Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
No, no he probably didn’t.
Medics made about the same as police officers did, which was just enough to live, but not enough to enjoy.
“I have the possibility of helping more once I pay off Ida’s student loans,” Tarrant admitted. “But that won’t be for another five years. I need that money to stretch as long as possible.” He looked at his sister. “And Pep can’t take on another job. She’s already working three.”
That hurt my fucking heart.
“Needless to say, we’re working really hard,” Everest muttered.
I could see that.
What I couldn’t see was how a crazy-pants like Sage had come from a family like this.
And how the fuck I’d missed it.
Then again, I thought, as I stood up and watched over the bed where my son was sedated, my hand coming down to run a few blond curls between two fingers, maybe I just didn’t know how to pick any woman.
Look what I’d done to my son by choosing his mother.
Whoever decided that four muffins in the packages of Little Bites is enough is a moron.
—Pepper’s secret thoughts
PEPPER
The intercom sounded again, telling us that visiting time was over.
Yet he still stood there, his baby’s hand in his, as he stared at Forest with a look of horror on his face.
I knew he was blaming himself.
I knew there was nothing I could do to make this better.
And I knew, like I knew Atlas was meant to be mine, that Forest was meant to be mine, too.
“Sir, ma’am.”
I looked up to find a reluctant looking nurse standing in our doorway.
“Yes?” I asked.
“It’s time to go. Now.” She sounded stern, but she looked anything but.
The poor girl.
Taking pity on her, I turned to Atlas, and walked up to him, placing my hand on his shoulder.
“Let’s get you home for the night,” I suggested.
“I…”
“It’s the rules of the ICU, Atlas,” I told him softly. “Like literally, they’re not trying to be mean. There are rules for a reason, remember?”
He shot me a look of incredulity. “You’re one to talk.”
I chuckled at that. “I mean, yeah. I guess you’re right. But you were the one who signed an oath of conduct, not me.”
He grumbled something under his breath and stood up.
The nurse at the door who’d given us the news that it was time to leave looked relieved that she didn’t have to do any heavy lifting to get him to go.
“If he has any changes in the night, I’ll call you immediately,” she promised.
I squeezed her arm on my way past, thankful for her words.
She smiled softly at me, then started down the length of the hallway back toward the nurses’ station.
Atlas and I took the stairs to the road.
“I don’t have my truck,” he grumbled.
“I have my car,” I said. “I’ll drive you home, and then you can get one of your brothers to get you back to your truck tomorrow.”
He opened the car door for me, and the shock must’ve been written all over my face, because he responded.
“When’s the last time a guy opened a car door for you?” he teased, trying to put on a brave face.
I didn’t miss a beat when I said, “When I got arrested. By you.”
He smiled.
But that smile died just as fast as it’d come.
I got in and started it up. He rounded the hood, his face blank, and got into the passenger seat.
He didn’t protest. Didn’t bitch. Didn’t say a word.
And it was the most disconcerting thing that he’d done since I’d met the man.
He always had something to say.
Always.
My stomach knotted for him.
It kept tightening, though, the longer we drove.
I stopped at a fast food joint and bought a dozen tacos, hoping that would be enough to feed us both.
When I pulled into the driveway of his place, my eyes automatically took a look around at all of the other houses that his family lived in.
I’d been in this neighborhood a lot since I’d met and started working for Maven. I knew all of the people who lived in each house.
The lights were all off in each and every one of them, making my heart ache.
Atlas needed his family, and they weren’t here.
Not by choice, though.
I’d gotten dozens of text messages from all of them since I’d arrived, and all of them had been from his family, worried about their brother.
They were all on their way home, and it was unfortunate that the one day they’d chosen to drive eight hours to visit a waterpark out of town had been the day that Atlas needed them most.
When I turned off the engine of my car, he got out, and headed for the front door.
In seconds he had it open, lights flipped on, and the door hanging wide as he marched inside.
I followed much more slowly, grabbing my purse, our food, and the paperwork from the hospital that they’d given us on the way out. In case we’d wanted to call for an update.