Chapter 38
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Sebastian
Having a picnic with her in Central Park on such a beautiful day was more than I could ask for. I had missed her so much, and being with her, even though we were no longer together, made me fall in love with her even more. It took every bit of control I had in me not to grab her mouth and kiss her beautiful, soft lips. It was difficult for me because I wanted to touch her so badly. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and tell her that we could be us again, but I knew she wasn’t ready.
“Thank you for the sandwiches and fruit.” I gave her a smile.
“You’re welcome. Thank you for joining me.”
“My pleasure. I’m just sorry Sienna bailed on you. By the way, how long is Sam staying?”
“I guess forever.” She laughed. “He applied for permanent residency in the U.S.”
“That’s good, right?”
“Sienna seems to really love him, and he loves her. So, it’s good.”
“What about his family?”
“When his mom and dad divorced a few years back, his mom moved to Germany, and his dad moved to Scotland with the woman he was cheating on his mom with.”
“And his job?”
“Up and quit. He’s going to find work here, eventually.”
Looking in the picnic basket, I saw she had quite a bit of food left over.
“You sure packed a lot for just you and Sienna.”
“Yeah. I packed a few extra things because, on my way home, I’m going to stop and give the rest to Willie and his friends.”
The corners of my mouth curved upwards as I stared into her eyes.
“That’s a good idea. I’m sure they would be very grateful. Would you mind if I came with you?”
“Not at all. By the way, Willie told me that a guy named Sebastian has been stopping by and giving him a few dollars here and there.”
I shrugged. “It’s the least I can do to help him out. You know, I have never forgotten about what it was like for me living in that abandoned house. When I said to you that night that his being homeless was his own fault, I said it out of anger because it reminded me of bad times. All these years, I wouldn’t even look at the homeless people on the street because every time I did, I went back to that time. A time I want to erase from my memory.”
“You shouldn’t want to erase those memories, Sebastian. That period of time in your life made you who you are today. You should embrace it and maybe tell your story to others and inspire them. What you did was amazing. All it took was one person to put you on the right path. People come into our lives for a reason, and they leave our lives for a reason. They only may be here temporarily, but they’re there for a purpose.”
I wanted to reach out and stroke her beautiful brown hair and tell her I knew why she came into my life, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to rock the boat, so to speak. I wanted to tell her that if she were still dating Corey when she went to London, we would never have met because the thought of having sex with a stranger in a foreign country would never have entered her mind.
“Do you think if we hadn’t seen each other in London, we would have eventually met here in New York?”
She looked down. I could tell my question made her uncomfortable.
“I’m not sure. Why don’t we go and give this food to Willie and the gang?”
“Sure. I’ll call Eli and have him pick us up. It’s a pretty long walk.”
“It’s a beautiful day, though, and the walk is good for us. Besides, if you don’t keep moving, your muscles will tighten up from today, and you won’t be able to get out of bed tomorrow.”
I sighed. “Okay. If you insist.”
We got up from the ground. While she folded the blanket, I grabbed hold of the picnic basket and we walked to where Willie was camping out for the day.
“Hey, Willie,” Chloe spoke as she found him asleep, covered in a blanket on the cement in the alley.
He moaned and then coughed as he tried to open his eyes.
“Willie, are you okay?” I asked as I knelt down beside him.
Chloe placed her hand on his forehead. “He’s burning up.”
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I spoke, “I’ll call 911. He needs to see a doctor.”
“It’s okay, Willie, we’re going to get you some help,” she spoke.
The ambulance arrived, and Eli pulled up behind.
“I’m going to ride with him in the ambulance,” Chloe said.
“Okay. I’ll meet you at the hospital.”
“You don’t have to, Sebastian. I’m sure you have other things to do.”
“I don’t, and I want to.” I grabbed hold of her hand.
A small smile crossed her lips as she gave me a nod and climbed into the back of the ambulance.
Chloe
As I was holding Willie’s hand, his eyes opened while the paramedics gave him an I.V.
“You’re going to be okay, Willie.” I smiled.
“I don’t think this time, kiddo.”
“Don’t say that. The doctors are going to make you feel better.”
Once we arrived at the hospital, Sebastian wasn’t too far behind as I was told to wait in the waiting room while the doctor examined him. I sat in the waiting room chair containing a young girl and her screaming baby. Sebastian sat beside me and handed me a cup of coffee.
“I thought you could use this.”
“Thanks.” I took the cup from him.
“Someone over there isn’t happy.” He smiled.
