“Aria,” she starts.
“Please,” I beg. “Just a minute.”
She holds my gaze for a few seconds before nodding. Taking a step away from the door, I turn and watch the three of them disappear inside. Leaning against the wall, I drop my head back and close my eyes. Part of me so desperately wants to see Jack, but another part can’t bear to see him and Zara playing happy family, not when I know their relationship is so far away from that. Taking a deep breath, I stand in front of the door, my hand on the door handle. Should I knock? I guess I should, it’s not like Jack or Zara will be expecting me. Knocking lightly on the wood, I wait.
“Come in,” Jack shouts. Opening the door, I walk in, plastering a fake smile on my face. My eyes go straight to Jack, my heart pounding as he smiles when he sees me. “Hey, you came back,” he says. My eyes flick to Zara, who’s scowling.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, my eyes back on him.
“Good. My head is still pounding, but I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“Have they said when you can be discharged?”
“Not yet, but I’m hoping I won’t have to spend another night here. The bed’s not big enough for two.” He laughs.
The smile slips from my lips and a wave of nausea washes over me. “That’s great,” I mutter, my eyes dropping to the floor.
“Has the doctor seen you yet this morning?” Phil asks, and I couldn’t be more grateful that he’s taken over the conversation.
“No, not yet. I’m waiting for one of the nurses to come and help me shower. Apparently, I’m not allowed to shower alone.” He shrugs and Zara smiles as her eyes meet mine.
“You don’t need a nurse for that. You have me,” Zara says as she stands from the chair she’s sitting in and sits next to him on the bed. Jacob is sitting with Jack, and seeing the three of them together makes my heart ache. Clearly, seeing Jacob hasn’t brought any memories back for him like I was so desperately hoping it would.
“I think you should leave the showering to the nurses, Zara,” Emma says. “You wouldn’t know what to do if he were to pass out.”
Zara glares at Emma, changing her expression when Jack looks at her.
“Ria, play?” Jacob asks, holding one of the cars in the air that Emma and Phil brought to the hospital with them.
A look of surprise flashes across Jack’s face as he looks from Jacob to me. “Sure, buddy. You know how much I love to play cars.” Crossing the room, I take the car from his hand and drive it up and down Jacob’s leg, loving hearing him giggle.
“Daddy too!” he cries, his face lighting up in a smile.
I laugh, “Okay. Should we see if Daddy is ticklish?”
“Yes!”
Taking the car, I slowly drive it up Jack’s blanket-covered leg, moving it from side to side, trying to get him to laugh. “I don’t think it’s working,” I whisper to Jacob. “Why don’t you drive your car on his other leg? I bet between us we can get him laughing.” I look up at Jack, and he smiles. Jacob takes his car and copies what I’m doing. After a few seconds, Jack bursts out laughing, reaching for Jacob and tickling him.
“Are you ticklish too?” he asks Jacob, who is squealing with laughter.
“Stop,” he says through his laughter, pushing Jack’s hands away.
“Do you and Jacob play a lot?” Jack asks when he finally stops tickling Jacob.
“Erm… yeah. We like to play with the cars, don’t we, Jacob?” He nods and climbs off the bed. Standing in front of me, he puts his arms up and I bend down to pick him up, settling him on my hip. His thumb goes in his mouth and he drops his head onto my shoulder.
“He’s got a great relationship with Aria,” Emma says. “They’ve really bonded while you’ve been here.” I can’t help but steal a look at Zara who’s scowling at me. When I look away, I notice Jack staring at me. Butterflies erupt in my stomach again, but this time not because I’m nervous. The way he’s looking at me is like how he did before the accident, even if he doesn’t realize it.
“We must have spent a lot of time together.” He turns to Zara. “How long have we been at the ranch?”
“Erm, I don’t know. A few weeks?” Zara stumbles over her words, making her reply sound more like a question than an answer. Jack gives her a funny look, but before he can respond, she jumps up and makes her way to me. “I’ll take him,” she says. “I am his mum, after all.” She mutters the last part so only I can hear as she leans in to take Jacob from me. He squirms in her arms, but she holds him tightly.
“Stop it, Jacob,” she says through gritted teeth. Jacob stills and then bursts into tears.
“Daddy,” he whimpers and leans his arms over to Jack. Zara huffs and hands him to Jack before heading to the door.
“I’m going to get some air.” She walks out, slamming the door behind her.