I stop for a few beats, struggling to swallow over the intense pain attacking me from all sides as I remember the many ways Garrick is the most amazing boyfriend. I somehow manage to force words out past the giant ball clogging my throat. “Garrick was this massive presence in my life, and now he’s not there. It’s unbearable.” My voice cracks. “I exist with a constant pain in my chest and a hollow ache in my heart. So, you don’t get to stroll in here after ignoring me all this time and try to dictate how I live my life. You don’t get to criticize me or tell me I’m not truly living when you haven’t been around to witness the devastation I endure every single day.”
I don’t realize I’m shouting until I stop to draw a breath and notice the entire coffee shop is silent and every person is listening to every word.
Awesome. That’s just awesome.
I slap a ten-dollar bill down on the table with trembling hands. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m going to visit my boyfriend.”
I’m still shaking twenty minutes later when I approach the hospital doors. I came straight here from the coffee shop, needing to see Garrick immediately after that conversation.
I’m earlier than normal, but there should be no one else here at this time. Ivy comes at midday, and Hugh usually comes in around eight, after he’s had dinner with his family and helped to put the boys to bed.
I’m rounding the corner toward the ICU entrance, lost in thought, replaying everything Will and I said to one another, not looking where I’m going when I slam into someone, teetering on my heels and almost losing my balance.
A hand darts out, gripping my upper arm to keep me from falling.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” I say, lifting my chin up. “I wasn’t—” I stop mid-sentence as I stare at a face I haven’t seen in over a year.
Pepper Montgomery looks equally shocked to see me.
We stare at one another in silence for a few moments, both of us frozen, until I realize she’s still holding my arm, and I shuck out of her hold and step back. Folding my arms around my waist, I’m instantly on guard. “What are you doing here?” I mean, I know what she’s doing here, but I want to hear her say it.
“I visit Garrick every day after work.”
Pressure settles on my chest, almost stifling my lungs. “Why?” I ask. Daily visits are for those closest to Garrick, and she’s not part of that small pool of people. She has no right to show up here every day. They hadn’t even spoken in months at the time of the accident. The whole thing leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
“You know why.” She drills me with a sharp look, as if preparing herself for battle. I hate how “together” she looks. Polished and posh in her designer gray skirt suit with green silk blouse and a string of pearls around her neck. Her dark hair is longer now, hitting the tops of her shoulders, and her makeup is on point.
I feel like I was dragged through a bush, in comparison, in my department-store coat, wrinkled pants suit with plain black high heels, and a knock-off Louis Vuitton purse. My hair is scraped back off my minimally made-up face in the austere bun I wear to work. I always wait until I get into Garrick’s room before I take out the hair tie and let my long red locks free. I was tempted to hack my hair off at one low point over the Christmas period, but it was Garrick’s love of my hair that stalled my hand.
“Oh, there you are, darling. Why…You!” Ivy bitchface comes up alongside Pepper, looping her arm through hers as she glares at me with a familiar expression. “You’re too early. Didn’t they teach you how to read the time in the slums?”
“Didn’t they teach you any manners in public school?” I retort, letting her know I’m aware of her lowly start in life.
“You can’t see him.” She looks at the flashy watch on her wrist. “Not for another forty minutes.”
“Ivy.”
“No, Pepper.” Ivy cuts across the governor’s daughter. “We don’t make allowances for scum.”
“You are being extremely rude.” Pepper narrows her eyes at Ivy. “Garrick would be disgusted if he heard the way you speak to Stevie. What difference does it make if she’s early? We are leaving.”
“The difference is I won’t give that slut anything more than is mandated. She deserves to rot in jail for what she did to my son.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” Pepper says. “The investigation concluded it was a tragic accident. Stevie had regularly serviced the car, and she wasn’t neglectful.”
Ivy had insisted on a formal investigation into the accident after one of the drivers caught up in the crash lodged a civil suit against Garrick. Ivy was hopping mad, and so was I. For once, we agreed on something. The insurance paid out, and he was already compensated, so I thought it was disgusting he was trying to extract money from a guy in a coma. The fact he hadn’t bothered suing me, as the owner of the vehicle, spoke volumes about his motivation.
He was only going after Garrick because of his wealthy parents. I’m sure he discovered my family has no money, and that’s why he didn’t bother pursuing me.
I’m sorry he got injured in the accident, but who sues a comatose man?
What a despicable human being he is.
I was glad the court only awarded him a fraction of what he was asking for. When you factor in his legal fees and having to repay the insurance company, he would not have been left with much.
Serves him right for being greedy.
I hate that Hugh had to pay out anything, and it only adds to my guilt.
