The Years Between Signing and Seeing novel Chapter 97

Before Suzie could utter a single word, they both warned her not to wander off and then disappeared through the hospital doors.

With no other choice, she found a clean spot on the edge of a planter and sat down. But she couldn't sit still for long. She stood up and began pacing nearby, her mind in a total haze. Her nerves were so frayed she couldn’t stand still, making it impossible to find a moment of peace. The people who had been so kind to her were in danger, and all she could do was pray they were safe.

Just then, the sound of urgent shouting cut through the air. She instinctively looked toward the noise.

An ambulance had pulled up to the main entrance, and several paramedics were hastily lifting a stretcher out of the back.

Suzie frowned. Another emergency patient. Considering she was pregnant, she knew she shouldn’t be watching such things. She was about to look away to avoid the distressing scene when, through a gap between the doctors, she saw a familiar face on the stretcher.

In that instant, Suzie’s heart seemed to stop. Her eyes widened, and before she knew it, her feet were moving. She didn't want to go closer, didn't want to see him. But an invisible force seemed to be pushing her forward.

As she neared the stretcher, she tried to force herself to remain calm, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from that face.

“Jamie?!” she whispered, her voice trembling.

He was standing just a few feet away. Jamie’s arm lifted with great effort, as if signaling the paramedics to stop. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Suzie, filled with a pain and an emotion she couldn't decipher. Suzie’s hands slowly, uncontrollably, rose to cover her mouth as she stared back at him, frozen.

“Ms. Sterling! Ms. Sterling!”

Suzie stared blankly at the man in front of her. It was Aaron, his face etched with worry. His arms were held out slightly at her sides, as if he’d been ready to catch her. Had she been about to faint?

She rubbed her temples and turned slightly to wipe the tears from her face. Aaron’s repeated calls of “Ms. Sterling” shocked her back to full awareness.

He had called her ‘Ms. Sterling,’ not ‘Mrs. Baylor.’ She was no longer Mrs. Baylor. So why on earth was she crying? What did the man on that stretcher have to do with her?