I turned around and held her face in my hands. “I never gave up hope. Hope was all I had. I wouldn’t have made it through without it. The thought of losing you to that illness flooded my mind every day, but I never once gave up hope, and I never once gave up on you.”
Tears formed in her eyes and her bottom lip started to quiver. “I had given up. I lost all hope for me. Then I met you. You made me fall in love with you, and you showed me there was a reason to fight. You had enough hope for both of us and, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here today.”
A single tear fell from my eye as I listened to her words. I pulled her into me and held her as tightly as I could. She was my safety, my saint, and my savior, and I thanked God every day for not taking her away from me. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around me and I carried her to our bed. I gently laid her down and stared into her eyes as I softly kissed her lips. Believe it or not, that was all I wanted. I just wanted to kiss her and nothing else.
***
When Ellery and I went up to Denny’s room, Dr. Armstrong had just left and Dana was crying. Ellery walked over to Dana to comfort her, and Denny gave me a sullen look.
“What’s wrong? What did Dr. Armstrong say?” I asked as I went and stood at his bedside.
“I have a Grade III brain tumor and it’s aggressive. Which means it’s growing rapidly.”
When I heard Denny speak those words, my stomach twisted itself in knots. “What does that mean?”
“It means I have brain cancer and there’s a possibility it spread somewhere else. But he won’t know that until they do an MRI.”
“When are you having that done?” I asked.
“In the morning,” he said as he looked away from me.
I had no words at that moment. I didn’t know what to say. The worry that I once thought was gone from my life had returned, just with someone else that I loved, and was very important to me. Ellery looked at me with tears in her eyes as she tried to comfort Dana.
“What about surgery?” I asked.
“He said it’s operable and that he’ll discuss that with me after the results of the MRI come back.”
“I’m sorry, Denny,” I said as I looked down.
“Don’t be, Connor. I’ll be okay.”
Ellery sat on the edge of the bed and placed her hand on Denny’s. “I’m always here if you need me. If you want to cry, talk, laugh, or even scream, I’m here.”
If anyone knew how Denny felt, it was Ellery. She had endured, battled, and fought her cancer, not only once, but twice. As Denny started to grow tired, we decided it was best to leave. Dana walked us out of room as we said goodbye.
“He’s going to be fine, Dana. I’m not going to stand here and tell you not to worry because I know you can’t help it. Go home and get some rest. You’ll be no good to him if you’re tired,” I said as I kissed her head.
She smiled and nodded her head as she turned and walked back into Denny’s room. I sighed and looked at Ellery as she looked like she was lost in a thought.
“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” I asked as I pushed her hair behind her ear.
“I know what he’s going through, and I know what he’s feeling. It breaks my heart that he has to go through this.”
“Well, then, it’s a damn good thing he has you to talk to,” I said as I pulled her into me and hugged her tightly.
I could tell she was as scared as I was. She had too much on her plate already with the gallery showing and with Julia. She had just moved on and put to rest the trial and the incident with Ashlyn. As I glanced over at her while we were driving home, that look of pain and sadness was spread across her face. I grabbed her hand and brought it up to my lips.
“Tell me what you’re feeling, Elle.”
She sighed and then took in a sharp breath. “I feel like I’m going through this all over again. Even though it isn’t me, it’s someone that I love and is like a father to me. FUCK,” she screamed.
I pulled over to the side of the road, threw the Range Rover in park and got out. I walked around to the passenger’s side and opened the door. I grabbed Ellery from her seat and held her as tight as I could.
“It’s okay, baby, let it out,” I said as tears swelled in my eyes.
Ellery sobbed into my chest and we both slowly fell to the ground.
“Why? Why the fuck did this have to happen to him? It’s not fair, Connor. He has brain cancer, and I’m so scared he’s going to die. He’s the father I never had. He’s always there for me. He can’t die. He can’t die, Connor,” she screamed.
She was shaking uncontrollably. I’d never seen her this way before, and it was killing me. The only thing I could do was hold her and try to give her some comfort. The tears pooled from my eyes as I buried my face into her neck. We needed to be strong, but we also needed to let our feelings out.
“He’s going to beat this, Ellery.”
She didn’t say another word. She just cried in my arms until there were no more tears. I told her we needed to get home to Julia, and she nodded her head as I helped her back into the truck. I helped her with her seatbelt, then kissed her on the head before shutting the door.
Chapter 28
Ellery