"Do you really think it was Aidan?" She sounded hesitant, as if she were worried that I would get mad at her for bringing him or the topic up.
"I don’t know," I growled. "We’ve been through this. I just…I don’t know if I can trust or believe him. I mean…Ahgghh!" I put my head back on the seat.
"I’m sorry," Phoebe said genuinely. "I don’t mean to be a pest, but, Lilli, you should have seen him!" She kept moving her eyes from the road to me and then back.
"Keep your eyes on the road." I instructed. "Seen him what?" I asked in a low tone.
"Oh my God, Lilli, when you were in the ICU and he got there it was like he was going to explode. He was functioning on pure adrenaline. And, then, when he found your room, he curled up in the bed with you and started sobbing."
I looked at her a little shocked.
"Jesus, if he isn’t in love with you then I don’t know what the hell you would call it." She was smiling wistfully. "I was going to go in the room with him, but when I got to the door and heard him, I felt like I was intruding."
"Well, I’m not saying that he doesn’t care about me, Phoebe—"
"Fuck caring, he loves you. The way he went off on the nurse who tried to kick him out of your room after visiting hours is just another confirmation." Phoebe was now starting to lecture me.
"He told off a nurse?" I started twisting my fingers around in my lap.
"Hell yeah he did. Dixon had to calm him down." She giggled. "He threatened to buy the hospital and then he could do what he wanted!" She laughed and I spit out a laugh as well.
"Okay, okay…I get that he has feelings for me, but I just…I don’t know." I stared out the window during the rest of the ride.
Phoebe, being so in tune with me from our years of friendship, knew that I needed to think.
He was going to be meeting us at the hospital today. He refused to miss the check up for my fracture, my head, and for the baby, well, babies.
It was still surreal to think that I was carrying two living beings in my small bump. Another surreal moment is when you step out of the shower and, for the first time, your reflection reveals that you are noticeably pregnant. Having grabbed a few pregnancy books from the store to read in the hospital, I had read that twins would cause me to show sooner than a single pregnancy. I had sighed at the thought when I read it and cried into a towel when I first noticed it.
I still hadn’t been able to connect with the pregnancy which made me feel guilty. There were women out there simply trying to conceive one child without any luck at all and here I am reluctantly pregnant with twins. I felt shitty for being so disconnected, but every time I thought about it I couldn’t get passed all the lies.
When Phoebe pulled into the parking lot I snapped out of my thoughts.
"You okay?" She asked as she drove around the parking garage next to the hospital.
"Yeah," I breathed out.
Once parked, we headed into the hospital. First stop was Dr. Sherman. When I stepped off of the elevator I was a little surprised by the sight of Aidan leaning against the wall.
He didn’t look like himself; dark circles under his eyes, stubble on his jaw and slumped shoulders. His eyes met mine and it was like clouds breaking away for the sun to shine through.
"Lilli," he smiled widely and walked over, quickly pulling me into his arms.
Phoebe giggled.
"I’ll wait out here for you." She sat down in a waiting chair and pulled a magazine out of her oversized bag.
Pulling out of his embrace, I turned to Phoebe. "You don’t have to stay out here. You can—"
"Get going. I’ll be here." She dismissed me without looking away from her Vogue magazine.
I took a deep breath and headed down the hospital corridor, Aidan close to my side.
"You look good."
"Thank you."
Aidan stopped in front of me and placed his hand on my stomach.
"Lilli…" his eyes came alive, "you can tell." He transformed before my eyes, back to the Aidan I first met.
"Um..yeah. With twins you start to show a little sooner." I shrugged and stood there uncomfortably. I wasn’t a big fan of people pointing out just how big I was getting. Phoebe was a fan though.
Aidan removed his hand. Before I could make a move to walk around him, he cupped my face and pressed his lips to mine.
"I love you," he whispered against my lips. It felt so good, so natural, to feel him against my lips. My hands had already found his shoulders before I realized it and pulled myself away.
"I’m going to be late for my appointment." I caught my breath and walked around him.
His fingers laced through mine as he caught up to me. I glanced over at him, there was a huge smile on his face as we walked toward the nurse’s desk. He was absolutely beautiful.
Once Doctor Sherman was finished, and gave me the clearance to not use the air cast, he sent us on our way to Doctor Munthers.
"Lilli, Aidan, it is good to see you again." She smiled as she entered the room.
"Hello," I said, sitting on the large padded table in the God awful hospital gown.