Penny still had Caleb’s hoodie. She didn’t realize it until she was sitting in the waiting room of the cardiac care unit.

The volunteer at the desk was a kind elderly woman wearing a red bib and a name tag that said “Joan.” She wasn’t allowed to tell Penny anything about George’s condition because she wasn’t family, although she’d been very apologetic about the need to protect patient privacy.

George’s son Mike was on his way though. Penny had gotten in touch with him at his office and explained what had happened. He’d called the hospital himself, then found a seat on a flight leaving in an hour, but he wouldn’t be here until three thirty. Penny had a long wait ahead of her.

She looked around the waiting room, which was half full of worried-looking friends and family. There was a water cooler and a coffee pod machine off to one side. A selection of herbal teas and granola bars. A small bowl of wrapped peppermints. A television was tuned to CNN, but the volume was turned down low, so it was just a dull murmur in the background instead of an insistent squawk. Penny had chosen a seat facing away from it. She didn’t need the news making her even more anxious. There was a fish tank across from where she sat. Angelfish and tetras swam in slow, peaceful circles.

The volunteer at the desk was reading a mystery novel. Every once in a while someone would come out of the doors leading to the cardiac care unit and speak to her in hushed tones. She’d point them to one of the waiting families. Sometimes they’d be led into the back, or sometimes the doctor or nurse would speak to them for a moment and then disappear again, leaving them to continue their vigil.

Penny wished she had her knitting with her so she’d have something to do that didn’t require concentration. She’d been trying to read Star Wars fanfic on her phone. Finn and Poe were handcuffed together and locked in a meat freezer, forced to huddle for life-saving warmth. It was one of her favorite tropes, but she kept reading the same paragraph over and over without digesting a word.

She swiped to her contacts and stared at Caleb’s name. She wanted to text him, but she didn’t have any news yet. He’d probably be worried though. He might appreciate an update, even if it was just to say there weren’t any updates yet.

She typed out a message. George’s son is on his way. They won’t tell me anything until he gets here.

Caleb’s reply came within seconds. Thanks for letting me know.

I’ve still got your hoodie, Penny typed. I’m sorry.

I’m glad you’ve got it. Hospitals are cold.

Penny was glad too. It made her feel less alone.

She’d been too upset to properly appreciate the hug Caleb had given her while it was happening. But she could still remember how it felt to have his arms around her. If she closed her eyes, she could almost feel them again. The thick firmness of his muscles. The reassuring warmth of his body. The way he smelled: like coffee and something subtly spicy.

The same way his hoodie smelled. She pulled it up over her nose and inhaled. It was almost like having him with her.

Whenever the doors to the cardiac care unit opened, everyone in the waiting room would go silent for a moment, their heads all swiveling to see whose turn it was to be spoken to. Someone had just come out—a handsome Indian doctor wearing scrubs and tennis shoes. He consulted with the volunteer, and then came over to where Penny was sitting. “Are you here for George Simkin?”

Penny swallowed. “Yes.” The doctor was tall and lanky like a basketball player, and he towered over her.

He held out a hand. “I’m Doctor Ramesh.”

“Penny Popplestone.” He had soft hands, but a firm handshake. “I was at the coffee shop when George collapsed. We’re friends.”

Doctor Ramesh sat down in the chair beside her. “I understand his family lives out of town.”

She nodded. “I called his son. He’s flying down from San Jose, but he won’t be here for a few hours. Is George okay?”

The doctor gave her a reassuring smile. “He’s awake and stable. We’re about to take him into surgery.”

“Oh. Okay.” That felt like good news. At least it wasn’t bad news.

“The procedure should take about three hours, but sometimes it can take longer, so there’s no need to worry if it does. As soon as we’re done, I’ll come out with an update on his condition.” He spoke kindly, but with brisk efficiency, like he’d given this speech a thousand times before. “After surgery, he’ll go to recovery for a couple hours. Once he’s awake, he can have a family member come back and see him. Hopefully his son will be here by then.”

Penny nodded, feeling overwhelmed. Doctor Ramesh gave her an encouraging smile and got to his feet.

She watched him disappear through the double doors before she got out her phone and called George’s son. It went straight to voicemail, which hopefully meant he was on the plane already. She left a message repeating what the doctor had said.

When she was done she typed out a text to Caleb with the same information.

She stared at the screen as she waited for him to reply. And waited. And waited.

She was on the verge of giving up when the phone buzzed in her hand with an incoming call. From Caleb.

She went out into the hall to answer it. “Hi,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady.

“Hey.” His voice sounded deeper on the phone. Huskier. “That’s good news.”

