Page 48 of Second Chance At Love

“I hope your husband does well with the heart transplant,” he merrily said as he left.

“Oh we aren’t…” Cora’s voice trailed away. She bit her lip and set Adam’s carseat on the chair beside Henry. “I will get you registered.”

Not looking at Henry, Cora approached the desk, telling the nurse why Henry was there. She was given paperwork and told the doctor would be advised Henry was waiting.

Fishing through her purse for a pen, Cora had a seat, immersing herself in the hospital forms.

“Ben is coming. I texted Addison as well,” softly said Henry.

“That’s good,” responded Cora with a neutral voice as she wrote down basic information.

They were silent as Cora finished the forms, handing them over to Henry to sign before giving them to the nurse at the desk. Cora sat down again, nervously waiting. Adam fussed a little so she gently rocked the car seat to put him back to sleep.

“Mr. Ramesly?” the nurse at the desk called out. “The doctor will see you now.”

Ben arrived just as they were going in to see the doctor. The surgeon was pleased to see them, noting that the heart was on its way to Mercy. They would do a few simple tests on Henry and provided everything was good, he would indeed be getting his transplant within just a few hours. The surgeon didn’t see any reason why things wouldn’t go smoothly. While doing the heart transplant, they would fix Henry’s aneurysm.

The doctor’s words flowed over Cora like she was living in a dream. She barely processed what was being said other than Henry was going to have his transplant. Cora watched as the doctor gave them a smile and left the room.

Henry reached out a hand to cover Cora’s but she jerked it away. Her heart was racing from the unexpected contact and she felt foolish and off kilter. She knew pulling her hand away had hurt Henry’s feelings, yet he didn’t say anything about it.

“Ben, could you take Adam a moment and go on a little walk?” she blurted out, stomach clenching in anxiety. “I would like to speak to Henry privately for just a bit.”

“Okay,” Ben readily agreed. He gave them an odd look, probably fully aware of the tension between Henry and Cora. Carefully taking Adam out of the carseat for a cuddle, he left the room, letting the door shut behind him.

“Cora,” began Henry but she cut him off, leaning forward Cora brought both her hands to cup his face before kissing him.

It was wonderful. Henry tasted like coffee. He kissed her back and Cora fuzzily thought she might have been stupid not to kiss him sooner. He made her feel loved, cherished, and desirable. Cora felt his hand on her ribs at the other at the nape of her neck. Reluctantly, she drew back, breaking the kiss.

“You are not allowed to die,” she fiercely told him, trying hard not to cry. “Promise me you are going to live.”

She knew he couldn’t promise any such thing, but she needed him to say the words, to reassure her in thismoment.

“I promise,” repeated Henry, always knowing what she needed. He watched her with concern.

Cora had a nod then pressed her lips to his for another quick kiss before she got up and left the room.

Heading to the waiting area, she sat in one of the chairs. She wouldn’t be happy he was getting the heart transplant. She couldn’t be happy that they had just kissed. There was no way she might find any joy in the fact that she loved Henry.

If she were happy, he might just die.

So she held herself still in her fear like a talisman, wrapping her arms around herself tightly, and felt the tears fall.

Cora didn’t know how long she sat like that before Ben found her. Long enough for the tears to dry but not long enough for her to become unparalyzed. If he had just stayed away a little longer, she might have been able to find her composure back.

“Cora?” softly questioned Ben as he took a seat beside her. He still had Adam with him. “Are you okay?”

She gave a jerky nod, clearing her throat. “I’ll be fine. It’s Henry we need to worry about.”

“You heard the doctors. They seem pretty sure that everything is going to go smoothly,” Ben tried to reassure her.

Cora decided not to respond. She found she could move her limbs again and clasped her hands together.

“Addison and Lincoln are with Henry right now. He’s almost ready to go into surgery. Do you want to see him before he goes?” gently asked Ben.

Cora shook her head. She had said everything she needed to already to Henry, except the most important thing which she wasn’t ready to say.

Should she have told him she loved him?wondered Cora.If Henry died and she hadn’t said the words, would she regretit? Or would it be better to simply not say anything? It wasn’t as though he had ever said the words to her. Henry simply showed how he loved her in simple, easy ways. Was she ready to have him know her feelings?