Loving Him

Chapter 30

"But you can. Pretty please?" And then she made the 'puppy face' she knew Sophie was susceptible to.

"I can't just take you to the hospital," Sophie tried to reason with her, although she already felt herself weakening. "Just ask your uncle."

"But you know he won't take me!" Angel whined.

Sophie sighed, feeling herself at a crossroad. Could she really risk getting on Alex's bad side? She hadn't even completely left yet. "Fine, let's make a compromise. Raymond will be back anytime from now. I'll talk to him when he's back, okay? But that's the best I can do. If he still says no, you're not going anywhere."

"But..." Angel trailed off when she saw the grim set of Sophie's features. Take it or leave it. "Fine," she muttered grudgingly.

As expected, some minutes later, Sophie distantly heard the sound of the gate opening and she knew Raymond was back.

"Uncle Ray!" Angel squealed the minute the door opened and she ran across the room to fling herself at Raymond.

"Hello, Angel," Raymond greeted, returning the hug. "Good afternoon, Sophie."

"Hi, welcome," Sophie responded.

"You look all dressed up, where are we going?" Raymond teased, his eyes raking over Angel.

"To visit dad in the hospital," Angel blurted out.

So much for talking to him for her. Raymond's eyes darted to Sophie and she hastily held both hands up in defense. "Don't look at me. She figured it out all on her own."

"Yes, I did." Angel confirmed, looking pleased with herself. "You underestimate me."

"Really now?" Raymond rolled his eyes at her but he didn't look angry. If anything, he seemed as conflicted as Sophie had been. "I don't have a problem taking you but I'm not sure your dad will agree."

"But I miss him and I want to see him," Angel insisted, tugging on Raymond's hand.

"Still--"

"Actually," Sophie began, butting in. "I think we should take her. It's different when we didn't know how the surgery was going to pan out but now it's different. I don't think it's fair to keep her here when she really wants to see her dad."

Raymond mused over her words, his eyes boring a hole in her but she knew he wasn't actually seeing her, his thoughts were elsewhere. He then looked down at Angel who was wearing a huge smile and blinking rapidly in an attempt to make a cute face.

He groaned, smiling in turn. "Fine. But it's on you, Sophie."

What? No. But she didn't protest. Instead, she nodded.

"Yay!" Angel hugged him again then ran back to hug her also. "I love you both soooo much."

"We'll see if Alex would be as loving as you are," Raymond tsked. "Let me go freshen up and change first then we'll go, okay?"

"Perfect," Angel agreed with her head bobbing up and down, the smile not slipping.

Raymond chuckled. He started walking up the stairs, shaking his head.

"Thank you," Angel said once he was out of sight.

"You're welcome." Sophie winked and raised her hand for a high five. The girl eagerly tapped her hand against Sophie's.

*     *     *
Alex watched the nurse give him one last assessing look before finally turning around to leave the room. He let out a heavy sigh, an indication of his relief and exasperation. He was genuinely tired of being cooped up in there like some invalid.

His eyes drifted to the wall clock and he knew it was just a matter of time before Sophie came visiting. She'd made a habit of visiting everyday and even though he tried to pretend to be annoyed by her persistent visits, he knew she saw through his facade to the excitement her presence elicited in him; he was still trying to get used to the feeling and he wasn't going to admit it to anyone, not even out loud to himself.

The more time he spent in her company, the more thrilled and confused he became. He didn't appreciate how he felt and reacted around her. He wasn't in control and Alex didn't like not being in control. One look at her and she had him questioning every choice he'd made and those he was planning to make. He had come so close to throwing caution into the wind and just giving in to his feelings for her several times, but the conservative part of him warned him to lock out whatever it was he was feeling. Feelings he didn't want to put a name to just yet. Maybe never.

His head jerked up when he heard the sound of the door opening and for a moment that he thought it was her, his heart rate picked up and he couldn't curb the smile he knew was creeping up onto his face. The smile slipped back as quickly when he saw that it wasn't her.

Doctor Andrew stepped in and with confident strides, covered the distance between them in a heartbeat. He wasn't wearing his lab coat and that was a sign that he was ready to leave. He was probably there to check up on Alex before he left for home.

"How you doing, Alex?"

Alex scoffed at the question. He was exhausted, somewhat nauseated, courtesy of whatever drugs they were feeding him and his stomach hurt whenever he tried to move too hard. Nothing out of the ordinary, but Andrew already knew that 'cause he asked the same question almost every passing second each day.

"Okay, you're not going to answer that," Andrew said, stating the obvious. "I'm about to leave and I wanted to check up on you for the last time today."

"How thoughtful," Alex replied sarcastically.

Andrew just chuckled at his response. Maybe any other doctor would have found him rude, but it was a dynamic for them and after being friends for so long, he was more than used to Alex's crankiness.

"You're welcome," he replied, unbothered. "But... That's not the main reason I'm here. Someone's here to see you."

Again, his thoughts flew to Sophie and almost immediately, he dismissed the idea. There was no reason Andrew would come to announce first if Sophie was visiting. Actually, it didn't make sense that he was announcing at all. To his friend, he raised a questioning brow, "And who is it that you have to come tell me first?"

"That..." Andrew started, before taking on a teasing smirk. "You'll have to find out yourself, but you might have to buckle up."

"Really?" Alex demanded with raised brows.

"Really," Andrew confirmed, nodding. "Anyway, I just came here to give you a heads up. See you tomorrow. Don't die before then, you have to let me know first."

Alex ignored him. He hoped his silence was communicating to Andrew brilliantly enough that he wasn't going to be successful as a comedian.

Undeterred, Andrew gave Alex a light squeeze on the shoulder before leaving him to himself and the silence of his hospital room, save for the consistent beeping of the heart monitor.

Who was here to see him? He didn't really have friends so the options were pretty much minimal, almost nonexistent actually. A few minutes passed and he was just about giving up when the door creaked open and he came eye to eye with the last person he would have expected; someone he didn't imagine he would be seeing anytime in the nearest future.

**********
Any guesses as to who the visitor is?

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