Chapter Thirty-Six

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My flight the next morning went through Denver and I was able to pay a small fee to keep myself out of the middle thankfully. Even though I was loaded up with books on my Kindle to read, I couldn’t concentrate.

May had text me back sometime in the middle of the night, telling me that Howard was still in surgery and that she loved me. I wasn’t sure if Mom had told her I was coming or not but I didn’t reply to her text just in case she had been sleeping.

When I finally made it to Portland, Maine, it was already later in the afternoon thanks to a long delay in Denver. I hadn’t checked a bag so I was able to go right to the curb to find a vacant cab. Howard had been transported from Holcomb Lake to Maine Medical Center, only about fifteen minutes from the airport, and the drive was quick.

The hallways of the hospital were white and the sterile smell made my nose twitch. I hated that smell. It didn’t matter how much time passed, every time antiseptic infiltrated my nose, I thought of Kira. There was a time when I spent every free moment I had in the hospital with her, keeping her company and trying to stay positive. Then they’d let her go home but it wasn’t a happy event. She’d come home with hospice nurses and the antiseptic smell followed her.

It reminded me of death.

When I’d requested Howard’s room number at the information desk, the lady had asked if I was family. There had been no hesitation when I told her that he was my uncle and I had visually dared her to argue with me. No one was keeping me from my family, blood relation or not.

The Cardiac floor was tense. The Cardiac Intensive Care Unit was even worse. The somber expressions on everyone’s faces matched how I felt inside. I avoided hospitals if I could but I’d do anything for Howard.

When I found the room number I’d been given downstairs, I mentally steeled myself. The door was partially open and I could hear voices inside but I had no idea what to expect. Mom said she’d call if May had any more updates and I hadn’t heard from her. I was hoping that no news was good news.

I held my hand up and knocked softly on the wood. May’s voice called for me to come in so I pushed it open slowly. The image in front of me made my breath catch in my throat.

May was sitting at the foot of a hospital bed. She looked more frazzled than I’d ever seen her before but she was smiling. Inclined slightly on the bed was Howard. He was pale, had a lot of wires hooked up to him, and looked fragile, but he grinned when he saw me.

“Ah, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” He opened his arms and I walked to him, engulfing him in a gentle hug. He wasn’t having it, though, and he squeezed me to him. When we pulled apart, he regarding me with his warm gaze. “What are you doing here?”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “If you think I’m letting you use a hospital stay as an excuse to get weak, you’re delusional.”

He chuckled but didn’t reply as May pulled me into an embrace. She held onto me for at least two minutes, sniffling slightly before finally releasing me.

“It’s good to see you, baby girl. You didn’t have to come all the way out here, though.”

“Yeah, I did.” I let her usher me into a chair that was next to the bed. “What has the doctor said?”

They told me that Howard had been immediately taken to surgery when they’d arrived the night before and a stent was placed in his artery to help his blood flow. The surgery had gone well and he’d been moved from critical to stable. They were looking at being in the hospital for a few days and then he was supposed to change his lifestyle. That was the part that Howard pouted about the most.

“What am I going to eat? The doctor keeps mentioning leafy greens and we all know that’s not enough to survive.”

May chuckled and reached out to squeeze his ankle. “I’ll make them the most flavorful leafy greens you’ve ever had, honey.” She turned her eyes on me and pursed her lips. “Shaylee, I need to warn you.”

Before she could issue her warning, someone rapped on the door twice and we all turned to look at the newcomer.

“I tried my hardest to find coffee flavored water, but you’ll have to just take tea instead, Howard. I know you’ll...”

Whatever he was going to say tapered off and my breathing hitched as I took in the man in front of me. He looked amazing, maybe even better than he had three months before. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a teal long-sleeved shirt that made his turquoise eyes stand out. The hair on top of his head was longer than it had been and I could tell he hadn’t bothered brushing it that morning. The hair on his chin was longer and I could tell he hadn’t trimmed it in a week or so.

The part of my heart that had gone dormant after leaving him suddenly kicked into overdrive.

“Drew.”

He swallowed, causing his throat to bob, and tipped his head towards me. “Shaylee.”

I wanted to throw myself into his arms. To kiss him until neither of us could breathe. To shake him until he understood just how much I loved him. Hell, I just wanted to smile at him.

I didn’t do any of that, though. I just stared.

“Okay, Mr. Holcomb. It’s time for your next injectable dye test.” A nurse stepped in with a friendly smile on her face and she paused when she saw how many people were in the room. “Looks like you have a full house right now. This will take a couple of hours so maybe everyone should go grab dinner?”

May stood and nodded her head. “Drew. Can you take Shaylee to the house so she can unpack and relax? It’s been a long day of traveling and you’ll both need dinner and showers, I’m sure.”

