Page 38 of Starting Anew

Once he got out to the Jeep, he called and spoke to Gregor on the phone. After some schedule reworking, he managed to call in enough favors to get the day off.

Would Lynn be glad to see him if he showed up at the hospital? Or, since they hadn’t spoken in a while, would she be upset? He couldn’t know until he tried, but he wished he’d reached out to her before now like his gut had told him to do.

Less than an hour later, he arrived at the hospital and headed for the cardiac wing. Once he got there, he looked for someone to ask about Perry. It didn’t come to that, though. He spotted Lynn sitting in a chair, one elbow on the arm rest, and her chin in her hand. She sat across from a couple he could only assume to be her parents.

The man had a magazine he was looking at, and the woman next to him worried her thumb.

No one was talking to each other.

The moment he started to approach them, all three pairs of eyes swiveled to him anxiously. The couple both looked disappointed, probably hoping he was the doctor.

But Lynn’s beautiful eyes widened with surprise as she got to her feet. “Nathan. What are you doing here?”

“I hope you don’t mind. I took Mia by Little Lambs today. Sharon told me why you weren’t in, and I wanted to come by and check on you all.” He glanced at her parents. Her mother was watching them curiously while her father seemed uninterested after going back to his magazine. “How’s your sister?”

Lynn shrugged. “They took her in for surgery about an hour ago, and we’re still waiting to hear something.” She ran a hand over her face. “It’s been a long night.” She studied him with an open expression. “It was nice of you to come by.”

Relief flooded Nathan’s system. They still had a lot to figure out, but at least she wasn’t angry or dismissive. He could deal with that. “I’d like to sit with you all for a while if you don’t mind. Mia’s with Sharon, and Gregor is covering my classes.” He silently prayed that she’d say yes. She looked so tired and worn out. There was probably little he could do to help, but he didn’t want to have to walk away and leave her now.

She looked surprised. “That would be nice. Thank you.” She turned to her parents. “Mom, Dad. I’d like to introduce you to Nathan Kirkpatrick. Nathan, these are my parents, Ralph and Emily Truitt.”

Nathan barely earned a passing nod from Mr. Truitt, but Mrs. Truitt smiled warmly. “It’s nice to meet you, Nathan.” She looked to Lynn as though hoping for further explanation. “It’s good of you to stop by.”

“Could I get any of you something to drink from the cafeteria? I’d be happy to make a run down there.”

Mrs. Truitt looked to her husband, who didn’t bother taking his eyes off his magazine, and finally shook her head.

Nathan turned his focus on Lynn. “How about you? I could get you some coffee. Or a bottle of juice.” He noticed Lynn didn’t even have water at the moment.

She hesitated before nodding. “I’m actually starving. A bottle of orange juice would be great.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He resisted the urge to reach for her hand and give it a squeeze before he left.

ChapterFourteen

What was worse than sitting in a hospital waiting room? Sitting with your father who completely ignores your existence. Lynn sighed. She got the sense that her mother might have been willing to talk or visit a little, but she was hesitant to do so while he was there.

Waiting for news about Perry would have been bad enough. Sitting there with her parents just staring made it seem even longer.

She couldn’t have been more surprised to look up and find Nathan approaching them. She’d imagined all kinds of scenarios over the last week or so, wondering what it would be like to see him again. Wondering what he might say, or how she might respond. Sometimes she was upset at him for not bothering to call. Other times, she all but ran into his arms.

But none of that really prepared her for the flood of emotions she actually experienced. Surprise was chased by annoyance that he hadn’t called or reached out for so long. But all of that was replaced by relief.

Lynn was so worried about Perry, yet unable to truly express that with her parents. Having someone there for her was huge.

There was a lot they still needed to talk about, and maybe Nathan was going to tell her their relationship wouldn’t work. For now, though, he was here. Right where she needed him to be.

He returned a short time later with a bottle of orange juice and a blueberry muffin. He handed them to her and sat in the chair beside hers.

“Thank you so much.” She twisted the lid off the bottle and took a long drink, only then aware of how dry her throat had been. The smell of the muffin had her opening the plastic container it was in and pinching a piece off the fluffy top before placing it on her tongue. Her eyes slid closed in approval. This was exactly what she needed.

When she opened her eyes again, she found Nathan watching her, a look of satisfaction on his face. Her cheeks warmed. A quick check told her that her parents weren’t even paying attention. She tried to tell herself that was a good thing. Except that if her long lost daughter introduced her to a man, she’d want to know all about him.

Yet another example of the lack of interest her parents had in her. Lynn swallowed her disappointment right along with the muffin.

Nathan cleared his throat. “Sharon said you took some time off last week. I hope you were able to relax and maybe get some reading in or something.”

Was he fishing for why she took the time off work? Even if they were to the point where they were openly talking about everything that happened, this wouldn’t be the place to do it. Not within earshot of her parents. Maybe it was pride, but if they didn’t have any interest in her life, she certainly wasn’t going to give them information for free.

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