Love, Zoey

Chapter Nine

Zoey's p.o.v.

         "Lilly, do you want a cookie?" I asked the baby as I shook a box of animal crackers in front of her. "¿Quieres una galleta?"

      I stood still in the middle of the grocery store to wait for her response. She didn't have sí down yet but she understood the difference of when I was speaking in English and when I spoke to her in Spanish.

    My phone started ringing loudly from my pocket and I handed her the stuffed monkey I had tucked under my arm as I answered.

     "Hello, I am calling in regards to a patient we have here at St. Mary's hospital. Am I speaking to Zoey Andrews?"

         "This is she."

         "Hello Ms. Andrews, I am calling in regards to a Beckett James."  My eyes only saw black as the woman spoke softly.

        I could feel my hands grip tightly to the shopping cart below me. "Is he alright?"

        "Momma! Momma!" Lilly interrupted to point down at her monkey she had carelessly tossed out of the cart to the floor.

       "He had to have surgery and will need many hours of physical therapy, but he will be fine." She explained. "He was very lucky. Do you have any questions? I still need to get a hold of his mother and daughter to tell them, I called you first because you are his emergency contact, but his mother is next. "

         She was one of those people who instantly started babbling in the silences that plauged the conversations of a hospital.

         "Momma!" Lilly screamed frustrated at me for not returning her monkey to her faster.

         "Lilly is right here." I grabbed the  stuffed toy and put it in the cart next to her. "I will tell America and we will figure out a plan. Can I get the address of the hospital?"

           I quickly found an old recipient in my bag and wrote down all the information that she had on him. "Thank you so much. We will see you soon."

   ***

          I have come to believe there is only two things in life that are truly something terrible; teething babies and traveling with children under the age of five.

           Sadly Lilly was experiencing both as we made our trip to Florida.

            "Do you want me to take her?" America asked.

            I had been wrestling with her all day and had finally gotten her to fall asleep as we got onto the flight that connected us from our lay over in Texas to Florida. "No, I am afraid if I move her she will wake up."

           America nodded in agreement. "Good point."

           The stewardesses​ walked up and down the rows stopping randomly asking people if they need anything.

           "Are you nervous?" She asked slowly, taking a breath between the words. "I mean, he couldn't be that hurt right? He would have needed more surgeries if something was truly wrong. Right?" 

          I knew she wanted me to reassure her, to tell her that everything was going to be alright, but as a nurse she had to know accident rates and the recovery time.

           "I don't know." I told her honestly. "I really wish I did. I'd like to imagine that Beck is just as indestructible as he thinks he is, but in reality I know that I've seen danger long before he even did."

         "He has always seen himself as the saving grace of this family." She explained. "I think he felt that he had to be the man after his dad left us."

         "He had to be the man, it really didn't help his search for youth when he found himself a single dad at eighteen." I fingered one of Lilly's golden curls between my fingers.

         She nodded the ok as the flight attendant handed her peanuts. "He was always so serious."

          "He was so serious!" I laughed loudly, stretching out the word so just to prove my point. "I still remember the first time he came to our house after practice. He was the only guy that I didn't know so I tried to start up a conversation with him, that boy didn't even smile at me once! He just sat straight forward and gave me one worded answers."

        "The first day that Lilly was there he was terrified. I bet that boy called me a hundred times, I was expecting to come home to find the house burnt down. Instead I walked in the door to find this petite little girl rocking the baby to sleep." She closed her brown eyes tightly and took in a deep breath.

        "America." I clutched her hand tightly in mine.

         "I had no idea that some random girl could end up meaning so much to our family. You were a saving grace for our family that first day and everyday since, you had just walked right in and started fixing things that we didn't even know needed fixing."

       "You guys filled a place in my heart too. I had no idea I needed you guys, but I did."

        "Oh Zoey, what if he's not okay. What if he will never be okay? There is so many things that could be wrong with him. Sever brain damage and then Lilly will be growing up without a proper father." She blew her nose loudly causing Lilly to stir in my arms.

          I grabbed her hand that was resting on the arm rest and held it tightly. "It's going to be okay. We can do this. We can do anything."