Page 49 of Choosing Skyler

“We need someone to come sit with Skyler, please,” he says.

“I’ll be right in,” she replies.

Brady drops the remote and lifts my face to look at him. “Don’t ever be ashamed to ask for what you need. The hospital staff get paid to attend to your needs. Let them,” he says just as Julie knocks and enters the room.

“I just clocked out, but I’ll stay as long as you need. What’s wrong?” she asks.

Brady answers her. “I’m going to take a shower, but Skyler didn’t want to be alone. I’m glad you came instead of someone else. We trust you. Thank you, Julie.”

“Well, I told you I wanted to be here for Skyler ‘off the clock’ and I meant it,” she tells him before turning to me. “Skyler, I want you to know that I’m here for you. I’ve always considered you a friend even if we don’t spend a lot of time together,” she tells me, reaching for my hand.

I grip her hand and make the ASL sign for “thank you” with my other one.

“You don’t need to thank me, Skyler. But you’re welcome.” She smiles.

We sit in companionable silence until Brady comes back in. It’s nice to be able to just sit with someone without constant chatter. Onlyrealfriends do that. Something I’m realizing I have more of than I thought I did. Julie squeezes my hand before standing to leave.

“I’ll let you two get some rest. Please call me if you need anything,” she says.

I nod and Brady answers her. “We will. Thank you again, Julie.”

After she leaves, Brady climbs back into bed with me. “Did you have a nice visit with Julie?”

I nod before yawning as I snuggle into his side.

Brady

I lay awake long after Skyler goes to sleep. I’m dreading what the next few days are going to bring. Devon didn’t call me back tonight, which means either Timothy didn’t call him back or he refused to help. It’s after three and I know I need to sleep to be at my best for Skyler, but I can’t seem to shut my mind off.

I’m still awake when nurse Betty comes in at four to check on Skyler. She doesn’t seem surprised to see the extra “patient” in the hospital bed. Julie must have warned her. She checks the monitors and IV fluids, before glancing at me.

“You should be asleep too, young man,” she scolds.

“I know. My sleep schedule is off since I slept all day, Saturday,” I tell her, even though that’s not quite the truth.

She raises a disbelieving brow but doesn’t call me on it. “Well, at least she’s getting the rest she needs. You call if she needs anything,” she says before leaving the room.

I finally close my eyes and fall into a restless sleep.

I wake to the smell of coffee and cinnamon before hearing Devon’s voice. “You think there’s room in that bed for me?”

I hear asmackbefore Devon whines, “Ow. That stung.”

“Good. You leave them be and let them rest,” Chelsea scolds.

I can’t help it. I grin and open my eyes to see Devon rubbing his shoulder. When he sees me peeking, he winks.

I start to sit up until I realize that Skyler is starfished across me. She has one arm around my chest and her leg thrown over mine. I smile and push her hair off her face. She scrunches her eyes against the light but doesn’t wake up.

“Let that girl sleep. We’ll be here when she wakes up,” Chelsea she says softly, sitting in the chair on Skyler’s side of the bed.

Devon pulls the other chair around to sit next to her. “How was she last night?” he asks me.

“Good. She still doesn’t want to be alone. So, Julie came in after she got off work and sat with her while I showered. Oh, Skyler got up and moved around last night too,” I tell him excitedly.

“I know. I got here early for a full report from Betty. She said that Skyler rested better than you did,” he says, raising a brow at me.

“Yeah, my mind got away from me a bit, worrying about what’s coming this week,” I tell him.

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