Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48187 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 161(@300wpm)
“Let me help you, honey.”
Honey.
My heart flutters at the name.
Releasing the pillow, I roll onto my back. Our eyes meet, intense and heated. He runs his fingertip along my cheek and sighs.
“Please, Lauren.”
Tears prickle my eyes again. My bottom lip wobbles as the pain inside my heart begs for release. But the pain of losing your mother can’t be unleashed into the wild. No, it stays caged. Punished and abused.
“Kidney failure. She had kidney disease.”
His features grow stormy. “Jesus fucking Christ. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
A sob chokes my throat. “B-Because saying my fears makes them true. I c-can’t let this be true.”
He leans forward and brushes his lips across mine in the softest of kisses. “We’re going to the hospital and you’re going to let me help you. No more hiding.”
Hot tears leak from my eyes. “I’m scared.”
“Me too,” he admits, vulnerability on his handsome face making him seem decades younger. “But I’m going to fix you. Trust me.”
The doctors couldn’t fix Mom.
But when his lips press to mine more firmly, I can’t help but stupidly allow hope to flood through me. I part my lips and he takes the invitation to swipe his tongue across mine.
Minty.
Yum.
His palm is strong and powerful as he cradles my cheek. Our lips move eagerly together, while our tongues thrash against one another. When a low groan of need pulses through me, Daniel pulls abruptly away.
“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” he whispers, his eyes betraying his words as they linger at my swollen lips. “It’s not right.”
“Felt pretty right to me,” I argue.
He scrubs his face with his palm. “I’m your doctor.”
Rolling my eyes, I try to pull him to me for another kiss, but he breaks away. “Come on. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Rejection stings, but the pain searing through my abdomen is worse. It’s the only reason I allow him to pull me up and to take me to get the dreaded tests. Something tells me things will get worse before they get better. And there’s no more denying that fact.
Daniel falls into doctor mode easily now that I’ve given him a bone to chase after. While I sit in the hospital bed, anxiously awaiting the results of many tests he ordered, I can’t help but be angry at myself for agreeing to this. When he was in my bed looking good enough to eat, I would’ve agreed to anything to get him to stay there. It’s easy to forget outside of the hospital who he is. But in this sterile bed, I’m quickly reminded of who I’ve recently befriended.
Friends.
Yeah, right.
When I’d seen him at the gym looking sweaty and all his muscles were on glorious display, I’d wanted anything but friendship. I wanted him to strip me down right then and fuck me into the rubber mats as he greedily stole my virginity. But I’d let my secret slip and now I’m nothing more than a problem to be solved.
“We should call your dad,” he says, his voice firm as he reenters the room.
“No,” I snip. “He’s working.”
Daniel’s features tighten. “I don’t give a damn if he’s working. This is important, Lauren.”
I shrug, fighting tears in my eyes. “I guess.”
He stalks over to me and gently grips my jaw. “Stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop it with the walls.”
A tear slips from my eye, racing down my cheek. “Am I going to die?”
My words make him flinch and he releases me. “Not if I can help it.”
“Not comforting, Dr. Dan.”
He sits on the edge of the bed and grips my hand. “I won’t sugarcoat it, honey. Your bloodwork and urinalysis came back. Not good. Kidney infection.”
I wince at his words.
“I want to send you in for an ultrasound of your kidneys. The ultrasound will give us a better picture.”
The curtain opens and he tugs his hand from mine to greet the nurse I now know as Lin. Daniel stands so that she can do her job of starting an IV.
“Antibiotics,” he explains. “I will want to keep you overnight so we can make sure the antibiotics are working. But here shortly, I want them to do an ultrasound on your kidneys so we can rule out anything terrible.” He lets out a heavy sigh. “Please call your dad.”
I grit my teeth. “Do what you have to do. I’ll text Dad later.” Later as in I’ll talk to him when he gets home next week.
Daniel scowls at me, clearly onto my lies. “Fine.”
“Fine,” I bite back.
But nothing is fine.
Daniel
Of course the day I finally get her to agree to tests, triage is a fucking nightmare. I’ve put in the order for an ultrasound, but she’s on a list behind sixteen other people. With each patient I see, I’m distracted with worry. Hours fly by and when I peek into her room, she’s gone.
Finally.
I’m assessing a kid’s wrist to see if he broke it when Lin taps me on the shoulder.