The blank, off-white walls flashed past as we broke into a slow jog.
Our guard led the way to a bank of elevators and punched the button. All five of us crammed ourselves into the tight space and waited one last time.
When the doors opened, Dante led the charge to the nurse’s station, where four women watched our approach with wide eyes.
One stood, an older woman with graying hair and horn-rimmed glasses that had come back in style. “Can I help you?”
“Harper Bloom.” Dante barked her name with the same commanding tone he used in the board room. “We need to see her.”
“And who are you?” She set her hands on her broad hips and glared up at Dante.
He gave our names, pointing out each of us in turn.
Fuck. She wouldn’t let us in. It occurred to me at the same time everyone else took a collective breath.
The nurse, Rose based on the lanyard hanging around her neck, typed on the computer and scrolled, making a “hmm” sound. “I’m afraid I don’t see any of your names except for Lila.” She smiled at Lila. “You’re welcome to go in, sugar.”
Lila gave us a sad smile and hurried to the doors locked with a keypad that one of the nurses had to unlock with a swipe of her keycard. The doors opened, and Lila ducked through. I reared back, hoping to catch even a glimpse of the room where Harper was. Nothing but more blank white walls and closed doors.
The nurse’s expression hardened as she turned back to Dante. “The rest of you can wait over there.” She pointed at the waiting room.
A soul-crushing weight landed on my chest. I rubbed it with one hand. “Please. You don’t understand. We need to see her.”
“When she says you can, I’ll be more than happy to let you through.” The hard lines in her face remained tight and cold. “We believe in privacy around here, and Miss Bloom has not put anyone except for Lila on her emergency contact list.”
“Have you checked all her paperwork?” If Harper had been in Virginia the whole time, she might have paperwork that gave us access. “Did she come in through the ER?”
“Young man, I’m losing my patience. This is a hospital, and we’re obligated to follow certain rules and laws. I cannot give out any information on any patient to any person without their consent. It’s a violation of HIPPAA, and I would lose my license. Now, if you do not remove yourselves from this desk and wait over there, I’ll be forced to have someone remove you.”
I took a step back, grabbing Dante and Alexander’s arms when they both remained rooted to the spot. “We won’t get anywhere like this. Come on.” I hated it. I hated every fucking second we were apart from Harper, especially knowing she was on the other side of those locked doors. Feet away but inaccessible.Only a nurse could let us through, and then only if Harper allowed it.
She didn’t even know we were here.
“Shit, we should have made sure Lila told her we’d come.” I dragged all three of us to the waiting room and pushed Dante into the nearest chair.
Alexander sat on his own, bending forward to place his head in his hands. Hospitals were always so cold and lifeless. This one was no different. An empty cardboard box had more personality than the waiting room where I paced. Hard plastic chairs lined every wall, and a television high in the corner played a cooking show. I snorted. Like anyone sitting out here waiting to see a loved one gave two shits about food.
The smiles on the judges’ faces on the show sent me forward.
Dante caught my elbow and yanked me back. “Punching the TV won’t help.”
“You don’t know, you haven’t done it.” In my experience, trashing a place helped a hell of a lot.
“Public property.” Alexander spoke around his hands. At some point, he’d propped his elbows on his knees and placed both hands over his face. When he dropped them, I understood why. Red rimmed his eyes, and he sniffed while clearing his throat. “You’ll get arrested, then we’ll be fucked twice over without a prayer of getting back there to see Harper.”
“We’re not getting back there as long as dragon lady is at the desk.” I paced to the vending machine, eyed the candy and what they called coffee, and turned away with a snort.
“We can’t pay or charm our way through, but we might be able to talk one of them into telling Harper we’re here.” Dante stretched out his legs and crossed his ankles. Tight lines fanned out from his eyes and mouth, and he stared at the doors keeping us from Harper like he might develop x-ray vision any second.
“I fucking hate being left in the dark like this.” I tunneled both hands through my hair.
One of the nurses stood up at the nurse’s station. She glanced our way, then walked in the other direction. We were not making a great first impression, but hell if I could rein in my concern because it made them uncomfortable. We were not arrogant assholes…well, not all the time. We never really tried to use our power to push people around. They might not see it that way. They might see us as bullies, or three men who were a threat to Harper. They were right to protect her, but that didn’t make it any easier on us.
Once again, we were on the outside looking in, with no knowledge of what had happened to Harper or if she was even okay.
29
HARPER
