“That I’d lose her the way I lost Clara.” It was the first time I’d truly given voice to the thoughts that’d tormented me for so long. I knew why I’d stayed away from Grae after her diagnosis. It had felt too precarious to remain close. But it hadn’t done me any good. Because Grae had already buried herself deep. So deep no amount of time or distance would ever get her out.
“Oh, Caden,” my mom said, pulling me into another hug. But, this time, she didn’t let go. “I knew it marked you.”
“It marked all of us.”
Her hand rubbed up and down my back in a way she hadn’t done in years. “We can’t let losing her keep twisting us up and forcing us into making all the wrong decisions. Clara would never want that.”
“I know,” I rasped.
“Loving people means exposing ourselves to the worst kind of pain.”
My arms jerked around her.
“But it also gives us the greatest beauty we’ll ever experience. Can you honestly tell me you’d trade even one second with Grae to escape this pain?”
I pulled back, meeting my mom’s eyes. “No.”
She squeezed my arms. “Because you love her.”
“I wasted so much time trying to keep her out.” My words were barely audible, just a faint, raw whisper.
My mom pinned me with a stare. “But you aren’t going to waste any more.”
“I asked her to marry me.”
Mom beamed, her eyes going glassy. “I can’t wait to plan that wedding.”
That startled a laugh out of me—the last sound I would’ve expected. “You and Kerry both.”
Footsteps sounded in the hall, and I turned to see a man in scrubs heading toward the waiting room. I instantly moved in that direction.
He stepped inside, looking around the space. “Grae Hartley’s family?”
Everyone instantly stood.
“I’m Dr. Jones. I’ve been taking care of Grae.”
“How is she?” Kerry croaked.
He turned his focus on Grae’s mother. “She’s stable but hasn’t regained consciousness. She had several superficial wounds that we cleaned and stitched, but the greater issue right now is that she has been in ketoacidosis.”
Kerry let out a strangled sound, pressing into her husband’s side.
“We’ve got her blood sugar back in range. Now, we just have to wait for her to wake up. We’ll have more information then.”
“Can I see her?” I said the words before I even knew I’d thought them.
The doctor turned to me. “We can have one or two people in the room at a time. It’s up to you who goes first.”
Kerry sent me a wobbly smile. “She’d want to wake up to you.”
That burn was back in my chest. “Thank you.”
The two words were barely audible, but the sentiment was there.
The doctor nodded and motioned me out of the waiting room. I followed him down the hall to a bank of elevators.
“We have her in ICU currently so we can keep a close eye on her, but she’s breathing on her own.”
