19. Easton
Chapter 19
Easton
I turn around at her whispered words and watch her sway on her feet. I sweep her into my arms and cradle her against my chest as her body goes weak.
No! This can't be happening. I can't lose her!
“Dad!” I scream as loudly as I can. I don’t take my eyes off of her, trying everything to get her to wake up. “Dad!”
She’s so pale. Her body is so lifeless. I can't do this. I can't lose her.
“What happened?” Dad rushes down the steps with his keys in hand. He doesn’t bother asking anything else as he opens the back door to his SUV and helps me get inside with her in my arms.
He’s backing out of the driveway and speeding down the road before I can even process his question. I’ve never been so happy they moved. They’re only a few blocks away from the hospital. We’ll be able to get there before an ambulance could get to us .
“I don’t know what happened. She was fine, then she whispered my name and passed out.” I brush her hair out of her face and stare down at the woman I love. “C’mon, Taylor, I need you to wake up.”
Her eyes flutter and she slowly blinks her eyes open. Her brows furrow as she tries to figure out what’s going on. When she tries to sit up, I stop her.
“Don’t move, baby. We’re almost to the hospital.”
“What happened?”
“I think you passed out. We’re going to the hospital.”
“No, I'm fine. Can we just go home?”
“No, you need to get checked out. This could be a sign of your body rejecting your heart,” Dad speaks up. His voice is firm and steady as he clenches the wheel tightly.
“Mr. Maxwell? You’re driving me to the hospital?” She squeezes her eyes shut like nothing makes sense and honestly, it doesn’t. How does Dad know about what happens when your body rejects a donor heart?
“I am, sweetheart. I’ll do whatever I need to, to keep you safe.”
Before I can question him, we’re pulling up in front of the emergency room and Dad’s running inside. He returns with a few staff members and a wheelchair.
I slowly get out of the car with Taylor still in my arms. Placing her in the wheelchair, we follow her inside. Dad gives his keys to the valet, not caring about his car at all .
As soon as we get into a room, Taylor is asked to get on the bed. She’s too weak and doesn’t seem like she can do it, so I lift her into my arms and get her situated. They waste no time getting her hooked up to machines and running an EKG to check her heart.
“Taylor, we’re going to take you to perform some tests. We’ll probably do a biopsy too. I know your last one showed no signs of rejection, but I want to make sure.” Taylor’s doctor stands at the foot of the bed with a chart in his hands. I remember him from the appointment I went with her to. She’s lucky he was already at the hospital tonight.
“Ok,” she says softly.
I lean forward in my chair and rest my elbows on my knees, dropping my head into my hands. She needs to be ok. I can't live without her.
How did everything go wrong in just a matter of minutes?
When I walked into my parents’ house, I thought everything was great. I never believed telling them Taylor and I were dating would turn out the way it did. Honestly, I haven’t even had time to process Mom telling me she wished I had died instead of Jack. Though I'm sure that’s going to sting when it finally sets in.
I was too focused on getting Taylor out of there. Too focused on protecting her. But as soon as she whispered my name so weakly, I knew something was wrong.
I felt like my entire life was flashing before my eyes and I’ve never been so terrified.
“Taylor, I'm going to take you to where you’ll have your biopsy.” A young woman smiles from the foot of the bed. “She’ll be back in about thirty minutes to an hour. You can wait here for her,” she says to us.
I’m out of my chair and hugging her before I can stop myself. I don’t know if I'm going to make it through the next hour. I can't stomach the thought of her body rejecting her new heart. What happens then?
Did I finally get the girl, only to lose her?
Wouldn’t that be ironic. Even in death, Jack would still take her away from me.
“I love you, baby. I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
“I love you too.” She squeezes me back just as hard and right before they wheel her away, she presses a kiss to my lips.
I collapse into the chair and hang my head. I need to be strong for her, but I feel like the last hour zapped the energy out of me.
“She’s going to be ok, son. She’s strong and she’s not giving up now that she finally has you.” Dad places his hand on my back and rubs slow circles like he used to do when I was little.
“What do you mean?” I lift my head just high enough to meet his gaze.
“I might stay quiet most of the time, but I'm not an idiot. That woman has always loved you fiercely. Jack tried his hardest to take her away from you, and he might’ve for a little while, but she always belonged to you. I'm glad you both finally figured it out. ”
“You’re not mad we’re dating?” I sit up a little straighter.
“Mad? Why would I be mad? Taylor Gaines has been like a daughter to me since the day she started following you and Jack around.”
“Because she dated Jack first.”
“I’ll always love Jack…” Dad lets out a long sigh and scrubs a hand over his face before he continues. “Jack was always… difficult. He never wanted to share and he always had to get his way. He didn’t love Taylor the way a boyfriend loves a girlfriend. I knew that from the beginning. A few times I approached him about it and told him to end the relationship before he broke her heart. He always said he was working on it. What else was I supposed to do? I couldn’t break up with Taylor for him.”
