Chapter 120: Divine Intervention
The phone call had been a bolt from the blue. Brandon had still been wallowing in self-pity, replaying the events of the past few weeks in his mind, when his phone rang. He had been reluctant to answer it until he thought that it might be his grandmother. Instead, it was a nurse from the hospital. Lyse had woken up. And she was asking for him.
A surge of disbelief, followed by an overwhelming sense of hope, flooded through him. He had not spoken to Lyse since that disastrous dinner at her parents house, he had tried to reach her but she had constantly rebuffed him.
The guilt had eaten at him, a constant reminder of his betrayal. He had realized much too late that he loved her, he had been blinded by lust and his stupidity. He had resigned himself to the fact that he had lost her forever.
Now, this call. It felt like a miracle. Had she forgiven him? Had she somehow found it in her heart to give him another chance? He didn’t dare to fully believe it, but the flicker of hope was enough to propel him into action.
Maybe she had become disillusioned with Levi and decided to move on from him. In his deluded mind, Brandon was eager to be reunited with Lyse and he did not think that it was out of character for her to want to go from father to son.
He hurriedly washed his face and threw on a jacket, grabbed his keys, and rushed out of his apartment for the first time in weeks, his heart pounding with anticipation. The drive to the hospital felt like an eternity. He replayed imagined scenarios in his head, picturing their reunion, rehearsing the words he would say to her.
When he arrived at the hospital, he practically ran to her room. He hesitated for a moment outside the door, taking a deep breath to compose himself. He wanted to appear strong, confident, the man she had once loved.
Before he opened the door, he faltered, wondering if Levi would be in there. He took a deep breath and stepped inside. Lyse was alone in the room, sitting up in bed, her eyes wide and slightly unfocused. She looked fragile, but beautiful as ever.
"Brandon?" she whispered, her voice weak but filled with a hint of recognition.