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  Chapter Twelve

  Jeremy

  The ER waiting room was getting to be a bit too much for Jeremy. For the first time in a long time, he had to come to terms with the fact that he was really alone. He’d contacted Stephanie to tell her what had happened, but she was out of town for the weekend on a girl’s trip. He never really depended on her for support when it came to Jesse, but just having someone here to pass the time with would’ve been helpful.

  It had only been half an hour since they’d arrived at the hospital, but every minute that passed waiting to hear if Jesse and Laila were alright felt like an eternity. The accident kept replaying over and over in his head on a loop and he couldn’t get it out of his mind.

  He had been hit with a very hard truth and he was still reeling from it: Laila had risked her own life for his son.

  By contrast, buried memories of his marriage came floating to the surface; times that Steph had put herself ahead of both Jeremy and Jesse. Like the proverbial frog being slowly boiled in water, they started out small at first, tiny little hints of selfishness. But her attitude grew over the years becoming unbearable until it finally broke them.

  That’s the real reason Jeremy hadn’t dated much since the divorce. He didn’t honestly believe any woman could understand how important his son was to him, and would always be his #1 priority. He saw indications that his friend’s wives and girlfriends had that same, selfish trait and that their need for attention was exhausting.

  He didn’t mean to stereotype all women that way, but his marriage was a rough lesson and he came out wiser for it. Since Jesse was his world, he wasn’t really interested in taking that risk again just for a little companionship or the release of his sexual needs.

  In fact, he was still dealing with Stephanie’s selfishness now that he was hanging out with Laila. Steph had moved on and had already married the guy she was seeing while they were still married. He hated that another man was a father figure to his son, but held back his anger to save any more drama between them. Steph definitely wasn’t holding back on her disapproval of Laila though, and the hypocrisy wasn’t lost on him.

  He knew any woman he dated could act like they were crazy about Jesse. He was cute, and easy going. But this, this was different. He could never forget the moment he heard the car screeching in the parking lot. His world seemed to crumble as he realized he couldn’t get there in time to save his son. He remembered looking up and seeing Laila’s face the moment she decided to throw herself in front of the car. He realized she did it because of her own love for Jesse. She valued him enough to risk her own life. That moment changed everything.

  Not knowing if either of them was alright felt like agony. Feelings of love, fear, and uncertainty overwhelmed him. He felt a knot tense up in his throat, hung his head and cried.

  ❖

  The last thing Jeremy had been thinking of doing with his Saturday morning was helping his girlfriend out of the car on a pair of crutches after spending an entire night in the emergency room. Both Laila and Jesse had been through a round of tests to make sure nothing more than the obvious damage had been done by the accident. Jesse wound up having nothing more than a handful of scratches on him where Laila had pushed him out of the way of the car. He had landed on his hands and knees, scraping them up in the process. Other than being scared out of his wits, there wasn’t anything else physically wrong with him. Jeremy knew that he owed all of that to Laila.

  Laila hadn’t fared nearly so well herself. She had completely broken her leg and it was now in a clumsy cast. She had an assortment of scratches and bruises on various parts of her body. She’d been through about a million scans and screenings to make sure there was no internal damage, but they’d all come back clear. The doctors had given her a prescription for pain relievers, then released her early this morning and sent her on her way.

  Jeremy wasn’t sure what he’d have done if Laila hadn’t been paying attention and jumped in front of the car to push Jesse out of the way, but he’d been sick when he realized she was hurt. He couldn’t have imagined losing Jesse, but the thought of Laila being hurt made him realize just how much she meant to him.

  Seeing her unconscious out on the pavement in front of his apartment was probably the single worst moment of his adult life, even worse than the moment Stephanie had told him she wanted a divorce. Waiting for the ambulance to come to take her and Jesse to the hospital had seemed like an eternity, and the drive behind the ambulance had been another excruciating one. He’d felt absolutely helpless, as there was nothing he could have done to make any of this better.

  The one thing he could do now, was to make sure she was taken care of. For some reason, Laila had been insistent that she was going to go back to her apartment. She kept saying something about how she’d ruined the weekend with Jesse and Jeremy, but as far as Jeremy was concerned, Laila had saved his kid not ruined his weekend. He owed her a hell of a lot more than just a weekend for that.

  “Jer, I’m serious. I can just go back to my place. I’m going to eventually have to figure out how to take care of myself, and I don’t want to ruin your weekend with Jesse.”

  Jeremy let out a sigh and shook his head as he offered her an arm to help her out of the car. The crutches they had given her at the hospital were in one hand while he used the other to get her onto her feet.

  “Nope. Not happening. I’m taking care of you. End of discussion.”

  Laila finally gave up fighting and took the crutches from Jeremy. She hobbled for a moment and he caught her arm to help her gain her balance. He got her stuff out of the car and followed her up the walk to his apartment. Jesse jumped out of the backseat on the other side like nothing at all had even happened to him. The only evidence of it was a few bandages on his knees.

  “Yeah, Laila. You stay with us. I’ll bring you stuff and make sure you don’t have to get up and get anything. I promise.”

