Everything inside me shrivels up into a little hard ball. “You said he hired “that girl.” What girl?”
“Emma Shaw.” He sneers her name and I immediately want to wipe the syllables from his mouth. It’s wrong for him to even speak her name. Not to mention the unholy look in his eyes.
“What does Emma have to do with anything?”
He laughs and my hands clench into fists.
“You actually thought she cared about you? Girls like that start coming out of the woodwork when you have money. I’m doing you a favor. At least you didn’t marry the bitch. That’s what he would have done.”
He’s goading me and I know it. My mother is one of the women he’s referring to. It would be foolish to respond to the obvious taunt. He wants me to hit him so he’ll have something to use against me. I need to walk away. Be the bigger man.
Then I think about it again and decide, Fuck it.
I punch him right above the nose. He buckles and drops to the ground like a stone. “I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t.”
The two security guys are grinning at me now. “I’m done with him. You can take him … wherever you were taking him.”
I honestly don’t care at this point.
The door to the bedroom they just exited hangs open. My father is sitting next to the window. He turns his head as I enter the room.
“Tanner? What are you doing here?”
“I was coming to thank you for paying mom’s hospital bill. I had this whole speech worked out in my head about how I’d misjudged you and you really were just looking to start over with us. Then I find out that you hired Emma to what, to seduce me?”
“It wasn’t like that. Emma is a nice girl. It was an opportunity for her to earn some money for her education.”
“Normal relationships don’t work like this. You can’t just pay people to be your friend or to do what you want. That’s not how it works.”
“I didn’t mean to cause trouble between you two. That’s not what was supposed to happen.”
His words only fuel my anger. Things always happen the way he wants them to and no one ever says no. Money has greased the wheels of his life for so long that he doesn’t know how to operate without using it. He doesn’t know how to have a normal relationship based on give and take.
“You want to know why you don’t have family around to take care of you while you’re sick? Because of shit like this. You manipulate people and use them to get what you want. You’re like a cancer. A sickness that spreads and devours everything around you. You wonder why you’re all alone? This is why.”
His mouth opens and then closes again but no sound comes out. His skin pales even further until he looks almost gray. My anger recedes as I realize that he isn’t responding to anything I’ve said. Not the anger or the accusations.
He looks stricken. For a moment, I feel guilty for how I’m lighting into him. He looks old and frail. His hand is shaking when he puts it to his forehead.
“Well? Say something.”
The hand resting on the side arm of his wheelchair shakes before falling to the side. His entire body slumps over, his head falling forward wildly.
“Dad? Help! Somebody.”
The doors to the suite burst open. The redhead who answered the door looks between me and my father in shock.
“Call 911.”
She recovers then dashes to the phone on the table. While she’s dialing, I press my fingers to the side of my father’s neck. I can’t feel anything and I’m not sure if it’s due to the angle of his body or the adrenaline racing through my own veins.
“Come on. Come on.”
At the hospital, the doctor disappears behind the swinging door and leaves me standing in the waiting room feeling like someone just clawed an open wound in my chest.
He’s alive. Barely.
“Is there someone I can call for you?” The nurse behind the desk is watching me with the kind of patient, gentle expression I imagine they must teach at nursing schools. She’s an older woman, with dark brown hair pulled up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She looks like the kind of lady who has a husband and three well-behaved kids. I briefly consider asking her if she’d adopt me.
I wouldn’t even know what to do in a normal family.
“No. I’m going to call my brother.” I pull out my cell phone and retreat to one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. I dial Finn’s number and the voicemail picks up.
“Finn. I’m at the hospital. Norfolk General. Our father has had a stroke. Or a heart attack. I don’t even know exactly. I just … need you to come. Just in case.”
I hang up and scrub my hands through my hair as I settle back to wait. The time passes slowly. I’ve never liked hospitals and this waiting is just brutal. I look at the clock on the wall for the millionth time. The doctor still hasn’t come back out to tell me what’s going on. I’ve been waiting for a half an hour. I glance at the nurse behind the desk. She looks at me and then her gaze skitters away.
I stand and pull out my phone again. Shouldn’t there be someone else I should call? Does my father even have friends? There are probably a million things I should be doing right now but I have no idea what they are. Things a good son would do. But then I’m not a good son, am I?
I was yelling at him. Christ.
