Longest five hours of my life, or so it seemed. I had a bad feeling I’d have many more “longest hours of my life”. I watched as Shelby came out of the room and closed the door, leaning up against it and closing her eyes.
“How is she?” I whispered, afraid if I spoke any louder I’d wake her up, even though we were in the hallway and Lanie was probably fast asleep already.
“She’s asleep,” Shelby sighed and folded her arms across her chest. “She’ll probably be out now for the night. The nurse said since she vomited so much, she’ll be worn out. Plus the drowsiness from the chemotherapy doesn’t help any.” She mumbled and walked toward me.
All of a sudden, my stomach began to growl. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had touched food. “You hungry?” I asked her. Neither of us had eaten in a while. Her hand went to her stomach and she nodded. We had completely forgotten to take care of ourselves. “How about we go back to the room and order room service?” I suggested. I knew neither of us wanted to go out any where fancy to eat. She smiled and nodded.
“That would be nice,” she agreed. “I’m sure she’ll be out for the rest of the night…” she seemed a little hesitant, but ended up going with her initial reaction. As we exited the hospital, we were faced with a handful of photographers and some fans, as well. “Uh…” she looked up at me with wide eyes. Neither of us were expecting this.
“I’m not sure why they’re here…I haven’t made a statement yet…” I explained. “Just let me handle it.” I put my hand on the small of her back as I tried to think of what to say.
“Nick! Nick!” The photographers began to yell out and snap pictures. “Are you and your wife back together? What are these rumors about your daughter’s illness? What’s going on, man? We’ve seen you in and out of here for three days now!” To be honest, I was surprised it took them this long to figure it out. I thought it would have taken only a few hours.
“I haven’t made the statement yet, guys,” I stepped forward. “My…our,” I corrected before going any farther. “Three-year-old daughter has a form of leukemia. She’s in the hospital now getting treatments of chemotherapy. We’re hoping to make it as quick and painless as possible for her. Her mother and I would really appreciate it if you guys stay clear of the hospital and give us our privacy. I promise I’ll keep you guys updated along the way.”
“Thanks, Nick,” a few photographers took a couple more shots and then to my surprise, again, backed away.
“Wow…” Shelby mumbled as we made our way across the street again. “That went over really well…”
“Yeah,” I nodded with a shrug. “Better than I had expected.”
“Thank you for handling it, Nick,” Shelby smiled up at me appreciatively. “You’ve really stepped up to the plate. I definitely don’t give you enough credit.”
“Shell, it’s only been three days. You’ve raised Lanie the past three, almost four, years. It’s about time I step up and be something in her life, ya know?” To be honest, I couldn’t believe those words were coming out of my mouth. And by the smile on Shelby’s face, it looked as if she couldn’t believe it, either. “I’ve seriously grown up in the past three days.” I chuckled.
“You can say that again,” she smirked. I gave her a shocked expression jokingly as we entered the hotel lounge. She giggled and put her hand on my chest. “I was just kidding. Besides, I’ve matured a lot too. I guess when you’re thrown into situations like this, you just have to take it and run.”
I nodded in total agreement. “You wanna order room service down here and then have it delivered to the room?”
“Sure,” she agreed.
“What do you want?” I asked her as we glanced at the menu. “I think I’m gonna order chicken fingers and fruit for me. Get whatever you want.”
“I want to pay for mine, Nick,” she looked back up at me. Money was an issue, but Shelby hated depending on people. I used to think that was what she was best at, but after spending the past few days with her, I came to realize that was definitely not the case.
“Fine,” I held my hands up in defeat. I figured it would only come to a few dollars anyway.
“Umm…I’ll have chicken fingers, too. But I want mine with fries,” she smiled. “And…the chocolate covered strawberries look really good. That’s Lanie’s favorite. Maybe we can save a few and take them back over with us tomorrow morning or something.”
I nodded with a smile. She was always thinking about Lanie more than herself. “Sounds good.” I smiled at the man standing there taking the order. “If you can just have that delivered to room 221, that’d be great.”
“No problem,” he nodded and we made our way to the elevator. I found myself feeling awkward around her, and I wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t like we hadn’t been alone the past few days. We had even had a pretty intense make-out session on the bed. It was just now…thinking about what was going to happen once we got to the room. Was she going to want to pick right back up where we left off? Did I want to do that?
What was I thinking? Of course I wanted to pick back up where we left off. “I hope I can fall asleep tonight.” She sighed, breaking my train of thought. I nodded and swallowed back the lump of nervousness in my throat.
“Me too,” I agreed. “It’ll really suck if I can’t. We both need sleep and food.”
“I can’t believe we went this long without eating. You, of all people,” she giggled. I frowned with a smirk on my lips and cocked my head to the side. “I’m just saying…I know you better than you think. And I know you have a pretty hearty appetite.” She laughed.
I rolled my eyes. “Have you not noticed the weight loss?” I pointed to my chest and she laughed hysterically.
“You looked so gay right there…not gonna lie,” she giggled. I pouted and she laughed even harder. “I’m just kidding, Nick. You look great.” She nodded.
“Thank you,” I mumbled as the elevator stopped on our floor. “Though, I won’t lie. My appetite’s still pretty big. I just try to fill my stomach with healthy shit now.” I shrugged. She nodded as we came to the door.
She seemed to be in deep thought as she stood there while I opened the door. As we came in, she plopped down on her bed and I sat down on mine, facing her. “So, I figure I should probably go get clothes for me somehow. I mean…either call my mom and have her send the stuff to me through the UPS or something or go to a Good Will around here somewhere.”
“I can have BJ bring you more clothes,” I shrugged.
“Thanks, Nick. But I really miss having my own stuff, ya know? I mean, it’s not just that. There’s so much stuff I’m missing here. And I’m really starting to freak out because I was thinking this morning when Lanie was so sick. We’re going to be here for a while. I wish there was some way we could transfer her back to Florida but it’s too dangerous to do that right now. Besides, I know the doctors are much better here. But everything’s at my house. I mean…I feel so lost without my own living space,” she sighed. From the way she worded everything, I had a feeling that had all been on her mind for a while.
I guess I hadn’t thought about it. I mean, my house was only twenty minutes away. If I wanted a change of pants, I just had to get in the car and drive and make it back to the hospital in forty minutes. She had to fly across the country.
“I mean, we could be here for two years. Maybe I should look into finding a house out here,” she ran her fingers through her hair. She and I both knew she didn’t have that kind of money.
“Crazy idea…” I started and ran my fingers through my own hair. She cocked her head to the side and frowned, urging me to continue. “Move in with me?”
Author's Chapter Notes:
Thanks for the reviews!! I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter End Notes:
I'll try to have more out ASAP. Life's back to being crazy now that the week is started up again and classes are demanding every second of my time, but I'll try to squeeze in another chapter soon!
