Molly made it to her room before she passed out, thankfully landing on her bed when she did. She had no concept of time when the knock on her door roused her. “Molly? It’s Liam.”
“Come in,” she beckoned, not even noticing that she spoke aloud. She opened her eyes just enough to see his humble face that was laced with concern at her exhaustion. “Lock both doors and come lay down.”
Liam obeyed, sinking down next to her in the dark room and brushing his hand over her arm. “Long day?”
Molly nodded. “You have no idea. How’s your mom?”
He kissed her forehead, studying her feminine form now that her eyes were closed. The moon was the only illumination he had, but it sufficed to highlight her beauty. “She’s not in pain, so that’s good. Kinda out of it, though. Barely lucid. How was work?”
“Take off your shirt,” she murmured, still not opening her eyes.
“That good, eh? Moll, we can’t fool around. You can’t even open your eyes!” He laughed softly at her frown.
“I thought you were still groveling. Take off your shirt, DiNatali.”
The merriment in his voice was easy to spot. “Yes, ma’am. Man, are you a bossy one. Get your voice back, collect a few IOUs, and you turn into a dominatrix. Good for you.” He kissed her parted lips, and then removed his shirt, slipping into bed beside her.
“I’m too tired to fool around. Could we just sleep together?” Molly struggled to get her scrubs shirt off so she could sleep in her tank top beneath, but her exhaustion and hunger were making her clumsy with the material. “Help!” she whined pathetically.
Liam sniggered and straddled her as he slowly extracted her from her formless shirt, revealing a dainty figure that drew his eyes like a beacon. Then he inched off her shoes and socks, noticing her hiss when he touched her ankle. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired. What time is it?”
“Nine at night. You worked, what? Twelve hours? You look like you could’ve used a few more breaks.”
She shook her head. “Didn’t take a break.”
“They let you eat on the job in a hospital?”
Molly frowned, shaking her head. “It was a birth, Liam. If the mom can’t stop to take a break, neither can I.”
“Molly, when was the last time you ate anything?”
Molly slid under the thin sheet. “When was yesterday?”
Liam inhaled deeply and closed his eyes. “I missed you.” He was surprised at the number of things he had missed about her that day. “I’ll be right back.” He covered her sensual curves with the comforter and kissed her temple. Then he disappeared for five minutes, reappearing with a glass of orange juice and toast with peanut butter. “Sorry,” he said, helping her to sit up in her confused state. “Tomorrow I’ll take you out for a real meal. But for now, just eat this.”
“I’m so tired, Liam,” she whispered, sitting up and slumping against his shoulder.
“I know. Eat this, and then we’ll get good and half-naked under the covers. You can boss me around all you want. Just humor me for now.”
The juice brought her to a more moderate state of tiredness instead of supreme exhaustion. The peanut butter toast helped her to be able to sit up on her own. When she finished, they lay down beside each other, limbs entangled as they shared parts of their day. Molly recapped the horror and the glory of the whole birthing experience. Liam filled Molly in on his mother’s quickly deteriorating state. Hospice was due to come in the next afternoon to take her to a more comfortable facility for her last days.
Liam had a resigned sadness in his eyes that Molly was thankfully aware enough to take notice of. He tried to brush off his pain like it was all just a part of life he had already accepted. Molly said nothing, but instead brought his head to her breast and stroked his dark hair lovingly.
“I don’t know why I stayed away so long. I guess I just expected my parents would always be there, and nothing would change when I came home. But my mom’s dying, Moll. She’s dying too quick for me, but not quick enough for her. How’d you deal when it was your parents?”
Molly’s hand stilled in his hair. She never spoke about that dark period of her life. She was so young; she scarcely remembered it as anything more than a horror-filled blur. “I don’t know. I was three, so my parents didn’t have the time to make the impression your mom did on you. I just remember being scared all the time. I landed here, so there wasn’t much point in talking it out.” She smiled as his hand found her hip, holding her tight in hopes of soothing them both. “One day I woke up and didn’t think about it as much. Then a few months later, it was a little less.” Her eyes closed in shame. “Now I barely remember them.”
“I don’t want to forget my mom. And I really don’t want this week to be how I remember her.” There, in the quietness of Molly’s room, Liam finally broke down. He cried silently into her bosom as he confessed all the things he wished he had done differently, the number one being that he regretted missing out on the last decade of his family’s life. He saw Nate every few years, and his parents came to a few games when they could make the trip out, but he had missed it all. As glamorous as the job he worked so hard to get was, he was miserable. And now his mother was dying, and he had nothing but lame excuses as to why he was not there through her failed chemo and the whole wretched journey.
“I barely recognized her!” he blubbered into her breasts, the soft mounds muffling the sound. “She’s so thin and fragile now. She doesn’t really even know we’re there.” He confessed his regrets from childhood and his teen years, even admitting to a few dastardly deeds he and his friends had gotten up to that upset his mom a great deal at the time. He told Molly about the falling out he had with Jess, and the sister who went from teenager to wife and mother of six in a breath that he missed out on. Like Molly was his priest, Liam gave over his secrets.
Molly stroked his hair until he had cried out a decade’s worth of denied tears into her wet bosom. The hulking man was reduced to a shell as he shuddered against her. “I’m sorry, Molly. I’m so sorry. You’ve been perfect. I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”
“Shh. No one’s perfect, Liam. I make mistakes, just like you do. It’s normal that you’ve made some bad choices. No one expects you to be Superman. Except for you, I guess.”
“I’ve got no one, Moll. I’m on the road during the game season, then traveling between teams during the off-season.”
She slowed her fingers as they dragged over his scalp, hoping the languorous motion would calm him. Molly waited to make sure there was not more before she spoke. “Liam, you’re not alone. If you’re unhappy, let’s make a plan.”
Liam’s breathing slowed as his panic died down in her arms. For the first time in a long time, Liam felt the hope that came with comfort. Instead of running, he clung to the warmth Molly offered.