And Then He Fell

Chapter 40

It's been way too long. I guess an apology would be kind of useless at this point. I can tell you though that it's not because I have a big head or think I'm great. Both of those statements are way off base, but were made in the comments of Chapter 39. I was a little offended, but know that most of you don't think that way. (And I'm thankful for that.) Well, I won't run on and on right now. I'll let you read the story. I hope you like it.

Pic is Drew Van Acker as Drew.....even if everyone keeps trying to change the actor :-(. Sorry to all of you Fransisco Lachowski fans.....he looks way too feminine to me. He could never be my Drew. (I've looked for someone different to play Drew, but haven't found anyone to my liking yet.)

DREW

It was the end of January, and I was sitting in the waiting room with Emily, her brothers, Ellie, and their father. My parents were present as well. We were waiting to hear the results of Mrs. Martin's surgery. As it turned out, she had a tumor on her pituitary gland. It had been growing slowly over the course of the past few years, but it hadn't affected her much until recently. Apparently, the tumor had caused her to act horribly over the last few months.

Judging by what I had gathered from Em in the many conversations we'd had concerning her mother recently, Mrs. Martin had never been a touchy, feely, kind of mother. Emily did say that she had gotten more distant, then mean, over the past year or two. I was thankful that there was some type of reasoning behind the craziness that Mrs. Martin had displayed at the hospital during Emily's accident, then later when we'd started officially dating. If I remembered correctly, Mrs. Martin had always been kind of mean to Em about her weight, though.

I put my arm around Emily and pulled her closer to me. I leaned down, carefully removing her hair from over her ear with my right hand, my lips coming dangerously close to her ear.

"I'm sure she'll be okay," I said. "She seems pretty tough." I resisted the urge to nibble on her ear and kiss down her neck. Some actions were just inappropriate for a hospital waiting room, no matter how appealing they seem at the time.

Em turned to look at me. "Thanks," she said, holding my left hand in her right and squeezing tightly.

I loved holding her hand, having her close to me, just knowing she was there. I looked over at Ellie, sitting on the sofa across the waiting room in between her father and Jeffy. I felt a twinge of guilt for never having these feelings of......warmth with her. I dated her for six years, and had never felt excitement just from holding her hand. I wondered what I'd been thinking when I was convinced I loved her.

"Having second thoughts about your choice of sisters?" Emily asked quietly.

"Huh?" I said.

"You're staring at Ellie," she whispered, a slight smile on her face.

"I'll explain later," I said, "but it's all in your favor."

She laughed, then squeezed my hand again. Justin peeked around from Emily's other side.

"He's totally in love with you, Em," he said, smiling.

I thought about how much he must love Emily for him to be worried about her love life while his mother was in surgery. His actions were a testament to fact that Emily touched those she loved in ways that no one else could, including me. Especially me.

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As it turns out, Emily's mom came out of her surgery just fine. It's been two weeks, and from what I hear, she has mellowed out tremendously. I feel better for all of them in that family. They've put up with so much from her.