September: Calendar Girl Book 9 by Audrey Carlan Read Free Book Online Page B

room, Maddy was there, snuggled into the arms of her fiancé, Matt. His parents were standing off to the side in silent support. The doctor was pushing buttons on Pops’s machines. His gaze lifted to me as I got closer.
    “Ah, perfect. Thank you, Mr. Cunningham, for bringing her so quickly,” the doctor said to Max and then focused on me. “Now that you and your sister are here, I can give you the information together. Mr. Saunders has apparently begun to try and breathe on his own. His efforts are now strong enough that we can set the ventilator so that it will breathe for him only if his oxygen saturation falls below a certain level.”
    I licked my lips and inhaled slowly, gathering my thoughts. “Does that mean he’s getting better? The medication is working.”
    The doctor took a breath. “We don’t know for sure, but it’s definitely a good sign. In my experience, patients who start breathing on their own end up getting stronger far more quickly. The problem in your father’s case is that he was already in a coma. One we couldn’t explain. All his readings were normal at the time. Until he caught the virus, followed by the two anaphylactic reactions, which were a massive systemic insult. There was also the very real risk that he would become ventilator-dependent. It’s good that he’s started to try to breathe on his own, but this type of recovery takes time, and we’ll just have to wait and see. We should know more over the next few days, but so far, I’d say the outlook is much better,” he said before closing Pops’s chart, hooking it on the bed, and leaving the room.
    Maddy shuffled over to me. “That’s good news, right?” Her lips trembled the same way they used to when she was a little girl and was trying to be brave.
    I pulled Maddy into my arms. She wrapped her long arms around me and we held one another. “I think so, baby girl. I really do. Pops is strong. He’s been through a lot, but he has us to come back to. That has to count for something. It has to be enough.”
    Max came up behind us and tugged us into the warmth of his broad chest. “It’s enough. Believe me, ladies, you two are more than enough.”
    “Agreed,” Matt said and smiled at my sister.
    Another point for Matt. He’d been there for my sister the entire way, only leaving at night when the hospital visiting hours were over, but he was back by her side at the first opportunity. His parents came daily for a couple of hours, too. The Rains family definitely had our backs. Maddy would be loved her whole life long by that family, and any children they had down the road would be spoiled and want for nothing.
    Job well done, Mia. I mentally patted myself on the back. The one thing I did right. Raised my sister to be something more, to want and work for everything life could offer. She was on the road to having it all, and I couldn’t be any happier for her. Now if some of that good karma could shine down on me and bring Wes home and Pops back to the land of the living, I’d have it all, too.
    On that note, I yanked my cell from my pocket and fired off the message to the one man I didn’t want to see no matter the cost.
    To: Blaine Douchebag Pintero
    From: Mia Saunders
    You’ll be eating alone Friday night. Deal with it.
    With a swipe of my thumb I hit send. Screw him, and screw his bullshit.

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    L ater that night , I got the call I’d been waiting for all day.
    “Hello, Warren?” I answered so quickly that the words were a bit of a jumble.
    “Hey, Mia.” Warren’s voice wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t cold either. It was firm and filled with sorrow. God, no.
    I sat on the end of the coffee table and braced for the worst. Max’s eyes cut to mine, and he leaned forward, putting his palms on my knees. I clasped his hand with one of mine and held on so tight my knuckles turned white.
    “Just tell me. Is he dead?” The two seconds before Warren answered could have been a lifetime. I’d never forget what I felt in