Awesome! The humiliation keeps multiplying!
“You should listen to the doctor,” he grunts. “Johnny Nicholson can wait.”
“No, Johnny Nicholson can’t wait! The production company needs these changes or I’m gonna lose my job.” I glare toward him, studying his heavy brows as I lecture him. “Do you know how many writers there are in the world? Everyone wants this job. The fact that I got it is a miracle.”
He shrugs. “You’re rewritin’ someone else’s ideas. This isn’t what you wanted, baby. You wanted to write your own novel. You wanted to be published, and to be in the New York Times.”
“Oh my God!” I shout, then drag in a deep breath as the doctor steps forward.
“You really do need to remain calm, Kelsi. Your blood pressure can’t be going up and down like this.”
“Well then, you’re going to have to tell that guy to leave because he doesn’t know how to shut his mouth. It’s the reason I left in the first place.”
“Really?” Brooks hisses. “I’m the reason you left?”
I roll my eyes and hang my head as I try to steady my breathing. I shouldn’t have been so harsh. I think he’s trying to me nice, in his own way, and I didn’t really leave because of Brooks.
The doctor lands his hand on my shoulder. “Do you have anyone who can care for you for the next forty-eight hours?”
“No. I lost most of my ties here when I moved, and my mom is recovering herself.”
“Well, you can stay here at the hospital for the next two days, but I should warn you that insurance typically doesn’t cover that kind of treatment. You’d be looking at some major hospital bills. Could be close to forty grand.”
“Forty grand!For two days? I could go to space for that amount of money. Are you kidding? How are you screwing people over like that?”
“We’re not screwing people over. It’s the price the insurance sets. I’m sorry.” The doctor glances toward Brooks. “I’ll give you two a moment to figure things out.”
My eyes close and I let go of a heavy breath. “I think you should go.”
Brooks laughs. “Okay. Who do you want me to call to take you home?”
My mind rattles through the number of people I know out here, hoping someone I hadn’t thought of before skips into mind, but a big fat zero is all I see. I could call a friend from L.A. and fly them in to take care of me, but everyone is busy, and I hate being a burden.
“Like it or not, I’m your only choice,” Brooks grumbles.
“And what about my mom? Who’s going to watch her? She’s still at risk for another stroke.”
“I’ll stay at your place.”
“You’ll stay at my house with me and my mother?” My brows narrow as I try to figure his angle. Surely, he doesn’t want to get back together after all the arguing.
“Of course.” He grins as he says, “You’re desperate, and I like the scent of desperation. It means you’ve gotta do something to make it up to me.”
“Oh God,” my clit throbs despite my outward disapproval, “I’d rather take my chances with the brain swelling.” I kick my feet out of bed and pull off the monitors, sending a series of beeps into the nearby nurse’s station.
“You’re not riskin’ your life because you’re stubborn. I’ll sleep on the couch for a couple of days. It’s no big deal. I’ve got a ton of work to catch up on, anyway. There’s this MC group that moved into town and wants to open another bike shop. I’ve gotta figure that out, and then sign off on all the final paperwork for this playground everyone’s been working on. There’s just one thing. You’ve gotta tell me I wasn’t the reason you left.”
I roll my eyes, ignoring his request. “Oh yeah, you’re thirteen jobs. I remember. How’s all that going for ya?” I grin and reach for my street clothes on the counter behind the bed.
“It keeps my mind off the things I don’t wanna think about.”
“That’s the way you like it, isn’t it?”
“Just say what you want to say.” He stands, his massive body beside me as the scent of pine emanates off his skin. “Why don’t you get it all out, so we don’t have to do this passive aggressive thing the entire time you’re tryin’ to recover.”
“We don’t need to talk about how you bury every feeling you have in a million tasks, so you don’t have to feel anything. And that maybe… if you’d stopped doing that, you’d see what it is you really want out of life, and you wouldn’t have to be jealous that your brother has a wife and kids.”
He laughs. “Oh, please. I’m not jealous, and I told you what I wanted. You knew I needed you, and you ran off anyway, because you thought there was better.”
