Page 108 of My Fiancé's Brother
His eyes went wide, and his body went still. “What did you just say?”
I shook my head. “We're supposed to only take five minutes each.”
“What do you mean Jackson is here? Is he here because of the accident?” Matt’s eyes were big.
I forgot that Matt would not remember inviting Jackson to live with us. All of that had been erased. “Jackson's been living with us for a couple of months. You invited him to live with us.”
A weird expression crossed his face. “I would've never done that. Never.”
My lips parted. “Matt.”
He looked distraught. He tried to raise his head. “You’ve got to get him to leave, Emily. He can’t be here.”
The nurse bustled in. “Matt, you're going to have to calm down. Your heart rate is too high.”
He pushed her hand away. “Emily. Promise me you will make him leave.”
My lips parted in shock.
“Matt,” the nurse was speaking in a loud voice. “You need to calm down Matt. If you don’t calm down, we're going to have to sedate you.”
“Promise me,” he shouted. “Emily. Promise me.”
I stood up feeling completely panicked. “I promise.”
The nurse pushed a needle into his IV line and then Matt’s head rolled back and then he was entirely out of it.
She looked at me with accusation in her voice. “Matt can't be upset like this. I had to sedate him.”
“I didn’t know,” I said tearfully.
“Whatever you talked about, you must not talk about it with him again. Is that clear?”
I nodded and fled the room.
CHAPTER 38
“Well,there's no question, Jackson's going to have to leave,” Irene said to me. We stood outside of the ICU. Jackson wasn’t around.
I stared at her in disbelief. “Excuse me?”
She crossed her arms with a resolute air. “What’s the problem?”
I felt stunned at the lack of loyalty towards Jackson. “The problem is that Jackson has been our rock for the past week. He has catered to both of our needs, holding us up emotionally. He drove two hours in the middle of the night to come and get you after Matt’s accident. And now you're going to toss him aside because Matt got a bit emotional?”
She lifted her chin. “My son’s health is in danger. No one is going to jeopardize his recovery. Not even Jackson.”
“Jackson is part of this family. You can’t ask him to leave.”
A stubborn look crossed her face that reminded me all too much of Matt. “Yes I can and I will.”
“You’re letting your emotions cloud your judgment.”
She looked me right in the eye. “I think you're letting your emotions for Jackson cloud your judgment.”
Low blow, even for Irene. I spoke slowly, trying to choose mywords carefully. “You can’t hurt one son because you want to heal your other son.”
Her nostrils flared. “Matt is the only son I have in this hospital. He’s my only priority.”