“It is, right? I thought so, but—”

“No, if he’s awake it’s definitely good.”

Penny let out a long breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Hearing Caleb’s voice made her feel a lot better.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said, rubbing her eyes. “Just worried. And I hate hospitals.”

“Me too.” She heard the sound of the milk frother in the background.

“You’re at work still?”

“Yeah. Roxanne came in and sent Elyse home. She was pretty freaked out.”

“Poor Elyse.” Poor all of them.

“I better get back to work,” Caleb said. “You sure you’re okay? Is there anything we can do?”

“No, I’m fine. There’s nothing to do right now but wait.”

“Okay,” he said. “I’ll see you later.”

Penny went back into the waiting room and settled in for the long wait.

Two hours later, George’s son showed up. He was short and wiry, just like his dad, only with a little more hair. He gave Penny a hug when she introduced herself. “My dad’s told me all about you.”

“Really?”

Mike nodded and rubbed his palms on his business casual khakis. “He talks about everyone at that coffee shop like they’re family.”

Penny swallowed around the lump in her throat. “He’s like family to us too.”

The volunteer brought over a clipboard of forms for Mike to fill out. While he was working on them, Penny offered to get him something to eat, and he accepted her offer gratefully.

She came back ten minutes later with a granola bar and a banana for herself and a hamburger and french fries for Mike.

“Thank you so much,” he said. “For everything. It’s nice to have someone here so I don’t have to wait alone.”

While he ate his hamburger, Penny recounted the episode at the coffee shop that morning, telling him how quick-thinking Caleb had been to recognize what was happening, administer aspirin, and start CPR. She also told him what the paramedic had said about it maybe saving George’s life.

They killed the next hour making hushed small talk in the waiting room while they waited for George to get out of surgery. Mike’s wife was staying in San Jose for another two days with their son, but they were coming down Friday afternoon as soon as she picked him up from school. Hopefully George would be well enough to see his grandson by then.

After a while, they ran out of things to say and fell into an edgy silence. Penny glanced at the clock on the wall for approximately the one thousandth time. Any minute now, the doctor might come out with an update—or it might be another hour or two.

She took out her phone and deliberated texting Caleb again but decided against it. If he was waiting anxiously for an update, it would be mean to keep getting his hopes up by texting him when there wasn’t any news.

She’d just put her phone away again when she saw Caleb standing out in the hall.

He was watching her with his hands in his pockets like he was trying to make up his mind whether to come in. When she smiled at him, he nodded in acknowledgement and started toward her.

“Caleb!” She was so happy to see him she almost jumped up and hugged him again, but something about his body language stopped her. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

“I just got off work and thought I’d wait with you.” His eyes flicked over to Mike, who’d stood up when he approached.

“Mike, this is Caleb,” Penny explained. “From the coffee shop.”

Mike stepped forward and hugged Caleb. “Thank you. Penny told me you saved my dad’s life.”

“I didn’t do that much,” Caleb muttered as Mike clung to him. “It wasn’t a big deal.”

Mike let go of him and reached up to rest a hand on his shoulder. He was at least five inches shorter than Caleb. “I’m so glad you were there. I can’t even imagine what might have happened if Dad had been at home alone.”

“Don’t think about that,” Penny said, shuddering at the thought of George lying on the floor of his house alone, possibly for hours.

Caleb shifted his weight, looking uncomfortable. “Is there any word yet?”

“Still in surgery.” Penny sat down again. After a moment’s hesitation, Caleb took the chair next to hers.

“You know, Dad talks about you all the time,” Mike said, sitting on Penny’s other side and leaning forward to talk to Caleb across her. “I feel like I know you. Both of you.”

“We see George practically every day,” Penny said. She darted a glance at Caleb, who was staring at the floor, and nudged him with her elbow. “Don’t we?”

He looked up and nodded. “Yeah. He comes in every day for his bottomless drip coffee.” He was doing that monotone thing he used to do to her before he’d started being friendly.

She couldn’t tell if he was upset or just shy, but obviously she was going to have to carry the conversational baton alone.

While Mike and Penny chatted, Caleb sank into silence beside her. It felt weird to have him sitting right next to her. She was pretty sure they’d never been this close for an extended period of time before. At the coffee shop he was always standing, usually with a counter between them. Now he was only inches away. Sharing an armrest. Their knees side by side.

His fingers drummed a nervous beat on his thigh. He must be worried about George. Penny wanted to reach over and take his hand in hers, as much for her own comfort as his, but she wasn’t sure he’d like it. Instead, she stood up and asked if anyone wanted any coffee.

Mike requested cream, no sugar, and when she looked at Caleb he mumbled a half-hearted, “Black, thanks.”

