Chapter 12
Caleb
The following morning
It had been a restless night and now the sun was shining brightly. Caleb could see rays of light piercing through the edges of the blackout curtain at the hospital.
It was 8:30am. The clock on the wall was visible from his place on the hospital bed next to Bailey. He had been asleep for over an hour, which was the longest amount he had all night. He swallowed, and his throat was hot and irritated. The night had been one interruption after another, so he was constantly reminded of how bad it hurt. If it wasn't Bailey waking up, it was the nurses coming in. Sometimes, Caleb just woke up on his own. It was after seven the last time he went to sleep, and he blinked at the clock feeling thankful for the hour of solid rest.
He was stretched out on the edge of the bed next to Bailey. She had insisted. She was clingy, and the nurse gave her pain medicine but otherwise just encouraged him to be there for her. Caleb was wrecked. He felt bad for Bailey, and he wanted her to be completely restored physically, but he could not forget Lila. He felt committed to her. His heart was given to Lila, and he was fixed and focused on having her. His predicament had gotten even worse in California, but he knew he had no choice but to continue to work his way out of it.
He sat there for a moment before he moved.
He didn’t want to disturb Bailey.
He remembered scenes from the night before.
She had been all over him, wanting to actively snuggle. He knew she wasn't herself, so he tried to be patient and be there for her while he maintained distance between them. The whole evening had been uncomfortable. He was sick, and the sight of her fainting had been replaying in his mind during the middle of the night. He was out of it and full of sickness and anxiety. He prayed, but even that was a struggle. He was in a storm of emotions, being tossed around by waves of visions and feelings… Lila, Bailey fainting, the burning throat, the pounding head. A vision of Lila interrupted all of his thoughts. He grinned, enjoying a brief moment of daydreaming about sitting across from her at the diner.
Caleb needed to go home and get some actual rest. His thoughts were choppy and his mind was foggy. Bailey would be discharged today if things progressed. Either way, he was going to leave soon and give charge to her family. He had her mom's number saved in his phone and he wanted to text her right away to let her know.
Slowly, he reached for his phone. He would send a text to Jennifer to let her know he would be leaving soon.
There was a missed call from Lila. Caleb saw it, and he felt such a rush of excitement that he nearly dropped his phone when he saw the name. He bit his bottom lip as he caught his phone in mid-air glancing slowly at Bailey to make sure she wasn't stirring.
Gently, he picked up his phone again. Lila had left him a voice message, and he felt like he wanted to cry at the thought. He pressed the buttons to listen to the voicemail and he held the phone to his ear—the one that was farthest from Bailey.
"Hey, hey, Caleb. This is Lila Decker. Hey, I was… I know it's early there. I just realized, I didn't think about the time difference. Sorry if you were sleeping. Anyway, I'm… I was thinking about you. I just wanted to let you know that. I don't know what's happening with you. I guess you made it home and everything. Anyway, no matter what happens, I wanted you to know that I'm really happy we met. You're amazing, and I'm sorry if I seemed impatient with… I could have maybe handled it differently, but I think I was starting to…" She let out a little laugh. "I'm saying too much. I just called to say hi and tell you that I'm glad we met. I hope you had a good—"
A loud beep cut her off.
He checked his phone to see if there was another message, but there wasn't.
He listened to that message again, and despite the pain and the whole situation, he could not stop a huge grin from crossing his face. He had to call her back, and to do that, he had to get out of this bed.
Caleb did his best to move gingerly, but Bailey had her head on his shoulder and she stirred when he moved. "I'll be right back," he whispered to her. That was all he said. He gave her a small smile and walked out of the room and down the hallway.
Caleb planned to go outside so that he could focus and concentrate on the phone call. He got into the elevator and headed down. The door opened on the third floor to let someone in, and he spotted a bench that was in a secluded public area. He excused himself and got off on the third floor instead of riding to the first. There was a long glass rail and a balcony that looked down into the lobby, and he chose one of the benches that was at the far end, near the wall. No one was there, and he pushed the buttons to call Lila as he went to sit on the bench.
He had such a horrible painful confused night that it seemed odd for him to be feeling so happy. But he smiled uncontrollably as he dialed her number. He put the phone to his ear, praying she would pick up.
Three rings happened, and he started to feel hopeless, but then he heard something on the other end.
"Hello?" Her voice was like music to his ears. His heart leaped in his chest.
"Hey, Lila. It's me. Caleb."
"Hey, how are you?" she asked. She was so sweet.
He was quiet for a second, thinking about her question. "Now that you've called… I, uh… feel… better." He had been so miserable last night that it was the best he could come up with.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Why are you being quiet?"
"Oh, because I'm… nobody's around or anything, but I am in a… I'm just here as a visitor… I'm not hurt. But I'm at the hospital right now."
"Oh, is everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's a long story, but yes, everything's going to be fine."
There was a pause, after which she said, "Do you need me?"
His heart began beating faster at the question. He had been expecting her to ask questions that would lead to talking about Bailey. The last thing he thought she would do was to point-blank ask if he needed her.
"Yes, I do," he said, honestly. He felt weak, like he needed her very much.
"Okay. Should I come there? I'll leave right now."
He knew he should explain that things were still messy here. He didn't know how to say it. "It's not me who's hurt," he explained. "I'm just here supporting someone else."
"It's okay. I still want to be there for you if you need me. I don't want to be in the way, but if you want me to—"
"Would you come?"
"Yes, I'll be right there." she said. She paused like that was all she was going to say, like she didn't need any more explanation.
"I would love that," Caleb said.
He sat on the bench, staring down at the carpet squares at his feet. He was sick and out of it, and the prospect of Lila coming to California felt like a life preserver that had been thrown to him in a storm. He took a hold of the knowledge that she was coming like it was some kind of lifeline.
