Chapter Eleven
Since Everything
Callum went into the room first then came back out a few minutes later. “Go ahead,”
he whispered. I nodded as I caught the door and stepped into the room.
Ardley immediately fixed himself on his elbow and smiled at me. “Hey, stranger.”
I looked around the room. There wasn’t anything dramatic to note, but I did notice how hard it was for him to hold himself up, his eyes were sunken low, and his dirty blond hair was disheveled.
I wasn’t used to this version of Ardley—no, not at all. I swallowed as I tried to adjust with the new version of him I was introduced to. I was used to seeing him in a neat black suit, clean slicked back hair, always ready to go, checking his watch every so often while Celeste tugged at his bicep to at least pretend to pay attention to the nutrition page I would be reciting back to them. He was never bored or anything. I truly believed he did have places to be, and Celeste would make him stay for the most boring part of my visits.
“Hi,”
I whispered back, “how are you?”
He was so much more different now. Hospital clothes, bed hair, also the most tired and miserable he’s probably ever looked his whole entire life.
He shrugged then leaned back. “Better every day.”
“That’s good,”
I smiled as I took a seat next to the bed, “I just wanted to check on you.”
“Yeah, Cal’s been telling me,”
he smiled softly, “how’s the baby doing?”
My hand flew to my stomach and I rubbed it. “Good, he’s getting stronger, and the due date is getting closer.”
“And you’re ready? You know with the plan and everything—I know you and Celeste have been talking about a…birthing plan, is it?”
I nodded. “We talked about it for a while, but her only concern was always to be in the room, she said the rest was up to me.”
Ardley smiled proudly as he dropped his head back on the bed. “I miss her.”
He chuckled half-heartedly, “your stomach has gotten so much bigger and she’d love that so much.”
My eyes dropped on my stomach as I felt guilty. “I know.”
“Since the accident, I keep thinking about you—Celeste was obsessed with you, I would hear all about the baby’s first everything like she truly lived through it and it was beautiful, I got to see that light back in her eyes, she was excited—”
he released a deep breath, “I keep thinking about you—and those days. Those days with you are all she lived for this past year.”
I looked down as I tried to blink back a tear as my chest tightened.
It wasn’t fair.
I know Ardley wouldn’t say it, but I understood.
Stuff like this shouldn’t happen to people like Celeste.
The one person who was the happiest about this pregnancy couldn’t see the progress anymore. Seeing my belly this big would have brought so much joy to Celeste, knowing the fact my due date is so close would’ve filled her with so much excitement. Soon, she’d be with her baby soon.
While she couldn’t enjoy my pregnancy anymore, here I was feeling like the baby is my greatest burden.
I looked up to catch his smile, but it slowly dropped. “Have you seen Celeste?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Have you?”
I asked after a beat.
“Not yet,”
he said. “I haven’t been able to get out of bed, and for some reason Kent and everyone else treats the topic like it’s hush hush.”
I thought of Callum when I first heard the news that Ardley was fighting for his life and Celeste was in a critical coma and might never wake up. I haven’t been given any updates or news based on how her recovery is going. All I knew is that I was constantly praying for a Godspeed recovery on Celeste’s behalf just like everyone else. She had to recover soon, she had to.
I balled my hands into a fist anxiously as I thought about Celeste.
I thought about Ardley, how devastated he must be right now. He hadn’t seen his wife in weeks, everyone was afraid to talk about her, scared they might give him any false hope because the doctors weren’t sure how her condition would turn out.
“I’m gonna see her soon,”
Ardley added.
Sitting here across from him and watching the happiness he had a few moments ago when he saw me disappear was awful, I didn’t know what that could possibly feel like. I’d never been in this position before but I knew my heart broke in half for him. He couldn’t be with his person when he needed her the most. In a sense, his favorite part of him was missing and it was only the ache left as a reminder that she was ever there. A void that only she could fill.
I nodded.
“Anyways,”
he chuckled, swallowing up his sadness like I wouldn’t notice, “how’s Cal been treating you?”
I smiled softly as I sniffed, “he’s great.”
I looked down at my thigh. “He’s really taking on the role.”
Of course I noticed. I noticed everything.
“I always thought he’d be an amazing dad,”
he said proudly.
I looked up. “That’s sweet.”
“Juliette,”
his tone hardened, “I’m really sorry about all of this—I know this isn’t what we agreed—”
“Just get some rest Ardley,”
I cut him off, “think of Celeste.”
His brows furrowed.
“I’m doing fine…really,”
I continued, “I just need you guys to recover quickly, the baby will be waiting.”
He nodded with a tight-lipped smile then he closed his eyes, “what’s a craving you currently have? I think she’d want to know that.”
I laughed. “There’s this kid, Bailey, he works at Blueberry Lane.”
Ardley opened an eye and kept the other close to peep at me, “uh-oh,”
he grinned like the story was going to get good.
“He makes the best sandwiches ever. I don’t know what it is exactly, but it’s all I want.”
I shook my head as I laughed, “that, and a cold glass of lemonade.”