Chapter Sixteen

Nolan

Sunday, June 30th 3:01 AM

Mom and Dad told Aaron and Jessie that they would look for Liam. They told them to go be with Jane and to send her our best.

I held onto Stella as we decided to split up and search for Liam.

I started in the lobby. I hoped he hadn't wandered there because if he had and then gone outside, I was afraid that I would never find him.

I went over to the information desk and asked if they had seen him. The attendant said ‘no' but asked if I had a picture of him and she would make copies and pass it out through the hospital.

I kicked myself for not having one at that moment.

"He kind of looks like me," Stella said into my shoulder.

Then she pulled away from me and looked at the attendant, repeating herself.

"Is it okay if I take your picture, honey?" the attendant asked.

Stella nodded and told me she wanted to get down. I set her on the floor and the woman came out from behind the desk with a digital camera and held it steady for a moment. She took Stella's picture and went back around the desk.

"I'm going to email this to the entire hospital staff and tell them to be on the lookout for him," she said to us as she loaded the picture onto the computer.

I nodded in thanks and took Stella's hand.

"Let's try the parking garage," she suggested, pulling me toward the escalator.

I let her lead me around the garage before we went back into the hospital. We had spent a good twenty minutes out there, checking all of the floors and stairways. When we went back inside the information attendant was waving us over.

"Yeah?" I asked stopping in front of her.

She smiled and pointed. I turned to the right and Stella pulled away from me.

"There you are!" she said, hugging her little brother. "We were so worried!"

"Thank you," I said to the woman as I made my way quickly to the children.

I couldn't quite tell who Liam had been sitting with when we arrived, but I intended to thank the man for keeping him there in that spot.

"Nolan! Look! I made a friend and he said he can marry you and you can go see Janey!" he rushed in an excited voice.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

The man stood up and held a hand out to me. That's when I noticed that he was wearing a cassock with a clerical collar. My eyes watered when I realized that Liam had left the room to find a priest.

I shook the priest's hand and he looked at me with serious eyes.

"I can't do it now. If you want to marry your fiancée I can do it in the morning during normal visiting hours."

"Please, I would greatly appreciate it," I replied to tears finally spilling down my face.

He nodded and placed a hand on Liam's head, "This is a very vigilant and brave young man. I found him walking around the pediatric unit asking every adult he passed if they would ‘marry' his sister. I stopped and had a chat with him out of curiosity and he told me that his biggest sister is sick in a bed upstairs and she needs to get married so she can see her boyfriend."

I picked up Liam and hugged him tightly. This little boy, unknowing how sick his sister really was, had wandered the hospital looking for someone who would be able to marry us so that I could see her.

It was the most selfless thing anyone had ever done for me in my entire life.

"Thank you, Nugget. Janey says thank you too," I said to him.

"You're welcome. Let's go build some Legos," he suggested happily.

I nodded and smiled at him.

"I need her name, so I know what room to go to," the priest said to us.

"Jane East. She's in critical care."

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," he said with a nod as he left.

I took Stella's hand and carried Liam toward the elevator. We waited patiently for the next car and when we stepped in, Stella pressed the button. When the doors closed, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the doors.

Holding Liam in my arms and holding Stella's hand. I thought of the picture I had seen of Jane.

Every tear and every emotion that I had been holding in since we had arrived at the hospital finally broke me down; and I sank to the floor of the elevator, crying like my world had ended.