“Jesus,” Doom hissed. “She’s gonna be pissed.”
“Our baby’s gone, brother,” I said, shoving my emotions down. “She’s gonna need her mom.”
Olivia’s parents did not approve of me and had very vocally cut her off financially. Not that she needed their money, but the fact that they’d felt they could buy her to begin with didn’t sit well with my woman and Olivia went postal on their asses and cut ties with them completely.
But if I knew anything about women, it was that they needed their moms. Especially when tragedy struck.
“What about what you need?” Doom asked.
“Doesn’t matter what I need. She’s the priority.”
“I know I gave you the gavel, Doc,” Grinder said. “But if you need me to step back in for a few weeks, I will.”
Grinder had been the founding member of the Savannah chapter, but he’d retired and recently handed the mantle to me. He was in his sixties now with grown children, and he was loving life as a retired asshole.
“I appreciate that,” I said. “I’ll keep you posted. Right now, if one of you assholes wants to grab me a burger, I’d appreciate it.”
“Dr. Brooks?”
I turned to the sound of my name and a nurse gave me a gentle smile.
“She’s asking for you.”
“I’ll grab you a burger,” Doom offered. “Extra mayo.”
He knew I hated mayo, so I flipped him off and then headed into Olivia’s room.
“You fucking asshole,” she hissed.
I raised an eyebrow. “You sound like you’re feeling better.”
“You called mymother?” she squealed.
“Did she call you?” I asked.
“No, Hayes told me,” she snapped. “Why the fuck would you do that?”
I sighed. Hayes was her brother, and when he decided to assert himself, he was her watch dog. “Because I figured you’d need her,” I explained.
“Oh, so you don’t have to be left holding the bag of your emotionally damaged woman. Got it.”
“Baby, you are so far off the mark, it’s not even funny.”
“Then, why the hell would you call my mother?” she accused. “I spent a lot of time training you. Jesus, you disappoint me.”
I couldn’t stop a smile as I sat on the edge of the bed. “You’re going through a massive trauma and you used to be really close to your mom. I know shit’s gone down since then, but I wanted to give you the chance to have her close if you needed her.”
“Is that your medical opinion, doctor?”
I sighed. “If you wanna stay here, Liv, I’m all over it. I just want you to have whatever you need.”
She nodded. “I think I should go home for a little while.”
Shit. ‘Home’ was in Cummings, close to five hours away. It was also a place she hadn’t been back to in close to eight years. Not exactly what I had in mind. “Yeah?”
“A change of scenery.”
“Okay, baby. I’ll drive you and I’ll stay with Dash’s aunt. It’s a—”
