22. Azalea
22
Azalea
I was sitting in the urgent care waiting room cradling Pinky’s head in my lap when Isaac walked through the automatic sliding door. His eyes fell on me immediately, and he strode toward me with obvious concern.
Seeing him was a relief.
Despite my worried state, I still noticed how good he looked. He was dressed down in basketball shorts and a t-shirt, but he didn’t need anything else. Those track star legs were a showpiece on their own.
He sat next to me and put a hand on my back. “Yall good?”
“I don’t know yet.”
He looked down at my sleeping baby. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know.” I stroked Pinky’s head. “She’s been lethargic all day. Nothing like her usual self. She hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday.”
“Alright, well, you need me to do anything?”
“You’re sweet. But no. I didn’t need you to drive up here, either.”
“Yet here I am.”
I smiled weakly. “I know it probably seems silly, but she’s like my baby.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that about pets. I don’t judge, and you don’t have to explain it to me.”
I nodded. “This is taking forever.”
“How long you been here?”
“Almost two hours.”
He looked over at the reception desk, then back at me. “I’ll be right back.”
My eyes followed him over there, curious about what he was going to say. I’d already been up there twice, and nothing of note had come of it. I didn’t know him well enough yet to know if he was the type to go off in a public place, but I was too upset to care. We’d all see in a minute.
I couldn’t hear a word, but there was much talking and gesturing. He definitely looked pissed. The receptionist didn’t look upset. More irritated than anything else. She walked to the back twice before coming back to say something to him. A few moments later, he waved me over.
Carefully, I gathered my baby and approached the desk. The receptionist smiled and said, “Follow me,” and that was that.
He rubbed his hand down my back, which reassured me. “I’ll be out here,” he said.
I mouthed thank you to him and walked on, hoping and praying my baby would be okay, and feeling grateful to Isaac for being here.
If he was trying to show me something, it was working.