Beautiful Goodbye

by Heather D'Agostino

  I saw the look of confusion spread across his features as the drugs took him under. I wasn’t sure what had caused it until the I glanced over my shoulder when the nurse left. There in the hallway was Maryanne. She had her arms crossed in front of her chest, and a blank expression on her face.

  Against my better judgement, I disentangled my fingers from Ryan’s and stood. I walked over to the door, slowly opened it, and motioned for her to come in. “Would you like to come in?”

  Her eyes darted down the hallway in each direction before she nodded. Her stiff posture continued as she moved into the room, and she gasped when she saw him lying there. “He’ll sleep for a while. They gave him pain meds,” I clarified.

  She only nodded as she moved around the room, pausing at the window. She pushed back the curtains and stared out at the sunlight. At first I didn’t think she’d say anything, and it caught me off guard when she did.

  “He was always the daredevil growing up,” her voice was barely a whisper. “I caught him trying to jump off a tree branch to see if he could fly when he was five,” she shook her head. “When Josh was old enough to start doing things with him, I was terrified one of them would get hurt. Josh wanted to be like his big brother. He played football because Ryan did. When were told that Ryan was diabetic, I thought it would slow him down. I felt relief knowing there was something that my son couldn’t control.” She released the curtain, and turned to face me. “I was happy that he might have to change his ways,” her eyes dropped to where he was sleeping in the bed. “Nothing did though. He didn’t slow down. If anything, he sped up and Josh went along with him. When they went out that night, I could sense something would happen. I didn’t know we’d lose one of them, but I knew that our lives would be forever changed. A mother knows these things.” She sighed as she sat down in a chair on the other side of the bed.

  “I didn’t mean to freeze him out, but my heart was broken that night. It broke into a thousand tiny pieces that no one could put back together. I don’t think I realized how bad it was broken until you pointed it out to me today. I don’t think I realized how much I was punishing the son I had left either. The thought of losing him too… it’s what got me here.” She leaned over and pressed a kiss to Ryan’s forehead before standing. “Tell him I’m sorry. Tell him I love him. I don’t know how I’ll ever make up for what I did, but I want to try.”

  “I will,” I offered a small smile.

  “Thank you,” she nodded as she quickly moved toward the door.

  “Don’t you want to wait for him to wake up so you can tell him yourself?” I crinkled my brow in confusion. Maybe she’d done what she could today, and it was just too much. I wasn’t sure.

  “I need to see to my husband. He’s gonna be in pain for a few days, and is waiting for me to drive him home. Maybe when Ryan is released, you guys can come by for dinner. We’ll talk,” she gave a quick nod before slipping through the door and into the hallway.

  I turned back to face Ryan and smiled. I don’t know how we made it through this storm. I don’t know how something that seemed so hopeless turned into the happy ending that we got, but it did. I’m not sure where life will take us. I don’t know what my future holds, but I do know that goodbye doesn’t seem so sad anymore.

  Epilogue

  1 Year Later…

  Ryan

  It had been a busy week for Rachel, so busy that I didn’t have any problem making my plans without her questioning me. She’s been working for several garages in the neighboring town as a freelance tow truck driver. She had laughed at me when I’d told her that she’d be busy, but I was right. She gets at least a call a day and sometimes several. What stinks is when she gets a call at night. There are several drivers for the garages she works out of, but she never turns down a tow. I’ve ridden with her a few times when the calls have been in the middle of nowhere.

  Today, Bryce and Kasey are helping me put my plan in motion. Rachel thinks I’m working, well that’s what I told her I’m doing. She’s hanging out with Kasey, whose one job is to make sure that Rachel answers the phone when it rings, and doesn’t send it to voicemail.

  “You sure about this?” Bryce grinned at me as he swiped his finger over the screen of his phone.

  “Yeah, I am,” I pressed my lips together and rocked back on my heels. I was standing in the breakroom at the hospital. Bryce had to work, and this was the only way I could get his help. It gave me less distance to cover too so I’d be sure to be in position in time.

  “I think it’s sweet,” Jordan came breezing in, smiling all dreamy like. “Why couldn’t you have been romantic like this?” she elbowed him in the side and he scowled.

  “I was romantic,” his scoffed at her.

  “Yeah,” she rolled her eyes. “Hey babe, you wanna like, marry me? We can like do it whenever you want,” she made finger quotes as she mocked him. “Real romantic.”

  “You said yes though,” he narrowed his eyes on her. “Besides, I was just a kid. I didn’t think about the romance part. I was thinking about the sex part,” he chuckled. Bryce and Jordan waited until they were married. They met when they were kids, and Bryce proposed when he was nineteen.

