Chapter 36
thirty-six
LIAM
After we rushed Maya to the emergency center across the hospital, the doctors assured us they couldn’t find anything wrong with her.
They said it might be exhaustion or dehydration, but she still hasn’t come to, so Poppy and I are laying with her until she does.
It’s a tight fit in the tiny bed, our only privacy a see-through curtain, but I can’t leave her. Neither can Poppy. She’s clinging to Maya like a koala on a tree. And she keeps asking me to kiss her in case this is a Sleeping Beauty situation.
“One more time, Daddy. You didn’t count to five. And it has to be on the lips.”
I’ve had Maya’s hand in mine for ten minutes, our fingers woven together even though hers are limp.
But then I feel something, a twitch, but something .
“Maya?” I breathe her name and place a hand on her cheek, willing her to wake up.
And she does.
“Hey,” she says, her voice a little scratchy. “What happened?”
“Maya!” Poppy shouts, her grip on Maya morphing into a hug. “Did Daddy’s kiss wake you up?”
“You passed out,” I offer. “Ellie’s fine, by the way. I wasn’t sure if you even heard the doctor. She’s gonna be fine.”
Maya bites her lip and her chin starts to wobble. I brush some loose hair off of her face, remind her again that everything’s okay.
“Here, take a sip,” I say, handing her a glass of water. “The doctor said you might be dehydrated. That’s what the IV’s for.” I gesture to her wrist.
Her eyes dart around the room and down to the needle in her arm. After a few long moments they finally land on me.
“I remember,” she says. At first I think she’s talking about Ellie, that she did hear the good news earlier, but the way her gaze locks on mine makes me realize it’s bigger than that.
“I remember.” She says it again, more emphatically this time, and my whole world tips.
“All of it?”
She nods. “I stayed in bed while you went to find your phone. I heard you cursing to yourself but I thought you stubbed your toe or something. The door slammed shut before I could ask if you were okay.”
“And before that?” I ask, holding my breath.
“You were right. I did beg you to get a drink with me.” She grins. “But I have zero regrets.”
Holy shit. No more mystery, no more trying to figure out what she does or doesn’t know. Finally we can just…be. I think. I hope.
“Does this change anything for you?”
“What?” she asks, her arm coming around Poppy to finally squeeze her back. My daughter’s been crying tears of happiness, oblivious to our conversation. “Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know, I?—”
“Liam,” she says, rubbing circles on Poppy’s back to soothe my daughter. Her other hand finds mine and squeezes. “I think whether I forgot about you or not, this—you and me—we were inevitable. Even if I’d never come to your restaurant, or never come here in my ripped up wedding dress, we would have found each other, some way. It may have been when I visited for Stevie’s next birthday, or for some future Galentine’s Day with Ellie. Or maybe I’d have come here just to eat at your diner once I discovered who owned it. But I know we were meant to find each other. In this time or another. And nothing is going to change that.”
My eyes are caught on Maya’s, unable to look away. I wrap my arms around her and Poppy, feeling overwhelmed by the love I have for these two.
“You’re right,” I murmur. “Inevitable.”