Page 27 of Born To Be My Baby

"Here. I have some ice chips for you, Ms. Adams. You can take one ice chip at a time and let it melt in your mouth, please. Slowly, so you don't get nauseous."

"Okay."

Sean's voice was firm when he said, "I'll help her."

She heard the ice chips rattle in a cup, and then a cold, wet cube slid along her lips. She opened her mouth, and he slipped the cube inside.

"Just let it melt, honey."

She laid there for a few minutes, letting the ice cube melt. She heard Sean set the glass on a table. It must have been next to her bed. But he instantly picked her hand up again, her left hand.

Both of his hands held her left hand. When the ice cube was gone, her mouth felt a little better.

She asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Bruised. A little scared. A lot. So scared, honey. So scared."

"Yeah. Me too."

She felt the tears leak from her closed eyes. The back of Sean's fingers brushed the tears away. He pulled a tissue from a tissue box and dabbed her cheeks. He didn't say anything like, "Hold it together or stop crying," or "Don't be silly."

Nothing like that. He just took care of her. Finally, his voice, she heard him swallow, deep swallows.

"I'm so sorry, Gloria. I'm so sorry," he cried softly.

She squeezed his hand. "It's not your fault, Sean. One of those stupid reporters just had to try and get a picture. Just had to see our pain. See everything we were going through. Fucking stupid reporters." It came back to her in a flood. She remembered Sean yelling to hang on. She remembered the reporters speeding past them with their camera hanging out the window. She remembered the busy road and the reporters’ car turning into them. Sean slammed on the brakes to give them room, but they were hit.

"Yeah. Yep, that's a fact. I've already called Jami and Tony. They have attorneys on this. We're suing those fuckers for everything we can get from them."

She swallowed. "Right now, I just want Mina to be okay."

"I know, baby. I know."

He called her baby. She hadn't heard his voice call her that for years. Twenty-plus years. She remembered the last time he'd called her that. They'd just made love in his apartment. He pulled her into his embrace, her back to his front. They were naked and warm and sated. His arms closed around her and she could feel his heartbeat against her back. Just before they drifted off to sleep, he said close to her ear. "I love you, baby."

Tears flowed down her cheeks anew. She let them.

22

Sean's heart beat so hard he could barely breathe watching Gloria lay in the bed. Her skin was pale. Her voice was so frail. Not like her at all. She was always strong, independent, and fun-loving. Now she looked a shell of herself. He hoped that her color would come back soon. Doctors wouldn't tell him anything. He had no rights here.

Well, he wouldn't have rights where Gloria was concerned, anyway. But Mina was his daughter, and he couldn't offer anything towards her. He couldn't sign papers allowing the surgery. Doctors did it because it was an emergency. He couldn't see her. He couldn't get information about her because he wasn't listed as next of kin, even though he was. He was as close to her as Gloria. If they did a damned DNA test, they'd see next of kin. Fuckers.

He felt so helpless. And he felt angry about feeling helpless. And he felt angry about how things had happened, and his mind whirled with the issues, details, and situations that he was going to have to get fixed. Well, he knew what was going to be first. First, he was going to get permission to see his daughter. That was going to be first. And he wasn't sure how he was going to do that.

When Gloria was a little bit stronger, he would talk to her about that, especially with her in and out of consciousness right now. Somebody needed to be able to obtain information on Mina. The door opened, and a man walked in. He looked at Gloria lying in the bed.

He swallowed a large lump in his throat. He inched forward and then noticed him sitting there. He froze for an instant, then he nodded, slowly reached forward across the bed, and held out his hand.

"I'm Brody. Pickett."

"Okay, I'm Sean West."

Brody pumped his hand a couple times.

"It's nice to meet you, Sean. Can you explain a little bit more about what happened?"

"Well, first, who are you? I mean, besides being Brody Pickett, who are you?"

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