“I’ll let him know you’re here. She offers me a comforting smile. “What’s your name?”
“Byrne.”
“Okay, Byrne, please have a seat. Someone should be out soon.”
I nod, wishing there was something more I could do. Waiting at a time like this is excruciating. I text Ciara to let her know I’m here, but there’s no news yet. Then I spend the next few minutes pacing near the vending machines, trying to tell myself to calm down. I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn, expecting to see my dad or the nurse. Instead, it’s Jen, her cheeks stained with tears.
Without thinking, I pull her in for a hug and, to my relief, she hugs me back, wrapping her arms around my waist tightly. When I finally manage to find my voice, I say, “Thanks for coming.”
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“I just wish I knew what happened and if she’s going to be okay,” I tell her.
Jen rubs my back in a soothing motion. “I wish I had some answers for you. She was in full-on Mary mode, giving me loads of motherly advice, when I left. She said she had a headache, but that it was nothing, and not two minutes later …” Her words catch in her throat.
“Did she regain consciousness at all when you were with her?” I ask.
Shaking her head, she says, “No, I’m sorry. She must have really hit her head hard though. There was so much blood.” She quickly follows that with, “But she didn’t stop breathing and I heard the paramedic say her pulse was stable, so that’s a good sign, right?”
“Yeah.” I nod. “I’m sure it is.”
“Can I get you anything? Some water or coffee?”
“I’m fine, but you must be exhausted after your shift, and then this …” I say, glancing around for somewhere to sit. Taking her hand, I lead her over to a couple of chairs against the wall and we sit down. I don’t let go of her hand though. I hold on, needing the reassurance of her touch right now.
We sit in silence for a few minutes, both of us keeping our eyes peeled for any sign of my dad, but he doesn’t come out. Jen looks over at me and says, “I’ve never met two people that love each other as much as your parents.”
I give her a sad smile. A giant lump forms in my throat at the thought of my dad being left alone. “They drive each other nuts most of the time.”
“But always with love,” she says. “Trust me, I know the difference between people who playfully argue with each other and people who mean it.”
Nodding, I tell her, “That’s why she has to be okay. My dad won’t be able to survive without her.”
“She’s tough,” Jen tells me.
“She really is,” I say with a small chuckle. “Especially for someone so little.”
The nurse stands up and looks around, causing my heart to still, waiting to see if she’s going to call me. But she doesn’t. She calls another patient up to the counter to fill in some forms. Ciara phones to check in and to let me know she hasn’t been able to get a hold of Mrs. Stein and that Patrick is trying to get home early.
I want to try talking to Jen about our relationship (or whatever you would call what we have) but now doesn’t seem like the appropriate time. To be honest, I’m kind of scared to bring it up because I don’t want her to get upset and leave. I just need to be with her right now. Sitting here with her makes me feel like there’s a spark of hope. “Jen?” I say, after a while.
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
At some point, she falls asleep on my shoulder. I press my cheek to the top of her head, feeling the warmth and comfort of having her next to me. My eyelids grow heavy, but I fight to stay awake, praying for my mom’s life and hoping my dad appears soon with good news.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Jen
I’m jolted awake by Joe, who’s come out to join us. Gabe and I both jump to our feet to give him a hug. Joe looks horrible and appears to be so weary he can barely stand. Gabe gets him settled into a chair before asking, “How is she?”
Shaking his head, his dad answers, “They got the result of the CAT scan and she has a ruptured aneurysm in her brain. They’re prepping her for surgery now.”
“What did the doctor say, Dad? Do they think she’ll be okay?”
Joe shakes his head. “They don’t know, son. They say they need to get in there and tie off the bleed and then it’s a waiting game.” He looks around and asks, “Is Ciara here?”
“She has to wait until Patrick gets off work,” Gabe tells him.
“Why don’t I go and stay with the kids?” I ask. “That way she can be here with you both.”
