Page 122 of Trouble from Abroad
My fingers freeze on the pages of her chart. I blink hard, once, twice, before finally lifting my eyes to hers.
She tuts. “Not gone-gone, Preston. The jerk’s alive—and far too well, if you ask me. He’s in LA, shacked up with Lucy’s ex-kindergarten teacher.”
“Fuck, Kate.” I let the file drop to my side. “I had no idea.” Then, forcing an edge of humor into the moment, I add, “Well… welcome to the divorcee’s club, my friend.”
“No way!” Her eyes pop and, if she weren’t fresh out of spine surgery, she’d be halfway upright in that bed right now.
We roll her bed into the ICU area. Her room’s ready—monitors, lines, the works. I had a sofa hauled in beside thevisitor chair. There will be someone at her side until we clear forty-eight hours without any problems.
“What about the ba?—”
Here it comes. The question everyone asks. The one I hate most.
“Not mine.” The words scrape their way out, rough. Truth, but not the whole truth. Because he’s still Lily’s half-brother. Which means I can’t wash my hands and walk away. How do I protect my daughter and fight for her rights when the mess runs this deep? I want to move on, but this fact drags me back.
“We’re not going to talk about this now.” My jaw locks as I cut her off.
The pity in her eyes tempts me to poke and pry about Dave, but I’m not that much of an asshole. I might be sleeping with the nanny, but I’m not that much of a cliché. “So the kids are with your sister, Christine? Give me her number.”
Her throat works, as she recites the number, before adding, “Please, just… don’t make it sound worse than it is.”
“I won’t lie. But I’ll give her a version the kids can handle—enough to prepare the girls without scaring them.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, rest. I’ll give you something to help.” Her brows bounce, hopeful, and I shut it down before she gets any ideas. “None of the good drugs, sorry. But enough to relax you. You’ve been through a lot.”
Her expression crumples.
“April?” I call, and my protégé steps forward. “Kate, meet the woman I was to you—the one in charge when I’mnot around. The most brilliant doctor I’ve ever worked with.”
“Dr. April Hadden?” Kate asks before I can finish. April nods, a proud grin slipping at the recognition. “I know your name from all the papers you and Pres publish together. Pleasure to meet you. Wish it were under better circumstances.” She huffs, then winces.
“The pleasure’s all mine. I’ll keep you company this first round,” April says. “Then Dr. Calista Maverick?—”
“My third in command,” I cut in. “Another brilliant doctor I’d trust with my life.” The tough, unshakable Cal sniffles behind me, taking the edge off the moment.
April keeps going, “Dr. Maverick will take over, and the rest of our team will rotate so you’re never alone, but we’ll do everything in our power to let you rest.”
I glance at April and Callie, finger raised in warning. “Any change, any change at all, page me, call me, knock my door down. Understood?”
By the time I finish the paperwork, call her sister, and check on her one last time, it’s past nine. Vitals solid, sleep steady.
I can go home again.
Lily will already be down. Mia, hopefully not.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
preston
The latch giveswith a soft click, and I step into the dark, still smelling faintly of sanitizer and hospital air. I pause and listen for any sign of Lily. Nothing. Good. She must be asleep.
I toe off my shoes and move through the house on quiet feet.
Then I see Mia on the sofa in the living room under my favorite blanket, the Kindle glowing soft across her face, and something in my chest loosens. She looks up, startled for a heartbeat.
“You’re back.” Her smile is pure candor, and it’s impossible not to return.
