فصل هفدهم

CHAPTER 17

STELLA

“Why didn’t I pack anything nice?” I cry to Poe, who is leaning against the doorway helping me. I sling pajamas and sweatpants and baggy T-shirts out of my drawers as I desperately search for something to wear tonight.

He snorts. “Right. Because you usually pack for a hot hospital romance?”

I pull out a pair of skimpy, silky boxers, eyeing them. I couldn’t. Could I? I mean, it’s this or a pair of baggy flannel sweatpants I got as a hand-me-down from Abby.

“I’ve got nice legs, right?”

“Don’t even think about it, ho!” he says, giving me a look before the both of us burst out laughing.

I think of my friends on their last night in Cabo, and for the first time since I got here I don’t wish I were there. I wish they were here, helping me get ready. If anything, I’m glad I’m not miles away right now.

I look over at the clock on my bedside table. Five o’clock. I have four hours to figure something out . . . .

I walk through the doors of the atrium, noticing a vase filled with white roses. I snag one, bending the stem until it snaps, and put it behind my ear. Glancing at my reflection in the glass of the door, I smile, nervously giving myself a quick once-over. My hair is down, the front tied back with the ribbon from the pop-up flowers from Will, and I’m wearing the skimpy silk boxers and a tank top, despite Poe’s laughter.

I look pretty nice considering I pulled it together from the worst date wardrobe in history.

It is nice to know that Will definitely likes me for me. I mean, he’s pretty much exclusively seen me in pajamas or a hospital gown, so he clearly isn’t in this for my good looks and impeccable Fall 2018 Hospital Collection wardrobe.

I fix the blue latex gloves on my hands, double-checking that the Cal Stat is still hanging off the strap on my portable oxygen.

Sitting down on a bench, I look through a side door leading to the children’s playroom, a wave of nostalgia hitting me. I used to sneak in here to play with the non-CFers growing up. Well, and Poe. The atrium hasn’t changed much through the years. The same tall trees, the same brightly colored flowers, the same tropical fish tank right by the doors, where Poe and I got in trouble with Barb for throwing donut crumbs to the fish.

The atrium may not have changed much since I’ve been coming to Saint Grace’s Hospital, but I sure have. I’ve had so many firsts at this hospital, it’s hard to count them all.

My first surgery. My first best friend. My first chocolate milk shake.

And now, my first real date.

I hear the door slowly creak open, and I peer around the corner to see Will.

“Over here,” I whisper, standing up to hold out the pool cue to him.

A huge smile breaks out on his face, and he takes the other end of the pool cue in his gloved hand, a travel-size bottle of Cal Stat shoved into his front pocket.

“Wow,” he says, his eyes warm as he looks me over, making my heart do somersaults inside my chest. He’s wearing a blue plaid flannel that hugs his thin body, making his eyes look an even brighter shade of blue. His hair is neater. Combed, but still maintaining that messiness that is unbelievably hot.

“That’s a beautiful rose,” he says, but his eyes are still on my exposed legs, the dip in my silky tank top.

I blush, pointing at the rose tucked behind my ear. “Oh, this rose? This one? Up here?” He pulls his eyes away, giving me a look that no other boy has given me before. “That’s the one,” he says, nodding.

I tug on the pool cue, and we walk through the atrium toward the main lobby. He looks to the side, noticing the vase full of white roses sitting on the table, his eyes crinkling as he smiles. “You stealing roses, Stella? First a whole foot and now this?” I laugh, reaching up to touch the rose tucked behind my ear. “You got me. I stole it.” He pulls at the other end of the pool cue, shaking his head. “Nah, you gave it a better home.”