Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Before I can even answer, she’s asleep.
It’s all nearly too much.
Through quiet inhales and exhales of my lungs, I work to get myself together. And the entire time, I try really hard not to think about why a little girl in her condition would be asking me about heaven. Or why she doesn’t want me to tell her dad about it.
Once I’m certain she’s deep in sleep and I don’t feel like I’m going to bawl like a baby, I make my way out of Summer’s hospital room, tiptoeing as I pull the door gently closed behind me. Bennett stands on the other side of the hall, his back against the wall and his phone to his ear.
It’s not even ten seconds before he hangs up, though, saying, “Bye, Breezy” into the receiver.
“She fell asleep,” I update him as he shoves his phone into his pocket.
He nods and pushes away from the wall to meet me by her door. “I figured she wouldn’t be up for long with all the stuff they’ve got pumping in her right now.”
I try to smile softly, but after the conversation I just had with his daughter, it’s hard.
“You okay?” he asks, searching my face as he lifts one hand to brush a few strands of hair behind my ear. “I know you got back late last night, but you look a little more than tired.”
I try to smile again, but it feels like it’s creased with lies.
“What’s going on?” he pushes delicately, and my mind wars with itself on what to say. Between Summer and Josie finding the letter and me finding out the truth about Jezzy, I feel like my brain is a pinball machine.
But when I note the dark circles underneath his blue eyes and the pain that sits right behind them, it doesn’t feel like the right moment to tell him about the conversation I just had with Summer. Or that she asked me not to tell him. Bennett has enough to deal with as it is.
“Norah?” He places a gentle hand to my shoulder. “Did something happen?”
Did something happen? Sigh. It feels like too many somethings have happened.
“My night didn’t end when I left the Happy Trail parking lot,” I reveal. “When I got home last night, Josie was still up. She found the letter I got on my wedding day. She read it.”
“So, she knows the whole story now?”
“She knows the whole story, and I guess, so do I.” Tears fill my eyes. “She… Bennett, she thinks my mom killed my baby sister, Jezzy.”
Bennett pulls me into his arms, holding me in a tight embrace, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt safer than I do in his arms.
31
Bennett
Clay already put a bug in my ear about Jezzy Ellis, but hearing it come out of Norah’s mouth hits like I’m hearing it for the first time. I hug her tighter, holding her small frame within the safety of my arms as if I have the power to protect her from everything bad in the world.
If only I had that power. For Norah and for Summer.
“Fuck, Norah,” I breathe into her hair. “I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, look at that,” she whispers through a weak laugh. “This is the second time I’ve got you apologizing to me. It’s like we switched places.”
A half smile quirks up one corner of my lips. “That’s good. I could stand to be less of an asshole.”
The sound of a man clearing his throat beside us pulls me out of the hug and the moment. Dr. Brock looks contrite, but for as much as I’d like to stay hugging Norah, this is the man I’ve been waiting to talk to since the moment we arrived in Burlington last night.
He’s been in charge of Summer’s care from nearly the beginning, and I know he’ll have the answers everyone else seems to have been dancing around all night.
I reach out a hand for his and shake it as he says his hellos to Norah. When they’re finished, I don’t mince words. “All right, Doc. Give it to me straight. What are we looking at here? How bad is it, and what do we need to do?”
He glances between me and Norah, just a flit of his eyes that says so much more. Dr. Brock isn’t the kind of man to balk at eye contact.
“Bennett, it’s…it’s only a matter of time now. Summer’s respiratory function is greatly deteriorating every day. There’s also a concern for brain bleeds and other complications, as well as a great deal of pain she’ll be facing in the coming days.”
“Days?” I don’t even recognize my own voice. Norah’s hand grabs mine and squeezes—tight.
Dr. Brock’s face is written persuasively in anguish. “Weeks, maybe. But yes, we’re running out of time. She’s running out of time. I’m sorry, Bennett. We’re at the end of our road.”