Her Name Was Annie by Beth Rinyu (the little red hen read aloud txt) 📕

Chapter 40

JACK WAS SLEEPING when I entered his room, and my glee from a short time ago had morphed back into despair. I had been hoping to be looking into his bright blue eyes after the text I received from Kara instead of seeing him in the same state he was in the day prior. His skin tone did appear a little brighter and the bloating of his face had gone down considerably as I stepped closer to his bed, getting a better look at him. The machines beeped overhead, but the IV of fluids and medicines being pumped into his body were a painful reminder that he still had a long way to go. His eyes slowly peeled open when I took his hand in mine.

“Jack,” I whispered, raising his hand and pressing my lips against the dry skin on his knuckles. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve been better.” His voice was low and hoarse.

“Yeah, I guess you have.” I smiled down at him. Silence loomed between us, but everything that needed to be said seemed to be conveyed through the locking of our eyes and the touch of our hands. There was so much I wanted to tell him, so many things I needed to say, but he looked so worn out. “Go back to sleep if you’re tired,” I finally spoke.

“No. I don’t want to sleep,” he protested, clasping tighter to my hand, causing the words I wanted to say to swirl around in my heart, finally finding their way off my tongue.

“You had us terrified, you know? If anything had happened to you…” I choked back a sob and looked away. “It’s funny how it takes something so bad to help you put things into perspective.” I turned my head and focused on his gaze once again. “I love you, Jack, but I think you already know that. I never stopped loving you. You’ve been a part of me for so long, it’s just inevitable. What you don’t know is…” I gathered my courage. Francesca was right. Professing your love for someone was a lot harder than releasing your wrath. “I also never stopped being in love with you. There were just so many things I had to work through to finally admit that to myself and to you. I’m sorry to be laying this all out now, and I know you might not even remember me saying this to you. Maybe that’s why I’m finding the nerve to say it now,” I yammered on.

“Steph.” Jack finally put an end to my incessant chatter. “I think you already know this, but I’m going to say it again, just so you know my brain hasn’t been altered by all this.” He managed a chuckle. “I’m in love with you too. I meant it when I said you’re the only girl for me...a lifetime ago when I asked you to marry me. I screwed up, and I’m so sorry for that.”

I shook my head. “Don’t. We both screwed up. We grew up together. We grew apart together. Now let’s grow old together.”

“Well, according to you, I already am old.” Jack’s smile was anything but old in the literal sense, but it was old in the familiar sense. It was the same adorable expression that was spread across his face when he took a seat next to me in chemistry class for the very first time. “Hi, I’m Jack McGuire. I’m gonna be honest, I’m the worst lab partner ever because I suck at chemistry, so I kinda hope you know what you’re doing.”

Turned out he wasn’t the worst lab partner ever, we got through that class together, the same way we had gotten through life. Just like chemistry class, the problems weren’t always easy, but we had managed to pull it off. Truth was, Jack had always been there for me, but I had been too grief-stricken and stubborn to see it—but not anymore. I leaned down, pressed my lips to his forehead, and whispered, “You will always be the best partner ever.”

Epilogue

Nine months later…

IT WAS A somber day. Exactly one year since Tommy Cavlan took his life and exactly eighteen years since Patrick James McGuire—our baby boy had been born and taken from us. It was the memory of that anniversary that had led me to be on the beach that day one year ago in the same exact spot I was sitting at that very moment. But this time, instead of being alone, I had Jack by my side, and Max who was running up and down the beach, barking at the waves as they rolled on to the shore. We had visited Patrick’s gravesite earlier in the day, wishing he were with us celebrating his first year of adulthood instead of never even getting to experience life at all. It wasn’t easier to face this year, I wasn’t sure if it would ever be, but it was bearable because for the first time since it had happened, Jack and I faced it together.

So much had transpired in the months following Jack’s release from the hospital. As expected, he had a long road of recovery ahead of him with months of physical therapy and doctors’ visits, but he was finally fully recovered.

We had renewed our vows to each other by remarrying in a very small ceremony attended only by my father, Francesca, and Kara. Francesca was in her glory, so grateful she got to witness my wedding the second time around. It was as if we were newlyweds once again, knowing how much time we had let slip away while we were apart.

Jack was toying around with the idea of retirement in the upcoming year. He had more than enough years in and, very soon, he’d be celebrating his fiftieth birthday, meeting the age requirement. I didn’t want to pressure him either way. It was a decision only he could make, but I was hoping he would. I knew I couldn’t