Defining Love: Volume 3 (Defining Love #3) (12 page)

“Are you in California?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said simply without further explanation, and I froze
in the middle of the room.

“
Why
?”

“I’ll be out here for a least a few days.”

“Days?” I asked even more concerned. “What’s going on? Why’d you
leave?”

There were voices in the background that got louder and the phone
muffled a bit before she came back on. “I have to go,” she whispered. “I’ll
call you in a few.”

The line clicked and I was left standing there still with no
answers. My girlfriend had up and left to California with her ex-girlfriend. My
only consolation was she didn’t sound angry or upset. This still may have
nothing to do with the damn picture. Somehow that wasn’t nearly as reassuring
as it should’ve been.

Chapter 21

Henri

Aaron couldn’t have called at a worst time. I’d been
entering an elevator with Edi and her mom, Magda. I wouldn’t have even answered,
but I didn’t have the heart not to. I knew he’d be worried. Not that my
explanation cleared anything up, but at least he knew I was okay.

As soon as we reached the NICU, Edi latched onto her sister Esme,
and they held on to each other for a long emotional moment. I watched, feeling
choked up as I glanced at the helpless-looking baby in the incubator. The poor
little girl had tubes coming out of everywhere.

Last night, before I could even begin to beg Edi not leave, my
phone had rung in my hand. It was Magda. The moment I answered she explained
what Edi hadn’t yet. Baby Zoey, Edi’s niece, was in the hospital—again. Magda
said they hadn’t bothered worrying Edi the first time she’d gone into the hospital
because she’d stopped breathing. She’d since been on a monitor that would alert
her parents if her breathing stopped again. It had yesterday afternoon, and
she’d been rushed to the hospital. It didn’t seem serious at first, but last
night, the doctors had prepared them for the worst. She may not make it this
time.

Magda wanted Edi to come home and be there for her sister, but
after talking to her on the phone and hearing how uncharacteristically upset
Edi had been, she didn’t want her traveling alone. She offered to pay my way
then proceeded to practically beg me to fly home with Edi. Of course, the
begging hadn’t even been necessary. I would’ve gone in a heartbeat. It was the
least I owed Edi after all the times Edi had been there for me.

The last-minute flight she booked us had barely given us enough
time to pack quickly, take a cab to the airport, practically sprint to our
awaiting gate, and board our plane. I’d also had my hands full calming and
consoling Edi. I hadn’t even had time to
think
about calling or sending
more than the short text I’d sent Aaron.

On the plane ride here, Edi explained her parents didn’t know we
were no longer a couple. She hadn’t told any of them, not even her sister.

“When I first came out to them, it hadn’t been the easiest for
them,” she explained. “Since we’ve been such close friends for so long, one of
the first things my mom asked was if you knew and if you were too. I said no
and that I didn’t know for sure if you were but I was hoping.”

This was the first I was hearing of this. Her mom and sister were
actually the first to know that she was in love with me. They were also the
first to hear about us becoming a couple and that she hadn’t wanted to tell
them about us breaking up because she knew they’d worry, especially her mom.
Her mom was notorious for being a worrywart. The entire time we’d been in
Michigan, if Edi didn’t call her at least once a day, she’d be upset.

Edi explained that, while everyone in her family was accepting of
her lifestyle, no one was very comfortable talking about it yet. So they didn’t
really ask her much about that part of her life.

“I’m not gonna say anything to them about it yet either,” she
said, looking at me a little apprehensively, then added, “but I promise you no
one is gonna bring it up. Even if we were still together, I wouldn’t do
anything to make them uncomfortable like being affectionate or even holding
your hand in front of them. So you won’t have to confirm or deny anything. I’m
just warning you in case someone happens to mention it. They don’t know and I’m
not telling them. Not on this trip.”

I agreed with Edi when she said it was probably the last thing
anyone would be discussing anyway.

“How is she?” I asked when I finally got to hug Esme.

“Actually, she’s better,” she said with a smile and a sniffle.

“Oh, thank God,” Magda said, putting her arm around Edi’s
shoulder as they both stood in front of the incubator.

“Yes,” Esme said, smiling even brighter. “The doctor came in here
just after you left to pick them up at the airport. The baby is breathing
normally now, but they still want to run a few more tests before releasing
her.”

