“She’s not like, naked in there, is she?”
“I mean, no. She’s got a sheet and hospital gown covering the important parts,” she told him as she tugged him along.
Jack swallowed hard, pulling Jessica to a stop in the middle of the hall. “Maybe this isn’t the best time to meet her,” he said. “She probably doesn’t want all kinds of random people waltzing in and out of there.”
“You’re hardly random. You’re my boyfriend, and I love you. Berkley will, too. Now come on, big guy,” she said. “Quit stalling.”
“I’m not stalling,” he said under his breath.
When they pushed into Berkley’s room, Jessica’s mom was the first to react.
“Jack!” she squealed, rushing up to throw her arms around him, then pulling away and taking stock of him. “Oh, it’s good to see you.”
Jack grinned, and Jessica watched some of the tension melt from his shoulders. Her mom had always loved him, and Jessica was confident the rest of her family would, too. “Hi, Michelle. It’s good to see you, too.”
“Was Fuller behaving himself out there?” Kenzie asked
“He was about to get his ass reamed by Nate for touching him and calling him ‘bro,’” Jessica said with a laugh.
“Ouch,” Kenzie winced. “Nate will get over the ‘bro’ thing, but he hates being touched without giving permission. I should’ve warned him.”
“Oh, whatever,” Berkley said from behind Kenzie. “Nate will get over it. Now, little sister, bring that boy over here.”
With a smile and a reassuring squeeze of his hand, Jessica led Jack to Berkley’s bedside.
“Berk, this is Jack. Jack, this is my big sister, Berkley.”
Jack extended his hand, but Brent stepped in. “I wouldn’t do that,” he said. “She’s awfully strong for someone so tiny. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to shoot accurately again.”
“Please,” Berkley said with an eye roll, but the rest of whatever she’d been about to say was cut off as she screwed her face up in pain. With a world-weary sigh, Brent held out his hand, and Berkley latched on, her knuckles going white while his fingers turned a terrifying shade of beet red as the circulation was cut off.
“See?” Brent said to Jack through clenched teeth. “This could’ve been you.”
When the contraction passed, Brent withdrew from his wife’s grasp and shook his hand out. “I’m Brent, by the way,” he said, awkwardly extending his left hand.
Jack, still clearly starstruck, stuck out his as well, and the men shared an awkward handshake.
Then Brent turned to Jessica. “Is he okay?”
“I think so?” But she wasn’t entirely sure. Jack appeared to be broken, struck dumb and silent by the presence of Brent Jean. “Jack?” she asked, snapping her fingers in front of his face.
Slowly, he turned to her, blinking several times as if to clear the fog from his brain. “Sorry,” he said. “It’s just…not every day you walk into a hospital room and meet Brent Jean.”
“You say that like you didn’t know exactly who my brother-in-law is.”
“It’s one thing to betoldyour brother-in-law is Brent Jean,” Jack said. “It’s entirely different toseeit.”
Jessica laughed, and even Berkley, as in pain as she was, chuckled.
“I know the feeling,” Berkley said through labored breaths. She hooked a thumb at her husband and said, “It took this guy throwing me a surprise birthday party to even get me to talk to him.”
Jack looked at Jessica quizzically, and before she could open her mouth to tell him it was a long story she’d tell later, a voice behind them said, “And you fucking hated him for it.”
“I did not!” Berkley protested, but her petulance quickly turned to a misty-eyed smile when she laid eyes on her best friend.
Lexie Monroe breezed into the room, dressed like she was attending a New York City Fashion show and not coming to see her friend in the hospital.
As the women embraced, Mitch Frambough strolled in behind his girlfriend, walked up to Brent, and tugged him into a hug. When he let go, he asked, “How’s my girl?”
