I jolted awake to the sound of the door flying open. “I must be dreaming.” I scooted up in the uncomfortable bed and adjusted the white sheet that had ridden up to expose my legs. “Is it still Wednesday? I must have slept a whole day.”
“It’s Wednesday.” Lila flew across the room and threw her arms around my neck. “You scared me.”
“I’m okay.” My voice came out muffled against her shoulder, my eyes welling when she tightened her hold. “How did you get here so fast?” I checked my phone. Yep. Wednesday. Only a few hours since I’d called Lila. “Are you sure you didn’t time travel or something?”
“Bitch please.” Lila smacked my shoulder with the back of her hand. Her watery laugh gave away her tension, along with the sheen of tears in her eyes. “Don’t ever do that to me again. Next time you decide to run off, I’m coming with you.”
I laughed and held out my hand. “Deal.”
She shook my hand and dragged a chair over to the side of the bed. Still holding my hand, she sank into it. “Talk to me. What happened? You wouldn’t tell me anything on the phone, and I’m pissed about that. I didn’t know how bad a shape you might be in.” She squeezed my hand. “How’s the baby?”
“It all happened so fast.” A lump formed in my throat. “I went in for my monthly check up, and they ran the usual tests.” I picked at the edge of the blanket. “My OB called with my results, then had me come in for additional tests. I felt woozy on my way to the doctor, so I told her about it.”
Lila propped her elbow on the bed and leaned in. She didn’t press when I had to stop for another breath.
My eyes burned, but I blinked away the tears. It wasn’t exactly a crying matter, except that the fear had nearly pushed me over the edge. “I have gestational diabetes. Something that’s pretty common, especially for someone my size.” I grimaced at that. “My blood sugar has been out of whack since the beginning. That’s why I passed out on you. But it’s treatable.” I rushed to tell her that when her eyes went wide. I’d asked a million questions, and most of the answers were exactly what I expected.
Lila’s shoulders hunched. She wrapped both hands around mine and held on. Her entire body shuddered, and a wrenching sob tore through the room. “But you’re okay? You and the baby will be okay? Swear it to me, Harper. I don’t want some bullshit excuse. Give me every single detail or I’m hunting down your doctor and demanding answers for myself.”
“It’s treatable. I have to watch what I eat, which I had been doing anyway but this is different. I’ll have to visit my OB more often. Check my blood sugar regularly.” I patted her shoulder and willed my own emotions to stay in check. The world didn’tneed both of us falling apart at the same time. I swallowed hard to clear the lump. “Now, explain how the hell you made it down here in a couple of hours.” I pointed at her and tried to glare. “Time travel? Time turner like Hermione used?”
“Not even close.” Lila became fascinated with the edge of my blanket. She rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger and stared over my head at the machines that beeped so often it was a wonder I’d been able to sleep at all. How was anyone supposed to rest with all that noise? But they kept people alive, so I refrained from complaining.
“Lila? Come on. It can’t be that bad. Unless you’re about to tell me you’re a vampire and you transformed into a bat and flew all the way here.”
“It’s daylight. I’d burn to a crisp if I was a vampire flying around in the daytime.” She rolled her eyes. “Basic vampire lore, Harper.”
“Yeah, but it didn’t affect that one guy. He just turned all sparkly.”
“He doesn’t count.” Lila smacked the bed and snorted. “Don’t get me started.”
I held up one hand in surrender. She still held the other one. “Okay. Okay. I concede. So how’d you do it?”
“Promise you won’t get mad.”
I almost laughed but the seriousness of her expression stopped me. “You’re my best friend, and you came when I needed you. No way in hell I could get mad at you.”
“I called Julian.” Lila’s shoulders hunched all the way to her ears. “He left me his number and insisted I call if I heard fromyou. I never called him. They came to the house looking for you. I never told them anything, but when you called and told me you were in the hospital, I knew they could get me here faster.”
“Do they know?” My heart skipped, a sudden wrenching feeling threatening to tear me apart. “What all do they know?”
“They know you’re here. That’s all.” Lila winced. “Well, they know you’re here and they came in the helicopter with me. The nurse wouldn’t let them back here, so they’re waiting out there.” She gestured toward the door. “I think they’re in the waiting room.”
I couldn’t breathe. The heart monitor beeped faster and faster as my pulse climbed. “What do you mean helicopter?” My ears rang, and I shook my head to clear the noise.
Lila’s mouth pulled to one side in a guilty grimace. “Well. Um. When I called Julian, he said he’d take care of it. A little while later, a driver pulled into the driveway and told me Julian had sent him to pick me up. He drove me to Elevate and we took the company helicopter to the hospital. To here. We landed on the roof.”
“Oh god.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. Did she have any idea the shit that had been stirred up by that one phone call? I couldn’t exactly blame her for calling Julian. He was very persuasive, and her loyalty would drive her to take the most direct route to reach me, even if that meant talking to my men behind my back.
I couldn’t be angry or say that she’d gone against my wishes when all she’d wanted was to be here with me. “They’re here?” The lump returned to my throat, and it took all my effort to slowmy heartrate before one of the nurses rushed in to find out what was wrong.
“Yeah, Harper. They’re here. They’re so worried. You have your reasons for leaving and for refusing to talk to them, but it hasn’t stopped them. They’re wrecked.”
The words pummeled me. My wretched, traitorous heart demanded I see them. I’d gone so long without a glimpse of their faces. I’d spent long days and even longer nights wishing I could make a different decision.
Could I see them and give them up all over again? I had to. Once they knew what I’d hid from them, the threats and the baby, they’d be done with me for good.
Horror skated through my veins. “Did anyone see them leaving?”
