Page 53 of Second Chance Fate

As much as she wanted to get out of the hospital, she realized that being here—being cared for, thought of, remembered—felt strangely like a homecoming, to a home she’d always wanted but never had.

16

Caleb stoodoutside the automatic doors of the main entrance to the hospital. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d walked across the threshold he was about to step over, but this time, it felt different… and it was. This was the first time he had a ring in his front left pocket and a marriage license in his back pocket.

His phone buzzed, startling him out of his momentary paralysis. He pulled it out and saw it was Belinda Santos letting him know she was running a few minutes behind. She lives in Lake Tahoe and works in the county clerk’s office. She owed him a few favors, and he’d called them in. He thought he had half an hour, but since she was running behind, he had closer to an hour.

He’d never been so happy for someone’s tardiness. He could use all the time he could get to speak to Taylor. Caleb had no clue if she was going to agree to his proposal, even with the extra time, but he hoped she would.

Last night, he hadn’t slept. He’d gone over what he was going to say a thousand times. He thought about making a PowerPoint, but he wasn’t sure it would be the most romanticway to do this. Not that the proposal was based on romance, necessarily. For him, it was, but he wasn’t arrogant or cocky enough to presume that she’d held any feelings for him like he had for her.

Still, even though romance was not the main driving force, he thought a PowerPoint was still in bad taste. He just hoped he would be able to remember everything he needed to say. It was strange because public speaking was something he excelled at. Not only public speaking but also one-on-one sessions, counseling, grabbing coffee, dinners—any sort of communication was a lane Caleb had always excelled in. But right now, he didn’t feel confident at all.

He’d stayed up all night praying. He knew that not only was this the right thing to do, he hadto do it. Around two a.m. he had a wave of overwhelming anxiety about the aftermath of what would happen if he went through with proposing. If he asked Taylor to marry him and she said yes. If his parents got home, and he was married… He changed his mind and decided it was crazy and he couldn’t do it. He thought making that decision would allow his mind to quiet, and he’d fall asleep. The opposite happened. He tossed and turned, and the pit in his stomach grew larger and larger. He knew then he had to go through with it.

He whispered, “If this is what you want me to do, I’ll do it.” At that moment, his phone lit up; it was a Facebook notification. He opened it and saw that it was a memory from twelve years earlier. It was a photo of him and Josh from the pier at Daytona Beach, taken the morning he met Taylor—well, then she was Rebecca, but still. And then a peace thatliterallydefied all understanding settled over him. So, despite every ounce of logic telling him this was crazy, he knew he was doing the right thing.

He walked into the hospital and past the visitor check-in. The administration gave him his own lanyard because he wasa frequent flyer; they’d done the same with his dad. When he reached the elevators, he pressed the button and noticed his hand was shaking.

The doors opened, and he stepped inside, taking a deep, cleansing breath. His nerves weren’t because he was scared of commitment; it was the opposite. He was scared that Taylor would think he was trying to overstep boundaries. The reality was, he’d looked into things the day after she was admitted into the ICU. If something had happened to her, he would have had to prove paternity with Owen. He could do it, obviously, but things would be a lot easier if they were married.

Getting his name on Owen’s birth certificate would take anywhere from four to fourteen weeks. He was going to start the process as soon as possible, with Taylor and Owen’s blessing, of course, but if he and Taylor were married, he would have a better chance of retaining custody if anything happened, not to mention being her next of kin. As of now, that responsibility rested on Owen’s shoulders, which was too much for an eleven-year-old.

The elevator doors opened on the fourth floor, and Caleb stepped out onto the ward Taylor was transferred to the day before. His heart felt like it was going a million miles a minute as he walked down the hallway. He was silently praying that God would prepare her heart to hear what he had to say. Or, at the very least, that she wouldn’t feel offended or threatened by his proposal.

“Hey, Caleb!” Gwendolyn Hopper, a nurse who he’d been blindsided by when he showed up to what he thought was a charity planning meeting, turned out to be a romantic dinner for two. Gwen was equally as horrified at the blatant set-up. They had a decent dinner, but there had been zero spark. Absolutely no chemistry.

“Hi. How are you?” he smiled, hoping the exchange of pleasantries would be over quickly. Belinda was running late, but he wanted to have an answer of whether or not he’d need her services when she arrived.

“Good, I heard you’ve been around.” Gwyn held her clipboard to her chest.

“Yeah, I have.”

“The rumor mill is going crazy with theories about what’s going on with you and the mystery patient and the kid.”

“I bet.” It was obvious Gwyn was fishing for information. He lifted his hand and waved. “Well, it was great seeing you.”

“You too.”

Caleb kept his head down as he continued down the hall, ignoring the side glances from the staff. Gwyn told him that the rumor mill was crazy, but he’d already been aware of it. Growing up in Hope Falls, he had an internal gossip radar that was finely tuned. He forced a casual smile when he passed the nurses’ station, but inside, his nerves were a tangled mess. In the grand tradition of men about to get down on one knee, he was sweating through his shirt and feeling slightly nauseous despite this proposal being anything but traditional.

He stopped at Taylor’s door. Caleb hovered just outside, his hand on the doorknob. From within, he could hear the soft beeping of Taylor’s heart monitor, a steady comfort compared to how erratic his own pulse felt. He closed his eyes and gathered himself.

He took a slow breath, then pushed the door open. The hospital room looked less like a sterile box and more like a kindergarten classroom during Teacher Appreciation Week. There were so many cards and flowers, the air was thick with the scent of lilies and daisies, and several balloon bouquets.

Taylor was asleep in her bed, her head turned slightly toward the window. She wore an old, oversized hoodie—his oversizedhoodie. He’d put it on her when she was in the ICU and shivering beneath several layers of blankets. He’d put it around her shoulders, and she’d melted into it. Her hair was in two braids, and her complexion did have some color in it. She was looking so much better than the day she was admitted.

Caleb stood at the foot of her bed and watched her sleep for a moment. He wasn’t sure why, but something about her peaceful expression stung him. Not sadness, exactly, but a tenderness so sharp it made him ache. What would it be like to wake up beside her every day? To never have to say goodbye at visitor’s time? To belong to each other, for real?

He pulled up the uncomfortable guest chair and lowered into it, careful not to disturb the delicate cocoon she’d made with her blankets. He wanted to let her sleep. She needed the rest. But the clock was ticking—Belinda would be here soon. He reached out and gently touched her arm, just above the IV tape.

“Hey,” he said softly. His heart was thumping so loud he was sure she would hear it.

Taylor blinked awake, her eyes still foggy and bleary, but she smiled as soon as she saw him. “Please tell me you're here to break me out?”

Caleb smiled and shook his head. “No, not yet. I did want to talk to you about something.”

She raised an eyebrow, obviously intrigued, but her lids looked heavy. “You mean, like, we need to talk?”

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