Chapter 9
NINE
Foster
Ford elbows me in the side as he shifts on the couch next to me. Lilliana is tucked under my other arm, and I grumble as I turn towards her more.
I had just managed to fall asleep too. The three of us had sat around Dad’s hospital bed all day.
He woke up a few hours ago, but he had been really out of it.
He fell back asleep not long after, and that was when Ford and I had first started fighting over who got to sleep on the couch versus the uncomfortable chairs.
I close my eyes, trying to go back to sleep, but the constant beeping of the machines is too hard to block out. I take a few deep breaths, reminding myself that those beeps mean that he’s still alive.
“Hey,” Lilliana whispers, scooting away from my side.
I frown, my grip on her hip tightening.
“Welcome home,” my dad whispers to her, and I blink my eyes open, sitting up at the same time as Ford.
“Dad,” we say together, and he smiles.
“You scared the shit out of us,” Ford tells him as he sits on the edge of the couch and drags his hands down his face.
“Sorry about that.”
“Should I get the doctor or a nurse?” Lilliana asks, and Dad nods.
“Please.”
She stands, squeezing my shoulder as she heads for the door and I watch her go.
“Should we get the priest too? Or are you two planning more of a church wedding?” Dad asks me, and I scrub my hands down my face.
“We’re not getting married…yet,” I finish, and he sighs.
“At least tell me that you’ve told her that you love her,” he says, and I shake my head.
“Not yet.”
“What the hell are you waiting for?” He scolds me.
“Lay off him, Dad. You know that he’s still waiting on his balls,” Ford says, and I elbow him in the side.
“Shut up. I was going to tell her, but then you called and interrupted us.”
“Don’t blame me too much. You’ve had literal years to get the nerve to tell her,” Ford says, and I roll my eyes.
I know that he’s right.
“I still remember the day,” my dad reminisces, and I frown.
“What day?”
“The day that you fell in love with her. You looked like you had been hit by something,” he says with a laugh.
“Cupid’s arrow, maybe,” Ford mumbles next to me.
“You just stood in our yard, staring at her. Your mom was trying to get you to come in and get washed up for dinner, but she was all that you could focus on. I remember your mom laughing and saying that we should go greet the new neighbors since we were going to be in-laws with them someday.”
“She did?” I whisper, and he nods, smiling at the memory.
“She loved Lilliana. She always wanted you two to end up together.”
“We all do. We just need Foster to get it together and tell her already,” Ford says.
“Cameron thinks that Ransom is hot,” I inform him, and I smirk when I see his hands tighten into fists.
Looks like I’m not the only one who needs to man up and go after his girl, I think and I know that Ford is aware of my train of thought.
His jaw clenches and he looks away from me. Dad sighs, and I lean back on the couch, trying to sort through my thoughts.
I think back to last night and how it had felt to be with her, to take her virginity and make her mine. It was a literal dream come true.
I should have told her last night. I should have told her before she left for college. I should have done a lot of things differently, but I can’t go back and change any of that. All I can do is try to make up for lost time now.
Lilliana comes back into the room, a nurse and doctor right behind her.
“You still look at her the same way,” my dad whispers, and I swallow hard.
How could I not? She’s the most beautiful woman that I’ve ever seen in my life. She’s so talented and smart, so kind to everyone.
Ford and I stand and greet the doctor and nurse.
Lilliana stands back by the foot of the bed, watching as they check his chart and some of the machines.
I hold my hand out to her, and she comes to stand between Ford and me.
She takes our hands in hers and squeezes as the doctor starts to ask Dad some questions.
As I watch, I know that I need to tell her. None of us are guaranteed time here. I need to stop wasting mine with her.