“But Mom…”
“Yeah, she has a lot of apologizing to do. I don’t want to say losing Jack was harder on her, because it was hard on me too, but I think she connected with Jack more than she’s ever connected with you. Just like I’ve always connected more with you than Jack.”
“I'm not coming over again. She can't talk to Taylor that way.”
“I understand that and I don’t blame you one bit. I hope neither one of you hold her words against me. I'm happy for you. I'm proud of you, Easton. You’ve turned into such an amazing man. I know you’ll be a wonderful husband to Taylor and an amazing father to your future children.” He runs a hand through his hair and takes a moment to think through what he wants to say before he speaks again.
It used to drive me up a wall whenever he did this when I was little. The waiting always killed me. Now, I like knowing he’s thinking through his words before he speaks.
“She doesn’t hate you and she doesn’t wish you’d died in place of Jack. She loves you and wants what’s best for you, but her pain and misery over losing Jack is slowly eating away at her. She doesn’t want anyone to be happy. She doesn’t want anyone to move on. I think it’s because then she’ll feel like there’s something wrong with her. Most days she still can't get out of bed. I finally convinced her to go see a therapist, but it will take some time. She’s struggling a lot.”
“That doesn’t mean-” I start, but he cuts me off.
“No, that doesn’t mean she gets to speak to either one of you the way she did today.” He shakes his head. “As soon as you walked out the door she collapsed to the ground and started sobbing. I told her she might’ve just lost her only son she had left and she needed to fix things. When I heard you screaming for me, I told her not to come, but she wanted to. I figured you both needed space from her and if she came, things would be even more tense. I didn’t want Taylor to struggle more than she already was.”
“Thank you,” I whisper.
“She’s going to regret what she said. I guarantee she’s already regretting it and trying to figure out how to fix this. But she needs to do it on your terms and Taylor’s. She said things she can’t take back and she needs to work to fix these relationships. Not only do I not expect you to forgive her instantly, I don’t want you to.”
“Why?”
“Because she can't treat people like crap because her son died. She can't speak before she thinks about how her words are going to affect others. I'm not letting her get away with being a monster and expecting people to forgive her so easily. I won't put up with it. She needs to understand her actions have consequences and eventually she won't be able to apologize her way out of something.”
I nod my head, understanding what he’s saying. He doesn’t want to lose his wife.
“But I don’t want to talk about her. I want to talk about you. I’ve barely seen you since Jack died and I want to know how you’re doing.”
“I'll be great as long as she’s ok,” I whisper, staring into the hallway, wishing she’d appear there.
“How’s work?”
Dad does his best to distract me over the next hour and when Taylor’s stretcher is wheeled back into the room, I almost cry with happiness.
“How are you feeling?” I settle on the side of Taylor’s bed and brush her hair out of her face.
“I'm tired,” she says softly .
“She was given some sedatives while we did the biopsy. She’s going to be tired for a little while. We also did some blood work. As soon as all the tests come back, we’ll be back in with the results. Until then, try to rest and press the call button if you need anything.” The nurse smiles before exiting the room.
“I'm sorry, Mr. Maxwell.” Taylor rolls her head on the pillow to look at Dad.
“You have no reason to apologize, sweetheart.” Dad stands and comes around to the other side of the bed. He mirrors my position, sitting on the edge of the bed and takes her hand in his. “You haven’t done anything wrong. I love you and I'm happy you and Easton are together. You just have to promise to give me some cute grandbabies within the next few years.” He leans forward and presses a soft kiss to her temple.
“I’d love to do that. Thank you for not being mad.”
“I'm not sure I could ever be mad at you, Taylor. You were born to be in this family, and I knew your place would always be with Easton.”
Taylor’s eyes fly open and she tries her hardest to focus on him, but she’s still so drowsy from the medication.
“Go to sleep.” Dad chuckles and shakes his head. “We can talk later. I'll get out of your hair, but when you’re ready to leave, give me a call and I’ll come back to get you.”
“Thanks, Dad. ”
“If you need anything at all, you call me, Easton. I'm always here for you, no matter what.”
I nod my head as emotion clogs my throat. Though I expected emotions today, I didn’t expect this. I thought both of my parents would be disappointed. I didn’t think Mom would lose it and Dad would be cheering us on.
He’s right though, we can't give Mom a pass. Her words were hurtful, even if she might not truly feel that way, she still can't say things like that. She needs to apologize and prove she can do better. If not, she won't have a place in my life or Taylor’s.
Taylor’s all that matters now. I’ll do whatever I can to protect the woman I love, even if it means walking away from Mom forever.