “You can join them once she’s in a room.”

“Sure. No problem.” He pats my shoulder and sits back down. “I’ll be here if you need anything.” The supportive look on his face is all I need from him. The fact that he dropped everything on a moment’s notice to fly home with me is still astonishing to me. I would expect him to help me get a flight and maybe arrange a ride to the airport, but he went well above and beyond. We walk down a brightly lit hallway to a room at the far end. I find myself holding my breath as we approach.

“She’s awake. Just go up and talk to her,” the nurse says as we enter the room. Mom is hooked up to IVs, a ventilator, and various other tubes. There is a constant beeping of the monitors, making sure that her vitals remain stable.

“I’m here, Mom,” I say, placing my hand on her arm and bending down to give her a kiss on the forehead.

She smiles with her eyes acknowledging me. “The ventilator will be removed shortly and then we’ll move her to an ICU room,” the nurse assures before leaving us.

“Thank you for pulling through.” I bend down and give her another kiss. “I was so scared. I’ll give David a call as soon as you’re moved. I don’t think I can use my phone back here.” Knowing David, he will just send flowers and give her a call in a day or two to check up on her. That’s been the extent of his interaction with her the past few years. Nonetheless, he needs to be called.

“It will be about twenty minutes,” the nurse says, sticking her head in the room. “Do you need anything?”

“No, I’m fine.” I sit down next to Mom and decide it’s a good time to talk to her about Rex. This is the first time I’ve ever had a chance to tell her what’s on my mind uninterrupted, so I start at the beginning. Her expression remains unchanged as I go into all the details of what has gone on in the weeks since we met. I leave out the details about the sex toys and things like that, but I make a point to tell her that this has been an incredible awakening for me, something that never would’ve happened if I hadn’t given him a chance. I also let her know that he literally dropped everything and walked away from his booth at the convention so he could fly home with me. A lone tear runs down the side of her cheek as she listens to my story. “I’m so glad you’re going to be okay. I need you around to talk to.”

I take her hand and continue to talk while she continues to listen. I spill my guts about Becca, Kip, and a few other past boyfriends who have never treated me the way Rex does. By the time they return to remove the ventilator and move her to ICU, I’m running out of confessions and things to talk about. “I’ll meet you in a bit. I’m going to call David,” I tell her, excusing myself from the room.

Rex

After watching an hour of CNN on closed caption, I’m glad when the nurse finally tells me that I can join Felicia and her mother. I feel a bit awkward meeting her for the first time under these conditions, but I’m just glad I’m getting the chance to meet her. They are both smiling as I enter the room. I heard Felicia saying, “Don’t you dare say that to him.” as I rounded the corner.

“Say what?” I ask, lowering my eyes and looking back and forth between them.

“She was telling me how sexy you look in a pair of dress pants,” her mother says with a hoarse laugh. “So I told her I was going to ask you to turn around.”

“It’s good to see you’re feeling better,” I reply while doing a slow three-sixty for her.

“You’re right. Very nice,” she says, clearing her throat. “Would you give me a few of those ice chips?” As Felicia helps her mother, I begin to think about my own parents. I need to call them, maybe even set up a dinner where I can introduce them to Felicia. I know they’re going to like her, and Mom will be excited to hear that I’m in a monogamous relationship. She always says it’s the quickest path to true happiness. She might be right—as long as you share that path with the right person. My logical mind keeps reminding me that it’s too early to make a rational judgment, but my heart keeps telling me that I’ve found the one.

After a few more ice chips and a couple of spoonfuls of Jell-O, the color is returning to her mother’s face. Felicia’s brother calls back, so she excuses herself to take the call, leaving me sitting alone with her. “I guess they still use orange Jell-O after a major surgery, huh?” I ask, not really knowing what to say.

“I like Jell-O,” she says, glancing over at me. “It tastes especially good today.”

“I’ll bet it does.”

“I’ve never seen her so eager to tell me about someone,” she says, tears welling up in her eyes. “She’s really excited.”

“I am too. You raised an incredible daughter.” I stand up and take a step toward the bed so I can hear her a little more clearly.

“Please don’t hurt her,” she says with more tears sliding along the sides of her nose. I reach over and grab a couple of tissues, handing them to her.

“I have absolutely no intention of hurting her, Mrs. Connors. She brings light to my days, and I can’t imagine not seeing her at the office. I’m going to give her the marketing director job,” I announce before even making it official with Felicia.

“That’s great, but I hope you two have a good relationship outside work as well. I’ve heard it can be hard to do both.”

“I really don’t think we’ll have an issue, Mrs. Connors. We get along so well. I think we’ve shared almost every meal we’ve had together.”

“That’s a good sign,” she says, clearing her throat again. “I went back to my maiden name, so just call me Beth.”

“Okay, Beth.” I reach over and hand her another tissue. “As soon as you feel up to it, I’m going to invite you to my place, and we’ll all have a nice meal together. I’ll make something heart healthy for you.”

“Ah, shit. Now I suppose I’ll have to give up Ribeyes,” she says, shaking her head. “God, I love those on the grill.”

“I’ll grill some Arctic Char and asparagus with fingerling potatoes. You’ll love it,” I assure her. “I’m sure a little ribeye now and then won’t hurt anything either. Life is all about balance, isn’t it?”

“You’re right.” She turns her gaze toward the ceiling, so I step back and sit down, thinking she would like to just rest. “I really like you,” she adds just as Felicia rejoins us.

“I like you too, Beth.” I smile at Felicia, who looks as pleased as can be.

“David is coming to visit,” she announces. “He’ll be here either Wednesday or Thursday depending on which flight he can get on. He’s anxious to see you,” she tells Beth with a big smile.

“That’ll be nice,” she says, closing her eyes and smiling. “I just need a little rest.”

“Okay, we’ll be here if you need anything,” I reply without giving it a second thought.

“I’m starting to believe that you did help all those women out of the goodness of your heart,” she says, tickling me in the ribs as we make our way down to the family room. “You don’t have to sit here with me if there is something else you’d rather be doing.”

“I don’t think you understand yet,” I tell her, looking into those big, beautiful hazel eyes. “I have nothing on my agenda that can compete with you. Or your mother, for that matter. She’s a great lady.”

“You’re just saying that because she likes you,” she says with a giggle.

“Hey, I’m glad she likes me,” I reply, still mesmerized by her eyes. “Because I’ve fallen in love with her daughter.”

“I can’t believe you said it first,” she says, looking as if she’s going to cry again. “I’ve been wanting to say it all week, but I knew I shouldn’t.”

“I know. I just couldn’t wait any longer.” I pull her to me and kiss her with a passion that doesn’t belong in a hospital ICU. It doesn’t matter though. It’s time to live for the moment and do what feels right. Kissing this woman and telling her how much I adore her are the only things that feel right at the moment. “I can’t wait to see what’s next.”

“Me either. How about some cafeteria food? I’m totally starving,” she says with a giggle.

“That sounds like a perfect way to start our future together,” I reply with a heartfelt laugh. “I hope they have some orange Jell-O. Your mom said it was especially good today.”

Walking down the stark white corridor hand in hand, I know that my future is with her. There is no question. The only thing I haven’t figured out yet is how I’m going to top what she did to me last night. I think we’re going to have to visit the cabin tomorrow so I can pick up one of those toys that she put in the reject pile. It’s time to broaden her horizons again.