Page 30 of Meeting Me, Loving You (Hearts of Maple Lake #1)

JULIET

“On it,” I reply before she disappears through the doorway.

Ellie has been a patient here for several years, coming in and out of the hospital for routine follow ups after discovering she had Pulmonary Valve Stenosis as a baby.

It eventually became clear she would need to have a procedure to widen the narrowed valve.

Unfortunately, she returned after the procedure, complaining of redness and warmth at the catheter insertion site near her upper leg.

Dr. Suz has ordered extra labs and heart scans in order to rule out infection spreading to her blood stream, which could be serious at any age.

The lab results haven’t updated in Ellie’s chart yet, so I send a quick message to the lab asking them to expedite the process.

Heading to Ellie’s room, I peek my head in and see she’s sleeping. Her mother sits on the chair beside the bed, and she looks up at me when I enter.

“Hey,” I whisper, giving her a reassuring smile. “How has she been this morning?”

Ellie’s mom looks tired, the hollows of her eyes looking darker than they did yesterday. Her blonde ponytail sags, leaving tangles of loose hair to fall around her face.

“She was awake for a couple hours, but she said she was sleepy again. She’s been sleeping most of the morning.” Her eyes are full of concern.

“Her body is fighting the infection, so being tired is normal. Let her sleep as much as she can; it will help.” I analyze vital signs on the bedside monitor, then scan the computer screen, assessing when she was last administered her medications.

It looks like Alex has given them within the hour, so I close out of her chart and turn toward Ellie’s mom.

I walk around the bed to where she sits, resting my hand gently on her shoulder.

“I know you haven’t left her side all night. Can I get you something to eat? I’m heading out on my break and can bring lunch back for you.”

Ellie and her mom, Dianne, feel like old friends.

Dianne is a few years older than me, having gone to high school with Tyler, and I’ve gotten to know them through their visits to the hospital.

Dianne is always so sweet to the staff, bringing in coffees and donuts when Ellie has her yearly check-ups.

Getting her a meal right now seems like the least I can do.

“I don’t want to be an inconvenience,” she says, brushing off the offer with a toss of her hand. “You go enjoy your break. You’ve helped us so much already.”

“I’m taking that as a yes ,” I say quietly with a friendly smile. “I’m going to Pete’s. Do you like potato soup? ”

Dianne eyes me defeatedly and smiles, giving in to the temptation I’ve laid before her.

“I love potato soup. Thank you, Juliet.”

I give her shoulder a squeeze and promise to be back at the end of my break.

“So, I’ll be in town tomorrow night!” Ty says through the phone. His voice is low, but not deep or rough like Cam’s, as he fills me in on his impromptu weekend plans to visit.

“That’s great! It’s been too long since I’ve seen you.”

“And who’s fault is that?” he asks, a hint of brotherly teasing in his voice.

“It’s yours just as much as mine, Ty,” I scoff.

Tyler has been working a lot, which has kept him from visiting recently, but he’s also continued to see Sandra. It’s still a fairly new relationship, and he hasn’t brought her to Maple Lake yet, but he’s told me about her on more than one occasion. From what he’s said, she sounds really sweet.

The last time Ty visited me was three months ago, and I regret not making more of an effort to drive into the city to see him.

However, he’s kept up his regular phone calls, which is usually when he likes to pester me about being a workaholic.

It’s nice, though, to have family who looks out for me, even though it’s from a distance.

My mind wanders to Natalie, so far from me, yet she doesn’t long for calls from her big sister. My heart aches from the bruising effects of that thought, and I swallow, shaking the thought away.

“I know we’re both to blame,” he says. “I’m sorry I’ve been too busy to come out there. Work is getting more intense, and Sandra and I have been getting pretty serious. We’ve been spending time together any chance we get.”

The strings around my heart tighten even more. I close my eyes and let out a slow, steady breath.

I’m happy for Tyler. I want him to find everything he’s ever wanted in a woman. I want to have a sister-in-law and be an aunt one day. But something tells me that if he gets married, he’ll stop visiting Maple Lake. He’ll leave too. And I’ll be alone, for good.

“Jules? Are you still there?” Ty’s voice is far away, faintly pulling me back to our conversation.

“What?” I hold the phone closer to my ear.

“I thought the call dropped, I didn’t hear you. Did you hear what I said?”

“No, sorry. What was it?”

My name gets called, and I see the server place two paper bags on the deli counter.

“Let’s do a sunrise hike on Saturday,” Ty says.

I grab the bags, thank the man, and head out the door.

“We can,” I say hesitantly, “but it’s going to be really cold on Saturday. Cam and I were going to go biking, but we’re doing something else instead because of the weather.”

“You were planning on biking Saturday morning?”

“Yeah,” I clumsily reposition the bags of food, holding them under my arm, and switch my phone to the other ear. “But he was willing to change our plans around because he knows I hate the cold.”

“I’m glad you have someone to watch out for you. You know I hate not being there.”

“I have to admit, it’s been nice.”

“He always was a good buddy.”

“Yeah,” I chuckle nervously, “he’s a great buddy . ”

There’s a pause, and then Ty says with a pout in his voice, “Jules, you love our sunrise hikes.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. There’s no point in denying him this activity on his very overdue weekend home. I can make both plans work. “Okay. I’ll do the hike with you.”

I can practically feel Ty’s smile radiating through the phone, and it makes me want to drop it in a nearby trash can.

“I know it’ll be cold,” he says with cheerful reassurance, “but it’ll be great. We’ll bring hot breakfast sandwiches and a thermos of coffee, like always.”

“You better be the one making the sandwiches,” I deadpan. The hospital is only one block away from Pete’s Café in downtown Sansville, so it isn’t a far walk, but the wind whips my cheeks, making them sting. To my relief, there isn’t any snow left in sight.

“I will definitely make the sandwiches. Do you want to invite Cam?”

“On the hike?” I ask, brows furrowed.

“Duh, on the hike.” He laughs. “What’s wrong with you, Jules? You seem kind of off today.”

I walk quickly across the street, the paper bags crinkling as I hold them tight against my body in the crook of my arm. The glass windows of the hospital shine before me, beckoning me into its warmth.

“Nothing’s wrong.” I remember how sad Cam looked when he talked about his severed relationship with Ty, and I want to help him fix it if I can.

“I can invite Cam. He’s been wanting to see you…

Actually, Cam and I are going to Sansville on Saturday instead of biking.

We’ll probably go in the afternoon. Would you want to come with us after the hike? ”

“Seriously?” He sounds excited. “I’d love to! I’ve been meaning to hit him up, but it would be better to see him in person. What are you guys doing in Sansville? ”

“You know, just getting out of Maple Lake for the day. And apparently Cam wants to visit some arcade there.”

“An arcade? Huh. Yeah, sounds fun!”

Ty states the details about when he’ll be arriving tomorrow night and, after saying goodbye, I make it back to the third floor where I deliver soup and sandwiches to Dianne. After she’s taken care of, I sit in the break room to finally relax and eat my lunch.