“Don’t you remember? When I asked you to gather his things up and keep an eye on them…is there a chance that there was some confusion, that the man’s and our things might have gotten mixed up?”
All of a sudden, she looked scared. “No, no, Dad, I really don’t think so.” She bit her lip, the notion that she could have been the cause of all this obviously troubling her greatly.
“Honey, it’s okay. It’s really okay if it did, and it isn’t your fault,” he was quick to reassure her as his heart raced, this time in panic. “But it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? Yes, that has to be it. Right,” Ethan announced, the weight on his shoulders suddenly feeling a hell of a lot lighter as he began to figure things out. “Let’s go find a restaurant. Might as well make the most of that New York pizza while we’re here, yes? You can eat as much as you like, okay? Me, I’ve got some calls to make.”
Chapter 10
“Sir, it’s like I said. I’m sorry, but we can’t just give out that kind of information. It’s against hospital policy. I wish I could help. I really do.”
“You don’t understand,” Ethan said, stepping closer to the nurses’ station and growing more impatient by the second. He wasn’t usually one to play on his charm (not since his Cambridge days, anyway), but it was apparent that this young nurse, Molly, might be a bit smitten.
And the accent probably didn’t hurt either.
After hours of dead-end phone calls and one fruitless hospital mission after another, Ethan finally had a solid lead on the guy who had been hit by the cab on Christmas Eve and was less willing to take no for an answer.
He moved closer to the desk, cocked his head, and gave her his most winning smile.
“Sir.” Another obviously more senior nurse stepped in and positioned her large frame between him and the desk. “I sympathize with you and your situation, but you and those big blue eyes can just take it elsewhere. And you,” she said, turning to the younger woman, “should get back to work.”
“But…”
She stopped Ethan in his tracks with a disapproving look. “I overheard most of it, and let me tell you, you have no cause for disturbing this patient and no claim to his identity. You don’t even know his name, for goodness’ sake. Now I don’t care where you’re from, what your schedule is, or when you have to fly home. And I don’t know what you want from this guy, but I suspect that whoever he is, he’s already been through enough. You simply may not see him. Period.”
At this, Ethan felt a prickling sensation at the back of his neck. He knew people generally considered him passive, something that actually irked him to no end, as he was far from it, just very choosy about where he expended his energy. However, when he did commit himself to an idea, a cause, or a person, he could not be swayed, and in this case, there was a (very expensive) diamond—not to mention an entire relationship—at stake. Ethan was not backing down.
Taking a deep breath, he rounded on the nurse. “Well, since you’re defending this man’s privacy and seem to know precisely who I’m talking about, then I can only conclude that he must be here at this hospital.”
“I said no such thing,” she protested darkly. “Besides, if he’s not a family member as you say, why does finding this guy mean so much to you?”
Following a phone call to the first hospital, during which he’d spilled all the details, Ethan had quickly realized that his story sounded implausible and he came off as a madman, so in all subsequent searches, he’d decided to leave out the part about the missing ring.
“Look,” he told the nurse now, hoping to appeal to her better nature. “I lost something in all the mayhem, something important. And the thing everybody seems to be overlooking here is that if it weren’t for me and my daughter, the guy might not have made it. We most likely saved his life.”
“Saved his life?”
“Yes. I gave him first aid while we waited for the ambulance to arrive, and my daughter here made sure to protect his belongings.”
“Wait,you’rethe one who helped him?” the younger nurse piped up again. “The paramedics were talking about you.”
“Yes.” With some satisfaction, Ethan crossed his arms and spread his feet in a solid stance as he continued to stare down the older nurse, who still didn’t look convinced.
“Nice going, Employee of the Month,” she said, rolling her eyes at her colleague. She turned back to him. “Okay, perhaps this changes things a little. I mean, no one does that sort of thing in Manhattan,” she said, shaking her head in bewilderment, and Ethan’s shoulders relaxed a little as she paused, seemingly deep in thought. “Well, seeing as you extended yourself to help, there’s possibly a gray area, and I suppose wecouldallow you to see him, as long as you were supervised, of course.”
Ethan was ecstatic at the prospect but did his best to contain himself. “I’d really appreciate that.”
“And no, I’m not looking for volunteer chaperones,” she said sharply to her younger colleague, who had risen hopefully from her station. “In fact, why don’t you keep an eye on the little lady here while I get someone to take Mr. Greene to the room.”
“Sure,” the other nurse replied. “Is it okay if I get her a soda and a snack?” she asked Ethan.
“Yes, whatever she likes,” he said. “Is that all right with you, buttercup?”
Daisy nodded, and soon after, Ethan was led by an aide to the room of who he hoped was their guy.
Poking his head around the door, he was instantly relieved to see that the patient in the bed was indeed the man he had helped in the street two days before. And he released the breath he’d pretty much been holding since the day before.
Finally…
“Can I speak to him?” he asked the aide.
