Forrest Green

Chapter 26: Going Home

Chapter 26: Going Home

When Forrest pulls into the drop-off area at the hospital and gets out, gesturing for me to wait for him, he tells me that he's going to search for a parking spot while I go inside. When he comes around to my door, he opens it and offers me a hand, helping me out when I take it. I hike my mother's bag over my shoulder as he smiles at me before going back to the driver's seat and steering away.

I walk into the waiting room and notice Lilly at the nurse's station. I give her a bright smile as she looks up from the desk. I lean against the counter and ask, "I thought your boss would have kicked you out by now?"

Lilly laughs and shakes her head, "Oh, she did yesterday. She practically pulled me out by my hair last night. But she can't stop me from coming in during a scheduled shift."

"That would have been a sight to see," I laugh, shaking my head at her. I don't know anyone more dedicated to their career than Lilly.

"Trust me, it was." She beams me a smile. "Where's my little brother? Did you finally throw him in a ditch?"

I snort and roll my eyes. "I haven't thrown him in a ditch. Yet."

"Do you need me to warn him? Because I don't want to jeopardize us being sisters-in-law. The trick with baby-boy Forr is to make him feel bad about hurting your feelings or making you mad." She says, raising her eyebrows and giving me a pointed look.

I shake my head, "I would never do that to him. Plus, the chances of him ever hurting my feelings like that is slim to none."

"One time, he made me mad, and he bought all my favorite foods for a week straight. I finally gave in when he showed up with our grandma's homemade German Chocolate cake with homemade buttercream icing on the top that said, 'I'm sorry.'" She explains, rubbing her abdomen as she thinks about the food.

"That cake sounds wonderful."

"Oh, it is," Lilly tells me, her eyes growing wide as if she's imagining the cake. "My grandma orders this really expensive chocolate just for our grandpa's birthday. It's the only time of the year she makes that cake, so the fact that Forr got her to pay and make the cake just for me means he must have been really desperate."

I'm laughing as I ask, "So, if you don't mind me asking, when is your grandpa's birthday? I want to know for future scheduling purposes."

She smiles. "Well, you're in luck because his birthday is a couple of months and I'm sure Grandma will have a slice waiting for you."

"I'm looking forward to it." I love how accepting, and inclusive Forrest's family is. Smiling, I ask, "So I'll see you later, right?"

"Yep, I'll give you and your mom a few minutes to talk before I barge in and hand her the discharge forms." She presses the unlock button for the big gray doors as I nod and walk through them. On the other side, Lilly turns to me with an amused look on her face. "Oh, I should probably warn you that Dr. Nash walked into her room before you got here."

"Ew." I cringe, knowing that my mother has developed a crush on her doctor. "I'll make sure I knock."

"Please do," Lilly says, turning away from me and cringing, too.

Oh gross, I don't even want to know what Lilly's walked in on.

That is...disgusting. I can't imagine Mamma Bear doing such a thing.

That's a good thing, I don't want to think about it.

I shake my head as I walk down the hall to my mother's room. I put an ear to the door, trying to figure out what's going on. I hear my mom laughing, something that she doesn't generally do around other people. Dr. Nash must have said something hilarious because once again, my mom belts out a laugh, causing a smile to make its way to my lips. The fact that Dr. Nash can make my mom laugh that hard makes me more than okay with whatever is going on between the two of them. She's returning to the person that she used to be.