“Releasing her?” Magda asked, her hand at her chest with a
mixture of surprise and concern.

“Yeah,” Esme said, sounding just as surprised by the news. “He was
really impressed with all her numbers and said sometimes this happens with
babies. He said children are resilient and can go from one extreme to another
overnight.”

They discussed the baby’s prognosis and everything else the
doctor had told Esme. Basically, it looked as though the baby wasn’t going to
be in the hospital as long as they’d all thought, and the scare they had that
she might not make it appeared to be over—for now anyway.

“It’s why Donald went home to shower,” Esme said. “Since she’s
doing so well, he said he’d take advantage and run home. I’ll go once he gets
back.”

“Honey, you haven’t eaten. Now that Edi’s here, we can go get
something.”

“It’s still too early for any food,” Esme said, sitting down.

“Esmeralda, you didn’t have anything last night for dinner
either,” Magda reminded her.

It wasn’t until that moment that I realized Edi and I hadn’t
eaten our pizza, nor had we had time to grab anything since. It was early, but
that was because of the time difference. Edi and I were four hours ahead.

Esme said she’d grab something at home as soon as her husband
Donald got back. Of course, Magda insisted she was going to grab her at least
some Starbucks and a pastry. When Edi said she wanted to stay with Esme, I
offered to go with Magda, since hearing her talk about food had me suddenly
starving.

Halfway through the long trek back to the car, Magda changed the
subject from the baby and how incredibly scared they’d all been to the subject
of Edi and me, and my stomach was immediately in knots.

“I know you haven’t told Gemma yet about you and Edi, and I get
why you might be hesitant,” she began. “I just wanted you to know that even
though Edi’s dad and I were concerned at first that’s all it was. I have
nothing against homosexuality. I never have. It’s just that, as a parent,
naturally I worry that my child’s life is going to be that much more difficult.
She’ll have to deal with discrimination and hate from other’s intolerance and
ignorance. No one wants that for their children.”

She told me about how she’d since joined an online LGBT parent
support group. She explained it wasn’t a support group as in how to cope or
learn to accept it. The group was more about how to
support
your gay
children and how to deal with intolerance even from friends and other family
members, etc.

Every time she mentioned Edi and I being together, I cringed.
She’d already told me about how she cried when Edi told her she was applying to
Michigan State, but knowing Edi’s best friend would be with her took the stress
out of knowing her baby wouldn’t be alone in such a faraway place. Then she hit
me with the biggest guilt bomb, one I had to sit and swallow while we were
driving.

“I just want you to know that I may not talk to Edi too much
about this, but her father and I truly support you two and accept you with open
arms as we would any of our other kids’ significant others.”

As if that weren’t bad enough, when we got out of the car, she
hugged me. She said that, not only did they accept me, they were beyond
relieved that, if Edi was going to live this lifestyle, she had me in her
corner living it with her.

For a second, I actually felt lightheaded. My head was spinning
with everything she’d just laid on me. My only response was to hug her back,
smile, and thank her.

As soon as we put our order in, I went into the ladies’ room,
thankful that it was a single restroom. I called Aaron, and, as expected, he
immediately answered.

“What happened?”

“I can’t talk long,” I said. “I’m in the bathroom at Starbucks,
but Edi’s mom’s outside waiting for me. Everything is fine now. Edi got a call
last night that her niece had been rushed to the hospital.”

I explained everything about how Edi had been so upset her mother
paid for my ticket so Edi wouldn’t have to fly out by herself. I told him about
the baby doing better and how he’d called when I’d just been stepping into the
elevator with Edi and her mom. Then, finally, I said I was at Starbucks with
her mom, grabbing coffee and some food, but we’d be heading back to the
hospital. He listened quietly the whole time, and when I was done, his first
question was, “Why are you calling me from the restroom?”

Of course, that was the one thing out of everything I’d just told
him that he’d be most concerned about.

“I don’t know,” I said, wincing at myself in the mirror. “I just
didn’t want her mom listening to my conversation.”

“Hmm” was all he said, and that unnerved me.

“I thought of what you said,” I began because I knew what he was
thinking. “I am gonna tell Edi about us, but right now is not a good time.”

