That's a Promise (12 page)

I was going to die. I was losing focus, and I was seconds away from slipping away from the world forever. He was so focused on ruining me that he didn’t see my avenging angel come out of the back door. The look on his face screamed vengeance, and I felt a glimpse of relief knowing that I could be saved.

I gasped and clutched my hand to my throat; I could barely breathe. Blake noticed my change in demeanor, and looked up to see my panicky facial expression. He looked in the direction I was staring, and when he saw Seth standing there throwing- daggers at him, he climbed up the bed to cover me from Seth’s view.

“What the hell, man!” Blake bellowed at Seth. “You couldn’t knock?”

“Well I did, but I’m sure you couldn’t hear me over the sounds
she
was making!” he yelled back and pointed at me. Blake sighed. He wouldn’t apologize for making me feel good. Seth shook himself of his anger, and looked at me with saddened eyes. Something was wrong.

“What’s wrong, Seth?” I asked gently.

“Dad had a heart attack. I’m about to head home to go to the hospital.”
Oh my god,
I thought. My heart broke instantly for him. He shifted his weight between each leg, and I could tell he was worried. “I was hoping you would come with me.” I started to get up, but Blake held me so I couldn’t move. He put up his finger to show that I should wait a minute, and bent down to grab his shirt off the floor. He helped me put the shirt on, and then let me sit up.

“Is he okay? Do you know how or why? Is your mom okay? He’s not dying is he?”

“As far as I know he’s not dead, but I need to go see him now. You going to come? I know we were leaving tomorrow for spring break, but I gotta see him, Jos.” He choked on the word “dead”, and he gave me a pleading look. I looked at Blake and he gave me a small sad but reassuring smile.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” I said, looking back at Seth. He nodded and went to wait outside the door.

“You’ll drive up there tomorrow and meet me? Just throw some of my clothes and books into a bag,” I asked Blake as soon as Seth left. I got out of the bed and started to put on some jeans underneath Blake’s shirt.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll take care of everything here, and I’ll call you when I’m nearby tomorrow,” he assured me. I nodded at him so he would know I acknowledged what he said and went to look for a bra to slip on underneath of the shirt.

“I’m sorry Blake, but he’s like another dad to me,” I tried to explain as I was frantically trying to get everything together.

“Baby, you don’t owe me any explanation for wanting to be there for your best friend.”

The shirt smelled like Blake, and I wanted to wear it. I smirked at him and said, “I’m keeping the shirt by the way.” He gave me a big smile, and leaned back on the bed.

“You look better in my shirt than I do anyway, so keep it.” I grabbed my purse, gave him a quick kiss, and was about to turn to leave, when he pulled me back.

“Please be careful,” he whispered to me, and gave me a lingering kiss goodbye, a kiss that I would not soon forget.

Chapter 10

For the first half of the car ride, Seth and I didn’t say anything to each other.

I knew that when he was upset like that, that he liked to keep to himself. George was a good man, and I really hoped that he was going to be okay. I wasn’t sure how Gayle would survive without her husband, and it scared me to think of how Seth would react. After thirty minutes, I couldn’t take the silence any longer, and I grabbed his hand.

“I love you, Seth. I can’t promise everything is going to be okay, but I can promise that I will be here for you for anything you need.” He glanced at me briefly before turning back to the road and nodding his head. We stayed like that for the rest of the thirty minute ride. I alternated between rubbing his hand and back as a way to comfort him. I was exhausted from lack of sleep, but there was no way I was going to let Seth do this alone.

We pulled up to the hospital, and headed straight to the ER. He let me hold his hand on the walk/ jog into the building, and I was grateful because I felt like that was the only thing I could do to comfort him. We found Gayle crying loudly in a chair in the back, so I went to kneel down next to her.

“Mom, what’s going on? How is he?” Seth wrapped his arm around her shoulder, but she just kept crying. I got up and went to the front desk. There was a petite blonde behind the counter, and she looked up at me when I got to her desk.

“Hi, my best friend’s dad was brought in here for a heart attack and I need to get some information about his condition. His name is George Montgomery.”

