me,” she finally said. “We could have been sisters. I always wanted a sister.”
“Candi,” Alexis sighed, folding her legs under her again. “Even if things had been different, we have no way of knowing how our lives would have been. You can’t regret a romanticized Hallmark version of a past that never existed. We know each other now. Let go of what might have been and let that be enough.”
“But . . .”
“But what?”
“I just . . . The only bond we have now is because he’s dying. What about after the surgery? Will we still see each other?” She blanched. “I swear I’m not trying to pressure you.”
Alexis rested her hand on Candi’s arm. “I know you’re not. And I wish I could give you an answer that puts your mind at ease, but I can’t. I have no idea what the future will hold.”
“But can we at least try?”
“Try what?”
“Being sisters.”
Something akin to a punch to the chest made her heart crack and bleed. Alexis had to swallow several times to loosen the tight ball of emotion that had become lodged in her throat. “I don’t know how to be a sister.”
“I do. It’s just like being friends. It’s a friend you’re related to.”
A silence descended on the room, but for the muted sounds of the comings and goings of the nursing staff in the hallway. Alexis had come to detest the noises of hospitals when her mother was sick. The incessant beeping of monitors and the squeak of wheels. That and the annoyingly calm, hushed tones with which people seemed to speak around her, as if softening a voice could lessen the blow of bad news. And it was always bad news.
But inside her room now, the only sound Alexis could hear was the beat of her own heart, because, for once, her own thoughts were peaceful. Maybe this would be another one of those before-and-after moments that she’d look back on someday and realize it was when things changed, once again.
She suddenly, desperately wanted it to be.
“I should go,” Candi said, sliding off the bed.
“Thank you for coming by and for the photo album.”
Candi did the nervous lip-bite thing and tugged her hands inside the cuffs of her sweatshirt. “So I guess I’ll see you later?”
“How about if I call you tomorrow to let you know how things went?”
Candi’s smile brightened the room. “That’d be awesome.”
Alexis scooted back on her mattress as Candi turned to leave.
“Hey, Candi.”
Candi turned around.
“I always wanted a sister too.”
“Really?”
Alexis managed a shaky nod. “Thank you for finding me.”
* * *
* * *
It felt wrong to leave the hospital. Noah tried going back up to their hotel room, but the silence and the empty spot next to him on the bed drove him to distraction. So he ended up in the lobby bar instead, incessantly checking his phone as he nursed a beer. He’d left the hospital an hour ago, and there was still nothing from Alexis.
Noah lifted his hand to the bartender to order another beer. He tried to focus on the college football game on TV but didn’t actually give a shit. He hadn’t gone to a football school and could never understand the obsession people had with the game. He wouldn’t ever say that to Malcolm, of course.
Noah checked his phone again. Still nothing from Alexis. With a frustrated shake of his head, he turned the phone facedown on the bar and tipped the bottle back.
“May I join you?”
Noah looked to his right, and a blood vessel burst in his brain. Elliott stood next to him, hands shoved in the pockets of a windbreaker.
Noah made a noise that was half snort, half Are you fucking kidding me? “Is that why Candi went to the hospital? To occupy Alexis so you could ambush me separately?”
Elliott blinked and started. “Candi’s at the hospital with Alexis?”
Either he was an incredible actor or he honestly didn’t know. Noah clenched his jaw. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought maybe we could talk.” Elliott extended his hand. “We didn’t meet properly the first time.”
Noah jutted his jaw sideways. After a moment, he accepted the handshake but immediately returned his attention to the TV. He didn’t want Elliott there, didn’t want to talk, and sure as shit wasn’t going to make this easy on him.
Elliott pulled out the stool next to Noah and sat down. The bartender scooted over and placed a napkin in front of him. “What can I get you?”
“Just ice water, please.” He