The Best of Us (Sullivan's Crossing #4)(46)

“Aren’t you in a room with your dad?”

“That doesn’t matter,” Finn said. “He understands.”

“Um, excuse me for eavesdropping, but I’m planning a pretty hefty sedative,” Maggie said. “Both of you need to get some sleep.”

“What time are you starting?” Finn asked.

“We’ll take her to the OR at about 6:00 a.m.”

“I’ll be here before that to give you a kiss for luck,” Finn said.

Finn didn’t sleep well. It felt like a series of fifteen-minute naps through the night and he picked up his phone to see the time many times. Maia didn’t call him and he hoped that meant she was resting peacefully. He was up at four, before the alarm. He was at the hospital at five. His dad stayed in the big foyer at the entry and told Finn to go up to the third floor on his own. Rob didn’t want to intrude.

Maia’s parents were already there, of course.

He walked up to Maia’s bedside. “Hi,” he said. “Did you sleep?”

“I did. Did you?”

He shrugged. “I slept enough.”

“Well, I’m going to be asleep most of the day,” she said. “Maybe you can catch a nap today...”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here when you wake up,” he said. He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. “When Maggie says it looks good, I’ll leave. I’ll come back when you’re feeling a little better. The weekend, maybe.”

Maia just smiled and said, “You’re the best boyfriend in the world.”

“I’ll probably turn rotten and take you for granted after you’re all healed.”

She leaned toward him and whispered in his ear. “Who will get you through freshman English next year if you piss me off?”

Maggie stuck her head in the room, iPad in hand, scrolling through notes. “Good morning,” she said. “I see you had a good night. You’re going to get a new hairdo, but don’t worry, it won’t be terrible or terribly obvious. We just want to make room for the incision. With all that wonderful long hair, you can probably work out a comb-over. I’ll see you in the OR. You’ll see everyone later. We’re setting up for you now.”

Maia was wheeled up to the OR and Finn and her parents followed. Then Finn staked out a chair in the waiting room outside the OR suite and Rob joined him there. After an hour, Rob took a walk. He seemed more anxious than Finn. Maia’s parents went in search of some coffee, knowing that the nurse in the OR would call them if necessary but that Maia wouldn’t be coming out for hours. Rob came back to check on Finn, then left again, going outside to use his phone.

But Finn didn’t move. Friends and even a couple of teachers texted him and asked him how things were going. Sid and Dakota texted. But Finn stayed right where he was. Rob insisted they go to the cafeteria for lunch but Finn made fast work of a sandwich and went back to the OR waiting room. From his spot, he watched a lot of doctors, nurses, techs and patients going in and out. When the day started, his mind was consumed with Maia’s well-being and recovery, but as the day progressed he was absorbed into the hospital atmosphere. Once, a man and woman both wearing scrubs ran through the OR doors and just that action caused him to shoot to his feet. Two hours later he saw them again, headed more calmly to the elevator, deep in conversation.

He felt the power and urgency of the place; he was fascinated by the sense of purpose. People were being saved here. Some, like his mother, wouldn’t make it, but if memory served, she had been surrounded by doctors and nurses as they battled to keep her alive. There were a couple of nurses at her funeral; they had been that invested in her. Maggie, whom he’d known for a few years, was always a jeans-clad woman who came into the pub for lunch or dinner with her husband now and then, a baby usually balanced on her hip. But today she was a superhero. She would be on her feet for eight hours or longer. She would do something very few people had the ability to do. She would save Maia’s life.

And Finn thought, Wouldn’t it be cool if I was smart enough to do something like that?







In many ways doth the full heart reveal
The presence of the love it would conceal.

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge



10


ROB SPENT A LOT of time walking around the hospital grounds. It was a busy place, lots of people coming and going, ambulances shrieking as they raced in. His phone beeped with a text. It was from Leigh. How’s it going?

We’re doing fine, he texted back. Let me know when you have a few minutes to talk and I’ll find a quiet bench outside.

Five minutes later she answered her phone. “Long day?” she asked.

“The longest,” he said. “Finn is completely dedicated. I could hardly pull him away from the waiting room for lunch. When I go back upstairs, I’ll bring him a Coke. But he’s holding up great. He got to give his girl a kiss before she went into surgery. And God bless Maggie, she told him he could see her later for a few minutes but Maia wouldn’t be up for much of a visit. She told him once he was assured Maia was going to be okay he should go home and let them do their work. I hope he takes that advice. I don’t want Maia worrying about how Finn’s doing—it’ll distract her and she’ll need rest. I take it there’s going to be a lot of pain.”