  “That I did,” she went all dreamy like. “Maybe you could do it again later. Get a do over and such,” she winked before reaching down to cup him through his scrubs.

  “Give me five minutes and I’ll do it over right now and we can go on break together,” he growled.

  “Ok man, more than I needed to know. Can you make the call now?” I pointed at the phone in his hand as my face screwed up in a frown.

  Rachel

  Kasey called me this morning and asked if I wanted to meet for lunch. It had been a surprisingly slow day, so I agreed. We’ve been sitting here at an outdoor table most of the afternoon talking about nothing in particular. The summer sun is hot, but there’s enough of a breeze in the air that it’s bearable.

  “So what’s up?” I folded my arms in front of myself and leaned forward, placing them on the table. Kasey was hiding something. I’d been trying to head home for the last hour, but she kept distracting me and stalling.

  “Nothing. Why would you think something’s up?” she refused to look me in the eye and this only solidified my thoughts.

  “I know you,” I glared at her. “Spill.”

  “I just miss you, Rach. You’ve been so busy, and after you moved in with the murse… we never see each other anymore,” she pouted.

  “Yeah well, things might change soon,” I grumbled. Ryan had been real secretive lately. He thought I didn’t notice, but I did. I just didn’t say anything.

  “What? Why?” she perked up and leaned closer.

  “I don’t know yet,” I mumbled as I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. “Hang on,” I held up my hand and as I turned away from her to answer the phone, I didn’t miss the little smirk on her face. “Hello?” I didn’t recognize the number that was calling.

  “I need a tow,” it was a man’s voice that sounded familiar but now everybody kinda sounded the same. I got so many of these each day that they all blended together after a while.

  I grimaced as I looked over at Kasey, “Ok, where are you?”

  “I’m out on Route 28. I can barely get a signal. I think my radiator blew. There’s steam coming out from under the hood,” his voice was rushed and I could hear background noise, but brushed it off.

  “It’s gonna take me a little bit to get there. I’m in Reidsville right now,” I sighed. Why did I get these calls to go out in the middle of nowhere? It’d take me at least forty-five minutes to reach him.

  “I get it,” he muttered.

  “No, I’m coming. Just don’t call another tow truck,” I warned. It had happened before. I’d show up, and another truck would have already come because they didn’t feel like waiting for me.

  “I won’t. Thanks,” the line went dead and I placed my phone back in my pocket.

  “I need to go,” I apologized to Kasey, but she j
ust smiled and nodded. Something was up with her, but I didn’t have time to wrestle it out of her. I’d have to call her tomorrow, and harass her then.

  It took me a while to get out to where I was supposed to get this tow, but I didn’t find the car that the client had described. When I pulled up the stretch of road that was given to me, I found a Jeep… Ryan’s Jeep. It was pulled off the side if the road with the hood up and he was leaning against the side of it. His ankles were crossed and his arms were crossed over his chest. A baseball cap was pulled down shading his eyes, and when he noticed me, he stood and smiled. The white t-shirt he was wearing had some grease smeared across it, and his jeans were torn at the knee.

  I wrinkled my brow in confusion as I pulled up in front of him, and hopped out of the truck. “You’re my tow?” I placed my hands on my hips as I observed his Jeep. “I just serviced this last week. How could you have a blown radiator?”

  “I don’t,” he chuckled, making me even more confused. “Come here,” he held out his hand and I grabbed it. “Do you know where we are?” he looked around and I could tell he was waiting for me to figure it out.

  “We’ve been here before?” I nibbled my lip, and then it all started clicking into place. “This was where we met,” I clarified.

  “This is where I knew you were something special. You had no qualms about putting me in my place. I’d never met a girl like you,” he laughed lightly as he stepped back and held both my hands. “I love you, Rachel. You are my world. You saved me both literally and figuratively. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. You’re stubborn, and funny, and beautiful, and perfect. You gave me the life I didn’t think I’d have, and I’d love to spend the rest of it with you.” He stepped back farther and dropped to the ground. After shoving his hand in his pocket, he produced a beautiful diamond solitaire. “Rachel McKenzie, will you marry me? Say goodbye to this life and start a new one with me by your side…always.”

  I stood there, tears welling in my eyes blinding me, as all the struggles, highs, and lows we’d weathered rushed through my mind. “Yes,” I cried. “Yes, I’ll marry you.” His smile grew as he stood up, slid the ring on my finger, and then lifted me in the air and spun us around. When he set me down, his lips descended in a soul searing kiss. “I love you,” I sobbed when he pulled back. “I love you so much. Goodbye never sounded more beautiful.”

