When Dreams Change, page 24
Under the covers of the bed, they slowed down. Deep kisses led to passionate bites and scratches as they enjoyed all the sensations together. Lennox felt herself dripping on the bed as her mouth found Jenna’s nipple. It hardened under her tongue, making them both moan.
Lennox’s hand wandered to Jenna’s thigh just as the door clicked and opened. “Mom?” Wren called from the entryway. “Oh shit. Sorry,” Wren squeaked, the door slamming behind her.
Jenna jumped out of the bed, taking the sheets with her and leaving Lennox to roll off the other side of the bed. It was pure reflex since it was only the two of them in the room now.
“I should probably go talk to her. Shit, I forgot I gave her an extra key in case she wanted some downtime away from her other teammates. Where are my clothes?” Jenna scanned the floor, seemingly seeing nothing since she’d passed over the garments a few times now.
Jumping up into action, Lennox walked around the room buck naked, picking up clothes from all directions. Her heart hammered as she watched Jenna redress, which was infinitely less exciting. Lennox was bursting with questions, and hoped Jenna was okay, but couldn’t get her tongue unglued to ask.
Fully dressed, Jenna stepped towards the door before shaking herself and turning to Lennox, who was searching for her outfit. She looked up at Jenna’s burst of laughter.
Falling to the bed, Jenna rested her hands on her thighs as a deep belly laugh rumbled through the room. “I’m sorry, but that was so awkward, and you’ve only found your socks.” Jenna held her side as she pointed to Lennox’s feet.
“The clothes were everywhere.” Lennox joined in chuckling at the turn of events.
Standing from the bed, Jenna walked over and plucked Lennox’s bra that had somehow made it to the TV. She dangled it in front of Lennox’s face by the tip of her finger. “I’m sorry, Lennox, I have to go talk to her.” She stepped closer. Lennox’s heart thudded loudly in her ears.
Jenna was examining her face, making her cheek twitch. Whatever she found as their gazes met caused her to use the tips of her toes to raise herself to Lennox’s lips. “I love you. We’ll talk soon.”
Lennox grabbed her shoulders, pulling her close. The bra tumbled to the ground. The sensation of being naked and hugging a fully clothed person made her skin itch, but that didn’t stop the moment from being perfect. “I love you too,” Lennox whispered before they kissed again. “Go talk with your daughter.” Lennox gently pushed her towards the door with a smile when she saw Jenna hesitating.
When Lennox was alone in the room, she blew out an aggressive huff of breath, trying to dissect all her feelings. The major one was warmth spreading across her chest at hearing Jenna loved her.
Jenna’s shoulders relaxed after perusing the hotel lobby and seeing Wren and Zayla huddled together. Wren’s back was to her, but Zayla was laughing so it couldn’t be all bad.
As she approached the duo she called Wren’s name out hesitantly, not wanting to startle them.
“I’m sorry you had to see that. Are you okay?” Jenna stopped a few feet from her daughter who had finally turned around.
“Mom, I can’t look at you or Coach for a while.” Her eyes twinkled with teasing.
“That might be hard with the tournament starting soon,” Jenna shot back. “Did you need something? Why did you stop by the room?”
“Oh, nothing, we just wanted to commandeer your TV to watch the first episode of this dating show. It has all queer women living in a house together.” Wren shrugged, waving at Brooke and Addison from across the room.
Jenna shook her head. All of that for a TV show. “All right, I’m sure the coaches want you all at the fields soon, so get ready.”
Jenna returned to her room, bummed to discover Lennox had already left but knew she couldn’t keep her in a locked tower. Jenna shook her head at the mental image.
Out of sorts, Jenna wandered to the window, trying to decide what to do with the rest of her day when her phone lit up with a text from Mary asking if she wanted to go shopping and have lunch. The option allowed her to get out of her head and out of the room that seemed cooler now that Lennox wasn’t there to keep her warm. She sent an affirmative to meet at the mall.
The next morning, Jenna woke to the smell of brewing coffee and light filtering on her face through a crack in the drawn curtains in her hotel room.