“You’d do that for us?” Joe asks before taking my hand in his. When I nod, he says, “I don’t think you understand. I love the wains, but they’re as wild as they come, and you’d be outnumbered four to one should they wake up before their da gets home.”
“It’ll be fine,” I say. “It can’t be any worse than Saturday night at the pub.”
“It’s so much worse,” Gabe says with a look of horror on his face.
“But, if you’re sure, we’ll take you up on your offer,” Joe says, adding, “You’re a good girl, Jenny.”
“I love you and Mary,” I tell him as my voice cracks. “If I had the option to pick my own parents, I would have chosen ones just like you guys.”
I overhear Gabe on the phone with Ciara. He’s telling her the latest and letting her know that I can come right over. After he hangs up, he says, “Patrick will be home in a couple of hours, so she said there’s no point in having you go all that way for nothing.” Then he asks me, “Would you mind staying a bit longer?”
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” I tell him truthfully.
The doctor comes out a short time later and tells us that they’re ready to take Mary in. He says, “The procedure will take at least two hours, and after that, she’ll be transferred to the surgical ward on the fourth floor. We have a sleeping room for family members. Just ask at the front desk and they’ll take you up.” Then he’s gone.
Joe looks so wrung out, I reach over and take his hand. “I’ll go see if we can get you a bed.”
He smiles gratefully. “Thank you, darlin’. I think I might be able to pray better if I was layin’ down.”
I get up and talk to a receptionist and ask for a bed for Joe. She comes out into the waiting room and gives Joe a sympathetic smile, “I’ll take you all upstairs so you can get some sleep.”
“You can take my dad. I’ll stay here and wait,” Gabe says.
The nurse takes one look at him and shakes her head. “Even if you don’t sleep, you might as well lie down. I’ll put it into the computer so the surgical team will know where to find you. It saves them the trouble of having to search for you in different places to update you.”
I’m so tired, I’m about to fall over, and I’m guessing Gabe is in the same boat, so we let the nurse lead the way to a bank of elevators. She takes us to the fourth floor and tells the night nurse on duty that we’re Mary Daly’s relatives and we’ll be in the sleeping room when there’s an update.
The fourth-floor nurse types something into her computer before saying, “I just changed the sheets in there, so you’re good to go.” Then with a smile, she adds, “I see Mary’s surgeon is Dr. Shepherd. He’s the one I’d want if it was my mom.”
The sleeping room is a tiny space with no windows and one set of bunk beds. As in two beds. I hurry to tell Joe and Gabe, “You both rest and I’ll sit outside in the waiting room.”
Gabe takes my hand and pulls me after them offering one word. “Nonsense.” Then he tells his dad, “You take the top bunk and Jen and I will sleep on the bottom.” What?
“That’s good thinking, son. I’d hate for the top bunk to give way and flatten me like a pancake before I can kiss my sweet Mary again.”
Gabe stands behind his dad while he climbs the ladder leading to the top b
unk. And then he crawls into the bottom bunk first and holds out his hand to me. “I don’t think this is a good idea,” I somehow manage to force the words out.
“I need you, Jen,” Gabe says, sounding so pained that I no longer question what sharing a bed with him will do to me. One thing is for certain, there’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep with him next to me.
As soon as I lie down, Gabe pulls me into his arms and spoons me. “Thank you, Jen. Thank you so much,” he whispers before he falls asleep.
I savor the feeling of his arms around me, feeling his hot breath on my neck. Nothing has ever felt as right as this moment. It can’t be more than thirty seconds before I close my eyes and drift off into the deepest sleep of my life.
I don’t remember anything past closing my eyes. The next thing I know, there’s a knock on the door. When it opens, light pours into the cave-like room and a nurse announces, “Mrs. Daly is out of surgery and they’ve taken her to post-op. The doctor will be up soon to give you an update.”
Thank God, Mary made it through.
Joe releases a sob before saying, “That’s my girl, you’ve got this.”
