Me before you

chapter 37

In the weeks after the first operation and before the second, Sana found herself gravitating more and more to the mayor's house, and to Y/n.

The surgery had gone smoothly – that was certain. Dr. Song had discharged Y/n from the hospital the morning after the operation, and after a few sleepy recovery days, the woman seemed back on top form. Of course, there wouldn't be any sign of whether or not it had worked until the second part of the surgery.

There was a feeling of anticipation in the air. Of waiting to see an outcome that might take weeks or months or years. Sana woke up every morning with the most juvenile fluttery feeling in her stomach – although whether that was about the operation or the kiss, she didn't know.

The kiss. Their kiss. The best second first kiss there's ever been, Y/n had called it, on one of their late night phone calls. They'd a lot of those since the operation – Sana found herself more and more often sitting up in bed, covers pulled over her knees, laughing at Y/n on speakerphone until both their voices turned slow and rough and tired and the next thing she knew it as two am.

She found herself at the house more often too – she might as well have been back working there for all the days she ended up on Sarah's couch, helping to cook or listening Marco and Y/n's war stories about law enforcement in Lincoln. Without words, without acknowledgement, without effort, Sana had become part of their family again. And so had Louis.

He'd end up there with her, knowing to walk to the Park's house after school, sitting on the carpet and laughing about something dumb Y/n was doing. But it was more than that: it was Marco and Sarah too. Marco would play video games with him and tell stories, Sarah made him laugh, and he helped her garden the same way he helped Sana.

Sana hadn't ever really thought about it before but... in the mayor and her husband, Louis had found a second pair of grandparents. Wonwoo's parents died before Louis was born, and though her dad loved him with all his heart, her mother's grandparenting skills left as much to be desired as her parenting.

It never failed to put a smile on her face, and a feeling in her heart like maybe she hadn't let him down, and maybe she never would.

It was one of those days – a sunny Saturday – that Sarah had the idea.

"Marco," She said, walking back into the sunlit den with her phone in her hand. Her dark eyebrows were slightly furrowed. "James just called. He says he's finally free for that dinner."

Marco glanced up from where he was sitting with Louis on the floor. They were all playing Uno on the coffee table – Louis and Marco on the carpet beside each other, Sana on the sofa, Y/n's chair close by. They were working as a team – Sana held the cards so Y/n could see them and put them down, and Y/n chose what card to play.

The sheriff's usual easy smile froze on his face and he sighed. "Seriously?"

"I know," Sarah leaned against the doorframe. She didn't look impressed. "I told him you'd call him back."

"I'm missing something," Sana said, leaning closer to Y/n over the arm of the couch. "Who's James?"

"He's Dad's brother." Y/n told her, eyes full of sunlight. Her wheelchair was parked up beside the sofa, close enough for them to keep their Uno strategy. She was wearing a white shirt and jeans, black hair streaming over her shoulders, and she looked happy and healthy and casual. "He's a huge jackass but we all pretend to like each other."

"Now who does that remind me of?" Sana joked, watching that dorky half-smile appear on Y/n's lips and marvelling over the fact she was joking about her mother. "And hey!" She turned to stare at Y/n, smacking her lightly on the arm. "Don't say jackass in front of my son."