“I know.” Her grin falls a bit and she fiddles with her ponytail. “I’m kinda sad I won’t have a reason to come here anymore, though.”

“Miss checking out the lovely doctor?” I cross over to where she’s standing.

Her smile returns, impish this time. “It really is too bad he’s so old. Maybe when I’m of legal drinking age, he’ll be interested.”

I laugh at the idea that midthirties is old to her. “May I request that you don’t break anything else in order to test that theory, please?”

“Uh, yeah. I have zero plans to break any more bones. Um, I don’t know if this is, like, allowed or whatever, but maybe, I don’t know … we could keep in touch once I’m not a patient here anymore? Or you could, like, come see a game or something if that’s not allowed.”

“I would love that.” And honestly, I probably would’ve found myself at a game even if I hadn’t had a direct invitation, but this certainly makes that easier. “Actually, I might be taking some courses there in the fall.”

“Really?”

“Yup, so maybe we can meet up for coffee, or something.”

She claps her hands and does a little jumpy thing before throwing her arms around me. She releases me before I can return the embrace. “Awesome. I’m staying to take extra courses this summer, and it looks like I get to keep my lifeguarding job, so I’ll be around.”

“What’s the boy situation looking like?”

She makes a face. “I went out with this guy last week, but he thought coffee would get him an invitation back to my apartment. There’s a graduate student in my building who offered to help me study for my human biology final, and I totally wouldn’t mind if it ended up being hands-on.” She nudges me with her elbow and gives me an exaggerated wink.

I laugh at that. “Just make sure you’re safe about the hands-on part.”

“Oh my God! Do not do that parent thing with me. I already have a mother who is way too interested in having those kinds of conversations. Oh! Speaking of parents, you’ll probably meet them. They’re picking me up today.”

“Are they here for a visit?”

“Yeah. They’re driving across the country in an RV for fun. They’ve already done the entire West Coast, so they figured they’d head this way before they go south again. I swear, my dad has no idea how to relax. They’ve gone on, like, four trips already, and he’s only been retired for four months. Anyway, they’re stopping here for a few days. Personally I think my parents are kind of having a hard time with me not coming back for the summer and this is their way of managing, since I’m pretty much their only kid.”

“That makes sense. There’s not really a reason for them to stay put all summer if you’re not going to be there, so they might as well come see you, right?”

“Yeah. So I try not to get all uptight about how much they call, or that they want to know every detail of every little thing.”

“That’s a mature attitude.” I had the opposite experience as a kid with my own mother. She was too busy juggling jobs and trying to put food on the table for all of us to be interested in the details of my life.

She shrugs. “I’d rather have parents who want to know everything instead of nothing, I guess.” Her phone buzzes in her pocket, and her eyes light up as she checks the message. “They’re here! Want to come meet them? I kind of told them about you … ” She scrunches up her nose, like maybe she’s embarrassed. “Except—and don’t be offended—I called you Nurse Ratched. I meant it as a joke, though, because, like, clearly you’re the opposite of a manipulative psychopath.”

I bark out a laugh. “I should probably get an introduction, then, just so they’re not worried about your medical care.”

“My dad says they’re waiting by the front entrance. I hope they didn’t bring the RV, ’cause that’d be kind of embarrassing.” She bounces with excitement as we walk down the hall. A couple in their fifties stand close to each other by the main doors, heads bent together as they check a phone. They lift their gaze as Emery calls out, “Mom! Dad!”

She breaks into a jog, throwing herself at her parents, and my heart aches a little, but in a good way, as they wrap her up in their arms, the three of them parts of a whole. I stand back, a silent observer, and wonder if I’ll ever have a family of my own. And if Ethan will be a part of that or not. Regardless, it would be nice to have someone who loves me as much as Emery seems to love her parents.

“Mom, Dad, I want you to meet my friend, or my nurse.” She flails as if unsure how to introduce me.

“I think I’m safely both of those things.”

I smile at her mom and then shift to greet her father.

“Delilah Jane?”

I stare at him, openmouthed and unable to speak. It’s been twenty years, but even with the lines on his face and the receding gray hair, I couldn’t ever forget him.

“Dad?”

chapter twenty-one

FORGIVENESS

Lilah

I open my eyes and find myself surrounded by medical staff. It takes me a few seconds to process what’s going on until I see the concerned face of Emery, arms crossed over her body as if she’s hugging herself. Beside her, twenty years older than he was the last time I saw him, is my father.