Gabe adds, “Come on, Mom. You’re going to be fine. You have to be.”
We all continue to lie in the dark room, waiting for more news. I fall asleep again, but not before offering a silent prayer of thanks.
Dear God, thank you for helping Mary. Please don’t leave her now. Give her the strength to come back to her family, who needs her. Thank you for hearing my prayer. Thank you for not deserting us in our hour of need.
I drift back to sleep, certain that even though I don’t really know what God is or what he looks like, I do know that he’s real.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Gabe
I don’t go back to sleep. I text Ciara to tell her Mom is out of surgery and that we’re waiting for a report from the doctor. Then, I just lie here, listening to my dad’s light snoring while I think about everything that’s happened in the past few weeks.
Everything I thought I wanted is now gone and I’m starting over at thirty-two. While it’s not how I saw my life going, I’m glad for this second chance, and I’m determined to get it right this time.
I know, deep in my bones, that having Jen by my side is exactly right. She’s asleep next to me, her warm, soft body pressed against mine, bringing me comfort like I’ve never known. Her presence somehow speaks to the very core of me, and it’s a peace I haven’t experienced before.
Next, I think about how much my parents love each other, and all that they’ve been through together. I think about my mom and how tough her recovery will probably be, and I’m suddenly filled with gratitude that Harpeet showed me the office across the street from the pub. It means I can be there for them in an instant if they need me. Life moves in mysterious ways, putting you exactly where you need to be when you need to be there.
Time drifts along until Dr. Shepherd knocks on the door. He flips on the light while Jen and I scramble to sit up. Once my dad climbs down from the top bunk, we walk out into the hall, anxious for the news. Before the doctor can tell us anything, Ciara rushes toward us from the elevator looking like she hasn’t slept in days. Dad holds his arms out and she hurries into them for a big hug. “It’s okay, love,” he tells her. “The doc here is just about to tell us what’s happening.”
Dr. Shepherd nods and offers us a small smile. “Mary suffered from a saccular aneurysm. When aneurysms rupture, blood spreads and clots in the space that holds the cerebrospinal fluid, irritating the lining of the brain and potentially damaging brain cells,” he says, speaking so quickly, it’s hard to keep up with what he’s saying. “When that happens, the affected area of the brain is deprived of oxygen, resulting in a stroke. Because of the placement of the aneurysm, we had to go in and perform a bypass, which meant opening her skull, blocking the affected artery, and grafting it with one we took from her leg.”
Holy crap.
“Will she be all right?” my dad asks, his voice shaky.
“Had it happened in her sleep, she would have died before morning. As it is, you caught it quickly so that mitigated a lot of the potential damage,” he says. “We’ll know more when she wakes up. With this type of aneurysm, there’s a seventy percent chance of something called a vasospasm, so we’ll need to keep her here and closely monitor her for the next couple of weeks.”
“Okay,” Dad says. “Thanks, Doc.”
“When can we see her?” I ask.
“After she wakes up and we run some more tests. It’ll be a few hours.” With that, he leaves.
Tears pour down Ciara’s face. “Poor Mom. I can’t believe this is happening.”
“We’ve been through worse times, we can get through this too,” Dad tells her, putting his arm around her shoulder.
“Worse times than this?” she asks.
“Having teenagers is no walk in the park,” he answers with a little wink. I love him for trying to make us smile at a time like this. Worry returns to his face and he says, “I’m going to have to close the pub, at least for a while.”
“Don’t think about that right now, Dad. Let’s just get through this morning, okay?” I tell him.
He nods. “Right, yeah.”
“We should put up a sign on the door for today though,” Jen says. “I can go do that.”
Dad smiles at her. “Thank you, love. There’s no way I’m leaving here without my Mary.”
“Why don’t I go with you?” I add. Then to my dad, I say, “We can stop up at your apartment and pack a bag for Mom and a few things for you. A toothbrush and a change of clothes.”
