Elissa paused, caught off guard by the unabashed sentimentality.
“Why so quiet?” Ernest’s voice deepened, a playful challenge in his tone. “Were you fibbing when you said you loved me?”
“Of course not!” Elissa retorted.
With a shy smile, she relented, her cheeks aflame as she echoed Ernest’s words. “I love you enough to stay by your side forever, never to part.”
“Mmm, good girl,” Ernest hummed, brushing a feather-light kiss against Elissa’s lips, his chuckle soft and warm. “I hear you, and I’ll hold you to it.”
The following morning, Hadley arrived at the hospital, her routine visit to collect Joy’s prescription a familiar errand. She also took the opportunity to discuss Joy’s condition with the doctor, ensuring every detail was addressed.
With the prescription in hand, she stepped out of the doctor’s office, her mind already shifting to the day ahead.
At that precise moment, a door across the hall swung open, and Eric emerged.
Hadley’s eyes instinctively darted to the sign above the door: Oncology.
“You…?”
Eric’s brow glistened with a sudden sheen of sweat, his expression strained.
“Hadley, please—it’s not what it seems!”
Hadley took a breath and tried to figure out why Eric seemed so uneasy.
“It’s clear this isn’t about you…” she said.
His follow-up appointment was scheduled for another day, and his problem lay in neurosurgery, not oncology.
Hadley ventured a guess. “Are you here because of her?”
Eric gave a small nod, and some of the tension left his shoulders.
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He had already completed his neurosurgery check-up and was waiting on his results. While he waited, he wandered into the oncology department. It was a relief that Hadley hadn’t seen him in the neurosurgery department.
He went on to say, “The oncology team here is more experienced than those at Pristin Mountain Sanatorium. I wanted to hear what their specialists had to say.”
That answer left Hadley a bit taken aback. She simply nodded. “Alright.”
After she thought it over, she spoke again. “About her condition… are you looking into conservative options?”
Eric replied, “We’re planning to speak with the specialists before making a decision.”
“Ernest said if we skip conservative treatment, the only choice left is surgery.” Surgery would take Linda’s legs. Even so, there was no promise it would fix everything.
Hadley listened intently, a faint crease forming on her forehead. The situation carried a weight that could not be ignored.
“I’m only here to pick up some medicine for Joy,” said Hadley, her tone light as she pressed her lips together and let the subject drop.
She saw no reason to show any concern for Linda.
“Eric!”
.
.
.