Keeping Janie: Book 2 of the Southport Series by S.R. Fabrico

Author:S.R. Fabrico [Fabrico, S.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SRF Creations
Published: 2024-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

Lizzie

Ireturned home to an empty house and a heavy heart. Maybe I should show up at the hospital? I missed Josh. I missed his touch, our morning chats with coffee, and weekend cartoons with him and Janie. I missed my happy-go-lucky man, who made my heart sing.

I laid Janie down in her crib and crawled into my bed. An afternoon nap was exactly what I needed. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and opened a text message to Josh. Staring at the screen, I contemplated what to write.

I typed, I miss you, then backspaced, and started over. How’s your dad? I watched the cursor flash on the screen. My chest was tight with sadness. I deleted the message again.

Janie misses you. Delete.

Rolling onto my side, I groaned and tossed the phone onto the bed.

I woke up an hour later to Janie blabbering in her crib. I enjoyed listening to her sweet voice. I lay there for a few minutes while she talked to herself. Screw it. We’re going to the hospital.

I changed, dressed Janie, and fed her some lunch. I got myself ready, and we drove to the hospital. My heart was pounding as I approached the information desk. I told the lady behind the counter I was there to see Len Miller. Her blue scrubs crinkled as she pointed me toward the elevator. “Take the elevator to the third floor, then turn right. Room 418 will be on your left.”

“Thank you.”

I followed her directions and stood outside the door. I don’t know why, but I was terrified to enter the room. The last time I was in a hospital, my daughter was stolen. The time before that, a drunk driver had hit my parents. Maybe I was afraid of what Josh might say. Maybe I was afraid to see Len, or more accurately, see how Len was now. I convinced myself that he would enjoy seeing Janie. I lifted my chin and charged into the room. Only to find a sleeping Len and no Josh.

Where was he?

I quietly walked to the chair in the corner of the room and sat for a moment. I watched Len sleep. He seemed peaceful, his chest rising and falling in cadence. I walked to his bedside and grabbed his hand. “Len, we really miss you. You need to fight. Your son needs you. Your kind, strong, hard-working boy is a mess right now. He needs you. I need you. Janie needs you. You need to pull through this. The world is not done with Len Miller.”

I wiped a tear from my cheek and squeezed his hand. I stood back up and walked toward the door when a quiet, gentle voice said, “Lizzie?”

I turned to see Len’s blue-gray eyes. “Lizzie,” he said again, more excited this time.

“Hi, Len. You’re awake.” I pushed the stroller to his bedside.

His eyes filled with joy at the sight of his granddaughter. “There’s my girl.”

“We’ve missed you. Honestly, we’ve missed Josh too.”

“Josh?” His voice was almost a whisper.

“Yes. He’s been here so often.

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