Page 112 of Temptation
Preston reached for Debra’s hand. “You’re out of the dark.”
Her head whipped toward him. “Preston.”
“I won’t let you go back. You are out of the dark, and you will not go back.”
She smiled for him. Her breath eased out in a sigh as the ambulance raced for the hospital.
“Are you her next of kin?”
“What?” Preston barely heard the question. Debra had just been wheeled through two giant, swinging doors. Headed back to the ER.
The nurse in bright blue scrubs moved between Preston and those doors. “Are you the patient’s next of kin?”
“She has a concussion, doesn’t she?” Had to be the problem. A concussion way worse than the one Sloane had received when she’d been brought to the same hospital. “But Debra is going to be okay?” She’d started seizing multiple times during the ambulance ride. She’d held his fingers in a desperate grip. The shudders had made her whole body lurch and contort. “What was up with the seizures? Why did she have so many?”
“I have authorization forms that need to be signed.” The nurse did not move. “Are you the patient’s next of kin?”
No, that was Joshua. “Give me a second.” Preston yanked out his phone. Called Joshua. The phone rang and rang. Where in the hell was his assistant?
“Preston?” Sloane voice. Her fingers slid over his shoulder.
He whirled toward her.
“What’s happening?” Sloane asked him. “How is Debra?”
Joshua’s voicemail picked up. “It’s Preston,” he snarled. “Get your ass to Grace General. Debra needs you.” He hung up. Focused on Sloane. “They took her back to the ER.”
Sloane’s eyes were wide and worried.
“She should have stayed in the hospital the first time that she was here. She’s always been so damn stubborn. She should have stayed here and let the Feds take over the investigation but…” But it had been her investigation. Her town.
“Sir.” The nurse in blue waved to get his attention. “I have to get the next of kin’s signature. Are you her family or not?”
“He’s her family,” Sloane replied at once. “Preston, go with the nurse.” She pushed him with a gentle but firm touch. “Sign the paperwork. Then get back there and make sure Debra is all right. They let family go back. You are family.”
But he did not want to leave her?—
Sloane must have figured out his hesitation because she let out a long sigh. “I’m in a hospital with staff members and security everywhere. I’m fine. I’ll stay here and be perfectly safe. I’ll wait for you.” Her head dipped toward him. “Go take care of Debra.”
The nurse had turned away. “Paperwork first, then you see her.”
“Do not leave this hospital,” Preston ordered Sloane.
“Got it.” She shooed him. “Bossy.”
With one last look at Sloane, Preston followed the nurse.
Sloane exhaled on a long, hard, rush of air. There were no seats in the packed ER waiting area. Patients and family members were scattered everywhere. One poor kid kept crying as he held his swollen wrist. A teenager had a bloody slash running down his cheek. A young girl vomited into a trash can.
Voices rose and fell around her, and Sloane backed up a step. Frankie was parking the vehicle behind the hospital. He’d let her out near the ER doors, then waited just long enough to see her actually enter the facility before he’d pulled away. Frankie had said he’d leave the car in the back of the facility and come meet her. At this point, Sloane was far too familiar with the hospital. She was pretty was sure that this was the third trip to Grace General that she’d made.
She knew Noble had tailed them to the hospital. She’d jumped out of the Range Rover and rushed inside before waiting for Noble to appear. Like Preston, she was worried about Debra.
She is family to you, Preston. Even if you can’t see it.
Debra was family. And Sloane thought that Frankie had become family to him, too. And probably even Noble. When he’d talked about not having ties, she’d wanted to tell Preston how very wrong he was. It wasn’t about collecting strays. That was bullshit. It was about creating your own family.
Preston, above all others, should understand that family was not forged simply from blood.