The door from the outer corridor opens and Finn walks in. A second later, Gabe and Zack follow.
“Emma Shaw.” He sneers her name and I immediately want to wipe the syllables from his mouth. It’s wrong for him to even speak her name. Not to mention the unholy look in his eyes.
“What does Emma have to do with anything?”
He laughs and my hands clench into fists.
“You actually thought she cared about you? Girls like that start coming out of the woodwork when you have money. I’m doing you a favor. At least you didn’t marry the bitch. That’s what he would have done.”
He’s goading me and I know it. My mother is one of the women he’s referring to. It would be foolish to respond to the obvious taunt. He wants me to hit him so he’ll have something to use against me. I need to walk away. Be the bigger man.
Then I think about it again and decide, Fuck it.
I punch him right above the nose. He buckles and drops to the ground like a stone. “I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t.”
The two security guys are grinning at me now. “I’m done with him. You can take him … wherever you were taking him.”
I honestly don’t care at this point.
The door to the bedroom they just exited hangs open. My father is sitting next to the window. He turns his head as I enter the room.
“Tanner? What are you doing here?”
“I was coming to thank you for paying mom’s hospital bill. I had this whole speech worked out in my head about how I’d misjudged you and you really were just looking to start over with us. Then I find out that you hired Emma to what, to seduce me?”
“It wasn’t like that. Emma is a nice girl. It was an opportunity for her to earn some money for her education.”
“Normal relationships don’t work like this. You can’t just pay people to be your friend or to do what you want. That’s not how it works.”
“I didn’t mean to cause trouble between you two. That’s not what was supposed to happen.”
His words only fuel my anger. Things always happen the way he wants them to and no one ever says no. Money has greased the wheels of his life for so long that he doesn’t know how to operate without using it. He doesn’t know how to have a normal relationship based on give and take.
“You want to know why you don’t have family around to take care of you while you’re sick? Because of shit like this. You manipulate people and use them to get what you want. You’re like a cancer. A sickness that spreads and devours everything around you. You wonder why you’re all alone? This is why.”
His mouth opens and then closes again but no sound comes out. His skin pales even further until he looks almost gray. My anger recedes as I realize that he isn’t responding to anything I’ve said. Not the anger or the accusations.
He looks stricken. For a moment, I feel guilty for how I’m lighting into him. He looks old and frail. His hand is shaking when he puts it to his forehead.
“Well? Say something.”
The hand resting on the side arm of his wheelchair shakes before falling to the side. His entire body slumps over, his head falling forward wildly.
“Dad? Help! Somebody.”
The doors to the suite burst open. The redhead who answered the door looks between me and my father in shock.
“Call 911.”
She recovers then dashes to the phone on the table. While she’s dialing, I press my fingers to the side of my father’s neck. I can’t feel anything and I’m not sure if it’s due to the angle of his body or the adrenaline racing through my own veins.
“Come on. Come on.”
At the hospital, the doctor disappears behind the swinging door and leaves me standing in the waiting room feeling like someone just clawed an open wound in my chest.
He’s alive. Barely.
“Is there someone I can call for you?” The nurse behind the desk is watching me with the kind of patient, gentle expression I imagine they must teach at nursing schools. She’s an older woman, with dark brown hair pulled up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She looks like the kind of lady who has a husband and three well-behaved kids. I briefly consider asking her if she’d adopt me.
I wouldn’t even know what to do in a normal family.
“No. I’m going to call my brother.” I pull out my cell phone and retreat to one of the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. I dial Finn’s number and the voicemail picks up.
“Finn. I’m at the hospital. Norfolk General. Our father has had a stroke. Or a heart attack. I don’t even know exactly. I just … need you to come. Just in case.”
I hang up and scrub my hands through my hair as I settle back to wait. The time passes slowly. I’ve never liked hospitals and this waiting is just brutal. I look at the clock on the wall for the millionth time. The doctor still hasn’t come back out to tell me what’s going on. I’ve been waiting for a half an hour. I glance at the nurse behind the desk. She looks at me and then her gaze skitters away.
I stand and pull out my phone again. Shouldn’t there be someone else I should call? Does my father even have friends? There are probably a million things I should be doing right now but I have no idea what they are. Things a good son would do. But then I’m not a good son, am I?
I was yelling at him. Christ.
The door from the outer corridor opens and Finn walks in. A second later, Gabe and Zack follow.
