Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Carrying a tray of coffees, he stops just out of reach of me. Probably wise if he’s going to get mouthy. “I’m a friend of the family,” he spits like he’s some tough guy when he’s just a prick whose family has bought his way into the little respect he’s given. “You’re . . .” He looks up and down without shame in the weak act of sizing me up. I’m not the least bit intimidated by this jackass, but it bothers me that he’s here like he’s part of the family. “Nothing to the Stansbury family.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Am I really stooping to his level? Yep. I’ll go to the gutter with this one-upping fuck. “I got Sosie when you never had her.” My gaze hits the name on one of the cups. Sosie is scribbled in black marker. It’s been hours at most with her, and he’s already back in the fold and getting her coffee like the old days?
“We’ll see how this plays out.”
“No, we won’t. You won’t, especially. I don’t have to force her to pick me. I don’t have to lay threats at her feet. You do. Her father does. Me? I don’t. We’ll always find our way back together. You can fight fate, but you can’t fight destiny.”
“I don’t believe in that woo-woo soulmate shit.”
“We do, so you don’t need to because she’ll never choose you, Greg.” I walk toward the sliding glass doors of the hospital, then stop and turn back. “I’m heading that way. You want me to take that coffee to her?”
He walks to the nearest trash can and dumps the entire tray in it. Such a spoiled fucking baby.
A guard stands at the entrance but doesn’t look up from his phone. The walls are bleak in beige that’s aged over time, and the railings are stained from all the hands that have held it. A TV blares, so I turn to see a room full of people waiting under a small screen airing Jeopardy, and my life standing before me. “Keats?” Sosie comes closer as if I might not be real. Each of her tentative steps is too slow, so I set the small suitcase down and close the gap.
Wrapping my arms around her and kissing the top of her head. “I’m sorry.”
When her arms come around me, and she sinks against my chest, she whispers, “Me, too.”
“No. You don’t have to be sorry for anything. I would have done the same.”
“I’m not sorry for coming to the hospital.” She steps back, looking up at me. “I’m sorry for saying you use words as weapons when I realize now you use them as a protective shield. We all have our pasts to deal with. You overcame difficult circumstances, which is amazing. I’m trying to do the same, just not the same as how you handled it.”
“I had no one who cared.”
“I’ve lived under a microscope.” Reaching forward, she tugs me closer by the front of my coat. “You’re not losing me. Not again. Not ever. But I do have to see this through. It might be my only chance.”
“Now I understand.” I lean down to kiss her, and she meets me halfway. “I brought you some supplies just in case you end up staying overnight. I can bring anything else you need.”
“No, this is more than I need.” Slipping her hand in mine, she says, “Thank you, but keep my side of the bed warm, okay?”
“Winifred is already doing the job.”
She laughs, and seeing her smile gives me the peace I needed. I just hope she finds what will give her the same peace. And if she doesn’t, I’ll be there to give her what she’s missing. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He’s my least favorite subject, but I still ask, “How’s your dad?”
A pop of her shoulders leads to her looking down the corridor and back at me again. “No news so far.”
“He’ll be okay.” When I see her looking at me like I did something special, I give her hand a squeeze, and add, “I should go.”
She’ll devastate my heart if I’m not careful. One day, she’ll realize she’s way out of my league. I’ll do everything I can to make up for it. Brushing her fingers over my cheek, she says, “I love you, Poet.”
“I love you with everything I am.”
Her smile brightens the dull space and my heart along with it. But this is her battle, and she’ll fight it like the warrior she is.
As for me, I walk out of the hospital and pull my phone from my pocket. It only takes me searching three letters to pull up the contact I’m looking for. Maybe this is something I should have taken care of long ago, but life and work got in the way. I also pushed it to the back as something to deal with another day.