"Are you there, Caleb?"
"What? Yes. Why?"
"Oh, I thought you didn't hear me. I was asking you to send me your address so I could get somewhere to stay close by."
"You don't need to get a hotel. My brother is in Spain right now. His place is close to mine. You can just stay there. I never ask him for anything, so he won't mind. His couch is really comfortable."
"That's great, if you're sure," she said. "Just text me the address. I'll try to leave as soon as possible."
She asked no further questions about what she was coming into. She didn't make him clarify that things were wrapped up with Bailey. She simply told him that she would share her travel plans once they were solidified. He hadn't even told her he was sick. She had offered to come, and he wanted to see her so badly that there was nothing he could do but take her up on it.
He was only on the phone with Lila for a few minutes. He got to his feet and went back to Bailey's room. It took him over an hour to say goodbye to her. She was reluctant for him to go, but he persisted that he needed rest. Her mom was arriving just as he left.
He got a text from Lila on his way home with her travel plans. She would be arriving at LAX that very evening at 10:15pm. He said he would pick her up at the airport, but she insisted that she wanted to get a rental car so that she would have a way around. He gave her Drake's address, and she said she would meet him there at around eleven.
Caleb was excited about her coming. He would've normally been too excited to sleep the day away, but his body gave in. He needed the rest. He fell asleep before noon and didn't wake up until eight o'clock that evening. His throat felt bad the first few times he swallowed, but it got better quickly once he was up and moving. It seemed the rest had helped. His head wasn't pounding with as much ferocity as it had been. He thought of Lila, and for a second, he thought he had dreamed she was coming. But then he reasoned with himself that it was the truth. She was on her way to California. One glance at his phone proved that it was the truth. Her itinerary was in his texts.
He also had other texts and phone calls to deal with. He would call his brother first. Before he placed the call, he got up and went to the restroom, washing his face with cool water and soap at the sink. He combed his hair back and away from his face with his fingers and the cool water. He felt a lot better. He was still sick, but he wasn't feverish, and he was a lot more aware and alert than he had been before he fell asleep. He called Drake because he hadn't talked to him about Lila yet.
"Hey, Drake, what time is it where you are?"
"Eleven, why?"
"Oh, I thought you were in Spain."
"I was until yesterday. I'm in New York now. What's up? You had texted about using my apartment."
"Yeah. How long are you gone?"
"I'm here for two days and then Chicago for a few. Why?"
"You're going to Chicago?"
"Yes. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, my friend is from there. I'm having someone come to town, a girl. She's amazing and I care about her, and I'd love for her to stay at your place if you don't mind. I would offer her mine, but Bailey uses it as an office, and I'm still not… things are complicated right this second with me."
"Is it Bailey?"
"Yeah, Bailey's still recovering now, and she might be coming over here to use the computer. It's Lila who's staying at your place, though, and she's amazing. If she ends up staying for more than a few days, I'll make other arrangements for her."
"Yeah, it's fine," Drake said, even though he was a little thrown off. "Is everything okay with you?"
"Better now. I think I told you in my message that I was sick, but I just woke up and I'm feeling a little better, thank goodness."
"What do you have?"
"A sore throat."
"Did you say Bailey's hurt?"
"Yes, and it's a long story. She came over here to see me because I was sick, and she passed out and hit her head. Like really hard. It knocked her out. I watched it happen."
"Sheesh."
"Yes. It was bad. She did it because I told her I had met someone."
"What?"
"She fainted when I told her I met someone else."
Drake paused and then said, "You're joking."
"I wish I was."
"You told her you were in love?"
"Yes."
"Uh, what?" Drake made a laughing scoffing sound because he thought Caleb joking. It was the last statement he expected to hear from his brother. "Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"With this woman who's staying at my house?"
"Yes," Caleb said. "It's early, but I think love her."
"I thought you don't love women."
"This one's different," he said, since it was the truth.
"Is Bailey in the hospital?"
"She was. She spent the night there."
"How's it going to go with Bailey and the new girl? It's crazy she's coming to town so soon."
Caleb cringed. He wanted his brother to know and love Lila as much as he did. "I want her here. I don't know how it'll go with Bailey, honestly. Lila asked if I wanted her to come, and I told her I did. I don't really care how it goes with Bailey. I want to try to let her down as easy as possible, but I need to say something soon. She was hugging all over me last night."
"Who was?"
"Bailey. At the hospital. It's a long story. Her sister couldn’t stay. I won't bore you with all that. Thank you, Drake. I'll make sure your house is better than before she stayed there."
"I know you will. It's no problem. This is just all so weird for you. I want to make sure you're good."
"I'm good. Thank you, brother."
"Good luck with everything. I hope Bailey's okay."
"I think she is," Caleb said, seeing that he had messages on his phone from her.
He got off the phone after thanking his brother again. He made himself a cup of orange juice. Bailey had done a lot of shopping, buying all of his favorite comfort foods. He drank the orange juice feeling thankful that it was in there. It made him fell slightly worse about everything with Bailey. He felt bad for her, but it had to be done. He knew what love felt like now, and he would do anything to protect it. The trick would be to deliver the news as kindly as possible to Bailey.
He called Bailey back since she had called him three times while he was sleeping.
"Hey," he said when she picked up the phone.
"Hey, I tried to call you earlier. You had me worried. I came by, and the third deadbolt was locked." (It was the lock that no one had a key to besides Caleb.)
"I locked it so I could relax and get some rest. Did you come by here?"
"Yes. Mom tried to drop me off there after we left the hospital earlier. I'm not driving yet. I was going to help you get some work done."
"Bailey, you can't be thinking about work right now."
"No, I need to. I'm fine. I feel good. I'd feel better getting back to work. Those videos aren't going to edit themselves."