She went to the coffee pod machine and made two styrofoam cups of coffee.

“Thanks,” Mike said when she brought his coffee to him.

She held out the other cup to Caleb. “This is a switch, isn’t it? Me bringing you coffee instead of the other way around.” His fingers brushed hers when he took it from her, and their eyes met and held.

“Penny’s been great,” Mike said. “Keeping me company and bringing me food.”

“She’s good people,” Caleb agreed, and Penny felt herself blush.

At five thirty, Dr. Ramesh came through the double doors. He was wearing one of those patterned surgical caps like they wore on Grey’s Anatomy. His had dolphins on it.

Penny introduced him to Mike, and Dr. Ramesh told them that George had come through surgery like a champ. He described in detail the procedure they’d done, and said George had a long recovery ahead of him, but he should be just fine. Mike hugged the doctor and then hugged Penny. He was a hugger.

Dr. Ramesh said the nurse would come get Mike in a little while and take him to see his dad. He shook Mike’s hand, and disappeared into the back again.

“I’m going to call my wife,” Mike said, pulling out his phone.

Penny turned to ask Caleb if they should go and realized he’d already left.

She caught sight of him heading for the stairs at the end of the hall and hurried after him. “Caleb,” she called out as she followed him into the stairwell. “Wait.”

He stopped on the landing below her and turned around.

“Where are you going?” she asked when she drew even with him.

He shifted his feet but didn’t say anything. His chest rose and fell like he was breathing hard.

She edged closer, peering into his face. “Were you just going to leave without saying goodbye?”

He pressed his lips together and looked down at his feet.

“I don’t understand you. How can you be so sweet one minute and so remote the next?”

When he looked at her, his eyes were dark and intense.

Penny froze, every nerve in her body on high alert. “What is it? What’s wrong?” His expression shifted like he was deliberating something. “You can talk to me.”

He let out a deep breath and moved closer, lifting a hesitant hand to her face. She opened her mouth in surprise as his fingertips caressed her cheek. His eyes drilled into hers. Hypnotizing flecks of gold danced in the depths of his irises. His eyelashes lowered as his fingers slid into her hair. He tilted her head back.

“Penelope.”

The sound of her name on his lips sent an electric ripple through her body. She felt faint. Oxygen was a distant memory.

He let out a rough breath and pressed his mouth against hers.

Penny’s brain short-circuited. Hottie Barista was kissing her. Kissing! Her!

Fortunately, she didn’t need her brain for this. As his lips moved over hers, her body reacted instinctively. Her fingers curled into his arms and her mouth opened, angling against his. Lapping him up.

What had started out slow and careful quickly intensified into something much deeper. Hungrier. Teeth grazed her lips and she shuddered a sigh.

Caleb pulled back, his eyes searching her face like he was asking for forgiveness—or permission.

She answered by pulling his mouth to hers again with a hand curled around the back of his neck. His body pressed against hers, warming her from tip to toe. They were both panting and breathless. Gulping for air as their mouths melted together. She was dimly aware that he’d backed her up against the wall. That they were in the stairwell of a hospital that smelled like antiseptic. That someone could walk in on them any second.

She didn’t care. All she cared about was the feeling of his lips on hers. The hardness of his body. The heat building inside her.

Her fingernails scraped over his scalp and he made a huffing sound into her mouth. She kissed him harder, rising up on her toes. His hands clutched her hips, his fingers digging into her flesh.

A door slammed overhead and they jolted apart. They stared at each other, frozen, as footsteps echoed down toward them. There was a creak of a door being pulled open. Another slam. Silence.

Caleb’s face was flushed, his expression grave. Penny reached up to touch his cheek.

His long eyelashes fluttered closed. He caught her hand. Moved it off his face. “I should go.”

He started down the stairs without a backward glance. She wanted to go after him, but her legs were so wobbly she wasn’t convinced she could manage stairs. She was shaking. In shock. Her mouth opened but all that came out was a ragged gasp. She couldn’t even make herself call out after him.

Her chest heaved as she listened to his footsteps pounding away from her. All the way down, three flights of stairs to the ground floor. He must be sprinting. A door finally slammed at the bottom, and Penny was alone in the stairwell.

What just happened?

The cold cinderblock wall behind her started to seep into her bones, jerking her back to reality like a splash of ice water. Shivering inside Caleb’s hoodie, she pushed herself upright and ran a hand through her bedraggled hair, smoothing it back down where his fingers had been only moments ago.

His nearness had intensified his scent on the hoodie. She felt like she was drowning in it.

She wanted to drown in it even more.

Why did he kiss me?

More importantly: How can I get him to do it again?