was killing him and he’d finally hate me for pushing him into it. He’d push me away and then he’d nose dive and there would be no one there to pull him out.
Naomi came back with a random assortment of vending machine items, piling them on the table in front of me.
“Hopefully I picked something you’ll like,” she said as she took her seat.
A wisp of a smile crossed my face. “This is great. Thank you.” I found a granola bar and pulled it open.
After a couple minutes of silence, Naomi spoke up. “He’s going to be fine,” she assured me.
I huffed, feeling slack and tired. “He doesn’t have great luck.”
“Maybe not, but he has great surgeons.”
I looked at her, trying to decide what her angle was, especially since my gut seemed to think she didn’t have an angle. “How do you know?” I asked as I swallowed the last of my granola bar and reached for a bag of chips.
“He’s in the unofficial VIP wing. Home of rich people, celebrities, and politicians. Trust me, his surgeons are the best they have.”
I nodded, still mostly numb.
“He must be a good friend to you,” she said.
I looked at her, waiting for her to explain this random assertion.
“For you to be so loyal. He must be a good friend.”
I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say he was one of the best. Loyal, always there for me. But it would have been a lie. He used to be that friend. He’d stood up for me, protected me and made me laugh every day after we had met. High school had been a big, fun adventure with him by my side. But now…
“Or not,” she said quietly.
“Like you said.” I tossed the chip I’d picked up back into the bag. “His life is complicated.” I wanted to blow her off. I wanted to tell her it was none of her business. But despite my suspicions that sprouted anytime another female was around Sean, I couldn’t help but like Naomi. Somehow her nosiness came off as endearing instead of annoying.
“Then why do you stick around?”
I thought through all the reasons that I couldn’t put into words. So instead I turned to her, shrugged, and simply said, “He’s family. It’s just what I do.”
“But he’s not family,” she pointed out.
“He’s as good as.” And I was pretty much all the family he had.
She gave me a sad smile and then focused on her food.
♪♫♪
Naomi left after we ate, but instead of going back upstairs, I stayed away. Somehow it felt easier to sit in the empty waiting room two floors down than to go up and wait just outside his door. I sat there a long time, mindlessly scrolling through social media, succumbing to every clickbait headline I came across.
My phone buzzed with a text from Randy.
He’s out.
When I got upstairs, Randy was waiting for me in front of the nurses’ station. “Sean is out of surgery. I told them to let you know when he’s back in his room.”
I nodded, numb. “Okay.”
“I’m going home for a while. Give me a call if I need to come back here.”
I nodded, grateful that tomorrow (or today, I suppose) was Saturday and I didn’t have to worry about missing work. “Go ahead. Tell Gina hi for me.”
“You’re an angel, Libby,” he said as he walked away.
“Yeah right,” I muttered to myself. Then I remembered I had questions for Randy. “Randy!”
He turned back and I walked closer to him, out of earshot of anyone else. “What happened last night? Why did he break the glass?”
His smile was pitying. “I was trying to get him to leave. You know that never goes well.”
I blanched. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“Sean told us not to do that anymore.”
“Yeah, but…”
“It is what it is, Libby. If this is how he chooses to act, that’s not on you.” He rested his hand on my shoulder for just a second and then walked away.
I stood there, my face numb and heavy as I processed what Randy had just told me. If I had been there—if they had called me—Sean wouldn’t be in the hospital right now.
Randy said it wasn’t my fault, but…
I found a bathroom so I could splash water on my face and pull up my hair. I leaned my hands on the sides of the sink, staring at my reflection, struck by how worn and faded I appeared.
I went back to the waiting room, and twenty minutes later, a different nurse