Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 60978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
The papers Judge Whitmore had given me crinkled in my grip as I finally allowed myself to look at them properly. Legal language declaring Lily would stay with me, no one could take her away without new evidence and another hearing, granting us time and space to find the answers we’d been seeking for years.
“It’s real,” Cash said quietly from beside me, his voice rough with emotion he wasn’t trying to hide. “She’s staying with you.”
I nodded, unable to speak past the lump in my throat. Instead, I moved back to Lily’s bedside, gently placing my hand over her small fingers, careful not to disturb Cash’s larger hand still holding hers from the other side. My daughter was still here. Still mine. And for the first time in years, maybe we weren’t fighting alone.
They moved Lily to a regular room just after midnight. The transport team wheeled her bed through silent corridors, past the nurses’ station where staff spoke in hushed tones, their faces lit by computer screens. I walked alongside the bed, one hand resting lightly on the rail while Cash followed a few steps behind.
The new room was small but private, with a window overlooking the darkened hospital grounds. The staff transferred Lily carefully to the bed, adjusting her immobilized shoulder and checking the IV line keeping her hydrated and providing a convenient way to give her medicine if she needed it without having to stick her again. She stirred slightly during the move but didn’t wake.
After the transport team left, silence settled around us, broken only by the soft beeping of monitors and nurses quietly moving in the hallway. The overhead lights had been dimmed, leaving just the softer glow of a small lamp near Lily’s bed and the green and blue lights from the monitoring equipment.
I sank into the visitor’s chair beside Lily’s bed, the exhaustion building for hours threatening to pull me under. The plastic chair molded uncomfortably against my back, clearly designed to discourage extended stays. Cash lowered himself into the chair on the opposite side of the bed, his large frame making the hospital furniture look almost comically small. Yet somehow, despite his size and intimidating appearance, he didn’t seem out of place. His quiet watchfulness belonged here in this room with my sleeping daughter.
I opened my purse, fingers finding the business cards Lana had given me earlier. Three small rectangles of cardstock represented the sudden and unexpected support system materializing around us. I traced my thumb over the embossed lettering of Lana’s card, then the handwritten numbers on the back of Cash’s card. Twenty-four hours ago, these names had meant nothing to me.
“Thank you,” I said softly to Cash. “Ms. Thompson said to call you in an emergency. I hope I didn’t impose too much.” I knew I sounded defeated and maybe a little hopeless. I didn’t really feel hopeless. In fact, I finally felt like I actually had some hope now.
“You did exactly what I wanted you to do. There’s a problem, you run to me.”
“But Lana gave me your number. Not you.”
He held my gaze steadily. “She wouldn’t give you my number unless I wanted her to.”
“You don’t have to stay,” I said finally, my voice rough with exhaustion. “I’ve handled worse alone.”
Cash shifted in his seat, the chair creaking under his weight. His eyes never left Lily’s sleeping form, watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest as if counting each breath. “Wild horses, remember?” he said simply.
The reference to his earlier promise to Lily brought unexpected tears to my eyes. I blinked them away quickly, embarrassed by my own emotion. I wasn’t used to people keeping their promises, especially not strangers who owed us nothing. Yet here he was, hours later, still holding his post beside my daughter’s bed as if it were the most natural place for him to be.
“Thank you,” I whispered, the words feeling inadequate. “For singing to her. For calling Lana. For everything.”
He nodded once, uncomfortable with the gratitude. “The kid’s got good taste in music,” he said after a moment, his lips curving slightly. “Not many appreciate the classics these days.”
The small joke surprised a tired laugh out of me. It felt strange, this moment of lightness after such a brutal day. Strange but necessary, like coming up for air after too long underwater.
A nurse appeared in the doorway. “Just need to check her vitals,” she said softly, moving to Lily’s bedside.
Cash stood, stretching his large frame. “I’ll grab some coffee. Want some?”
I nodded gratefully. “Black, please. As strong as they make it.”
After he left, the nurse worked efficiently, checking Lily’s temperature and blood pressure. “She’s doing well,” she assured me, making notes on the chart. “The doctor will be by in the morning to check her shoulder, but everything looks stable.”
When she finished and left, the room felt emptier somehow, despite Lily’s sleeping presence. I leaned back in the uncomfortable chair, trying to find a position that didn’t send shooting pain through my lower back. My eyelids grew heavy as the day’s adrenaline finally ebbed. Just for a moment, I told myself as my eyes drifted closed. Just until Cash returns with the coffee.