“There’s never gonna be a perfect time, baby.”

“I know,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut. “It’s just that there’s
a time and place for everything, and right now isn’t it. This might actually be
the worst time to bring it up. She’s very emotional.”

“This might actually be the best time, babe,” he said, sounding a
bit cautious. “She’s surrounded by her family.”

“No,” I said softly, shaking my head, but didn’t want to argue
with him. I couldn’t think of a worse place or time for her to find out. She
was dealing with so much already. Granted, her niece
was
doing better. Still,
there was bound to be a better time for us to have this conversation and I
could possibly convince her we could, in fact, remain friends.

He was quiet but thankfully let it go. “How long will you be out
there?”

“Not sure,” I said, and that was the truth. I really had no idea.
“The ticket Edi’s mom got us was one way since she wasn’t sure how long we’d be
out here. With the doctors warning the baby might not make it, she hadn’t
wanted to chance buying the tickets to get us back.”

“What about school?” he asked. “Didn’t you say you had a final
this week?”

I frowned, still studying my reflection in the mirror. “I might
be able to take that online. Only I didn’t bring my laptop. I’ll have to go the
library or something. But if she’s doing better, we may get back sooner than we
thought.”

“If she wants to stay longer and you wanna leave, let me know.
I’ll book you a flight and get you home whenever you feel like leaving.”

Get me home
.

I smiled at the luckiest girl in the world staring back at me in
the mirror. Would he ever stop saying things that would warm my heart?

Remembering suddenly that I’d been in there for a while now, I
thanked him and assured him I’d let him know. I said goodbye quickly and
hurried out to where Magda was sitting at a table with the coffees and bags of pastries
including breakfast sandwiches for Edi and me. The delectable aromas that
filled my nose made my mouth water. I hadn’t realized just
how
famished
I was.

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking a little concerned as she
stood.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding with a smile.

I took the box of coffees, and we walked out to the car. Once in
the car, she handed me the bag of food, and we were off. I knew I was being
impatient, but the food smelled heavenly, and in my defense, I was already
feeling lightheaded. I’d felt it back when we first arrived at Starbucks. I
wasn’t just Magda’s speech that had my head spinning and making me feel so
woozy. I needed to get food in me.

I fumbled with the bag of food and box of coffees in my lap. When
we came to a stop, Magda took the bag from me. “Here,” she said, holding the
bag. “Put the box down on the floor, honey. You could hold it between your feet
so it doesn’t move. This way you can get your seatbelt on too.”

Just as I lowered the box, I heard the loud screeching of tires
followed by a thunderous impact. My head hit the glove compartment so hard I
literally saw stars and my ears rung. The eeriest silence followed for a few
seconds, and then Magda screamed, “Oh my God!”

It took me a while to even realize what had happened. With my
head still ringing and pounding with pain now, everything that happened next
was a blur. All I remembered was someone opening my door asking if we were okay
then turning to see Magda’s shaky hands over her bloodied face. Next thing I
knew we were sitting on the curb while paramedics took our vitals and cleaned
up Magda’s bloody nose. We’d been rear ended by a U-Haul truck. The lady
driving it was more hysterical than we were, and nothing had even happened to
her.

She kept apologizing, saying it was her first time driving one
and she’d been preoccupied for just a second trying to figure something out on
the dash and when she looked up she saw the traffic stopped.

“It might be broken,” I heard one of the paramedics say to Magda
about her nose, “but we won’t know for sure until you get it X-rayed.”

While Magda’s injury appeared worse because of the blood, they
seemed more concerned with mine. They’d asked me all sorts of questions from my
name to the day of the week, which I answered correctly. But when they asked, “Do
you know where you are?” it took me a moment because I really wasn’t sure where
we were.

“It could be a concussion,” the young paramedic examining me said
as he checked my pupils and took my blood pressure. “She still seems dazed,” he
said to the other paramedic.

“That’s because I haven’t eaten,” I explained, but that didn’t
seem to satisfy either of them.

“That’s a pretty nasty bump,” he said with a frown. “Stand up.”

He held my arm with both hands as I stood, and I smiled when I
was able to stand just fine. The moment he let go of me, I felt wobbly, and his
hands were back on my arm.