~23~
For the first time in a really long time, I called in sick at work that night. Ellie hadn’t wanted a huge fuss made about the appointment at the hospital so she’d decided on allowing just Elodie and Clark to take her to meet with the neurologist. I was a little surprised that it was on a Saturday, but Braden had swooped in and did some sweet-talking—more like growly string-pulling since he knew someone on the hospital board—to get the neurologist to see them as soon as possible.
Elodie and Clark had picked her up, dropped Hannah and Declan off with us, and taken Ellie away an hour ago. Braden and Adam didn’t leave. The five of us sat in the sitting room, staring at the clock, staring at our phones. I got up to pee. Braden made some more coffee. Adam didn’t move once.
Two hours later, Hannah was tucked into my side, Braden was watching Declan who’d fallen asleep in the other armchair, and Adam had his eyes closed so tight with worry that Hannah even noticed and reached across to squeeze his hand. Adam shot her a grateful smile and I kissed her soft hair, my heart hurting because she was just as much of a sweetheart as the one we were all worried about.
The front door opened.
We all shot to our feet. Well, not Declan. He woozily woke up and kind of fell onto his feet.
Elodie entered the sitting room first, but I couldn’t gauge her expression. I glanced behind her to see Clark with his arm around Ellie’s shoulder, and I swear to God I had to keep myself from bursting into tears.
“What happened?” Adam moved towards her and Clark immediately let Ellie go.
Ellie sunk into Adam’s side and smiled tremulously. “Let’s sit. I’ll explain.”
“I’ll make us all some tea.” Elodie nodded and headed back out of the room as we all sat, our butts right at the edge of our seats.
Ellie heaved a deep sigh. “Good news is that my tumor is actually a big cist with two small tumors on it. It’s sitting on the surface of the top right side of my brain so they can remove all of it. Dr. Dunham thinks that in all likelihood the tumors are benign. He thinks it’s been there a long while and that it’s just gotten slowly bigger and needs to come out for obvious reasons. I’ll have surgery, scheduled in two weeks’ time, and they’ll send the tumor off for biopsy.” Ellie smiled, her lips trembling a little. “I’m a little scared about the surgery, but Dr. Dunham was really confident and said that the risk in this kind of surgery is like 2% and the possibility of the tumor being cancerous is really very small.”
At once we all let go of our breaths, relief cascading over us in a huge wave that almost knocked us off our chairs. Braden rushed Ellie before anyone else could, squeezing her up into his arms until she told him she couldn’t breathe, and while he did that Clark reassured Declan, who was still a little sleepy that Ellie, was in all likelihood going to be okay. Braden finally let his little sister down with a loud smack of a kiss on her forehead and before she could even catch her breath Adam was on her, kissing her right on the mouth in front of everyone. A real kiss too. Ballsy.
“Well, it’s about time,” Clark sighed.
Ellie laughed against Adam’s mouth at that one. Obviously she was just now realizing I’d been right all along. She and Adam had been anything but subtle these last few months.
“What’s funny?” Elodie asked, bustling back into the room.
I took that opportunity to haul Ellie into my arms. “Worst twenty four hours in a very long time, my friend.”
She pulled back to look at me. “I’m sorry I put you through that.”
I sighed heavily and then looked at the tea and coffee Elodie had brought into the room. I gave her an apologetic look as I said, “I don’t think that’s strong enough.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “Do you have anything stronger in the house?”
“Not really.” I glanced at Ellie. “But there is the pub just a few doors down from us that we’ve never been into yet. Maybe it’s time. I think there’s a possibility they’ll have something stronger.”
“Strong sounds good to me.”
“And me,” Clark agreed.
“We have the kids,” Elodie complained.
I grabbed my purse sitting on the coffee table. “They’re allowed into a pub if they’re with an adult. They can have a Coke.”
Elodie didn’t look too sure.
I smiled reassuringly. “It’s just one drink. A celebratory drink at that.”
“Clark can have a drink. I’ll drive,” Elodie relented and we grabbed our things to leave.
Elodie and Clark shuffled the kids out first. Adam had his arm around Ellie and she was tucked in close to him, looking amazingly happy for someone who had major surgery coming up in a few weeks’ time. Then again, for over twenty four hours we’d all been convinced she had cancer only to discover she probably didn’t… and of course she finally had Adam right where she wanted him.
That left me and Braden to trail at the back, and I got the first taste of what he’d meant earlier. His fingers brushed my lower back to guide me out of the door and it was so deliberate it wasn’t funny.
He knew I was sensitive there.
I tried to hold back the shiver as I turned to lock the apartment, but Braden got in my way, so when I turned I collided with him.
“Sorry.” He smirked, moving slowly so my br**sts brushed against his chest.
I felt my ni**les harden and flinched at the heat that pulsed between my legs. My look was scathing. “Sure you are.”
Braden laughed softly as I leaned down to lock the door, and then I felt his shadow fall over me. I glanced up to my right to see his hand pressed against the door near my head. I twisted around to look up at him, only to find he’d cocooned himself around me. “Need a hand?”