Antagonym

Chapter 30

I hated hospitals.

Sylvia was the one about to get a procedure done and here I am acting like a baby, shaking in my fucking shoes. I squeezed Sylvia's hand reassuringly, but it was really for me. She turned her head from Finn's direction where he stood on the opposite side of the bed, holding her other hand. The brunette offered me a dazzling smile, acting like she wasn't even nervous. It brought me back to my knee surgery.

I remember Finn holding my right hand while Sylvia sat on my left, talking about some news story to distract me. I had never been a fan of the idea of someone cutting me open. Now it was my turn to return the favor.

Sylvia's blood tests had come back last night, the surgery getting scheduled immediately for the next morning. Time was of the essence to save Aras and Sylvia just so happened to be in the off season, so it couldn't have been better timing. I hadn't heard from Beck except for a brief text that he wouldn't be there at morning practice. I simply responded saying that I wouldn't be either, not blowing the secret straight out into the open.

When the doctor walked in, I felt my muscles tense but Sylvia's hand in my own calmed me. I was grateful but deep down I couldn't help but feel like I wasn't doing my job, she was. I was supposed to be comforting her. "Mrs Riley, lovely to see you again under much better conditions," he mused. I was ninety percent sure this was the man that had delivered Maya but I wasn't sure. He was an expert in hematology hence his significance in Sylvia's delivery after hemorrhaging in both a miscarriage and with her pregnancy.

In all honesty, I had forgotten everything the doctor had said. I was too busy trying not to shake to focus on his words. I'm sure Sylvia appreciated me being here though. She knows how hard it is for me to sit in a hospital. It wasn't long until two of the nurses in blue scrubs came in to wheel Sylvia out of the room in her hospital bed, the white band around her wrist with her name printed on it.

"Thank you, Sylvia," I couldn't help but tell her as they started to wheel her out. She was giving my best friends brother and her son's best friend a chance at a full life, having a procedure done when she didn't have to. Aras wasn't even my family and I was grateful for what Sylvia was doing. It would make a family's life a lot brighter.

"It's the right thing to do, Danny. I'll be fine. Just relax with Finn," she told me with a comforting smile. Her attention turned to Finn as he gave her a short kiss. "I love you, Baby."

"I love you too, Sylvia Riley. You're family will be waiting for you," Finn smiled with all of his heart at his wife. I couldn't imagine being that in love. They gave me butterflies just watching them hold hands. It was almost sickening. They were disgustingly cute. The kind you just wanted to punch in the face for making you feel forever alone.

I watched as her white bed got wheeled out of the room and down the hall, the door shutting behind the cluster of nurses. I glanced at Finn as he sat down in a blue faux leather chair, running his hand through his hair and resting his elbows on his knees. "How the hell did my dumb ass brother end up with the most amazing girl in the world?" I asked quite honestly, amazed at how sweet and selfless Sylvia was. Anyone who said she wasn't a role model was a fucking fool.

"I wake up and ask myself that every day. It's like waiting for the axe to drop and for her to realize I'm not enough," Finn murmured. "She's my fucking world."

"The axe is never going to drop, Finn," I told him honestly. I wouldn't put it past him to seriously still think he wasn't enough after eighteen years together. That's half their lives. "You guys are the strongest and most loving couple I've ever seen. If you're being serious right now, I swear I will beat the fuck out of you."

"I know we're meant to be. I'd do anything for her, I'm just saying it still feels like in a little kid getting away with something he shouldn't have." He really loved her more than anything in the world. The sun rose and set with Sylvia and their kids. It was beautiful.