Second Chances in Lavender Bay (The Lavender Bay Chronicles #3)

14. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

I t was still dark outside when Angie’s alarm went off. Not that she’d needed it; she’d been awake all night, thinking about the lumpectomy scheduled for that morning. Tired and cold, she got out of bed and padded to the bathroom, where she took a shower. As she scrubbed, she took one last look at her breast, sucking in a deep breath, wondering how different it would look afterward.

Despite these worrisome thoughts, the café came to mind. Her staff were aware of her procedure this morning. They did not expect her to make an appearance today, and they’d reassured her several times that they would look after the cat. Debbie had offered to take him home with her, but Angie had refused, thinking it would be too much of a change for him.

There was no need to make breakfast or even a cup of coffee because she’d been instructed to fast since the night before. And now that she couldn’t have anything, she craved a meal. Oh well , she thought, I’ll be able to eat something later .

Maureen knocked on the side door and walked in. Angie pulled her coat from the hall closet.

“Ready?” Maureen asked softly. She was similarly bundled up. They’d had frost overnight.

“As ready as I’m going to be.”

“Is that your bag for the hospital?” Maureen asked, indicating the floral bag parked by the door.

Angie nodded and Maureen picked it up. “Come on, Ang. Mom and Nadine are in the car.”

Her mother and her sisters had all decided to go with her, and she had protested and told them she could manage on her own. They’d been horrified at the suggestion. They made such a stink that she kept her mouth shut and didn’t say another word about it. But now that the day had arrived, she was relieved that she wasn’t alone.

She got into the passenger seat in the front, as her mother and Nadine were in the back. A blast of hot air from the heater greeted her. She shivered in her seat, her hunger adding to the feeling of being cold.

In the back seat, Louise leaned forward, the comforting scent of her perfume, Amazing Grace, wafting into the front. “All set?” she asked softly.

“I am.” Angie was ready. She wanted it over with.

The night sky had morphed into a dark gray. As Maureen reversed out of the driveway, Angie’s phone pinged. The screen illuminated her side of the car. It was an incoming text from Tom.

Best of luck today.

Smiling, Angie texted back: Tx .

Behind her, Nadine had leaned forward and peered over her shoulder. “How romantic!” she said.

“Nadine!” Angie scolded, hiding her phone screen against her chest.

But her older sister proceeded to tell Louise and Maureen about the text from Tom.

“That is romantic,” Maureen said.

“He seems like a nice man,” Louise added.

Angie kept her feelings on that to herself, unsure of what they were.

The remainder of the drive to the hospital was quiet. Occasionally, the silence was punctuated by a comment about the frost, the lack of traffic, how they’d slept, what kind of candy they were passing out at Halloween, and what was new at their homes: innocuous, everyday conversation that circled around, without ever touching, the purpose of them all being together that morning.

The closer they got to the hospital, the more Angie’s heart rate accelerated. She was practically shaking by the time Maureen pulled into the parking lot.

The four of them walked silently through the main entrance, Louise’s arm linked through Angie’s. First stop was the admissions department. Despite the early hour, the hospital was bustling and well lit, the overhead fluorescent lighting harsh. Angie filled out the forms and then signed all the paperwork that had been pushed toward her. The admissions officer gave her directions for where to proceed. They took the elevator to the third floor, where the surgical suites were. Angie checked in at the desk, and the nurse stationed there smiled and led her to a small room, telling her to remove her clothing and put on the hospital gown.

Having done as instructed, she poked her head out into the hallway, where her mother and sisters were waiting. “All clear,” she said.

Her mother and sisters filed in.

“Let me tie that in the back for you,” Maureen said. Angie turned around, and her sister tied the straps. Shivering, she pulled on her fleece bathrobe over the hospital gown.

She hopped up onto the bed. Maureen directed their mother to a chair. She and Nadine stood on the other side of the bed. The conversation was hushed and solemn. Angie couldn’t focus, and her attention jumped back and forth between the conversation around her and the multitude of thoughts swirling around in her mind. Am I making a mistake? Maybe I should get up and go home.

To distract herself, she turned her thoughts to work.

Melissa would be at the café by now, and she sent her a text reminding her, yet again, to feed the cat. The box on the counter asking patrons to suggest a name for him was getting pretty full. At the end of the week, she’d go through all of them and pick the one that best suited the stray. The winner would receive a twenty-five-dollar gift card to the café.

Two nurses walked in, one carrying a chart. Both wore scrubs, one set bearing a holiday motif of pumpkins and autumn leaves, the other the standard-issue medical blue.

The younger nurse with the swinging ponytail and the holiday scrubs asked, “Evangeline Cook?”

“That’s me.”

The nurse with the chart stood on one side, and the other nurse raised Angie’s wrist and read off the patient number from her hospital band.

“That’s correct. All right, we’re going to take you over to the surgical suite. The surgeon will speak to you before the procedure.”

Angie nodded, not sure a response was required.

To her mother and sisters, the nurse said, “I’ll show you where you can wait.”

“How long will it take?” Louise asked.

“About one to two hours,” the nurse replied. “Once Evangeline’s out of recovery and her vital signs are stable, she can go home.”

Home. Angie focused on that.

Her sisters crowded around the head of the bed. Maureen and Nadine hugged her first, while her mother held her hand.

“We’ll be praying for you,” Nadine whispered.

“Thanks, I need all the help I can get,” Angie said.

When her sisters pulled away, her mother placed a hand on the side of Angie’s face. She bent and pressed her cheek against Angie’s and whispered, “Oh, my sweet girl, I wish you didn’t have to go through this.” Angie felt wetness on her face, and she realized her mother was crying.

“Me too, Mom,” she whispered with a wobble in her voice.

The gurney she was on was rolled out of the room, and she held on to her mother’s hand as long as she could, afraid to let go.