49. Bailey
Bailey
M y leg shook as my foot tapped on the linoleum floor in an uneven beat. Lettie had been back there for what felt like hours, and no one had come to get me like they said they would. I’d asked the woman at the counter twice now for an update, and she said a nurse would speak to me when they could.
That didn’t comfort me at all.
I was on edge and worried that something may have happened. Was she still breathing? Did they give her some medication? My service didn’t work in here, so I couldn’t even send her a text asking if she was okay.
Unable to sit still any longer, I practically tipped the chair over as I stood, then made my way to the woman behind the counter .
“If they come out for me, can you let them know I stepped outside?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
Her face was coated in sympathy but I didn’t want sympathy right now. I wanted fucking answers. “Of course.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled and headed out the doors.
The fresh air did nothing to clear my head as every possible scenario flew through my mind.
I paced back and forth, from the pillar that held the overhang to the edge of the sidewalk.
I was halfway compelled to burst through the back and find her myself, but the last thing Lettie probably needed right now was me causing a scene.
The fact that a door was separating us right now, keeping me from knowing what was going on, fucking killed me. I wanted nothing more than to hold Lettie in my arms and know she was okay.
I’d been pacing for at least half an hour when the doors to the emergency room opened. I turned, my eyes immediately finding Lettie’s petite form as she stood just outside the doors, frozen. From where I stood, I could see the tears welling in her eyes, and that fucking broke me.
I ran toward her, pulling her into my arms, pressing her face against my chest. God, it felt so good to hold her.
“Baby, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” I asked, my voice laced with worry.
She nodded, pulling back an inch to look up at me. “I thought you left,” she said, her voice breaking on the last word .
I cupped her face, shaking my head. “I could never leave you, Huckleberry. No one came to get me. I’m so sorry. I was going crazy in there. I wanted nothing more than to be back there with you. It fucking killed me not knowing what was happening.”
She folded into me, pressing her cheek against my chest as my hands stroked down her hair, soothing her. “They gave me an iron transfusion.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
She nodded again, holding me a little tighter. “I only have to come back if my symptoms are the same, but they do want to do blood tests more often than I was getting them to prevent it from getting this bad again.”
I looked down at the top of her head, and she met my eyes, feeling my gaze on her. “You were getting them before?”
She chewed the inside of her cheek, then stopped. “Yeah. In Boise.”
“You tell me when the appointments are, and I’ll take you every time.”
Her bottom lip trembled as she nodded in agreement. “Thank you.”
“Anything you for, Huckleberry.” I held her tighter, loving the feel of her in my arms. “Anything.”