Page 29 of Love at a 7-Eleven

He left the hospital at 3pm, and her family was still there. All of them knew that he wasn't feeling well, and they said he should go home and get some rest.

His body had been in adrenaline mode all day, and he was weak and tired when he got home. He fell asleep right away and didn't wake up until 9pm that evening. He had a few texts from people who knew he was sick and were concerned about him, including Marcus. He also had two missed calls with no message from Bailey's sister. There wasn't a voicemail, but there was a text from her saying 'call me'. He dreaded hearing what she had to say. He was still in a sleepy sick haze when he called her back.

"Hey, Addy, it's Caleb."

"Hey, are you sleeping already?"

"No, I'm up, what's up? Is Bailey okay?"

"Hang on, I'm going to step outside for a second."

She was whispering and shuffling in such a way that Caleb knew she was still at the hospital.

"Okay. She was resting so I didn't want to talk in there."

"Bailey's resting?" he asked.

"Yes. She was asking about you. I think she was hoping you would come back up here. We didn't know she'd have to stay the night. Mom left earlier, and I was going to try to go home and get some rest. They're just keeping her for observation, it's no big deal. She's doing good. It's just that I have work in the morning. Mom's at home with Dad because he's uncomfortable up here with his back. He's got that pinched nerve. I told them I would stay up here if I needed to, but I was going to see what you were doing. She wants you here, anyway. Could you come stay the night?"

"I’m sick," he said. "Nobody needs me up there with this sore throat. Is Bailey okay?" he added. "Did she eat? Have the doctors been in? Did she remember anything?"

"She did eat some Jell-o, and yes the doctors have been in. She's doing better—resting now. The memory's the same, she remembers the morning. She asked about you so much. I was hoping… since you work from home or whatever… that you could spend the night up here."

"I'll, uh, I'll take a second to think about it and call you back."

Addy let out a short sigh like she was frustrated. "Can you try to decide pretty quick since it's after nine already? I'd like to get home if I'm going."

He had already told Addy that he was sick. If she was going to be persistent, Caleb figured he would step up and go spend the night at the hospital.

"Yeah, uh, I'll do it. I'll come up there. Just give me a half-hour."

"Thanks, Caleb. You're the best. They said she should be released tomorrow morning, so it's really just a few hours."

"Yeah, okay, I'll be there in a bit."

"I'm going to go ahead and take off since I know you're coming."

"Okay."

This whole thing had turned into so much more than Caleb ever bargained for. But he didn't give himself time to think about it. He got dressed and went directly to the hospital.

Chapter 12

Caleb

The following morning

It had been a restless night and now the sun was shining brightly. Caleb could see rays of light piercing through the edges of the blackout curtain at the hospital.

It was 8:30am. The clock on the wall was visible from his place on the hospital bed next to Bailey. He had been asleep for over an hour, which was the longest amount he had all night. He swallowed, and his throat was hot and irritated. The night had been one interruption after another, so he was constantly reminded of how bad it hurt. If it wasn't Bailey waking up, it was the nurses coming in. Sometimes, Caleb just woke up on his own. It was after seven the last time he went to sleep, and he blinked at the clock feeling thankful for the hour of solid rest.

He was stretched out on the edge of the bed next to Bailey. She had insisted. She was clingy, and the nurse gave her pain medicine but otherwise just encouraged him to be there for her. Caleb was wrecked. He felt bad for Bailey, and he wanted her to be completely restored physically, but he could not forget Lila. He felt committed to her. His heart was given to Lila, and he was fixed and focused on having her. His predicament had gotten even worse in California, but he knew he had no choice but to continue to work his way out of it.

He sat there for a moment before he moved.

He didn’t want to disturb Bailey.

He remembered scenes from the night before.

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