  Laila stopped walking as soon as Jesse got to her side. She paused and then ran a hand through his hair roughing it up as she leaned over to be closer to him. Jeremy couldn’t help smiling at the interaction between them.

  “How could I say no to that, Jess? I’ll stay. You just don’t have to do everything for me. Just promise me one thing?” She moved her hand out of his hair and back to the hand rest on the crutches.

  “What’s that?” He looked up at her with an expectant grin on his face.

  “That you’ll hang out with me so I’m not stuck on the couch all by myself all weekend.” Jesse was practically bouncing on his heels at the request.

  “You got it.”

  “Good. I’m going to need a couch buddy.”

  Jeremy couldn’t help letting out a soft laugh. This was better than anything he could have asked for. When things ended between Jeremy and Stephanie, he had been certain that he was done with the romantic portion of his life. Instead, Jesse was going to be his main focus. Nothing was going to change that, and nothing had. Instead, he’d found someone who it seemed would make him their priority as well. It was more than he could have ever hoped for, but here she was standing right in front of him.

  “Alright, Couch Buddy.” Jeremy fished his own front door keys out of his hip pocket, passing them over to Jesse. “Why don’t you go unlock the door so we can go in and get Laila settled on the couch?”

  Jesse snagged the keys before running ahead to the door to make an attempt to open it. It was one of his favorite things to do, even if he wasn’t the best at it, though the delay would give Laila plenty of time to make her way to the door. Jesse would probably have it open by the time she got there. Jeremy walked over to Laila’s side, stopping to press a kiss to her forehead before they slowly started walking again.

  “Thank you, again.”

  “I told you, you don’t have anything to thank me for.” She waved him off, putting her hands back to the crutches as she tried to walk the rest of the path on her own.

  Jeremy could tell Laila was in pain, and it made him frown to
think that he was at least partially to blame for it. He should have been paying more attention to Jesse. If he had, none of this would have happened. He owed everything to Laila.

  “Yeah, I have a lot to thank you for, even if you don’t think so.”

  “I was just doing what anyone would have done. Besides, he wouldn’t have been running across the parking lot if I hadn’t been standing on the other side. I should have come in with you guys and went over to get my clothes later.”

  Laila was taking all of the blame for this, but as far as Jeremy was concerned she was the hero. If she hadn’t been there and paying attention to what was going on, then there was no telling how this might have ended.

  “Laila, don’t you dare blame yourself for any of this. No one could have imagined that Jesse would have gone running across the parking lot towards you at the same moment that a car was pulling full speed into the lot. But you risked your own life to save my son’s. I don’t think you even understand how amazing that is or how amazing you are. Now come on, let me take care of you, and quit arguing with me about it. You are not going to change my mind.”

  They were finally reaching the front door that Jesse had managed to open a few seconds before they got there, and Laila stopped protesting now that Jesse was within earshot.

  “Alright, alright. I won’t argue anymore. I’ll let you two take care of me.” She shook her head, laughing as she made her way through the front door towards the couch.

  “Good, now have a seat and let us boys start breakfast. We’ve all had a long night.”

  ❖

  Two hours later, they were all cuddled up on the couch. Jeremy in the back with Laila sitting between his legs and Jesse curled up beside them as they watched a movie together. The remains of breakfast were still sitting on the dining room table, forgotten for the moment so that they could spend the rest of the day together.

  Jeremy was feeling the effects of the night before. Twenty-four hours had passed since he’d last been in bed, and he wagered that it had been even longer since Laila had been asleep. Normally, she would have been just getting up about this time. Her body’s alarm clock was probably totally out of wack after last night.

  Her injuries ensured that she was going to need some kind of assistance for a while. He intended to be there for as much of it as he could, or for as long as she would let him. For now, he was going to settle with being the pillow she fell asleep on. She seemed to be comfortably settling down. The pain meds the doctor had given her were finally kicking in, and with every passing moment, her breathing became more even and slow until he was certain she was out.

  Glancing over at his son beside them, he noticed that he had drifted off to sleep sometime in the last five minutes himself. That just left Jeremy awake, though there was no way he was going to leave them here for however long of a nap they needed. Slowly, Jeremy extracted himself from under Laila’s back, replacing himself with a pillow before he scooped Jesse up and carried him off to his room.

  Jesse didn’t even move, though he did let out a soft sigh as Jeremy lifted him from the floor and settled his weight against his chest. The walk to the bedroom Jesse slept in was quick, and placing him carefully in his bed was only a matter of a few steps. Jesse groaned in his sleep, grabbing one of the stuffed animals on the bed to pull it into his chest as he curled up into the fetal position on the bed. Jeremy moved to quickly cover him with one of the blankets on top of the bed before tiptoeing out of the room to leave him to rest.

  Laila was another matter. He didn’t want to wake her, but there was no way he was going to leave her alone on the couch. She couldn’t walk, so carrying her just like he’d carried his little boy was the next best option he had. Jeremy moved to her side, bending down to slide his arms around her — one under her legs and the other behind her back and lifted her up from the couch.

