Page 77 of Love: Take Two

"Wait. What happened with his mom?"

"Uh…" She suddenly sounds uncomfortable. "Isn't tonight supposed to be a guy-free zone? Get dressed! Let's go dancing."

"I'll go dancing when you tell me what happened with his mom," I insist.

She's not the only one who can be pushy. When I didn't hear from Noah, I assumed he was just respecting my wishes, though a text or two would've been nice. If something happened, I need to know.

Camila sighs.

"She—" Camila pauses before continuing, her tone resigned. "She had a mild heart attack."

"A heart attack?!" I screech.

"Amildheart attack," she repeats, as if even amildheart attack isn't completely awful.

"When?" I demand.

"Last Friday?" Camila answers, bracing for my reaction.

"Last Friday?! As in the same night his client was charged with assault? The night I said we should take a break?!"

I'm bordering on hysteria and force myself to take a few deep breaths. Camila's silent for a while.

"I'm sorry," she says finally. "I thought you knew. Anyone could see that something had changed between you two, but I thought he'd still tell you."

"Why would he tell me?" I ask. "We weren't even together. Not officially, anyway."

"Oh, please," she scolds. "Label or not, you clearly care about each other. If you didn't, finding out about his mom wouldn't have hit you so hard. And he wouldn't look like thebeforefrom a depression medication commercial."

I can't help but laugh at that.

"Do you not want to come out now?" she asks once my laughter subsides. "I still think it would do you good. He's not the only one who's had a bad week."

"Ihavehad a bad week," I say with renewed vigor. "A truly terrible week. So yes, I'll get dressed. We'll go dancing. And then it sounds like Noah and I need to have a talk."

"That's the spirit!" she responds enthusiastically. "Any requests for borough or music genre?"

By the time we hang up, I feel rejuvenated. I jump out of bed, rushing to wash off the remnants of my pity party so I can hang out with Camila. With myfriend. We'll forget about the case. Forget about the movie. And in the morning, I'll stop running scared from Noah.

Chapter thirty-nine

Noah

"How many more damn days are they going to keep me trapped in this bed?" Mom demands. "My herb garden is surely dead by now."

Damon chokes on his water, so shocked to hear Mom curse, and Cory is suddenly very interested in one of Mom's cooking magazines, both corners of his mouth quivering with restrained laughter.

"The boys have been taking turns watering them, Marie," Dad reassures her with a pat to her hand. "You will stay here relaxing until the doctors tell me it's safe for you to leave, and I don't want to hear another word about it!"

Dad clears his throat, trying to get his temper under control, and Mom pouts, but dutifully sits back against the hospital bed.

We started taking turns after the first night. The night when Dad said he was proud of me for possibly the first time in my life right before four grown men came spilling into the room with their wives and girlfriends, surrounding Mom with worry and love and so much noise we almost got kicked off the floor. With Dad too overcome to speak, Henry snapped into lawyer mode to de-escalate the situation. He promised we would keep the noise within respectable levels and even convinced the hospital staff to let some of us sleep in the room that night.

The women booked a hotel within walking distance, taking Damon—too tall to even attempt sleep in those beige loungers—and Cory with them. Everyone was back in the room the next day, though, arms loaded with flowers and unapproved snacks and causing the inevitable noise. The day shift, however, was having none of our shenanigans.

So we had to take turns. Take turns watering the plants. Take turns picking up magazines, pajamas, Mom's crochet needles and yarn, her Kindle, and whatever else she asked for. And take turns watching Mom go slowly stir-crazy. On paper, she's a model patient; her vitals are steadily improving and her response to the medications is encouraging. But the doctor's orders torest and relaxseem beyond her. After raising five boys, she's too used to staying active, staying busy.

Fortunately for her, Dad said it's likely she'll be discharged today; it's why we're all here. Everyone except Maya, who's apparently making a welcome home feast at Mom and Dad'splace in Clinton Hill; Kendra, who got stuck in an investor meeting she couldn't postpone; and Camila, who's been holding down the fort at Luxe for a week now.