“Let me check real quickly,” she said and started to log into her computer. Every tap of the keyboard made my heart race even faster. She finally looked up and said, “It looks like Mr. Montgomery went in for emergency PCI.”
He’s alive,
I thought. “Someone should be coming out to let you know what’s going on soon.”

“Ok, thanks,” I said and walked back to Seth and Gayle, where Seth was trying to comfort and calm her down. There was something so sweet about seeing this tall tattooed man comforting a frail older woman. I knew he was taking it hard because he was extremely close to his parents, but the fact that he put aside his emotions in order to make his mom a little calmer, was so sincere and just added to the list of things I loved about him.

He had always been strong. When I thought I was about to die, he saved me. When I wouldn’t speak to anyone for months, he kept talking. When I asked him to do something that would risk our friendship, he did it. His heart and strength was beautiful, and I envied that about him. I sat on the chair next to Seth.

“They said that he had to get an emergency PCI, and that someone will come out to tell you what’s going on,” I whispered to him.

He nodded his head to acknowledge what I said, but didn’t say anything else. The ER waiting room didn’t have too many people in it, but it seemed to remain a solemn atmosphere, regardless of the amount of people there. I texted my dads to let them know what happened and that I was in the hospital, but I knew they wouldn’t see it until the sun actually came up, so I just sat in the chair while we waited.

I don’t know how long we waited before we heard anything because the minutes seemed to run into each other, but eventually a doctor came out to talk to Gayle and Seth. He was a handsome older man, and he came and knelt down to Gayle’s level.

“Mrs. Montgomery. First, I want to say that your husband is alive.” Gayle hiccupped, and I felt Seth relax a little bit more. “We ran some tests on him, and we determined that the best way to go right now is to give him a cardio angioplasty. What we will do during this procedure is put in a device called a stent. It’s shaped kind of like a ballpoint pen, and we will insert it into the artery to help it remain open after the clot is removed. We are prepping him right now for that, so you will have to wait a little longer before you can see him.”

The doctor explained everything very well to Gayle and Seth, and he took time to answer all of the questions they had. After they ran out of questions, and signed all the paperwork for the surgery, we were finally able to sit back down and take a breather. I let out a relieved sigh, because I knew that George was going to be okay. I put my head on Seth’s shoulder, and held onto his hand.

“Are you okay?” I whispered to him.

“I will be when I see him alive,” he said back to me. He turned to look at me and put his forehead against mine. “Thanks for coming with me, Jos. There’s no way I could keep it together if you weren’t here.” His breath whispered against my face, making his words seem more intimate.

“That’s not true, Seth. You’re the strongest person I know,” I whispered to him, shaking my head. He grazed his lips over my cheek and moved them to my ear.

“You have no idea, Josie. You have no idea what you do for me, what you do
to
me.” He grabbed my chin with his hand and held it firmly while he kissed the side of my mouth. After a moment of lingering there, he moved his lips to my top lip and pulled it softly into his mouth. I started breathing rapidly, and I couldn’t think. I could never think when he did that to me.

I started to open my mouth to him, fully prepared to let him take it further, when my cell phone went off. Seth closed his eyes and sighed before letting go of me and turning back around in his seat. I suddenly felt empty at the loss of his touch.

I reached inside of my purse and pulled out my cell phone. It was only 5:00 in the morning, so I had no idea who could be calling. I looked at the screen and a lump grew in my throat as I saw Blake’s name come across the screen. I got up and moved towards the coffee machines for a little privacy. Nothing like a phone call from your boyfriend to bring you back to earth.

“Hello?” I said softly into the phone.

“Hey! I am about 15 minutes from where you live. I was wondering if you were still at the hospital, or if you are back home yet.”

“You didn’t have to leave yet! You could have slept some. I’m so sorry! I’m still at the hospital. You can meet me here in the ER.”

“I need to be there with you, not sleeping, Josie. I’ll be there soon, okay?”

“Okay. Be careful.”

“I will… bye.”

“Bye.” I ended the phone call and put it back into my purse.

I got a cup of coffee, and leaned against the wall for a few minutes before I went back to where I was sitting. I was about to let Seth kiss me, and I was anxious for it. Guilt riddled my consciousness for letting myself get wrapped up in Seth, for losing control. Eight hours ago, Blake made it clear he wasn’t going to share me, and I was already breaking his trust. I needed to get my shit together!

