Free Aqua - Christmas in New York City (Aqua Romance Travel Series) by Amanda S. Jones

Casey was ushered in a few moments later. The emergency ward was as full but within a short amount of time they had moved her to a private room.  
    For the short while Casey was in the waiting room, she was on the same level playing field with everyone. In the room each person looked the same. No jewelry or clothing. Same robe. Now, in a sealed off room, she felt her situation had escalated.
    “What caused this?” Harry asked the doctor.
    “An infection, imbalance of minerals in the blood. We need to do some bloodwork and other tests before we know for sure.”
    “Ok,” Harry stammered, still taking it all in.  
    “We’re trying to reach her oncologist but he’s out of town.” The doctor shook his head. “Holidays. Does she have family?”
    “Me,” Harry said. “And her father.”

    BY THE time Casey was wheeled back to the room, Harry had left. In his place, Foster barged in. The nurse bolted in after him. “Sorry. I know you don’t want visitors but-”
    “It’s okay. Hard to tell my father no.”  
    Foster sat on the edge of her bed and the mattress moved. He got up quickly.
    “It’s ok, Dad.”
    “No, no.” He dragged a chair from the wall. “I’m like a beached whale.”
    He sat next to her, arms crossed over the top of his stomach. He looked around at the room, then back at her. “Hospitals aren’t my favorite place.”
    “I know.”
    “Ever since Mom died.”
    She nodded and looked away.
    “Don’t go thinking like that.” His voice was harsh, then he changed his tone. “It’s different for you.”
    “We’ll see.”
    “You’ve got to stay positive.”
    “Since when have you been so upbeat?” she said with a sarcastic edge.
    “It’s all a front for an unhappy man, Cass.”
    She was taken aback with his honesty.
    “I never got over your mom’s death, you know. I was more lost than you were.”
    “You blamed me.”
    He shook his head. “I blamed myself.” His head dropped and he let out a big sigh. “I should have taken better care of her. I should have kept stress from her life.”
    “By not having me.”
    “No. You’re the best thing that ever happened to us. I was a happy guy when she was alive, you know. I did a lot with you.”
    “That got overshadowed.”
    “My fault.”  
    “You said she didn’t want children.”
    He nodded. “For the same reason you don’t. Her mother had died of cancer as well. She was scared.”  
    “Grandma was in her 80s when she died.”
    “That was her stepmother. Her mom died when she was five. We decided never to tell you.” He looked down at his shoes, then back at her. “She wanted a child more than anything, but she was convinced she wouldn’t live long. When you turned five, then ten, and she was still alive, your mom wanted to have more kids.” He leaned closer to Casey. “She said she had made a mistake. I don’t want you making the same one.”
    Casey closed her eyes and took it all in. Foster watched her for a while, his little girl whose features had become the same as the woman he once so loved. “I see her in you, you know.”
    Casey’s eyes opened wide.
    “Your eyes, Cass. You have her sweet, warm eyes.” He took a strand of hair between his fingers and closed his eyes. “The soft hair. That color that is so uniquely you.”
    “I’ll lose my hair in chemo.”
    “You don’t need that.”
    “Well something’s wrong.”
    “They’re just being careful.”
    “Mom, her sister, it’s in my blood.” She pressed her fingers against her eyebrows and hung her head. “I’m next.”
    Foster tapped her on the shoulder. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”
    She looked up at him, her eyes exhausted.
    “Your mom never did.” He pointed over his shoulder toward the sky. “She never stopped wishing. Believing.”
    Foster got up and went to the head of the bed and bent down till his face was next to Casey’s. He slipped his fingers through hers and locked their hands as one. Then he lifted her hand till it