Page 25 of Trust Me (Rivers Edge #1)

An hour later, Elizabeth comes into the room.

She looks exhausted but still manages a warm smile.

Michael stands up and goes to his wife, hugging her and giving her a kiss on the lips.

Each boy stands and goes over to hug their mother.

I give her a kiss on the cheek after all the boys are done, and she returns my gesture with a smile and a pat on my cheek.

“How’s she doing?” Michael asks.

“She’s fighting. They have her on some very aggressive antibiotics and steroids right now, which make her very sleepy. She’s slept practically since the moment we got here last night.”

“And Avery?” I ask.

“I wish I could say the same for her,” she reports with a small smile. “She hasn’t slept a wink since we got here. She’s so scared that if she falls asleep Brooklyn might wake up and she’d miss it.”

“What about you, Mom? How are you holding up?” Travis asks.

“Oh, I’m fine. I just wish there was something I could do. The hardest thing a parent goes through is watching their child or grandchild suffer or struggle.”

“Can we go in?” Michael asks.

“Yes, one at a time. They will only allow family though,” she adds as she looks at me.

“That’s okay. As long as she’s still in there fighting and getting better, that’s all I need right now,” I reply.

“Dad, why don’t you go first?” Will says. Michael nods and gives his wife another sweet kiss on the lips. Then he heads down the hallway toward Brooklyn.

The rest of us settle back in our seats. Elizabeth fills us all in on the ambulance ride and about Brooklyn getting settled in her room. Jake gets his mom a cup of coffee from the little kitchen nook in the corner of the waiting room, while Travis and Will decide to go for a walk.

Elizabeth comes over and sits next to me. “I’m so glad you’re here. I know Avery is comforted by it too.”

“How does she know I’m here?”

“I mentioned you were with Jake after Will’s text to let me know you were all here. She misses you, you know.”

I look up at Elizabeth’s smiling light-blue eyes and return her smile. “I miss her too. Both of them.”

She reaches over and takes my hand in hers. “Don’t give up on her, Maddox. I really do believe you are the one. The only man who can fix what is broken within her heart.” She squeezes my hand lightly before she takes the cup of coffee that Jake returns with.

A little bit later, Michael returns to the room and signals for Jake to go next. Jake picks up the bags of personal stuff sitting next to my chair. I reach down and grab the stuffed monkey from the top of Avery’s bag.

“Here, give this to Brooklyn for me.” I hand Jake the animal.

“I will.” He squeezes my shoulder and heads out toward Brooklyn’s room.

While Nate is back in the room, the last brother to go see his niece and sister, Jake and I decide to run down to the deli and grab sandwiches for everyone. It’s well after noon, and even though no one is really hungry, we know that everyone needs to eat.

Jake and I get to the deli and order eight ham and cheese sandwiches, bags of chips, and an assortment of drinks.

“I don’t think she’s gonna eat, but I’m hoping with some food in front of her, Avery will at least pick at it and get something in her stomach. ”

I give Jake an agreeing nod and glance back up at the menu. That’s when I see it. Throw in an order of cheese fries, please. Extra cheese.”

Jake gives me a knowing smile and whips out his debit card.

After we have all the food, we make our way back up to the second floor waiting room.

Elizabeth decides to take her sandwich back into the room and eat with Avery.

I put a sandwich, bag of chips, bottle of water, and the cheese fries back in one of the bags for Avery.

“You’re so good to her,” she says as she walks back toward the room.

The afternoon passes quicker than the morning. Everyone takes turns going in and visiting with Avery again. While Will was in there, Brooklyn woke up for a little bit. He said he got to hold her for a few moments while the nursing staff changed her bedding.

Before we know it, it’s after six, and it’s another round of deli sandwiches for everyone.

Jake and I are both scheduled to work tomorrow, but after a quick call to our lieutenant, we trade our shifts tomorrow for ones on Friday.

That leaves us working a five-day stretch with two of them being twelve-hour shifts and a holiday, but neither of us minds at all.

We’d both rather be here, even if it is just sitting in a waiting room .

By eight o’clock, everyone is getting pretty restless.

We’ve gone for walks up and down the halls, outside around the courtyard, and down to the cafeteria.

We’ve consumed enough caffeine to keep a small army awake for days.

We all gather in the waiting room to get ready to head home, since visiting hours are over.

I don’t want to go. I don’t care if I’m stuck sitting in this hard plastic seat all night, I’m not leaving. I look over at Jake, and I can tell he knows I’m up to something.

“What?”

“I’m not leaving.”

“Why would you stay? You can’t see them. You might as well go home and sleep in your own bed. We’ll head back up here first thing in the morning.”

“No. I’m not leaving.” Just as I start to defend my decision to Jake, Elizabeth comes into the room.

“Avery’s making me leave for the night. She doesn’t want me to sleep in the chair a second night. Brooklyn has improved a little today, though not completely out of the woods. She’s still sleeping a lot so there’s not much we can do.”

