Aspen
I don’t knowwhat I expected to see when I walked into Adeline’s hospital room. When I walk in most of the lights are off, except for the lamp on the night stand next to her. She looks so frail laying in the bed in her thin hospital gown. She has white bandages wrapped around her head and IV’s running into her arm and hand.
She looks so pale but I’m hoping that it’s just the lighting in here. I look over her and am comforted by the steady beeping of the monitors next to her and the rise and fall of her chest.
I move around the side of the bed and drag the chair closer to her bedside. The sound of the chair legs scraping across the floor is loud in the quiet room. As I settle into the chair, reaching forward to hold her hand in mine, I see her eyelids start to flutter.
“Hey, Addy.” I say softly.
She groggily blinks her eyes open and tries to focus on me.
“Hey.” I say again softly when her eyes meet mine.
“What happened?” She asks, clearing her throat.
I reach over and grab the cup of water that the nurse left on the table for when Adeline woke up. I bring the straw to her lips and explain to her what happened.
“When I came home this morning, I couldn’t get you to wake up. I had to call 911 and they sent an ambulance. They couldn’t wake you either and they think the tumor grew too big and pushed against your frontal lobe. They had to do the surgery today but the doctor just talked to us and said they think they got it all. It’s gone, Addy. You’re going to be ok.” I say and relief washes over Adeline’s face as I give her the news.
“It’s gone?” She asks.
“Yeah.” I say as it finally sets in for me and tears start to stream down my face.
“Oh, Aspen.” She says.
“Oh god, Adeline. I was so scared. I didn’t want to lose you; I was so scared that I was going to lose you and be all alone.” I cry into her shoulder.
“I know. I was scared too. I thought I was going to die.”
She holds me and cries with me.
Finally, we’re able to calm down and I reach over to hit the button to call the nurse. She comes in and checks over Adeline’s vitals before she leaves to get the doctor.
“So, Roman and Flynn are here.” I say once she’s gone.
“What? Here?” She asks excitedly.
“Yeah, I called them this morning after I got here and they’ve been here with me all day. They wanted to meet you but the doctor said one visitor at a time for right now.”
“Get out! Get out and send them in then.” She says, waving me towards the door.
I laugh as the doctor comes in to check over Adeline and make sure that everything is looking ok. I stay with her while he asks her a few questions and double-checks her vitals. He finally tells her that she’ll need to stay in the hospital for a couple of days so that she can be monitored but then she’ll be cleared to go home. We thank him and he tells me that visiting hours are ending soon as he leaves.
“Go get your men.” Adeline tells me.
“They’re not my men.” I say and I can feel my cheeks heat.
“Why not? I know you like them and they obviously like you too.”
“They told me they love me.” I say quietly.
“Do you love them?” She asks.
“Yeah. I do.” I finally admit.
“Then be with them.”
I think about what she said. Can I be with them? Can I handle what people will say or think about me when they see the three of us together? I think about them spending the whole day with me in the hospital, about them paying for Addy’s surgery and care, how they loved my body last night, and how sweet they were in the weeks when they were just coming into the coffee shop to see me every day. Then I think about how I slept on them without a second thought. How I held their hands and kissed them both in public and how perfect and natural it felt to be together with both of them.
Adeline must see me reach my conclusion because she smiles at me.
“Good. Now go get your men so I can make sure that they’re good enough for my sister.”