What the hell would be happening if she wasn’t here right now?
Paige nods but doesn’t say much. She just stands over Grandma, loyal till the end, intent on giving everything she can.
Two paramedics burst through my grandmother’s office door a second later. The woman unfolds a gurney while her partner checks Grandma’s pulse the same way Paige did multiple times.
“Present but slow,” he calls.
“We’re ready for her,” the woman answers.
The other paramedic lays her on the gurney, and they start rolling to the elevator with her. Paige and I follow behind at a rapid clip.
“Where’s Nick?” she asks.
“Nick? The guy panicking in the lobby?” The lady paramedic walking backward behind Grandma shakes her head. “Some people don’t handle this well.”
“One person can ride in the ambulance. Everyone else takes a separate car,” the male paramedic says.
“Ward, you should probably ride in the ambulance. Nick, he’s—well—Nick.” Paige’s voice is quiet.
Damn if I don’t smile for the briefest second.
That’s the best way to sum up my little brother I’ve ever heard.
“Come with us?” I ask.
Fuck, I hate the way I sound. That wasn’t supposed to be a question.
“What? Why? Really?” she asks, blinking those lush green eyes.
“Yes, really. I need someone who can think straight. It’s not me today, and you’ve met Nick.”
“He’s upset today, too.”
“I know, so we need you,” I whisper.
What the hell am I saying? I don’t need anyone.
Miss Holly nods.
At this point, we’re getting off the elevator on the first floor behind the paramedics.
Nick stands in the middle of the hall, looking distraught. “They were here and then they weren’t.”
“It’s okay. We’re going to the hospital right now,” Paige says.
I veer my head toward her. “She’ll drive you. I’m going in the ambulance.”
“Why?” he asks.
“Unless you’re comfortable and clearheaded enough to okay medical interventions, I need to be in the ambulance.” I hate the bite in my own voice, but this man can be such a knucklehead.
He nods, recovering his wits. He grabs Paige’s hand and pulls her outside. Reese is parked right behind the ambulance. I watch them jump into the back of the car.
Nick, calm the fuck down, I think.
But there’s no time to fumble. Not when Grandma needs us like never before.
The second she’s in the ambulance, I climb in, steeling myself.
For everyone’s sake, I need to step the fuck up.
The three of us sit in a hospital waiting room for hours.
Miss Holly excuses herself, and when she comes back, she’s holding a mocha in one hand and a black drip in the other.
I snort with surprise when I take the cup.
“Just Ward today? No decaf? No rat in a heat-resistant suit waiting to jump out?” I joke.
“Not today.” She just gives me this gut-punching smile.
“Paige, thank you,” Nick says as he takes his mocha and slurps before saying, “We’re not at work and this is an emergency. You didn’t have to fetch the coffee.”
“I thought I’d be nice to my bosses,” she says sweetly.
My eyes flick to those plush pink lips. I know it’s the last place I should ever be fixated on her mouth, but fuck if my mind isn’t dragged in a hundred senseless directions.
“You’re nice every day,” Nick says firmly.
I flash him a dirty look. Why would he say that shit?
If he plans on making her his flavor of the week, smitten with her caring touch, he has another thing coming. She works with us and it’s totally inappropriate.
Also, I met her first, so he’s got no damn claim to—
Like I said. Inappropriate.
End of story.
She smiles at Nick but doesn’t say anything more. I get the sense she’s trying to fight back some sarcastic barb meant for me.
She smooths her skirt out as she sits down beside Nick, tucking one creamy leg behind the other.
There’s something regal about the way she moves.
She covers her mouth to let out a yawn and pulls out her hair tie. Threaded gold cascades down her back and shoulders, framing her like a halo sent from a better place.
It’s every bit a sucker punch to my chest and my badly behaved dick.
Yes, I know what a piece of crap I am, thank you very much.
I called this girl a drunk, a reckless idiot, and then she went and saved my grandmother’s life.
Sighing, I put the cup she gave me to my lips and suck in bitter black nirvana, wishing it could wash away my guilt.
You need to make this right, jackass.
A woman in blue scrubs comes up to us. “Brandt party?”
Nick and I stand at the same time.
“That’s us,” I say.
“Is she okay?” Nick sputters, coughing into his hand.
“She’s in recovery right now. She’ll be getting moved soon. I’m afraid she won’t be going home tonight. Room three forty-five will be hers, if you find it more comfortable, you can wait there.”
Nick nods and looks at me. “We should be there when she arrives. I don’t want her waking in a hospital room alone.”