“Sir, I told you, one visitor at a time.”
As if Ian Dare ever thought the rules applied to him. “Let him stay, please?”
Savannah rose to her feet. “I should go.” She leaned down and kissed Sienna’s cheek. “I’ll be in touch, and if you need me, you call me.” She glanced at Ian. “Thank you for looking out for my daughter.”
Ian nodded stiffly.
It pained Sienna but there was nothing she could do to fix this particular relationship.
“So what’s going on?” Ian asked.
Sienna drew a deep breath. “Low blood sugar, apparently. I hadn’t eaten and I just got light-headed and passed out.” She shrugged. “I’m really sorry I gave everyone such a scare. I know they’re probably all out in the waiting room worrying.”
His expression softened. “Well, you did let the doctor tell us that your bloodwork looked good, so they’re calmer. Most have left and said they’d call you later when you were released and back home.”
“Okay.”
“There is someone who hasn’t left.”
She tilted her head to the side. “Who’s that?”
“The man who caught you when you fainted. Ethan Knight.”
Her eyes opened wide and she let out a surprised breath of air, but she had no idea what to say.
“I think he feels responsible for you.” Ian shook his head and laughed. “You know, save a life and all that?”
She rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t go that far. He just kept my head from exploding on the ground. Said like that, I guess it’s a pretty big deal.”
“I think you gave him a scare,” Ian said.
That wasn’t the only thing she’d be giving him, she thought, holding back a laugh of hysteria. She still hadn’t come to terms with the notion of having a baby herself.
She could only imagine what Ethan’s reaction was going to be when he found out.
“Would you mind if he came in? Saw for himself you were okay? I think he’ll be more comfortable leaving then,” Ian said.
Sienna pulled at her bottom lip. “Sure.”
“I’ll go get him. And since they only want one visitor at a time, I’ll wait outside. Riley and I will drive you home when you’re released.” Ian placed a hand on her arm and squeezed for reassurance.
“Thanks, Ian.”
“No problem.” He walked out and she braced herself to see Ethan.
* * *
As soon as Ian walked back into the waiting room, Ethan stood up and strode over.
“She’s fine. Good.” Ian’s easy smile reassured Ethan.
“If you want to go back, no one’s in there with her now. I think they are just waiting for the doctor to sign off on her release.” Ian gestured toward the double doors he’d come through.
“Ian?” Riley walked up to them, her cell phone in hand. “Sick kid at home. I’ve got to go.”
“I came with the ambulance. I was going to drop Sienna off when she was released.” Ian rolled his shoulders, obviously trying to figure out what to do.
“I’ve got it,” Ethan said, the words tumbling out before he could censor them. “I’ll wait around and drive her home.”
Ian shot him a grateful look. “You sure?”
Ethan waved away the other man’s concern. And that’s how he ended up walking back to Sienna’s cubicle, responsible for seeing her home safely now that her family was gone.
He approached the curtain. “Knock knock,” he said because there was no door.
“Come in.”
He pushed back the curtain and walked into the small area. Sienna lay in a hospital bed, her dark hair falling around her face. A saline IV dripped into her and a blood pressure cuff was around her forearm. He didn’t like how pale and fragile she looked or the memories it brought back, seeing her like this.
“Hey.” He forced a smile.
She smiled at him. “Hi.”
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Better.”
He nodded, pulling up a chair and taking a seat beside the bed. “So apparently I’m your ride home. One of Ian and Riley’s kids is sick and they had to go.”
Her eyes opened wide. “You really don’t need to stick around. I can–”
“If you say call an Uber, we’re going to have a definite problem.”
A cute blush stained her cheeks, and the fact that she had color back in her skin made him feel better.
“Okay. Thank you,” she agreed, giving in.
“So.” He didn’t know how to broach the subject but he wanted to know more. He wanted to know everything about Sienna Dare. “Childhood leukemia, huh?”
She ducked her head and groaned. “Stupid family. Big mouths, all of them. Who was it?” she asked.
“Unimportant.” He wasn’t about to throw Ian under the bus. “It came up by way of explaining why your entire family showed up in the waiting room, every one of them in a panic, worried about you.”
She sighed. “I hate being the focus of all that attention. It’s like when I was sick. Everyone worried about me when it was because of me that the entire family was thrown into turmoil. I didn’t understand it when I was that young, but as I grew up, I found out. My father went to his first wife and told her he needed to have his kids tested for a bone marrow transplant for me. His illegitimate kid.” She picked at the fabric on the blanket covering her. “I was the reason for the fallout. The divorce. Ian’s hatred of us for years.”