“I don’t know. I didn’t go through the building. The driver took me to the roof.”
Shit. This could be bad. “Thank you for doing everything you could to get here faster. I couldn’t do this without you.” And I could only hope and pray that no one knew where the helicopter was going or why. It would take some heavy investigation to put two and two together, but whoever stalked and threatened me had managed to know my every move up until now. It was probably only a matter of time before they figured out the rest.
They’d flown all this way without knowing if I even wanted to see them. I’d pushed them away time after time, and they kept showing up for me. How did I deny them again? I wasn’t strong enough. My will crumbled. “I need to see them.”
Lila looked up. “You do?”
“Yes. I…” I tried to find the words. I’d thought them a hundred times but saying them out loud burned. “I have to. It’s going to hurt like a bitch. I haven’t healed from the heartbreak of losing them the first time, and I’m going to have to endure it all over again.” But I had to see them.
It was a visceral reaction, a desperation that turned me inside out every time I even thought about sending them away.
“I’ll go tell them.” Lila surged to her feet.
“You’ll have to talk to the nurses first. I’ll have to fill out paperwork to let them back here.” I took a deep breath and held it. “Will you get a nurse for me?”
30
ALEXANDER
If Julian’s pacing didn’t end me, Dante’s absolute fucking silence would. I tapped my fingers on my thighs, jiggled my knee, then bounced my foot. The TV in the corner let out an annoying buzz and the show changed from cooking to what appeared to me some asinine grocery shopping game. What was the point of these ridiculous shows? I understood the potential entertainment value, but why play them here? I turned away and concentrated on the closed doors that kept Harper from us.
A couple walked past the door, took one look at us, and kept going. The woman whispered into the man’s ear, and he glanced over his shoulder with a worried look.
“We’re scaring people away.” Julian sounded thrilled with the idea. “Any chance we can sneak up to the desk, swipe a badge, and make a run for it?”
“I’d be willing to try it. Otherwise I’m going to join you in trashing the place and to hell with the consequences. We can use the distraction to slip past the nurses.” I frowned and stood, joining him in pacing from one end of the room to the other. Ihated hospitals. Hated the smell, the way they looked, the fear that spread through every corridor and burned the back of my throat. I wantedoutright fucking now.
“Neither of you will do anything except be perfectly polite.” Dante never moved, but his commanding presence dictated we obey.
The curses tore through my head one after the other. I dug my hands into my hair and scraped my nails over my scalp. “I’m crawling out of my skin. I can’t handle much more of this.” I’d rather take my chances with getting arrested at this point. Harper was right there, mere feet away, and a stupid policy said we couldn’t see her.
Bullshit.
I understood the need for privacy, but our unique situation turned propriety on its head.
“The door’s opening.” Julian stopped pacing and stared.
Lila walked out and headed straight to the nurse’s station. She spoke to Rose, then waved toward us.
We poured out of the waiting room in a rush of footsteps, almost tripping over each other in our haste. Man, if anyone who knew us saw this mess, we’d never live it down. I couldn’t care less about that either.
“How is she?” I curled my hands into fists to keep from snatching Lila’s arm.
“She wants to see you.” Lila glanced at Rose. “Everything’s all set?”
Rose frowned and clicked on the computer. Her sigh said more than words about how she felt about the situation, but she nodded. “I’ll let you in.”
I ran for the door like I could force my way through. Hell, I probably could. I had enough adrenaline and desperation to tear the doors right off their hinges.
A beep sounded, and the doors swung open. I squeezed through and ran for the room Lila had mentioned when we first arrived. I burst through an instant later and slammed to a stop.
Dante and Julian gathered on either side of me, the three of us a united front as always.
Harper lay in the bed, the white sheets and blankets washing out her color.
Alive. Safe. I nearly hit my knees as relief poured in. My vision blurred. Fuck me. I couldn’tcryin front of her. I shoved the emotions down and crossed the room.
“What happened?” There was so much to unpack in that one question, and Harper must have understood the depth of it, because she motioned at the chairs lined up beside the bed.
