The light had faded already, leaving the cold glow of the hospital lights above them, yet that was fine with Joe. There was plenty enough light in this room. He just wasn’t sure how long it’d last.
“Are you sure you don’t have to get back to Lily?”
Samantha shook her head. “I called the Newtons while the nurse was checking in on you. They said Lily’s doing more than fine. They said it would probably take a three-alarm fire to distract her from the dollhouse she’s been playing with.”
Joe chuckled. He could see her just kneeling, playing with the imaginary house and the imaginary people. That was the beauty of being a child. You still dreamt of having the perfect home with the perfect family. The only thing that ever broke in dollhouses were the toys inside them. Lily didn’t know that part of growing older was having your heart broken.
“Do you have any regrets, Joe?”
Samantha might have detected some melancholy on his face. He gave her a nod.
“Nothing but regrets. But no complaints.”
The coughing came and grabbed him for a while, shaking him and causing him to close his eyes with the rattling. When he opened his eyes, Samantha just sat there with an affirming and sympathetic look.
“Those regrets put me on my knees,” he said. “And with that I got forgiveness. But you know—I really would’ve liked to ask you out on a date.”
A shade of color drifted over her kind face as she gave him a shy smile. It was such a sweet thing to see. So different from the terror that had filled her face the first time he met her in the hospital.
“So you think I would’ve said yes?” Samantha asked.
He laughed at the comment. In another world, they might have met and been sitting somewhere else having the same conversation. She might not have been homeless and he might not have been near death’s door.
But we would’ve never met then.
She moved closer to the bed.
“Joe. We haven’t known you very long, but no man has ever treated us better. So consider my answer a definite ‘yes.’ Effective as of this moment.”
“So this is our first date?”
She gave him a charming nod.
“Okay,” he said. “But only if you let me pick up the tab.”
He expected to get another chuckle out of her, but this seemed to make her want to cry.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to joke. I just—sometimes it’s easier.”
Samantha nodded and understood. “I just wish . . . I wish there was something I could do.”
She still has no idea.
“There is,” Joe said.
“What’s that?”
“Could I see Lily one last time? I’ll understand if the answer is no.”
He didn’t have to wait for her to say something. The answer was in her eyes.
That look . . . It was one of the best ones. The kind you remember the rest of your life. The kind you carry to your grave.