Crazy For You by Alexander, S.B. (best ebook reader ubuntu .TXT) 📕

I bounced one knee, then the other, gnawing on nail after nail.

A middle-aged woman in a wheelchair rolled by. A child cried somewhere behind me. A drone of hushed voices peppered the room.

Colton pried my fingers from my mouth and held my hand in his lap. “I want to say he’ll be okay,” he started. “I want to say so many things. But I know it’s not the time. Just know I’m not leaving until I know you’re okay.”

Sadly, I didn’t think I would ever be okay if Nan had bad news. Sure, I knew the outlook of Dad’s plight. But that didn’t make me feel better or make things easier.

I leaned my head on his shoulder as I fixated on the doors, impatiently waiting for a nurse or even Nan to emerge, trying not to think the worst, but I couldn’t stop. Dad had ALS. From the day he’d told me he’d been diagnosed with the disease, I’d been wishing and praying for a miracle. Hell, I still was. To distract myself, I asked, “Why did you follow me?”

“I felt we didn’t quite finish our goodbye.”

I cried softly, holding him like he was my lifeline. He was. He had to be. I had no one else who would comfort me like he could. I felt safe in his arms, and he’d been through the death of his brother, so he knew what it felt like to lose someone.

I was sure Georgia would be there for me, but it wasn’t the same as someone who had experienced the grief and suffering I was about to go through.

Nan ran out, looking wrecked. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes were red, and her skin was ashen.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. Dad had died. I was sure of it.

Nan held out her arms as I shook my head furiously, refusing to move, to believe Dad was gone. I hadn’t said a proper goodbye.

Colton helped me to stand. “I got you, baby doll.”

My head never stopped moving back and forth as Nan drew close, lowering her arms. Tears dropped down her cheeks, and with each one, I cried harder. “Please tell me he’s alive.” I could barely hear myself talk.

Her bottom lip wobbled. “He is, but things don’t look so good. Your dad has a high fever, and he’s in and out of consciousness. They’re pumping fluids and meds into him now.”

I sagged against Colton, who squeezed me to him. “Dad’s alive.” For a mere second, hope bloomed like a spring flower.

Colton traded places with Nan. “We’ll get through this. Let’s go see him.”

A male nurse opened the doors as we approached.

“Can I have a second?” I asked Nan. Without waiting for her response, I ran to Colton and hugged him. “Thank you. Thank you for following me. Thank you for being here. You always seem to be saving me in some way or another.”

He held me tightly to him. “I didn’t save you. You’ve saved me, Skyler Lawson.”

Tilting my head up, I scrunched my face. “How?” A one-word question that would probably take longer than a second to answer. Still, I had to know.

“We’ll talk when you have more time. Go see your dad.” He flicked his chin at Nan.

“Aren’t you leaving?” I asked Colton.

“Skyler.” Nan’s tone was urgent.

Colton pecked me on the lips. “I’ll call you.” Then he gave me a little shove. “Your dad needs you.”

I couldn’t protest. Dad was the most important person in my life, but Colton was becoming a close second. “You promise you’ll call?”

His head dipped once as he gave me a blinding grin.

My stomach did a few flips, but quickly soured when I entered the hub of the emergency room.

26

The fluorescent lighting overhead blinded me as I approached Dad’s glass-walled room. My pulse thundered in my ears as I chewed on my nails. Before long, I would start on my fingers. Nan was right beside me as Isaac, a nurse who had kind brown eyes and a warm smile, walked in.

An astringent odor tickled my nostrils, and that sour stomach I’d had at the cemetery had only intensified.

Nan cupped my elbow. “I’m right here.”

I glanced into Dad’s room, and the tears were endless. My heart literally hurt. I shook my head. “I can’t.”

Nan’s arm came around my neck. “Come here.”

I turned and sobbed into her chest.

She rubbed my back. “He needs us, Skye. And Dr. Branson will take care of him.”

I blinked several times to clear my vision. “Georgia’s dad is working today?” I pushed out a relieved breath, as though Georgia’s dad had a miracle up his sleeve. He didn’t, but he knew my dad and what he was going through, and that comforted me.

Nan gave me a sad smile. The whites around her brown eyes were red. “Let’s go in.” She sounded hesitant.

Isaac was fiddling with Dad’s IV when Nan and I entered. As Dad lay unconscious, I couldn’t help but think he was in peace for the first time in over a year.

“His fever has dropped slightly. So that’s a good sign,” Isaac said.

I wasn’t sure if I agreed, but I would take anything I could get and celebrate the small wins, the small moments, even if the outcome was still the same.

The room didn’t have much except the essentials, such as boxes of gloves in holders on one wall, a monitor above Dad’s bed that read his vital signs, and a rolling cart with a keyboard and computer. Underneath that were syringes and other medical supplies needed for the doctors and nurses to do their jobs.

I shuffled up to Dad’s bedside on shaky legs, with Nan right on my heels.

“The tests aren’t back yet, but Dr. Branson is ninety-nine percent sure it’s pneumonia,” Nan said.

“He should be in shortly,” Isaac said as he finished adjusting the drip on Dad’s IV.

I found Dad’s clammy hand and held it, careful not to touch the pulse oximeter on his finger. “Is the pneumonia from him choking last