Page 31 of The Focal Point

“35.”

“Address—I know that one,” I murmured to myself. I’d filled it out on enough order forms for the interior decoration.

But that was as far as I could go. Liam had to help me with the rest, including his insurance, his and his family’s medical history, and even his Social Security number. He ribbed me about that one, joking that I’d done this to try and steal his identity. I took the fact that he was teasing me as a good sign. That, and the bleeding seemed to have slowed as well.

It felt oddly domestic filling out Liam’s personal information, almost like pulling back a curtain to glimpse his life beyond our professional and even friendly exchanges.

I’d known, for example, that two of his brothers and his sister lived in Sacramento but that the other two had moved away, one to San Francisco and the other to Arizona. I also knew that his father had gone to live with his oldest brother and his family in the Tucson area. But I hadn’t known it was because of his father’s heart attack about ten years before and his ensuing heart condition, which the dry air and low elevation in Tucson helped keep controlled.

I had known about his mother’s cancer, but not that she had died at only 53. Or that Liam had fallen at nine and broken his arm so badly he’d needed surgery. He jokingly blamed his older brother and Thomas, who had egged him on to try their home-built bike ramp.

It hadn’t turned out well.

I slipped the pen back under the clip when I had finished and looked up to find Liam watching me, bemusement turning his small smile crooked.

“I have to say this isn’t exactly how I pictured my get-to-know-me conversation happening,” he said.

I giggled, releasing some tension I hadn’t known was there as I got to my feet to return the clipboard. “Me, either.”

My relief disappeared when I returned, though. Liam had closed his eyes and looked pale, though I didn’t know whether it was the lighting in the waiting room, loss of blood, or something else.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I sat down again.

Liam didn’t open his eyes.

“I’ll be okay.” His voice was strained and tired, a tone I hadn’t heard before.

“You really don’t like hospitals, do you?” I asked quietly.

He opened one eye and focused on me, his smile more of a tight grimace. “Or needles.”

“Because of your mom?” I hazarded a guess, my voice almost a whisper so others wouldn’t hear.

Quiet stretched before Liam answered with a soft “Yes.”

I couldn’t imagine what it had been like to go through a parent’s illness as Liam had.

“I remember so much of it—the chemo, the radiation, the surgeries—and it was impossible not to see how it affected her, physically and mentally.” Liam opened his other eye and straightened out of his slumped position. “I went with her one day when my father couldn’t. I just remember her sitting there looking like she was asleep with the IV dripping into her arm. She looked so frail, like she was glass that could shatter at any minute. That was around the time she found out she had a real fight on her hands.”

Liam swallowed, his eyes on the ground but his mind in the past, seeing images I was sure were seared into his memory. The significance of Liam opening up, of showing a side of himself that was so vulnerable, wasn’t lost on me.

Out of instinct, I slipped my hand over his and squeezed. I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t think there was anything I could say, but I hoped the gesture could convey my support.

But Liam’s head jerked up, his eyes wide as they settled on me before slipping down to my hand.

“Oh, sorry—” I pulled my hand away, afraid I had done something wrong or upset him somehow. But Liam’s fingers closed around mine before I could retract it completely. My gaze sought his, and for the first time since the accident, he was smiling brightly.

“No, it’s okay. I appreciate the support,” he said, an odd intensity in his eyes that drew me in. I found myself leaning toward him, waiting for the words I could see forming, my heart skipping. “Bailey, I—”

“William Bradford?”

I didn’t get to hear what Liam was going to say because a nurse called his name, and his hand tightened convulsively around mine. Looking at her, I turned back to find Liam had gone pale again.

“I’ll go with you.” I offered it without thinking, and from his expression, Liam was just as surprised as I was at the offer.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

I nodded and smiled. “Yeah, completely.”