No Regrets

Chapter Sixty-Five - One Small Hour

KATIE'S POV

   Exiting the ice cram parlor, Dominick nudges my shoulder with his elbow, "To add onto the whole, 'love life' topic. When are you going to confess to Sawyer that you have a bit of a crush on him?" he asks with a teasing smile. I narrow my eyes at him and give him a soft jab in the gut with my elbow.

"You're eighteen, what are you doing concerning yourself with a thirteen year old's love life?" I ask him. He chuckles and unlocks the car doors. As I buckle myself into the passenger's seat, I say, "I don't have a crush on Sawyer."

   Dominick chuckles again, he reaches over and pokes my cheek with his finger. "Explain the blushing then." I feel myself redden and my hands fly to cover as much of my face as I can. He puts the keys into the ignition and puts the car into the proper gear. He pulls out of the parking lot and starts heading toward the freeway that will take us the hospital. "It's okay if you have a crush on him." he says sparing a quick glance at me. The side of his mouth turns up in a small smile. "It's about time you were interested in someone romantically."

  I smile a small bit. "Enough about my love life, let's talk about how you confessed to liking Tyde, when did that happen?" I ask.

  Dominick shrugs his shoulders, "Over time it happened, I guess." he says. "She has a sharp-tongued wittiness about her, she is smart, she's really nice and polite, and she appears to be self-motivated. I can see her going somewhere with her life, and that's really important."

   I nod my head feeling impressed by how much Dominick's thought about this, "Doesn't bother you that she was with Linkon?" I ask. Dominick has always seemed to stay away from dating or being involved with girls his friends have been with.

"Of course it bothers me about, but not in the way you think." Dominick changes lanes and gets onto the freeway. He puts the car into cruise-control. "Linkon and her clearly have some connection together, I don't want to get in the way of that. Linkon deserves a great girl like Tyde. And no Katie, before you ask, I will not ask Linkon about his love life. It's not something he and I do."

  I throw my hands up in surrender, "Okay." I say. "No need to read my thoughts." I laugh a bit and see an amused smile on Dominick's lips.

~~~~~~~~~

   Dominick shows his ID to the woman at the desk of the ICU. He says something to her, she gives him a look before handing him two visitor stickers. Dominick hands one to me and thanks the lady. "She's going to be attached to some wires, she may feel a bit cold but don't be scared, and there will be monitors. She's going to be bandaged up and looks pretty bad. It may be overwhelming, if it gets too much tell me." He says as we walk down the small hallway. He stops at a door with a curtain closed. He grabs a surgical-mask from the box attached the door. I take a mask as well and put it on.

   He looks at me, "Remember, don't be afraid but it may be overwhelming." He says before opening the door softly and pulling the curtain back. My breath catches in my throats and I stop moving.

   The top of Mollie's head is bandages, she has a small tube taped to her cheeks going into her mouth, a basil cannula, wires attached to little patches on her body, and a bandage on her side. The last time I saw her in person, she was healthy and smaller than she is now. I walk forward and step toward, my hand reaching out to touch her hand but I quickly pull away. Dominick gently takes my hand and guides it toward Mollie's hand. My fingertips gently stroke hers.

   I can't take my eyes off my niece. This time last year, she was so tiny. She would sleep on my chest, her eyes would flutter as she dreamed. I watched her crawl across the house trying to put everything in her mouth. The door to the hospital room opens.