I blush at her words and stick my head farther into the fridge to cool off a bit. “Nana! He’s not my anything.”
“If a man consumes your thoughts all day and night, he’s sure to be something. You might not be something to him, but he sure is something to you. Don’t deny it, sweetheart. It makes you look dumb.”
She walks out of the room, and I finally stand enough to pull my head out of the fridge and shut the door. Typical Nana. Her words of wisdom are astonishing. Only she can call me dumb and also add insecurities that I might not be someone’s type all in one sentence.
I pull out my phone and open the food app as I make my way upstairs. I order two meals’ worth of Chinese and then hop into the shower.
Today was a long day. A very long one. I still can’t believe we had a shooter on the premises. I was in the back of the hospital and only knew what happened because of what others were saying. People got shot, and I think a few died. People who were connected to Karter’s friends. His club.
But I didn’t care about them. I didn’t breach protocol to go and look after them. I did it to make it to where he was. I needed to make sure he was safe. Even if I had no claim, no right to do so.
I needed to know that he didn’t get caught up in it. That it wasn’t him who got hit. All I knew at first was that people associated with the Hounds of the Reapers motorcycle club were in a shoot-out.
Karter was important to the club. Still is in my opinion. VIPs get special care for a reason. And all I could think was that someone was there to take him out. It wasn’t rational at all. I had no knowledge of anyone going after him or anything on the news that led me to believe that, but I did anyway. And I had to see him.
So I went against the rules and made it up to his floor. I rushed through the doors a second after hearing him ask where someone was. I didn’t know it was me he was looking for till Nurse Vicky spoke.
And then my heart swelled, and I had to lock my knees to keep from fainting.
He was worried.
About me.
Hours later, and I still don’t know how to feel about it.
“Good morning! How’s my favorite patient today?” I say with a smile I paste on my face as I open Karter’s door.
I was able to get myself transferred to this wing for the day. After everything that happened yesterday, I just need the comfort of knowing he’s okay. Last night, I hardly slept with all the nightmares that my brain kept comingup with. They all had something to do with Karter being gone, and I was too late to do anything to help save him.
So I’m determined to get rid of the bad feelings that still course through my mind by getting an extra dose of his face today. I’m sure my little crush hasn’t gone unnoticed by the staff, but despite all the other stuff going on with them and their lack of doing their jobs—well, some of them—they know not to gossip about me. At least not to my face or within earshot. Half the staff knew me when I was here with Mom, so it helps keep the pity stuff at bay.
Unfortunately, no one greets me when I enter the room. I look back in the hall and note that there isn’t anyone there who looks like a member of the club. Sometimes they wait outside the door, other times down the hall. But there’s no one here today.
Even worse, the room looks clean. As if no one’s staying here. As if he was never here.
As if I made it all up. Even him.
I move quickly to the nurses’ station and see Vicky typing a chart in. I debate whether I should ask her or just find Dr. Trooper, but I know better than anyone that nurses know more than doctors. Even if he’s a friend of Karter’s, that doesn’t mean he’ll tell me anything. He gets tight-lipped about members of his club and their care. The unofficial rule in the hospital is that Dr. Trooper is to be made aware the instant a member of his club enters, and that he’s meant to treat all of them. If he can’t, either because he’s busy or the situation calls for another specialist beyond him, he handpicks who sees them in his place. He’s very protective, and no one complains about it.
The club is one of the top donors for the hospital. We honestly don’t care how they get the money. We’re just grateful. And with that, they get some leeway. Not much, but more than others. Consider it a friends-and-family discount with the amount of stuff they get away with. Longer visiting hours, more visitors in a room than allowed, and preferential treatment to an extent.
If someone is worse off or a kid is involved, though, they don’t get moved up the list. That was another rule from Dr. Trooper. He might love his club, but it’s clear he loves caring for others just as much, if not more some days.
I give Nurse Vicky my cheeriest smile. “Has the patient in Room 307 moved to another room?”
“No.” She doesn’t even look up at me.
“Oh.” I look around, as if I’m planning to do something else, but we all know I’m not. I try again. “Is he scheduled for labs, then?”
“No.”
“Is he—”
She cuts me off from asking any more. “He’s not here.”
“What? Where is he?” My nightmares from last night drill into my brain. So many scenarios hit me all at once.
“Discharged early this morning.”
