Stefan picked up on my uneasiness. “Don’t worry. She’s up and acting like herself already. Cash and Olivia are in there, but they’ll be leaving soon so it will just be us.”
Peeking in, I saw Olivia smile at me. Turning toward Stefan, I asked, “Are you sure? I’m a total stranger to your mother.”
Those deep brown eyes looked down at me, making me feel like I wanted to do anything to make him happy. “It’s okay. I told her I wanted to have you here with me. She knows you’re coming.”
“What did you tell her about me?” I asked, unsure what he could have said to his mother since all we’d been was sex and a couple weeks of pretending to be friends.
“I told her you and I had hung out on the beach at the house and you’d buried me in sand. It made her laugh for the first time all day. So don’t worry, okay? I’ll be right there with you.”
I took a deep breath. “All right. I’m just glad she’s going to be all right. You looked so worried this morning I was afraid it would be bad news.”
Stefan leaned down and kissed me softly. “I hope we can pick up where we left off soon.”
Knowing his mother, Cassian, and Olivia were just a few feet away made me blush at Stefan’s reference to us having sex again and I rolled my eyes. “Nice. Now I’m going to be all red when I walk in.”
“Don’t worry. I’m just like my mother, so you know what to expect.”
He took my hand and squeezed it, and a soft female voice from inside the room said, “Stefan, are you out there with someone? Don’t make her stand out there in the hallway. Come in.”
Now I had no choice. I had to go in to meet her. I swallowed hard and put my sweetest smile on as I headed in to meet the mother of the man I’d just begun sleeping with. No pressure or strangeness.
Right.
I tagged behind Stefan, gripping his hand tightly, like a nervous child going to school for the first time. Olivia and Cassian stood at her bedside next to an enormous window, and for a moment I wished I was anywhere outside in the distance than there in that room. Oddly enough, even though I’d spent years studying all facets of organisms found in the human body, I found basic sickness something I’d never been comfortable with. Added to that the pressure of meeting someone’s mother for the first time and I was a nervous wreck.
He stopped at the foot of her bed and said, “Mom, this is Shay.” Looking down at me, he smiled. “Shay, this is my mother, Alexandria March.”
Alexandria March sat upright in a hospital bed, her stark white sheet and blanket neatly folded across her lap. She wore a satin blue nightgown like my mother wore when we had guests at our house—far fancier than anything I ever wore to bed. It hid most of her shape, but I could tell by her face and neck that underneath all that fabric she was thin.
Her eyes were the identical deep brown color of Stefan’s, and in many ways, she looked like her younger son, right down to the brown shade of her hair. I had no idea how old she was, but she had a young look to her face, especially when she smiled. Instantly, she made me feel at ease, even though I stood there in her hospital room a near perfect stranger.
“Shay, it’s very nice to meet you. You must be the second shift since Cassian and Olivia are leaving.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. March.”
She giggled and looked over at Olivia, who hadn’t taken her eyes off me since I’d entered the room. “Oh, she’s just like you with the Mrs. March business.” Smiling at me, she continued, “Please feel free to call me Alexandria.”
Cassian spoke up and moved to his mother’s side. “Mom, we’ll leave you with Stefan and Shay. Olivia and I will come back later and make sure you don’t need anything.” Leaning over, he kissed her on the cheek and Olivia did the same.
“Feel better, Alexandria. I’ll bring you those magazines later so you have something to keep yourself busy.”
“Don’t worry about me, you two. I’ll see you later.”
Olivia winked at me as she left, like she knew more about me than I could imagine, and then Stefan and I were left alone with his mother. He moved around her bed to drag a wooden chair over for me, and I sat down next to her bed near the nightstand. Behind me, I felt his hands on the back of the chair, making me feel like I was truly with him there.
“Stefan’s told me a lot about you, Shay. A scientist. That’s impressive. What kind of science?”
“Microbiology.”
“Interesting.” She moved her gaze from my face to Stefan’s above me. “Honey, will you go to the gift shop and get me something to read?”
The confusion in his voice was clear after hearing what Olivia had just said. “You don’t want to wait until Olivia brings you the magazines?”
“I’ll need something to do until the next shift comes in after you two leave, so pick me up Time and The Enquirer.” She looked at me and smiled. “I like to be in the know, but I can’t help but be curious about what Hollywood stars are doing. Do you know who I love? That Robert Downey Jr. There’s a success story I love!”
“Okay, Mom. Shay and I won’t be long.”
A slow smile spread across her lips. “Shay can stay here with me so we can get to know each other. Take your time.”
Alexandria March obviously didn’t feel the need to be subtle. I looked back at Stefan and bit my lip nervously. Smiling down at me, he said, “You okay hanging out here?”
“I’m fine. I’ll bore your mother with talk of all things microbiology.”
His hand rested on my shoulder for a moment and then he turned to leave. “I’ll be back in a few. Don’t tell Shay about any of my more embarrassing childhood stories, okay Mom?”
Alexandria winked at him. “I make no promises.”
I listened as Stefan’s footfalls disappeared out into the hallway and watched his mother as she seemed to study me. Obviously, she wanted to be alone with me, but why?
Nervous, I blurted out, “Stefan takes after you. You have the same brown eyes.”
“He does,” she said with a genuine smile. “Cassian looks just like his father, but Stefan is definitely my son.”
I sat there waiting for her to say something else, but she didn’t and all the anxiety I’d had about coming to see her rushed back. Bracing myself for whatever she might say, I was surprised by her next words.
“Stefan likes you, Shay. I’m sure you know that. You’re an intelligent girl. Some people might ask what someone so intelligent would see in him, but I have a different question for you. Do you think he’s just what you see on the outside?”