Page 30 of Love at a 7-Eleven

She had been all over him, wanting to actively snuggle. He knew she wasn't herself, so he tried to be patient and be there for her while he maintained distance between them. The whole evening had been uncomfortable. He was sick, and the sight of her fainting had been replaying in his mind during the middle of the night. He was out of it and full of sickness and anxiety. He prayed, but even that was a struggle. He was in a storm of emotions, being tossed around by waves of visions and feelings… Lila, Bailey fainting, the burning throat, the pounding head. A vision of Lila interrupted all of his thoughts. He grinned, enjoying a brief moment of daydreaming about sitting across from her at the diner.

Caleb needed to go home and get some actual rest. His thoughts were choppy and his mind was foggy. Bailey would be discharged today if things progressed. Either way, he was going to leave soon and give charge to her family. He had her mom's number saved in his phone and he wanted to text her right away to let her know.

Slowly, he reached for his phone. He would send a text to Jennifer to let her know he would be leaving soon.

There was a missed call from Lila. Caleb saw it, and he felt such a rush of excitement that he nearly dropped his phone when he saw the name. He bit his bottom lip as he caught his phone in mid-air glancing slowly at Bailey to make sure she wasn't stirring.

Gently, he picked up his phone again. Lila had left him a voice message, and he felt like he wanted to cry at the thought. He pressed the buttons to listen to the voicemail and he held the phone to his ear—the one that was farthest from Bailey.

"Hey, hey, Caleb. This is Lila Decker. Hey, I was… I know it's early there. I just realized, I didn't think about the time difference. Sorry if you were sleeping. Anyway, I'm… I was thinking about you. I just wanted to let you know that. I don't know what's happening with you. I guess you made it home and everything. Anyway, no matter what happens, I wanted you to know that I'm really happy we met. You're amazing, and I'm sorry if I seemed impatient with… I could have maybe handled it differently, but I think I was starting to…" She let out a little laugh. "I'm saying too much. I just called to say hi and tell you that I'm glad we met. I hope you had a good—"

A loud beep cut her off.

He checked his phone to see if there was another message, but there wasn't.

He listened to that message again, and despite the pain and the whole situation, he could not stop a huge grin from crossing his face. He had to call her back, and to do that, he had to get out of this bed.

Caleb did his best to move gingerly, but Bailey had her head on his shoulder and she stirred when he moved. "I'll be right back," he whispered to her. That was all he said. He gave her a small smile and walked out of the room and down the hallway.

Caleb planned to go outside so that he could focus and concentrate on the phone call. He got into the elevator and headed down. The door opened on the third floor to let someone in, and he spotted a bench that was in a secluded public area. He excused himself and got off on the third floor instead of riding to the first. There was a long glass rail and a balcony that looked down into the lobby, and he chose one of the benches that was at the far end, near the wall. No one was there, and he pushed the buttons to call Lila as he went to sit on the bench.

He had such a horrible painful confused night that it seemed odd for him to be feeling so happy. But he smiled uncontrollably as he dialed her number. He put the phone to his ear, praying she would pick up.

Three rings happened, and he started to feel hopeless, but then he heard something on the other end.

"Hello?" Her voice was like music to his ears. His heart leaped in his chest.

"Hey, Lila. It's me. Caleb."

"Hey, how are you?" she asked. She was so sweet.

He was quiet for a second, thinking about her question. "Now that you've called… I, uh… feel… better." He had been so miserable last night that it was the best he could come up with.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Why are you being quiet?"

"Oh, because I'm… nobody's around or anything, but I am in a… I'm just here as a visitor… I'm not hurt. But I'm at the hospital right now."

"Oh, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but yes, everything's going to be fine."

There was a pause, after which she said, "Do you need me?"

His heart began beating faster at the question. He had been expecting her to ask questions that would lead to talking about Bailey. The last thing he thought she would do was to point-blank ask if he needed her.

"Yes, I do," he said, honestly. He felt weak, like he needed her very much.

"Okay. Should I come there? I'll leave right now."

He knew he should explain that things were still messy here. He didn't know how to say it. "It's not me who's hurt," he explained. "I'm just here supporting someone else."

"It's okay. I still want to be there for you if you need me. I don't want to be in the way, but if you want me to—"

"Would you come?"

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