The previous night came to mind. She and Lennox finally had uninterrupted time talking and touching. The love radiating from Lennox’s eyes was worth the journey they took getting there.
“Good morning.” Lennox leaned over the bed and kissed the top of Jenna’s head. Jenna heard a thunk on the bedside table but was too boneless to sit up to see what it was. The smell of coffee strengthened, ending the extremely short mystery.
“Mornin’,” Jenna rasped as she sat up, deciding to put an end to the comfortable cocoon she’d created. “Thanks for the coffee.” Reaching over, she sniffed the earthy blend before taking a tentative sip.
“No problem. I have to get to the field for the first game. There is some room service coming in a few minutes with all your favorites. So relax and enjoy, and I’ll see you around the fields.” Lennox gulped down the rest of her coffee.
“Thanks for the food. I’ll need it if I want to get out of this bed and watch my daughter’s final few high school games. Good luck today,” Jenna added after Lennox’s lips met hers.
“We can lose games for the rest of time, and I’ll still feel lucky because of you.” Lennox’s sincerity rippled across Jenna’s skin, followed by her hands.
A few more minutes and Lennox’s panting could be heard over the blast of air conditioning. “You better go before I tie you to this bed.” Jenna pushed at Lennox’s shoulders with the strength of a flea.
“Insatiable.” Lennox laughed, pecking her lips one last time before straightening her clothes.
The door clicked shut, leaving Jenna time to find a shirt before a room service knock interrupted the quiet. When she saw the food, if she hadn’t been head over heels in love already, this would have pushed her over the edge. Her heart felt like it was going to burst.
The games flew by quickly. Jenna sat huddled on the metal bench, wishing she’d had the foresight to bring her padded camping chair to help make the hours on her butt more manageable.
They made it to the championship game. Jenna was fatigued just watching them, but adrenaline and the scent of victory seemed to fuel the players. While Zayla and Wren had traded off playing throughout the tournament, Jenna was secretly glad to see her daughter in the pitching circle for the last game.
There were two outs with one runner on base. Sitka was up by two, but it was still early in the game, with enough innings left for the girls not to get cocky and make mistakes. Wren zipped in the pitch the batter swung at but missed. The runner left the bag as soon as the ball flew out of Wren’s hand. Ava jumped up and threw a dart to second, but the runner slid safely into the base.
Jenna could see the tension in Wren’s shoulders. Wren watched Ava call a pitch, shaking off the first one before settling on the second. As Wren rocked back for her windup, Jenna could immediately tell something was off. She jumped up off the bleachers, already down three steps by the time Wren collapsed on the field.
Ava was the first one to notice her go down. She tore off her catcher’s mask and ran to Wren. All chaos broke loose, but all Jenna could see was the path to get to her daughter.
Lennox was calling for something, yelling and pointing in the distance away from the field, but Jenna’s ears were dull with panic, and she couldn’t make out what people were saying. Unable to find the entrance to the field, Jenna hopped the fence and ran, pushing through the crowd that had gathered around her daughter.
“She’s not breathing,” Ava muttered over and over. Her knees were in the dirt beside Wren.
Training started kicking in, but it took everything Jenna had not to succumb to the panic that wanted to crawl up her throat when she saw her daughter begin to turn the unnatural color of someone whose heart had stopped.
“Everyone, move out of the way.” Lennox pushed girls aside to get to Wren, Hazel and Tyler not far behind her.
Dropping down, Lennox started chest compressions, something Jenna had been a fraction away from starting herself. But she still felt frozen to the ground. She was a nurse, for fuck’s sake. Jenna flinched as the air filled with the sound of ribs and cartilage cracking.
“I have Hazel on the phone with 911 and a group of people are locating the AED. There should be one at the field. I was talking with the ump about it yesterday.” Lennox’s voice was tight but controlled as she talked to the group. “Make a path when you see them running with the AED. We need to get that on her immediately.”
