I take the clipboard from her and fill the forms out quickly. Within just a few minutes, she leads us back to a room, and I lay him on the bed to rest. His stomach doesn’t seem to bother him as much now that we’re here, which is strange considering how severe his pain was just minutes ago.
“Good evening, I’m—Oh, Roman. Hi.” Maddie’s friend Peyton comes into the room and washes her hands.
“Hi Peyton,” I stumble. “This is my son, Ty. He’s having some stomach pain.”
“I see.” She smiles at me, and then sits next to Ty. “Hey there, little man. My name is Peyton and I’m a nurse here. I’m going to do a quick exam if that’s okay with you, and hopefully we can figure out what’s going on with your tummy.”
When she reaches for him, Ty jerks away.
“Actually…” Ty’s eyes fill with guilt, and he looks at me like he’s about to cry. What the hell? “Daddy, I’m sorry. My tummy doesn’t hurt. I just thought Maddie would be here and…”
He dissolves into tears, burying his face in my chest.
Peyton raises her eyebrows as we glance at each other, a small smile on her lips. “Oh.”
“What?” I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. I just got thoroughly played by my six-year-old, and if I wasn’t so embarrassed, this might be funny.Might.
Jesus Christ.
“Ty, this is serious. There are people here who really need help, and you know you’re not supposed to lie.”
“I know, Daddy,” he pouts, eyes cast down as I scold him.
“Peyton, I am so sorry. We’ll definitely be having a discussion about this at home.” I rub my forehead. “I’m sorry we wasted your time.”
She gives me a warm, understanding smile. “It’s really okay, Roman. I get it. Change is tough.”
Yeah, no kidding. Ty is still in trouble, but now that the urgency has passed, I won’t let an opportunity pass without asking her about Maddie.
“Do you think we could talk in the hallway for a minute?”
“Of course.” She nods. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Ty. It was nice to meet you.”
Peyton and I head out of the room, and I latch the door behind me. I don’t expect Ty to cause any more mischief, but I didn’t expect him to try to set me up, either.
“I know what you’re going to ask me, Roman.” Peyton puts her hands on her hips.
“I just want to talk to her, Peyton. Is she in tonight?”
She shakes her head. “No, she isn’t with the hospital anymore. When she found out the truth about Dr. Bauer, she went straight to the authorities. There were no charges filed against her, because she was just a trainee, but the board asked her to leave the hospital.”
Fuck. I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. She threw herself under the bus to make sure I got the justice I was looking for. Rejecting the opportunity in LA meant that she’d have nowhere to turn, and yet she went to the police, anyway.
“Do you know where she’s staying? I’ve been trying to find her all week.”
“I wish I could help you, Roman, but I can’t.”
“Look, Peyton, I know you’re just looking out for your friend and that you want to protect her. I get it. But you have to trust me. All I want to do is apologize. I fucked up the best thing in my entire life and I’m willing to do anything I have to do to get her back.Anything. And I know if she could just hear me out, she would feel the same. Please. I’m begging you, please just give me an address.”
Peyton studies me carefully, trying to determine whether or not she’s gonna give me what I want. “She’ll kill me if she knows I did this for you.”
“I’m not trying to hurt her, Peyton,” I plead. “And if she doesn’t want to see me, I’ll let it go. But I at least have to try.”
“Fine.” She lets out a heavy breath. “All I know is that she’s going to be here tomorrow around lunchtime to clean out herlocker. I don’t know where she’s staying, so that’s your only opportunity.”
I can’t wipe the smile off of my face. I’m not too late. I still have a chance to make this right. “Thank you so much, Peyton. You have no idea how much I appreciate…”
“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t make me regret it.” She smirks. “And don’t give your son a hard time about lying. I think it’s pretty sweet that he’s so determined to get the two of you back together.”