“Mr. Kagan?”
“Please.” Simon got to the desk and nearly sagged under the stress and worry. “Where is she?”
“Right this way. She’s resting. We’ve given her IV fluids and checked her over the best we can. We don’t have the facilities of a hospital. We’ve tried to move her—”
“No. No, we’ll be taking her home.”
Her wide dark eyes met Simon’s. “All right. The doctor is with her now.” She smoothed a hand over her curls, brushed ruthlessly into a bun. “Right this way.”
Nick was behind him, and Aidan was speaking on the phone in the waiting room. He was grateful for their presence even as he couldn’t take time to express it.
The small room at the far end of the hall had an actual door. The tiny window didn’t afford much of a view, but then her heart-shaped face devoid of makeup was right there.
So close.
All he had to do was open the door.
God, right there, she was okay.
Simon ran a shaking hand through his hair and the whole room went dark.
“Okay. Here we go.” Nick grabbed him by the arm and hauled him to the small alcove right near the door. “Okay. Breathe, man.”
Simon gripped Nick’s forearm and sagged against the wall. His knees gave out and he almost went down. “I can’t. What if… She—”
“Hey now. She’s good. She’s stronger than any of us. Okay, maybe as strong as Li. But she’s certainly stronger than us two idiots.”
“Jesus, I brought this down on her. My mother. My fucking family.” Simon bent at the waist and stared at his feet as the black dots crowded in on him. “God, I almost lost her.”
“But you didn’t.” Nick crouched down next to him. “You didn’t. She’s here and she’s fine.” He gripped his shoulder—hard. “She’s fucking here and needs you.”
Simon ran a trembling hand over his face.
Nick disappeared and came back with a tiny cup of water. “Probably would do better with a fucking belt of vodka.”
“God, yes.” But he knew he’d never come out of that bottle. Not right now. He’d drown in it and he couldn’t. Could never go there again.
“Your family needs you.”
Simon looked up.
“What do you call the baby? Lemon drop?”
Simon huffed out a half-laugh. “Yes. She’s the size of a lemon right now.”
“Margo and your lemon drop need you. Your real family. They’re the important ones right now. You can fall apart later.”
Simon shook his head. “Right. You’re right.” He stood up and fisted his hands until they stopped shaking. “If I lost her... I don’t think I’d survive it.”
“You didn’t.”
“You didn’t see her face. That woman. My mother. How I could come from her…”
“We both came from absolute shit. But we’re not them. We never have been them, even at our worst. And we have these strong, capable women who make us even better. That’s where your head needs to be. Not back there in the shit. Here, for your wife and your baby.”
A lump eased in his chest. “When did you get so level-headed?”
“Sex with Li must infuse through the skin or something.”