“Are you talking about the baby or the mother?”
“Both. How old do you think she is?”
“She looks to be about seventeen or eighteen. Here, hold this.” I handed him the cup and walked over to where the girl, who looked like she was going to lose it any second, sat. “Someone isn’t very happy.”
“No. She doesn’t feel well and she won’t stop crying. That would be great if she’d only stop for a minute.”
“May I?” I held out my arms to her.
The girl gave me a funny look and then looked over at Sebastian. “Do you think you can get her to stop?”
“I can give it a try.” I smiled. “What’s her name?”
“Aubrey. She’s four months old,” she said as she handed her baby to me.
I walked around the waiting room with her and began singing Tomorrow Is a Long Time in her ear as I held her up to my shoulder and softly rubbed her small back. After a few choruses, she began to quiet down and fell asleep. Walking her back over to her mom, I carefully handed Aubrey to her.
“How did you do that?” she asked.
“Babies can sense when you’re stressed out, which stresses them out. A little singing always works wonders.”
“Thank you so much. Thank you.” Tears filled her eyes.
“You’re welcome. Unfortunately, she’ll wake up again when they call you back.”
“That’s fine. Just a few moments of quiet are all I need right now.”
I gave her a small smile and went and sat down next to Sebastian.
“You’re going to make a damn good mother one day.” He smiled.
“Thanks.” I took my coffee from him.
“And a damn good big sister.”
“I’m really excited for the baby. It will be challenging for my parents since they haven’t raised a kid in a number of years.”
“You’ll be there to help them out.” He ran his hand down the back of my hair.
“You know, you don’t have to stay,” I spoke.
“Chloe, I’m here for both of you, and I’m staying.”
A doctor walked into the waiting room, asking who was with Willie. Sebastian and I stood up.
“We are,” I spoke.
“Willie has pneumonia and a pretty bad case of it. It seems he’s had it for a while. Because his lungs were inflamed for a period of time, his oxygen levels dropped, which caused kidney damage. Not only that, but the bacteria spread into his bloodstream and, from what we can tell, has infected his heart. It’s good you got him in here when you did.”
“Is he going to be okay, doctor?” Sebastian asked.
“We aren’t sure.” He looked down. “We’re pumping him full of antibiotics right now, but only time will tell.”
As the doctor was standing there talking to us, someone came on the overhead speaker.
“Code blue, room 104. Code blue, room 104.”
“That’s his room,” the doctor spoke as he turned and ran down the hallway.
Sebastian and I ran behind him and watched through the window as they used the defibrillator and then CPR. Sebastian wrapped his arm around me and pulled me close.
“Time of death, three forty-five,” the doctor spoke as he looked at the clock on the wall.
“No.” Tears started to stream down my face as I buried my head in Sebastian’s chest.
“I’m so sorry, baby.” He tightened his arm around me as his other arm wrapped around me and softly rubbed my back.
The doctor walked out of the room and looked at us. “I’m sorry. We did everything we could.”
“Can we go in there and say goodbye?” I asked.
“Yes,” he spoke as he walked away.
While Sebastian held me, we walked into the room.
“Hey, Willie.” I placed my hand on his. “You’re home now and won’t have to suffer anymore. You’ll always be warm, and you’ll never be hungry. Pretty cool, huh?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sebastian bring his hand up to his face. Oh my God, he was wiping away a tear. I didn’t want to embarrass him or make a big deal of it, so I ignored it. My heart, which was full of sadness over Willie, was also full of happiness that Sebastian was finally able to shed a tear.
“Well, I think funeral arrangements need to be made,” Sebastian spoke as he cleared his throat. “We’re going to give him a proper burial, no expense spared.”
“Really? You’re going to do that for him?” I asked as I looked into his sad eyes.
“Of course. He wasn’t only your friend, Chloe.”
“Right.” I gave a small smile. “Shall we head to the funeral home and make the arrangements now?”
“Let me call them first and make sure they can accommodate us today.”
Sebastian stepped out into the hallway. Looking back to Willie, I spoke, “Hear that? Sebastian is giving you an all-expenses-paid funeral. Even though I don’t believe in them, I’m going to let him do it anyway. It’ll make him feel better.”
“The funeral home said they can see us today. I told them we’d be over soon. That’s if you’re ready.”
“I am.”
As we walked out of the room, one of the nurses called out to us.
“Here’s his bag that was brought in with him. Since you’re his family, you should take it.”
“Thanks.” I gave a small smile.