“Bring Mary’s rosary,” he says. “It’s in the top drawer of her bedside table.”
“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” I say, then I take Jen’s hand and we walk out together as though things have always been this way.
When we step outside, the clouds are just starting to turn pink with the promise of a new day. It’s the type of morning when only good things should happen, and, with any luck, they will. I turn to Jen and look deeply into her eyes. “This would be so much harder if you weren’t with me.”
She nods up at me but quickly averts her gaze. “I want to help however I can. You’ve all been so kind to me, it’s the least I can do.”
“Jen, I need you to know that I didn’t invite Alexis to my place the other night. She told me she was stopping by to pick up her things, but she obviously had the whole seduction planned.”
Shaking her head, Jen says, “None of that matters right now.”
“Okay,” I tell her, my heart dropping.
I hope against hope that I haven’t ruined a second chance with Jen. Because right now, in this moment, I know that I need her above all else.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Jen
As Gabe flags down a cab to take us back to the pub, I’m overwhelmed by a sense of fear. Joe and Mary slipped under my radar and right into my heart before I saw it coming. They mean too much to me for anything to happen to either of them.
And then there’s Gabe, who took on the role of protector, friend, and confidant, even before I knew who he really was. When I thought he was God, he was everything to me. Then I got to know him as Byrne and I was completely captivated by him—his humor, his kindness, his relationship with his family. All of it drew me in.
My problem now is whether or not I believe him about Alexis. I met the woman, and in all honesty, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did stage that scene at Gabe’s apartment. She’s not the nicest person in the world.
But even if she did set the whole thing up, Gabe is just out of a long-term relationship with her. Do I want to risk being his rebound? I’m so tired and so worried about Mary right now, I can’t even let my head go there.
On the way to the pub, Gabe tells me, “Thanks for coming with me. My parents really love you, and even though Mom isn’t conscious, I know it will mean the world to her tha
t you’re part of this.”
“Your parents mean the world to me,” I tell him softly. “You have all been wonderful to me, and I don’t know what would have become of me had you not come into my life when you did.”
Gabe reaches over and takes my hand. “You’re a survivor, Jen. You would have found a way. Having said that, I’m glad you didn’t. I’m more grateful than I can say that you are in our lives.”
“Your mom is so excited that your new office is across the street. She’s been talking about it nonstop ever since she suggested it to your neighbor.”
“What do you mean she suggested it to Harpeet?” Uh-oh. I wasn’t supposed to tell him that.
Well, it’s too late now, so I say, “Harpeet came in for dinner last week with her husband. Your mom recognized her and told her that a space just opened up across the street that she thought would work out well for you.”
He rolls his eyes. “I told my mom Harpeet was helping me, but why didn’t Harpeet tell me Mom suggested the office?”
“Probably because Mary knew you’d run in the opposite direction if you knew it was her idea.”
Gabe throws his head back and starts to laugh. “I would have, too. How stupid is that? I’ve turned my back on a lot of good ideas just because they came from my mom. To borrow one of her sayings, she’s as bossy as a sack of potatoes, and I’ve always gone out of my way to do the opposite of what she thought I should do.”
“How?” I want to know.
“She suggested I work for a smaller law firm with a bigger soul. But I was so flattered to be offered a position with Murphy, Norris, and Goldstein that I couldn’t imagine not taking it. Then there’s Alexis. My mom never liked her and made a point of making sure I never forgot that. I’m guessing part of the reason I stayed with both my job and Alexis was to prove my mom wrong. I bet that sounds pretty pathetic, huh?”
I shake my head. “My mom wanted me to move home after art school and put my degree to use teaching art at the local elementary school. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s not what I wanted to do.” I didn’t add that she also wanted me to live near them so I could be her constant companion to listen to her complain about my dad. While my dad is no prize, I didn’t need to hear about it all the time.
The Text God: Text and You Shall Receive ... (An Accidentally in Love Story Book 2) Page 20
