Track 29 #2
Thirty minutes later, Adam ran down the hospital corridor towards the Intensive Care Unit.
He asked at the nurses’ station and was pointed to the family room.
He burst through the door and found Lily in a crumpled heap on a corner sofa.
She looked so small. So young and fragile.
Immediately he went to her side and pulled her into his lap.
She latched onto his neck and let out a pain-filled groan.
Adam stroked her hair. ‘Hey… shhh… I’m here… it’s okay… shhh.’ He rocked her gently as she poured her anguish out onto him, clinging on for dear life.
Eventually when her sobs had subsided, she looked up into his eyes. He was doing his best not to let his own tears fall, but seeing Lily like this was too much to bear. A tear escaped and he rubbed his cheek on his upper arm.
She held his face in her hands. ‘Thank you. Thank you so much for coming. I know you were—’
He rested his forehead on hers. ‘Shhh. It doesn’t matter what I was doing, Lil. It never matters what I’m doing. I’ll always come to you when you need me. You know that.’
She closed her eyes, which forced more tears to trail down her face, and she quickly pressed her mouth to his. ‘Thank you, Adam. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
He felt a strange jolt of electricity when her lips touched his, which startled him.
Trying not to show it, he pulled away and looked into her bloodshot eyes. ‘Hey, you don’t have to worry about that, Lil, because it’s never going to happen.’ He buried his face in her hair as her tears came again.
Having Adam near was such a comfort for Lily. She clung to him and he let her. He hadn’t flinched even when she had stupidly planted a kiss right on his mouth. She hadn’t been thinking straight. That’s all it was. She felt so guilty at interrupting his date with Jess.
She vowed to herself that she would make it up to Jessica in some way, especially if Adam really liked her.
She’d have to try to be friends with the woman.
Even though she had the very thing that Lily wanted more than anything.
No… no… right at this moment what she wanted more than anything was for her dad to be okay and for him to come out of this alive. It had been a huge shock.
As she sat curled up on Adam’s lap, her mind whirred around with a million different things.
Most of them silly. It was strange how, as a child, she had always thought of her dad as a hero.
He hadn’t fought in wars or defended the helpless.
He was just a normal man. But he was a good man, a strong man, and a wonderful father and husband.
He had always put Lily and her mother first, and above everything else; their happiness was paramount to him and that alone made him a hero in her opinion.
But she had always thought of him as invincible.
It was only now, as an adult, that she realised how fragile he was.
Just like everyone else. He was no hero.
Not in the true indestructible sense of the word.
What he was was irreplaceable. A thought sprang into her mind as she was now faced with her dad’s mortality.
She pulled away and looked straight into Adam’s dark brown troubled eyes. ‘Adam, I’m so sorry.’
The crumple to his brow betrayed his confusion. ‘For what?’
She took a deep breath and searched for the courage to continue. ‘For trying to get you to move on.’
‘Sorry? I don’t get—’
‘The dating site, Adam. I can’t believe I was so stupid.’
He shook his head. ‘Lily, help me out here ’cause I’m not sure—’
‘Eve can’t be replaced, Adam. Just like my dad can’t be replaced. Eve was an amazing friend, an amazing person, and I should never have interfered.’ Her lip began to tremble again.
Holding her face in his hands, he smiled at her.
‘Lil, you can’t make me do something I don’t want to do, so stop worrying, okay?
I’m an adult, remember? And I’m not trying to replace her.
She was one of a kind. We both know that.
But you were right. I don’t want to be alone.
I know I have you but… well, one day… you’ll meet someone…
then you’ll get married and I’ll be all alone.
I do want to meet someone. I do. And all of this has made me feel hope.
But maybe I need to stop forcing it, eh?
I think I’m done with dating websites and singles’ nights. ’
‘Things not going well with Jessica?’
‘Let’s just say I won’t be seeing her again and leave it at that, eh?’
Lily’s mum walked through the door, halting the conversation.
She appeared broken. Lily climbed off Adam’s lap and enveloped her mum in her arms. The usually fiery and feisty woman was pale and drawn.
Adam joined the mother and daughter as they sobbed together and clung to each other as if doing so would take away the pain they were feeling.
With an arm around both women, Adam fought back his own tears.
‘They asked me to leave, Lily. I don’t know what is going on.’
Adam had always loved to hear Lenora speak. Her Spanish accent had become tinged with a slight Scottish lilt as time had passed. It had always brought a smile to his face. Today, however, he hated to hear her so heartbroken when there was nothing he could do to ease her pain.
‘It’s probably just so they can check his vitals, Mamá. Try not to worry, okay?’
‘Tengo tanto miedo… no puedo perder a tu papá,’ Lenora sobbed. She had a tendency to revert to Spanish when she was upset.
‘Mamá, I know you’re afraid. So am I. They’re doing all they can so that we don’t lose him. We have to stay positive.’ Lenora nodded but Adam could see that staying positive was something she was struggling to do.