“Yeah, of course. What do you need, though?”

She waved him off and moved so she could wrap him in a hug. “I’m just glad you two are here. Once he’s done with his test, we’ll probably just get some sleep. You two come back after breakfast tomorrow, okay?”

Drew nodded and hugged her back as I moved to Howard. His long, strong arms came around me and I buried my face into his neck. Underneath the smell of antiseptic, he still smelled like pine needles and lake air.

“Talk to him,” he whispered into my ear. “You love each other. Work it out.”

“I’ll see you in the morning,” I replied, kissing him on his cheek. When I pulled away, I was immediately embraced by May who whispered something similar into my ear before ushering us out of the room. Before I could grab the small suitcase I’d brought, Drew had his hands around the handle and was walking away with it. A smart ass comment sat on the tip of my tongue about stealing luggage but I kept it to myself.

We walked next to each other through the hallways of the hospital, close enough that I could feel the heat coming from his body but not quite touching. Neither of us spoke. Not when we left the CICU, not when we got into the elevator, and not as we headed down the hallway of the base level. It wasn’t until we stepped outside that Drew said something.

“I’m using May’s car while I’m here. It’s parked in the garage.”

Yeah, it wasn’t exactly a sonnet.

I just nodded and let him lead us across the dark space. When we walked up to a black SUV, Drew immediately went to the passenger door and pulled it open. He waited until I was inside and then shut it so he could come around to the driver’s side, pausing to put my bag in the backseat first.

We were a few miles from the hospital when I worked up enough bravery to speak.

“When did you get in?”

Drew glanced over at me before refocusing on the road. “I took a redeye into New York last night and caught a flight here early this morning. I’ve already been out to the lake to drop off my bag and get some stuff for Howard and May.”

“Ah.” It was a winner of a response but I didn’t know what else to say. Everything between us was incredibly awkward and I hated it.

“Are you hungry? I was going to run through a drive-thru and get some hamburgers or something.”

I focused on the passing city out my window so I wouldn’t have to look at him. “Sure.”

We drove for about thirty minutes before Drew stopped at a drive-thru in Harrelsburg. Very minimal words were exchanged so he knew what to order for me and minutes later we were on our way towards camp.

It was strange how different Maine was in the summer versus the fall. The greenery I was used to seeing had transformed into beautiful fall colors. Some trees were completely bare and everything just looked… sleepy. That same adjective could be applied to the camp. When we passed under the gate, I had to bite in the gasp.

I’d never been to Maine in the off-season. May and Howard had always flown to us or our families had met somewhere else. The sight before me was mind-blowing.

Even when we’d arrived before everyone else all those months before, the camp had still looked alive. At the moment, it looked like it was in hibernation.

The campus was completely dark with the exception of a few security lights. The lake was empty, devoid of jet skis, buoys, inflatables, and everything else that had been there. The only part of the entire camp that showed life was the giant house opposite of the camp. Even then, it was only a couple of lights.

“Is Keaton here?” I asked once we were parked in the driveway. Drew shook his head.

“Not yet. He’ll be here tomorrow.”

I grabbed our food and drinks and Drew lifted my bag easily. When he reached for one of the drinks, I just shook my head.

“I’ve got them.”

I followed him up the pathway and into the warm home. The living room was exactly as it had been the last time I’d been inside and I couldn’t help smiling. The wall of pictures was still hanging proudly and somehow May and Howard had fit a new panoramic frame from the last summer. I stepped close and my grin widened when I saw the familiar faces of my girls.

“Do you still talk to any of them?”

Drew’s voice behind me made me jump slightly and I turned to him with a nod. “Most of them added me on Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat and a couple text or send me emails. I miss them.”

He nodded but didn’t respond otherwise. We walked to the huge dining room table where Drew had set out plates and pulled food out of the bags. Silence settled over us like a blanket but not the comforting kind. It was like a wool, scratchy blanket that you couldn’t wait to kick off. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore.

“I can’t handle how awkward this is.”

Drew continued chewing his hamburger but his striking eyes met mine and he didn’t look away. When he finally swallowed, he shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah, it sucks but I don’t know what to say, Shay.”

“Anything,” I begged, reaching across the table to grab his hand and changing my mind at the last minute. I pulled back and sighed. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

He chuckled but there wasn’t any humor in it. “I hate how easy it was for you to walk away. I’ve had a lot of time to dwell on it and it just pisses me off more and more. So, I’m sorry if I can’t make this a dream vacation for you but I’m mad, Shaylee.”

I watched as he stood from the table and took his trash back into the kitchen. I balled up my own garbage and mimicked his movements. Without saying another word to each other, we went to our respective bedrooms and shut ourselves away from each other.

Suddenly, I wished I’d never left Phoenix.