“I think it’s a good idea for you to come home and get a good night’s sleep, honey,” Michael says.

“I know. I just hate leaving them here alone.” Her eyes start to fill with tears. “Avery won’t leave her bedside. It kills me to see her so distraught and helpless.”

“I’m staying,” I say.

“But you can’t go back there, dear,” Elizabeth states.

“I know. But you can tell the nurses I’m here in the waiting room so if they need anyone, I’m right here. I’m not leaving.”

Elizabeth gives me a small knowing smile as the boys all gather up their belongings, dispose of the trash, and straighten up the area we’ve just called home for the past twelve hours.

“I’ll go say good night to the girls and tell the nurses that you’re in here.”

A little bit later, Elizabeth comes back. “I’m ready,” she tells her family.

“Nate, you ride with Jake so your mom can ride with me, Travis, and Will.”

“Okay,” Nate replies

Jake comes over to me. “Are you sure about this? ”

“Yep, I’m not leaving.”

“You’re a good man, Maddox Jackson.” And with that he slaps my back, turns, and heads out of the waiting room with Nate.

As the rest of them start filing out of the room, Elizabeth turns and comes over to me.

She speaks in a low, hushed voice and looks around to make sure no one can overhear her.

“The doctors are finished making their rounds by nine. The nurses are willing to look the other way after that if you accidentally wander down the hall to room 214.” She gives me a wink, followed by a kiss on my cheek and turns to join everyone else as they head out of the waiting room.

I’m alone again, but this time with the comforting thought that I will get to see my girls in just a little bit.

*****

I force myself to sit in the waiting room until almost ten o’clock.

I want to make sure I’m not going to run into trouble from any doctors or hospital administrators.

Finally, it’s time for me to make my way to room 214.

I smile at the two nurses sitting at the nurses’ station.

They smile back and quickly look down toward their charts.

When I finally get to room 214, I hesitate at the threshold. What if she doesn’t want me here? What if I upset her more than she already is? Then, that’s fine. I’ll go back to the waiting room and give her space. But I’m still not leaving this hospital.

“She’s asleep,” I hear quietly behind me. I turn to see a petite older nurse with friendly eyes wearing brightly colored scrubs. “She hasn’t slept a wink since that baby arrived last night. I think exhaustion finally got a hold of her. She fell asleep about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Thank you,” I say before I step quietly into the room.

The first thing I notice is the small figure sleeping in the big, wide bed.

Brooklyn has tubes and wires hanging off her and the sight of her almost brings me to my knees.

She’s snuggled up to the stuffed monkey I sent in with Jake.

As I approach her bed, I see Avery sleeping in the chair with her head on the side of the mattress.

She has the chair pulled up and is leaning forward with her head resting on her folded arms. It looks uncomfortable as hell.

I want to touch her so bad, but her need to sleep outweighs my need to touch her.

I stand here, watching them both sleep. How long? I’m not sure.

After a while, I go sit in the other chair along the wall on the far side of Brooklyn’s hospital bed. I sit at the very edge of the seat, my elbows resting on my knees. I sit here for what could be a few minutes or a few hours, just watching their peaceful sleep.

Every so often a nurse comes in to check Brooklyn’s vitals and distribute more medication through the IV. All the nurses offer me a friendly smile and then go back to politely ignoring my presence in the room.

I startle awake sometime in the night and look up to see Brooklyn’s blue eyes on me.

I sit straight up and give her a smile. She reaches her hands up toward me, wanting me to pick her up.

I have no clue if that’s allowed or not, but I don’t really care.

I want to hold my baby girl. Careful of the cords and tubes, I gently pick her up and set her on my lap, reaching over and grabbing the monkey too.

I inhale the smell of her shampoo and let the familiarity wash over me.

“Shhh. Mommy’s sweeping,” she says with her finger in front of her mouth.

“Mommy’s very tired, sweetheart. Let’s let her sleep some more, okay? ”

She shakes her head and then leans back against my chest. “I sick, Maddox.”

“I know, baby. But you’re going to get better here in the hospital. They’re going to give you medicine to make you feel better.”

“Yep. Where have you been at?” she asks in a quiet voice.

How do I answer this question for a three-year-old? I guess the only way to go is to tell the truth. “I made your mommy mad at me, and she didn’t want to talk to me.”

“But I miss you.”

“I’ve missed you too, Bean. More than anything in this world, I’ve missed you and your mom.”

“Mommy cwies.” The knife in my gut twists with each word she says.

“I know. I’m sorry I made your mommy cry.”

“It’s otay.” She snuggles farther into my chest, monkey tightly pressed against her. “I wove you, Maddox.”

“I love you too, baby girl.” I kiss the top of her head and settle in, snuggling my girl.

Brooklyn falls asleep quickly and doesn’t even stir when the nurses come in to check on her every hour.

I finally close my eyes, allowing my exhaustion and stress of worry to override the comfort of holding her.