Jenna couldn’t take her tear-filled eyes off Wren as she watched Lennox continue CPR with sheer terror in her heart. Shouts came from behind and she saw girls from the other team wave the device in the air as they tried to find the fastest route to the field.
“Clear a space,” Jenna finally got out, pulling girls out of the way to ensure the Automated External Defibrillator got to Wren as soon as humanly possible. “Zayla, open up Wren’s shirt. We’re going to need to put this on her bare torso,” Jenna called as Lennox hastily continued with compressions. Jenna turned to run and meet the group with the AED. They were stuck on the other side of the fence. “Throw it over. I’ll take it.” Luckily, the girls were all softball players, and the device fell neatly into Jenna’s hands before she turned and ran back to Wren’s side. Her legs strained as they pumped towards her daughter.
Jenna opened the case, pulling out the clearly marked leads and putting them on Wren’s body.
“Stop compressions, Lennox. Everybody stand back,” Jenna demanded shakily. Her body trembled as she tried to keep bile from rising up her throat. Her daughter’s chest was reddened from the compressions and not moving up and down like it had since the moment of her birth. The stillness almost broke her.
Lennox scooted away as they all waited for the shock to complete. In a robotic voice, the AED stated, “Begin CPR again.”
Lennox got into position and started pressing in rhythm with the beats the AED was putting off. Jenna’s eyes were glued to her daughter. It took everything she had not to release the primal yell that was clawing at her throat.
“Come on, Wren, you’re a fucking fighter. Now fight!” Lennox mumbled as she continued pressing her chest.
The ambulance came shortly after. A gurney was whisked onto the field as two EMTs took over Wren’s care. Jenna’s gasping sobs followed them as she asked to ride in the back with her.
They agreed, letting Lennox know what hospital was closest. The doors of the ambulance closed and through the window, Jenna could see the tear-stained, shocked faces of all the players, not just Sitka’s. This was bigger than one game and shook everyone to the core.
Her eyes locked onto Lennox, who mouthed she would be right behind her. Wrapping her arms around herself, Jenna nodded before turning her attention to Wren. Tubes, wires, and pads were draped all around her, but the one comfort Jenna took was the steady beep of a heartbeat—a sound she would never take for granted again.
“Do you need anything?” Lennox’s voice seemed loud in the quiet hospital room.
Jenna reached to her, seeing she was hovering in the doorway. “No. I had an energy bar in my purse.”
Lennox stood behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder while Jenna stayed at Wren’s bedside. They observed her for a moment while she slept. The day’s events were pressing hard on Jenna’s nervous system.
“Do they know what happened?” Lennox asked after a moment.
“They think she has some electrical heart problems brought on by stress or exercise. It was a sudden cardiac arrest. They have more tests to run but now that they know there is an issue, they can work on getting her the help she needs.” Jenna felt a squeeze on her shoulder.
“That’s good. Do they know if she needs surgery?” Lennox leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
“They still have to run tests. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. I’m a nurse, I should have known she had something going on.” Jenna’s voice broke along with her heart. Seeing Wren on the field like that would be etched in her memory forever.
“You know she could have gone her whole life without knowing she had a condition. That’s the point of it being a sudden cardiac arrest. If she wasn’t having any symptoms beforehand, how would you have known to look?” Lennox reasoned gently.
Sighing. she tilted her neck to lean against Lennox’s body. “I know. It’s hard not to blame myself. Thanks for being here.”
“There is absolutely nowhere I’d rather be. We’ll get through this.” Lennox ran her fingers through Jenna’s hair.
“We will. Wren’s a fighter. She just needs time to heal.” Jenna patted the top of her daughter’s hand, maneuvering around the tubes.
“We’ll give her that and more—together, okay?” Lennox crouched down beside Jenna’s chair, studying her eyes.
“Together,” Jenna whispered, feeling hope for the first time all day. Knowing Lennox was there to help her through the turbulent time to come was everything.
