For whatever reason, I reach out and grab Brooke’s hand. It is cold, and fear raced through me. The thought that she could die sent ice to my veins. It is in that moment that I realize that, somewhere in our year and a half of marriage, I’ve started to have feelings toward my wife. I do not know how it happened, but if she makes it through this, I promise I would do something about it.

CHAPTER 12

An Unasked Question

Brooke

My eyes feel heavy as I try to open them. The rhythmic beep of the monitor makes me want to go back to sleep. I try to roll to my side and groan with the effort.

“Brooke?” Landon’s raspy voice fills my ears. I turn my head to see him sitting in a chair next to me.

“What happened?” I rasp.

“You fainted at the party. Don’t you remember?”

Memory washes over me, and all I can think about was the anger in Landon’s voice. I remember my arms felt so shaky and weak I did not feel it was safe for me to hold Daisy. The thought brought tears to my eyes. I put my hand over my belly, wondering if I will even get the chance to hold my baby. If my disease is already progressing this fast, where would I be in seven more months?

Landon’s hand reaches out and covers my own. “The baby is fine,” he says, mistaking my tears as worry.

I nod and close my eyes in relief.

“How are you feeling?” he asks quietly.

“Tired.”

“That seems to be your answer to everything these days.” I had no response to give him. I was just tired.

The doctor comes in shortly after that and tells us I was anemic. “What does your diet consist of?” the doctor asks.

Before I can answer, Landon spoke, “Toast and raspberry jam.”

“I eat more than just that,” I sulk.

“Really? Because that’s the only thing I ever see you actually eat and not just pick at.”

I shrugged. “I like raspberry jam.”

“Be that as it may, try to pair it with more iron-rich foods,” the doc cut in.

The doctor releases us from the hospital to Landon’s protest. He feels I should stay longer, but I insist I wanted to go home. At home, Landon informs Mrs. Fanny that we need meals with more iron, and I went up to go to bed. After I shower away, the hospital smell, I am ready to crawl into bed when there is a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I say softly, not having the energy to speak much louder.

Landon fills the doorway but does not come all the way in. He leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms across his chest.

“Hey,” he says softly.

“Hey,” I say back. He seems nervous, which is strange because he is always Mr. Cool and Confident.

“You’re ah…sleeping in here tonight?”

My eyebrows pinch together. “It is my room.”