Dante held up both hands, his mouth twisting. “Virginia?”
“Yeah. She was panicking, Dante. I’ve never heard anyone sound like that before. She said she needed us to help her get to Virginia as soon as possible.”
“Bethany’s getting our chopper ready?” He leaned forward and peered past me. The edge of Bethany’s desk was in view, the woman sitting with her phone to her ear and her mouth moving a mile a minute.
“She better be. If she’s doing anything else, I’ll fire her ass.” I had no qualms about letting her go. She’d been getting on my everloving nerves for weeks. I yanked my phone from my pocket and dialed our personal driver. He answered on the first ring. “Hey, Brad, I need you to pick someone up for me.” I rattled off Lila’s name and address, then hung up after Brad confirmed. “She’ll be here within the hour.”
“I reached out to Anthony. He said he’ll be ready in an hour.” Bethany stuck her head in the door, her gaze skipping from me to Dante, where it held. “Is there anything else?”
“No.” We answered at the same time, and she ducked away with a grimace.
“Get Alexander.” Dante pointed toward the open door.
“Already here.” Alexander rushed in, hands fisted and face tight. “Fill me in. All I heard was chopper.”
I gave him the same rundown before we made our way to the elevator. We had time to kill, but none of us would be able to stand still while we waited. I needed movement. The chaos in my head and heart demanded more than what we’d already done, but there was nothing left except waiting.
Half an hour later, Brad escorted Lila to the rooftop where we all stood in varying stages of hopeful fear. I’d paced until my legs ached but I couldn’t stop.
Dante remained so still he might have turned to stone. Alexander alternated between pacing, cursing, and standing on the edge of the roof while peppering Anthony with questions about how soon we could be underway.
Only when Anthony shot back that the more questions he asked the longer it would take did Alexander finally leave him alone.
Lila hurried over, a backpack slung over one shoulder. She swept her hair away from her face and motioned at the chopper. “Are we ready?”
“Almost.” I shoved my sleeves up past my elbows when the wind tried to push them down.
Anthony waved us over. “Load up.”
We piled into the seats and I handed Lila a headset. Minutes later, we were in the air with all of New York below us.
“Tell us what happened.” I pointed at Lila, then tapped my headset to let her know we’d be able to hear her.
She shook her head, her voice coming out raspy through the headset. “It’s not my place to talk about it. Harper will tell you what she wants you to know.”
“Does she know we’re coming?” Dante sat forward.
Lila grimaced. “No. She called and asked me to come down. I could tell something was wrong, and she finally admitted she’d been admitted to the hospital. It would take me too long to drive,and I can’t afford a flight.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I called you because I had a suspicion you’d be willing to fly me down.”
“I’m glad you didn’t try to tell us we couldn’t join you.” Alexander’s dark look clashed with Lila’s laugh.
She waved a hand toward all of us. “I knew that would never happen.” She paused, and her eyes lowered. “For what it’s worth, I feel bad for not being able to tell you anything. It won’t change my decision, but I wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate your loyalty to her. Everyone should have at least one friend like that.” I tried to smile though it fell flat. “It sucks for us because we want to be with her and understand why she pushed us away. But we appreciate that you’re being true to your friendship.” Her stubbornness drove me crazy, but I still admired it. Not many people could look us in the face and say no. Lila did it multiple times. The headset kept the thrum of blades at bay, but the rush of wind whipping past the chopper when Anthony pitched the nose forward caused my stomach to roll.
Conversation waned, all four of us lost in our own thoughts, which likely all revolved around Harper. Our worry filled the cabin with a stench of fear, and by the time Anthony landed and we disembarked at the hospital, I had enough nervous energy to fuel the flight back.
Two security officers met us at the helipad and ordered Anthony to leave. He’d called ahead to gain permission to land but minutes mattered, and we couldn’t take up too much time when the hospital might need the landing pad.
One guard led us into the hospital and toward a security room.
“Do you know where Harper is?” Dante tapped Lila’s shoulder.
She checked her phone. “Floor three. Room 769.”
Dante matched his pace with the guard. “Can you take us there?”
The guard checked a clipboard then eyed each of us. “I can direct you to the nearest nurse’s station. They’ll take over from there.”