Chapter 18
Changes
Six months later
Christmas music filtered lightly from the speakers, and all the wildlife mounted on the walls had Santa hats on. Lennox swayed, waiting for the passengers to get off the plane. The flight had been delayed for a few hours due to the weather, but people had finally started coming through the gate. Passengers were still disembarking when the light started flashing for the luggage carousel. Since Sitka was such a tiny airport with one gate, the mayhem could get overwhelming.
“Coach, hi!” Zayla held out a finger to her parents who were waiting off to the side before walking towards Lennox with a tentative smile.
“Zayla, how’s it going? How was your first semester of college?”
Lennox kept an eye on the passengers but knew Lila would be one of the last since she was an unaccompanied minor and needed a flight crew member to bring her down.
“It was great. I wish Wren had decided to come. I miss her. Do you know how she’s doing?”
Lennox was in a bit of a pickle. Wren had put off going to college, wanting to be near her support network in Sitka, and had broken things off with Zayla before the summer ended, wanting to give Zayla a clean break for college. “She’s doing okay.”
It was only half the truth. She was fine physically now that her condition was managed, but some of her spark had been missing since they got back from the hospital in Fairbanks. Personally, Lennox thought it would do her well to hang out with Zayla, Ava, and Navy, who were all back for winter break, but she wasn’t sure it would happen.
Zayla’s shoulders fell, probably hoping for a more detailed report. “Please tell her hi and that I miss her. She’s not returning any of my texts. I should say hello to my parents. Bye Coach, it was good seeing you.” Zayla walked away, sadness radiating from her.
Lennox suddenly caught sight of the carbon copy of Jayden. Lila’s glasses were slipping off her face as she hiked up her backpack further on her shoulders. Her eyes scanned the area she and Lennox had picked out the first time she visited Sitka years ago. She started walking towards Lennox, her head now bent to the phone powering up in her hand.
“Excuse me? Have you seen my daughter? She used to be this tall, but all I see is this grown person in front of me,” Lennox joked, pulling Lila into a hug. She caught the beginning of an eye roll.
“Hi, Mama,” she mumbled to her shoulder. “I haven’t grown that much since you visited this summer.”
“How was the flight?” Lennox asked, walking towards the belt for Lila’s suitcase.
“Fine,” she responded succinctly, saying nothing more as her fingers flew over the screen, compiling a text. The first few days were always a little weird. It took some getting used to each other again. It was worth seeing her daughter, but it did cause slight discomfort until they settled back into a routine.
Since Lila was on the cusp of teen hood, Lennox had to adjust the way she talked to her. Gone were the goofy jokes and funny voices that had endlessly entertained her kid a few years back.
Grabbing her suitcase, she put her hand on Lila’s shoulder and helped guide her from the airport. Lila tucked her phone in her pocket when their feet crunched under the snow.
Little Chef was waiting in the car, his head framed in the window. “Lila, this is Little Chef, although he isn’t so little anymore.” The dog had become long and gangly as he grew into his body, much like Lila, who seemed klutzy in her longer-limbed growth spurt.
After tucking the suitcase into her car, Lennox began the trip back to town. Her usually chatty daughter was silent as she looked out the window.
“Where are we going?” Lila asked when she saw them turn away from the road they usually took to get to Lennox’s house.
“We’re going to Jenna’s place,” Lennox said.
“Are you going to marry her?” Lila asked, turning in her seat. Little Chef was relegated to the back but had moved his head to the center console, hoping for some pets. Lila was definitely a cat person and seemed a little leery of the excitable dog.
“I would like to someday.” Lennox saw no need to withhold the truth. Lila had ’met’ Jenna a few times on FaceTime, and they seemed to get along all right.
“Do I have to call her Mama Jenna? I have so many moms already.” Lila shook her head.
Laughing, Lennox flicked on the blinker and slowed the car for the turn into Jenna’s driveway. “You can call her whatever you’re most comfortable with.”
Lennox saw Lila nod in the reflection of the passenger window. She parked and opened the back for the dog, who ran to Lila, sniffing her hand. Leaving Lila’s suitcase for now, they trekked to the front door.
