Page 28 of House of Scarlett
“All but one of us will be out of here shortly. We promise, ma’am,” Amy says in her most polite, professional tone.
Once Joanna opens the door, we all crane our necks to see if Flynn is still out in the hallway talking to Gabriel. Or at least, I do.
But there’s no sign of him. Flynn nods at Joanna and slips back into the room.
“She told me we have five minutes to decide, and then she’s throwing us all out. Nurse Hatchett is kind of a downer.”
“I’m fine, you guys. All of you can head home. I’ll sleep and see you in the morning.”
Kelsey looks at me with her eyebrows almost reaching her hairline. “You’re clearly high on painkillers. No one is leaving you alone. Someone will be here every minute you are.”
“She’s right,” Flynn adds with a smile. “And I’m taking the first shift, so everyone else can leave.”
“You sure you got this?” Kelsey asks her.
With a pageant-style wave, Flynn says, “’Bye, ladies. See you both in the morning. I’ll let you know if we get any info on when our girl is getting sprung.”
Amy squeezes my hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow, boss. Everything’s in good hands. I promise.”
“I know. I’m not worried at all.”
She smiles and steps away, making room for Kelsey to lean in and hug me. “Love you, babe. Try to get some rest. I won’t even judge you if you plan to cuddle that T-shirt all night.”
I huff out a laugh, and it causes a pinch in my abdomen near my belly button. “Love you. No more laughing for a while. See you tomorrow,” I say to both of them.
The two women file out, leaving me alone with Flynn. I give myself enough time to take one breath before I ask the question that I’ve been dying to get out.
“Why did you tell him? What are you trying to accomplish here, Flynn?”
“I was terrified. You’d just been taken back into surgery. I needed to tell someone, but my mom is on a flight to Australia, and your dad won’t answer his fucking phone. I panicked.” In that moment, she looks younger than her age.
“I’m so sorry, Flynn. You didn’t need to call anyone. It’s just my appendix. Not a huge deal.”
She drops her hands onto her hips. “It is a huge deal. Amy told me they had to bring you in an ambulance, and she’d never seen you like that before. You may not be my blood sister, but you’re the closest thing I have to a sibling, and now that I’ve got you back in my life, I don’t want to lose you again.”
Her eyes shine in the dim light of the hospital room, and I reach out to snag her fingers.
“You’re not going to lose me. Thank you for coming and worrying about me.”
Flynn plops into the chair that Gabriel occupied only a short time earlier. “You want to know the truth? I was scared, and I used that fear like a weapon. I wanted him to feel it too. I wanted him to know that he could lose you. I wanted him to feel that pain. Maybe that makes me a terrible person, but I don’t care.”
I pat the top of her hand. “You’re a good sister, Flynn. The best one I could ever ask for.”
She glances up at me from under her lashes. “You don’t want to kill me for letting him think you were dying?”
Maybe there’s a latent mean streak in me, because I’m not heartbroken over the trick she played. It was clever.
“Just don’t do it again. Whatever is or isn’t between me and Gabriel will be for him and me to decide.”
“Oh, there’s a hell of a lot of something there.” Flynn leans back in the chair and crosses one ankle over her knee. “The man is gone for you. I don’t think you’ll be wondering how he feels much longer. If I were a betting woman, which I am,” she says, tossing her hair over her shoulder, “I’d bet that you and Legend are going to be the hottest couple this town never expected to see. You’re going to tame the wild beast.”
I chuckle carefully this time, so as not to cause a twinge of pain. “We’ll see, Flynn,” I say with a yawn. “We will see.”
Sixteen
Legend
Sitting in the dark,I listen to each even breath and watch the slow rise and fall of Scarlett’s chest. In. Out. In. Out. Each movement reminds me that she’s alive, and that’s enough for me right now.
