Page 25 of The Bad Boy's Good Girl

“Well, according to your chart there’s at least one more person?”

Nola gave her a crooked smile. “Well, that was an aberration. He’s not who I’m concerned about, not really. My life has just fallen apart and I need to focus on me and the baby for awhile.”

Valerie gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Then I’ll make sure no one disturbs you if you promise to dry those tears and relax. It’s not good for the little one.”

“Thank you.” Nola made a mental note to bring a nice little treat for Valerie when she got out of the hospital. She needed kindness right now and the nurse had given it to her in spades.Now I just have to figure out my next move.

* * *

“Come on, we need to go.”

Bronx looked up at his brother’s scowl, his impatient foot tapping, and frowned. “What the hell is up with you and where do we need to go while I’m knee-deep in a shit-storm?” He didn’t bother mentioning that Nola was nowhere to be found because he’d told her he didn’t want or need her help. “Well? Do you just plan to glare at me or are you going to speak?”

“It’s Nola.”

Bronx held up his hands. “I don’t care, Brooks. Everyone is running around here working their asses off and where is she?”

“You prick, she’s in the hospital!”

Bronx shot out of his seat, grabbing his jacket and marched out of his office. “Take care of things Gabriela, and try not to fuck anything up.” He looked back at Brooks. “Are you coming?”

“Yeah. I’m just trying to figure out why you give a damn all of a sudden.”

“Man she’s in the hospital, what kind of asshole do you think I am?” He shook his head and punched the elevator button harder than he needed to. How in the hell did she end up in the hospital. “Did she say what’s wrong?”

“No. I yelled at her about not answering the phone. She only said it to shut me up. Then she quit.”

Shit, again?“This is getting ridiculous, Brooks, maybe you should just let her go.”

“What! How can you say that when clearly something is going on with her? She needs us whether she’ll admit it or not. What if she’s really sick and going through this all alone?”

Damn, he hated even the thought of that. Nola was the kind of woman who should be surrounded by people who love her. The ride to the hospital was quick, mostly because he broke every speed law in Serendipity to get there. He couldn’t say why he felt so worried, only that he did. And Brooks was worried to, which meant they had to get to Nola right away. “Can you tell us where Nola Boudreaux’s room is?”

A bored nurse with a blonde pixie cut looked up at them as her fingers flew over the keyboard. “No visitors.”

“What,” Brooks roared at her, making her flinch. “I am her best friend and her boss and I demand to see her!”

“Sorry sir,” she started, not sounding all that sorry, “but the patient has requested no visitors except one and it’s not either of you.”

“How do you know?” Brooks asked, looking more confused and hurt than ever.

“Because it says her allowed visitor is female.”

“Are you fucking kidding me,” Bronx asked, his own dark scowl and towering figure leaning across the desk. “What do you mean she requested no visitors?”

She sighed and punctuated it with a roll of her eyes. “A nurse put a note in the file that the patient requested no visitors which means no visitors allowed.”

“Can we call her?” Why he took the lead, Bronx didn’t know, only that the more the nurse refused him the more he needed to get up there and find out that Nola was fine.

She picked up the phone and dialed, whispering into the mouthpiece before hanging up again. “She wants to be left alone.”

“Fuck that!” He grabbed his brother’s arm and pulled him to the end of the hall. “Watch my back, I’m going up.”

“You’re what? You heard what Nurse Ratchet said, she doesn’t want to see us. Either of us.”

“Yeah, I got it Brooks, she should at least want to see you. The perfect brother.”

“Come off it, Bronx. We’re friends so yeah, it sucks she doesn’t want to see me. But why…shit, you did. You slept with her, didn’t you?”

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