  Jeremy didn’t have as much luck in lifting her as he had with his little boy. The cast had added a little awkward weight that he wasn’t accustomed to. As soon as she was in his arms Laila’s eyes fluttered open.

  “What’s going on, Jer?” She was still only half awake, and he could tell that the meds were hitting her hard now. The adrenaline rush she’d had earlier was now fading and she could barely stay awake.

  “Shh. I’m taking you to bed.” He carried her to his room, and for the first time today, she wasn’t being so stubborn about letting him help her out.

  “Ok,” instead of arguing, Laila settled her weight into his chest, resting her head against his shoulder as he carried her into the bedroom.

  There had been plenty of nights that she’d spent here, and just as many that he’d spent in her apartment, but they were different than this. Laila settled into the pillows, curling into the blankets when he put them over her. Then he made his way into the bed next to her, careful to let her lean into him rather than pulling her into his arms. He didn’t want to hurt her, and was uncertain about where she might be tender or bruised. She managed to move carefully until her head was on his chest and her arm was draped across his waist. It was the last motion she managed to make before drifting back off into a deep sleep.

  Jeremy leaned down, pressing a kiss to her forehead once more before allowing himself to settle into the exhaustion that was beginning to take him over. Sleep was coming, no matter how much he might try to fight it, and now he wasn’t even going to try, though his half-asleep brain did manage one last sentence before he went out like a light.

  “I love you, Laila.”

  Jeremy had no way of knowing if Laila heard him. She was likely fast asleep, but it didn’t matter. He was claiming it to himself, to her and to the Universe.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Laila

  Laila was starting to feel a little less pain with each passing day. Hopefully, that meant she was getting better. The couple of visits she’d made to the doctor’s office since the accident had gone well. Her latest checkup was no exception and the doctor was pleased with how well she was doing. He told her she must be getting some great care at home and was impressed with how well she was taking care of herself.

  Laila found herself walking that delicate line between independence and accepting help from someone she trusted. Still, she was scared, but she wasn’t going to admit it out loud to anyone, especially not Jeremy — not now that things finally seemed to be working out for them.

  However, there was still the specter of his ex-wife hanging in the air. That first weekend with Jesse at Jeremy’s place hadn’t ended on the best note. Stephanie had come rushing up on Saturday afternoon to get Jesse after cutting her girl’s trip short, even though he was more or less unhurt. Laila had been far too out of it to even really notice that she was there at the time. Saturday had been more or less a blur that consisted of her resting and being carried around the apartment like an infant.

  Laila wasn’t entirely sure how to process everything. She wasn’t used to having someone take care of her. At least not since she’d been old enough to move out of her parents’ house. Even back then she’d been fiercely independent and wanted to do everything on her own to the point of being utterly exhausting to her mother as a toddler. Now, needing someone to help her cook, clean, get dressed and even get around the house was difficult to get used to.

  Luckily, Christmas break happened during Lailah’s recovering time, so she didn’t have to take too much time off of work. That also meant she wasn’t able to celebrate the way she normally did. She had always gone back home to her parents every Christmas and had never missed since she moved to Michigan. Absolutely nothing about this year was normal.

  She tried to do the majority of her Christmas shopping online and that helped. But she had to let go of the things that brought her the most joy; the decorating, the gathering and the baking.

  Jeremy didn’t know many people here since his move, so there weren’t a lot of celebrations happening for him either. He and Stephanie already had a schedule for Jesse worked out since their divorce, so hi
s time with his son was set. Laila relished her time with both of “her guys” as she had come to think of them in these recent weeks.

  She purchased a beautiful sweater online for Jeremy, and he gave her a cuddly bathrobe to keep her warm “when the power goes out”. A sentimental reference to their first night together. She gave Jesse a big box of art supplies, and he gave her a hand made “treasure box.” It was easy to see that he had worked tirelessly on it and was quite proud to present it to her. She put her macaroni necklace inside, and knew that it was now one of her most prized possessions.

  After all the gifts had been exchanged and cleaned up, they had a simple Christmas dinner together. Laila was frustrated that she couldn’t do more to help, but whenever she was on her feet too long, she paid for it dearly. Jeremy insisted that she go back to the couch, where she and Jesse spent some quality time playing one of his new video games that Santa had brought him.

  Later that evening after Jesse was sound asleep, they cuddled up with some hot chocolate and relaxed quietly together. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts. They both knew that this had been one of the best holidays they’d had in years.

  ❖

  She returned back to her apartment after the new year. She also went back to work, with the help of Alicia driving her there and back each day. The children had been full of questions. They’d been fascinated by the cast on her leg. It was now covered in scribbles and doodles with varying levels of neatness and legibility since it seemed that every student she had this year or who had ever been in her class had wanted to sign it for her.

  She’d somehow managed to navigate around the classroom full of five-year-olds without falling and breaking the other leg in the process. That in itself was an accomplishment, but it meant that she was so exhausted at the end of each workday that all she’d wanted to do was go home, collapse on the couch and take a nap. Jeremy had been the reason that she’d been able to do that.