Page 36 of Love on the Brain
“Okay.”
Ryan walked over to the sill and pulled off the clear plastic wrap of the heart-shaped box. He handed it to Noah and brought the card to Jane.
Jane’s heartbeat sped up as she held it in her hands. What would Noah think of Ryan giving her a Valentine card?
“Maybe just two before breakfast, sweetie, okay?” Jane said. “You had a lot of sugar yesterday.”
He nodded, and while he determined his selection, Jane slid her finger into the open area under the flap of the envelope, tearing the paper along the crease. With trepidation and a heavy heart, she removed the card.
“A Valentine for a Special Friend.”
Okay then.
With a sigh of relief—or was it disappointment?—she opened the card. The beautiful poem was exactly right, exactly how she felt about him, too. Underneath, he’d scrawled,I’ll always be here for you and Noah. With love, Ryan.
When she looked up, he was watching her. A sudden urge to hug him came over her, and before she could stop the impulse, she was rounding the foot of the bed and wrapping her arms around his waist.
* * *
Later that nightback at his house, Ryan said good night to Jane and Noah. All was right with them here, under his roof.
He wished they could stay forever.
Another night, maybe, but there was no reason for them to continue to stay at his house instead of at Connie and Dale’s. He couldn’t even spend time with them tomorrow, having been scheduled for the daytime shift. Maybe when he got home, they could do something fun.
No—even better—he’d take them to the firehouse and introduce Noah to Garrett Cruz and his partner, show the little guy that ambulances and sirens didn’t have to be scary. Noah could turn the siren on and sit in the fire truck, maybe overcome his fear and make a new memory in its place.
He’d ask Jane in the morning what she thought and hoped she’d consent. He had a feeling she’d also been traumatized, and maybe she’d find healing in the visit, too.
“Uncle Ryan? Can you hear me?”
Ryan opened his eyes and reached for the baby monitor to depress the speaker button. “I can hear you.”
“I have to go potty. Can you do my wires?”
Ryan swallowed a lump in his throat. The poor kid. “Yeah, I’ll be right there.” The dim light of dawn coming through the bay window was enough so that he didn’t need to turn on any lights. He rolled off the couch and padded down the hall.
Noah was sitting up on the side of the bed when he arrived. “Mommy pulls these”—he pointed to the Velcro tabs on the heart and apnea monitor’s belt around his chest—“and then spins that wheel before she takes these out.” He pointed to the intravenous line connected to his port. “But I can’t touch them myself. She says only professionals. You’re a professional, right, Uncle Ryan?”
This kid,Ryan thought with a grin which broadened when he heard Noah’sphew.“It just so happens I am. I think your latest readings mean we can safely unhook you. What do you think?”
“Okay, hurry please. I gottago.”
Ryan held back another smile. “All right. Stay still for me.” He carefully lifted the tabs on the patches and peeled them off, released the Velcro, and double-checked all the lines before sending Noah toward the bathroom. Eyeing the armchair, he decided it would be a good idea to stay with him until Jane woke up, just in case.
Noah returned but hesitated at the bed. “It’s almost time to get up, and I’m hungry. Do I have to go back to bed?”
Ryan shook his head. His alarm would go off soon, and anyway, the likelihood of him being able to fall back asleep was slim, too. “Nope. How about you help me make breakfast before I go to work?”
“Yeah! Can we have wallfulls again?”
“Of course. Lead the way.”
He followed Noah down the hall to the kitchen and took a chair from the table for him to stand on. “Hop up here and you can do the mixing, okay?”
“Okay!”
“All right, let’s see. We need—”
