6. Henry

Chapter 6

Henry

W hen the plane landed, I took a taxi to the hospital where Anna Marie works. Thanks to all the times I interrogated Jolie about Anna Marie, I was able to track her down at the hospital she works at. I've already wasted too much time without her, and I can't waste any more time waiting for her to get off work.

These last two months have been unbearable. I haven't been able to eat or sleep. I'm a shell of the man I used to be, the same as I turned her into when I all but threw her out of my hotel room and my life.

Jolie has been so wrapped up in her own life that I've had more time to realize what I've been missing in mine. I only hope I'm not too late.

I push through the emergency room waiting room doors and down the hallway, only stopping to locate the hospital's labor and delivery department. I take note of my surroundings as I work my way through the hospital. It's a good size and in a good location. It may be time to relocate my practice closer to my daughter.

Who am I kidding? I want to be closer to Anna Marie.

Having Jolie in the same city is a nice bonus, but she's a grown woman now, just like Anna Marie. She's going to make some choices I disagree with. And I'm going to make some choices she disagrees with. I can only hope she doesn't think of me having a relationship with her best friend as a bad choice.

"I'm looking for Anna Marie Heatherington. Can someone let her know she has company?" I stop at the nurses' station in the labor and delivery department, the strong smell of freshly popped popcorn hanging in the air. It reminds me of my time in residency when I covered the night shift. Jolie's mother and I were trying to save money when Emily was pregnant with Jolie. Many nights, microwave popcorn was my supper.

Usually, thinking about Emily would make me sad—all the lost years we missed out on when she succumbed to cancer. Jolie was so young—barely ten years old when her mother passed away. I did my best to raise her on my own, but I was still building my practice. I often wish I could go back in time and pick a different career path, one that would have let me spend more time with my family.

Instead of the vision of Emily and Jolie I usually see when I think about my family, I picture Anna Marie pregnant with our child, with Jolie and her children circling us. The vision takes my breath away. If Anna Marie agrees to be my wife, the first thing I'm going to do is have the vasectomy reversed and spend the rest of my life filling Anna Marie with our babies.

The sound of a door opening and closing draws my attention. I look at the sound and find Anna Marie standing in front of me, looking more beautiful than I remember but a little pale.

"Anna Marie." I flex my hands at my sides, fighting the urge to touch her.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Collins? Is it Jolie? Is she okay?"

"Jolie's fine and I told you before to call me Henry."

"Then why are you here?" She crosses her arms over her stomach in a self-hug almost as if she's withdrawing into herself.

Giving up the internal struggle I reach out and tuck a wayward lock of auburn hair behind her ear, "I'm here for you Anna Marie. I think it's time we talk."