I walked back and sat down. I didn’t say anything to Seth or Gayle, wanting to wait the minutes before Blake got there in silence.

“Is he coming here?” Seth asked me. I knew who he was referring to, so I nodded my head. I saw him clench his jaw and then rise from his seat. “Well, I think I saw enough of you two in the last twelve hours, so I’m going to go walk around. I’d rather not see your reunion.” He walked away from me and I was a little speechless at what he said, but I didn’t go after him. He needed time alone.
Damn moody artist,
I thought.

A few minutes later, Blake came into the ER. He walked right to me, and I was eager to be back in his arms. He kissed my head, and held me for a few minutes. Gayle had fallen asleep in her chair, so I didn’t have to introduce him to anyone yet.

“I’ve got all your stuff in the car. It’s a good thing we were mostly packed already. It was pretty easy to get everything,” he said. We separated long enough to sit down in the chair and get comfortable.

“I figured you would sleep some before you came. I’m so tired.” He wrapped his arm around me and held me closer to him.

“Go ahead and sleep. I’ll wake you up whenever they get some news.” I nodded into his shoulder, and I felt so comfortable with him that I drifted to sleep pretty easily.

*             *             *

Someone was nudging my shoulder.

“Baby, wake up. He’s out.” I felt someone placing kisses all over my face. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

“Uhhhhhh…. I’m awake. Just one minute,” I said groggily to the evil human being who was waking me.

“George is awake,” Blake said to me. I shot up from where I was laying. I’m not really sure how I managed to do it, but my head was in Blake’s lap with one leg on the back of the chairs and the other one on the floor. I cocked my head in confusion at my position, and then turned myself back to sitting position.

Blake chuckled, “Yeah, I wouldn’t have believed you did that in your sleep if I hadn’t been the one you were laying on.” I smiled up at him, slightly embarrassed.

“She’s always been like that. Every time we slept in the same bed, she would end up in a different position in the morning,” Seth said from the seats across from us, seemingly taking some sort of pleasure in knowing how I sleep. I shot him a warning look, and then looked at Blake who creased his eyebrows.

I nudged him lightly. “When we were kids,” I said. I heard Seth huff, but ignored him.  “So he’s awake?”

“Ya. Mom is back there now with him. They said for today, they only want family going in, so you won’t be able to see him until tomorrow,” Seth answered.

“Oh, okay. Well, I’ll wait until you’re done seeing him, and then head home.”

“You can go now. I know you’re tired.”

“No. No, I’ll stay until you’re done. Make sure everything is okay.” I wasn’t going to leave him there.

We waited a few minutes longer until Gayle came back out. She patted Seth on the cheek, and then kissed him before sitting back down. Seth got up for his turn to see his dad, and I gave him a quick hug before he left.

Blake and I played a word game on his phone while we waited, and I loved how comfortable we were able to be even in a sad situation. We were laughing and goofing off, making up funny words in the game. I didn’t feel self-conscious or uncomfortable with Blake; it was always easy. We were good together. 

When Seth came back out, I instantly noticed a change in his mood. Seeing his dad doing well must have lifted his spirits. I got up and gave him as big of a hug as my small arms could muster. I was so glad that everything was okay.

“Go home Pu-,” he pulled back abruptly and grimaced. “Wow… it’s going to be really weird calling you that from now on.” I chuckled nervously, and looked away, wanting to find a hole I could go hide in. “Go home, Jos. Get some sleep. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay. Let me know if anything changes.” I kissed him on his cheek, and Blake came up to stand with me.

“Glad he’s doing well, man,” Blake said genuinely to Seth. Seth just nodded, and went to sit with Gayle.  I said a final goodbye to her and then we went to Blake’s car.

“Thanks for being there with me.” I said to Blake after I buckled myself in.

“No problem. I’d do anything to help you out.” He took my hand, and we drove to my house. My dads were expecting us that day for spring break anyway, so it wouldn’t be a surprise when we showed up at the house. Blake and I decided it was time to meet the parents, so we planned to spend the week with my dads and then a few days with his mom.