Silver Clouds [COMPLETE]

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I was nearly late to church the next morning after barely getting any sleep that night. I had just been so exhilarated for Jordan that I hadn't been able to calm myself down until almost three in the morning.

But, luckily, the people at New West were extremely accepting and didn't mind me rushing in only a few minutes before service started. My uncle, my dad's brother, had lived in Edwards for several months a few years ago for business and had recommended I try New West as my new church home. And I could see why he loved it here. It wasn't a super small church, but it wasn't huge either. Perfect Goldilocks size. Perfect Ella size. And all the people were kind and inviting and all their belief statements lined up with my own. It was like this church was calling to me.

After church, I only had two hours before I had to practice with the band so I stopped at Wendy's and bought two burgers, then hopped on the bus to the hospital.

When I got there, I made sure my bag was good and zipped before rushing in. I started toward Jordan's room, but then noticed that the lights were off and the door was wide open. Peaking in, I realized there was no one in the bed.

"Uh, excuse me," I said to the nurse standing at the reception desk.

She looked up from the file she was rifling through and sent me a polite smile. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if Jordan Davidson moved rooms?"

She sat down at the computer and typed across the keyboard before nodding. "Yes, he was sent to the third floor, room 352."

"Okay, thank you." I turned toward the elevator and stepped in, wondering why they would have moved him. My only guess was that he had either gotten better or worse, and I was really hoping for the former.

When I finally scouted out room 352, I was sure the hamburgers that were squished in my bag were cold. And I thought the second floor was a maze.

Taking a breath, I knocked lightly on the cracked door. "Jordan?"

The door swung open. "Oh, hey! You found me." His smile was like a beam of sunshine, making my stomach flutter.

"Yeah, I would have been here sooner if this place wasn't like navigating through a small city." Walking in, I set my bag on the side table and started to pull out the burgers when I froze. Slowly, I spun on my heel and saw Jordan just looking at me, waiting for me to notice. "Wait, they're letting you walk now?"

"Yeah, they said that the antibiotics are working faster than expected and that I might even be able to go home tomorrow."

I squealed, launching my arms around his neck. He laughed, hugging me back. "Now, that definitely doesn't mean that I'm completely infection free. They said that it won't be completely gone for probably two weeks, maybe more."

"Oh," I said, quickly pulling away. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I'm fine. You can hug me as much as you want."

I smiled teasingly. "Is that an invitation?"

Laughing, his ears turned a little darker at the edges but he opened his arms to me anyway. I stepped back into them, this time giving him a real embrace. I rested my forehead on his shoulder, unable to hold back the content smile that found my lips. His arms snaked around my waist and warmth spread up my back from his touch. I felt his shoulders relax as the room went quiet except for our breathing.

"I'm fairly sure I could stand here forever," he whispered softly. I felt exactly the same way, but I didn't respond, just hugged him tighter.

It was nice having someone to hug so freely. Growing up, my mom had always been a little awkward about showing touchy-feely affection. My dad hugged me, of course, but recently, we hadn't been around each other very much. I wasn't sure the last time I hugged someone besides Jordan this much and I was starting to realize how much I had missed simple hugs.