Uncle Boone nodded. “I agree. After we get there and you’ve seen them, you can go find a quiet place and call. But not the whole team. Just the ones he’s close to. He needs his real friends around him right now.”
I wasn’t sure West would want that, but if this was the end, then he needed it.
“Did he text you?” Brady asked me.
I nodded.
“Did he give you any details?”
I shook my head and handed him my phone.
He read the text several times before handing back the phone to me.
“Thank you,” he said. “For being there for him. I don’t understand whatever it is y’all have, but thank you.”
He didn’t have to thank me. It was West. I’d do anything for him.
My phone dinged, and we all tensed up. I wanted to hurry and get to him.
He has a tumor pressing against a vein or something. They have him back there. That’s all I know. We’re on the fourth floor left wing waiting room.
I quickly typed: We are on our way. Almost there.
Then I handed the phone to Brady. He read the text to his parents. Then the phone dinged again, and he read the incoming text silently before handing it to me:
Good. I need you here.
I closed my eyes tightly and prayed. I wasn’t sure what to pray for because I knew West’s dad couldn’t be saved from this. But I prayed anyway.
Once we arrived at the hospital, Uncle Boone let us out at the entrance before he went to park. I didn’t wait on anyone. I ran inside and headed for the elevators. If West got the news his dad had passed away, I wanted to be there beside him. I wanted him to have what I hadn’t. Someone who understood.
When the elevator door opened, I hurried on and pressed the button. When the doors opened again on the fourth floor, there stood West. His eyes were bloodshot, and they locked on mine. He’d been waiting on me.
“Hey,” he said in a hoarse whisper.
I stepped out of the elevator and reached out my hand to take his. “Hey.”
“They just let Mom go back,” he said, tightening his hold on my hand and pulling me closer to him. “Said he was stable, but there isn’t much they can do other than try to make him comfortable.”
For months he’d feared going to sleep and waking up to find his dad gone. Today was a close call. I threaded my fingers through his. “Let’s go back to the waiting room. They’ll come get you soon.”
“Yeah,” he agreed.
The white walls were so sterile. Hospitals had always felt cold to me. I wouldn’t want to die here. I’d like to die somewhere I loved, somewhere that made me feel safe. Which, finally, made me realize what I would pray for. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer that Jude Ashby didn’t have to die here. That he could die at home. A place he loved.
“Who brought you?” West asked as I opened my eyes.
“Uncle Boone, Aunt Coralee, and Brady. They’re right behind me. I just ran when we got out of the car. I didn’t want you to be here . . . without me.”
West’s hand squeezed mine, then he brushed his thumb against my thumb. “Thank you.”
I remembered his text about needing me. He needed me for his own reasons. Ones I understood. But I needed him, too. Because in three short weeks he’d wedged his way into my heart.
I’d realized this morning, after seeing that text and not being there with him, that nothing was as important as getting to this hospital. I had never been in love, so I had nothing to compare it to, but there was no question in my mind that West Ashby had become the most important person in my life. I was in love with him. I could be whatever it was he needed me to be. Even if that would always be just a friend.
I’ll Be the Man You Raised Me to Be
CHAPTER 26
WEST
I had expected Maggie to move her hand away from mine when her family showed up. But she hadn’t. Not even when her aunt and uncle had both looked directly at our joined hands. She had stayed close beside me, holding on to me while they’d all talked. Coralee had kissed the top of my head and told me she loved me.
Boone had nodded and patted my shoulder. Then Brady had taken the seat on my other side, silently letting me know he was there for me. Having people here was a relief. Especially for Momma. I didn’t want her to think we were alone.
I had Maggie, that was all I needed, but the Higgenses being here made it easier for Momma.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Brady said as he stood up and walked down the hallway.
“He’s going to tell the other guys. They ones you’re close to,” Maggie whispered, barely moving her lips. Her aunt and uncle were talking over by the coffee machine. They weren’t looking at us.
“He tell you that?” I asked
“Yes, he told all of us in the car. He’s worried about you.”
It was time they knew. I should have told them sooner. But I’d had Maggie, and telling anyone else wasn’t something I cared about doing.
“He’s going. I can feel it,” I said it out loud, needing to hear myself admit it.
“You’ll hurt. It’s the worst pain. But you’re strong, and you’ll make it through. You’ll have his memory. That won’t ever leave you.” She stopped talking when her aunt turned around. I was sure she hadn’t heard Maggie’s quiet whisper.
I held on to her words. She knew what this felt like. She was being honest with me. She wasn’t patting my arm and telling me that I’d be okay or that she was sorry for me. I’d be getting a lot of that soon.