(Lena)
The first thing I was aware of was the ceiling.
White. Unfamiliar. The kind of ceiling that belonged to a place that wasn't home. I stared at it for a moment before anything else came back to me and then it all arrived at once, the pain, the hospital, Cole's hand in mine, Dr. Reeves, the fourth pregnancy, the procedure.
I turned my head.
Cole was in the chair beside the bed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, watching me. He had been watching me. I could tell by the way he didn't have to adjust when our eyes met, like he had been waiting for exactly this moment and had not looked away once while he waited.
"Hey," I said.
My voice came out rougher than I expected.
"Hey," he said.
He reached over and took my hand and I let him and we stayed like that for a moment wi
