Page 25 of Two Weeks
Cole told them again how much he appreciated them, how he was grateful because he could tell them anything. And after that he headed up to bed. Ashley turned to Landon and collapsed in his arms. “How could I say that?”
“I knew it was coming.” His smile was tender, rich with understanding. “I tried to stop you.”
“I felt you.” She exhaled hard. “Landon, I mean, what was I thinking? Cole’s never even kissed a girl.”
“Exactly.” He ran his hand along the back of her head. “It’ll be okay. He’s over it.”
She was quiet for a minute, processing. Elise could be pregnant... and Cole was willing to stand by her. “What does that mean?” She looked up at him. “He’s going tostand byher?”
“I don’t know.” Landon’s eyes saw straight to the center of her anxious heart. “He’s young, but I think he means forever. Like he’d marry her and be a father to this baby the way I was for him.”
“No.” She whispered the word, in case somewhere in the house Cole could hear her. “I don’t want that for him. He has college and med school. His whole future, and just because—”
“Ash.” He brought her face to his and kissed her. So she couldn’t say another word. “Only God and Cole can write his story. We can’t do it for him. All we can do is pray and stand by him. And once in a while, on nights like this, give him advice.”
The reality of all Landon said settled in around her like a wet blanket. She wasn’t ready for what might be coming, for Cole to make decisions that carried this much weight. “So... I have to plan a wedding?”
This time Landon laughed out loud. “Baby, we’re tired. Let’s go to bed.” He spoke so softly she could barely hear him. Then he put his arm around her waist and walked with her to the stairs. “I don’t think we need to book the church just yet.”
“True.” First things first. Sometime tomorrow Cole would take Elise to the crisis pregnancy center to see if she was really expecting. And if she was, Ashley would do the most powerful thing she could. The best gift a mother could give her child. Grown or not. Now and forevermore like her life depended on it.
She would pray.
8
Lucy always had a favorite baby in the maternity ward, one who caught her attention and took hold of her heart. This week it was a little boy who weighed just over a pound. Same weight as little Sophie.
Born at the same number of weeks.
Only Nathan was a few ounces heavier and a whole lot healthier. He would spend another few months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, but everyone on the floor thought he’d make it. Nathan was a fighter, the doctors said. Lucy walked from the nurses’ station to the spot next to his hooded bassinet.
If Nathan could survive birth at twenty weeks, why not their Sophie? Was her death one more way God was telling them that they weren’t capable of being parents? That they weren’t worthy, somehow? Lucy studied the miniature newborn. His legs were the size of her fingers. But his heartbeat was strong and steady.
A miracle.
But where was the miracle for Aaron and her? When their little girl came too soon? She leaned closer to the plastic hood, the barrier that kept warmth around Nathan’s body. “Mmmm.” She made the sound that comforted most babies in the nursery. A single note that came close to the sound a baby heard in the womb. The single soft hum became words. “Baby Nathan. You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Lucy felt someone beside her, so she straightened and turned. It was her new friend, Brooke. Lucy drew a slow breath and looked back at Nathan. “Tiniest one since I’ve been here.”
“Yes.” Brooke was one of the doctors tending to him. “He’s got strong lungs and a perfect heart.” She bent down and studied the baby. “But he’s a long way from his lungs working on their own. He’ll be here a lot longer.”
Lucy nodded. Of course. Babies born so little always battled to gain weight and learn to breathe. “I’ll be praying for him every day.” She smiled at the infant. “That’s for sure.”
“Me, too.” Brooke glanced at the clock on the wall and then looked at her. “Hey, can you take a break? I have twenty minutes before rounds.”
“I was supposed to take one an hour ago.” Lucy turned back to the nurses’ station. “I’ll check myself out.”
They went to the second-floor coffee shop and found a table near the window. Brooke took a long sip of her coffee and leaned back in her chair. “I needed this.”
“Definitely.” Lucy felt the same way. “Thanks for finding me.” She looked at Brooke over the rim of her paper cup. “I knew everyone at my old hospital in Atlanta. Here... I’d be a stranger if you hadn’t reached out my first week on the job.” Brooke’s husband, Peter, had met Aaron at a hospital dinner when Lucy was still back in Atlanta packing up the house. “Aaron often talks about that night when you three met.”
Brooke seemed unrushed. Like she had something deeper on her mind. “Did I ever tell you that? About our talk?”
“No.” Lucy set her cup down. “Not in detail.”
Brooke’s eyes filled with empathy. “He told me about your fertility struggles, and how the two of you were hoping.” She hesitated. “You know, new location, new chances. Maybe the baby would come when you got settled here.”
Heat filled Lucy’s face. Aaron had said that? To complete strangers? She swallowed hard and worked to hide her embarrassment. After a few seconds, she gave a light shrug and ordered herself to smile. “That’s what we thought.”