  The End

  Beautiful Goodbye Playlist

  Stand by You by Rachel Platten

  Beautiful Goodbye by Maroon 5

  Wipe Your Eyes by Maroon 5

  It All Started With A Beer by Frankie Ballard

  Heartbeat by Carrie Underwood

  September by Daughtry

  A Twist in My Story by Secondhand Serenade

  Goodbye by Secondhand Serenade

  A Thousand Years by Christina Perri & Steve Kazee

  Your Call by Secondhand Serenade

  Home We’ll Go by Walk Off the Earth

  You Should Be Here by Cole Swindell

  Battle Scars by Lupe Fiasco

  It Is What It Is by Lifehouse

  From Where You Are by Lifehouse

  Wicked Game by Gemma Hayes

  Without You by Mariah Carey

  Little Do You Know by Alex and Sierra

  Backroad Song by Granger Smith

  Benediction by Luke Sital- Singh

  Sound of Silence by Disturbed

  Find A Place by IKO

  Break on Me by Keith Urban

  From the Ground Up by Dan + Shay

  Please Don’t Go by Barcelona

  Halo by Starset

  Live Like You Were Dying by Tim McGraw

  Don’t Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers

  One Hell of an Amen by Brantley Gilbert

  Other Works by H. D’Agostino

  The Witness Series

  Being Nobody (Book 1)

  Becoming Somebody (Book 2)

  Promise Me Tomorrow (Book 3)

  Say You Remember (Book 4)- Coming Fall 2016

  The Cook Brothers

  Walking Among the Cherry Trees (Book 1)

  Beyond the Cherry Trees (Book 2)

  Before the Cherry Trees (Book 3)- Coming early 2017

  The Shattered Series

  Destined (Shattered #0.5)

  Shattered (Shattered #1)

  Restored (Shattered #2)

  Renewed (Shattered #3)

  Fated (Shattered #4)

  The Second Chances Series

  Unbreak Me (Book 1)

  The Boy Next Door (Book 2)

  The One That Got Away (Book 3)

  Inside Out- A Second Chances Novella (Book 3.5)

  Fallen From Grace (Book 4)

  The Family Next Door (Book 5)

  The Broken Series

  Irreparably Broken (Broken #1)

  Saving Us (Broken #2)

  My Broken Angel (Broken #3)

  Broken Pieces (Broken #4)

  Standalones

  Privileged

  Acknowledgements

  I’m going to try to keep this short and sweet. This book was never planned. I happened to be scrolling through one of my groups on FB one day, and saw another author post the question, “what type pairing would you like to see in a book?” There were lots of suggestions from readers saying that they were tired of the billionaire boyfriend or the athlete. I snickered at some of the suggestions, but then came across “male nurse”. I hadn’t written about a nurse, and the idea intrigued me. I like to be different, but not so different that I lose myself. I like to push myself to come up with unique storylines that haven’t been overdone. I let the idea roll around in my head for a few weeks, and Ryan emerged. So my first thank you is to the reader that suggested this. I don’t remember your name, but you light the spark that started this book and I thank you for your suggestion of using a male nurse as the lead.

  Thank you Angie, my sister from another mister. Even though you slacked off, I still love you. You can’t claim Ryan though. I’m giving Melinda dibs. I do however owe you for all the questions I fired away when we were sitting in Houston.

  Thank you Megan, my ever helpful nurse. I appreciate all the help when researching for Ryan.

  Thank you Melinda for all your help even though I teased and taunted you while I worked on this. I’m glad the wait was worth it.

  Thank you Kellie for an awesome job editing this book. Your work is top notch, and I’ll be back in the future (said in my Terminator voice).

  Thank you Cassy for the beautiful cover. You never fail to impress me.

  Finally… thank you to all the readers and bloggers who have mentioned, posted, tweeted, and just loved this book. You give me the ability to do what I love.

  About the Author

  Heather D’Agostino is an avid reader turned Bestselling Author of the Contemporary Romance Series The Broken Series, The Shattered Series, The Second Chances Series, The Cook Brothers Series, and Romantic Suspense series The Witness Series.

  She attended the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Elementary Education with a minor in Mathematics.

  She currently lives in Central New York with her husband, two children, two dogs, and three cats. When she’s not writing she can usually be found at the dance studio, soccer field, or one of the many other places that she plays ‘Supermom’.

  You can follow her here:

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/H.DAgostino.Author

  Twitter: @hdagostino001

  Website: http://hdagostinobooks.weebly.com

  Reader Group/ Street Team on Facebook:

  Heather’s Hotties: https://www.facebook.com/groups/877863252256341/

  Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7034328.Heather_D_Agostino

  I love hearing from my readers, so please feel free to reach out.

 

 

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