Page 28 of Born To Be My Baby

"Oh, I see Gloria hasn't said anything about me."

His eyes slid to Gloria, lying so still and quiet in the bed. She'd fallen asleep a few minutes ago.

Sean shook his head, "Nope. She didn't say anything about you."

This man, Brody, nodded. He was tall, six foot two-ish maybe, about the same size as him.

His hair was thinning and gray above the ears. He had a nice face, though, but Sean instantly didn't like him. He had something to do with Gloria. He took a deep breath and looked at Sean and said, "I've known Gloria and Mina for years. I'm actually listed on both of their insurance documents as someone to be contacted if anything happened." He swallowed. "So I received a phone call today from the police that they were in this accident. I got here as quickly as I could."

His voice cracked a little and Sean swallowed.

"Why are you listed as someone who should be contacted if anything happened?"

Brody looked around the room and saw a chair sitting against the wall. He quietly walked over and picked up the chair and set it alongside the bed next to Gloria and across from Sean.

"I used to be Gloria's producer back when she was starting out in the business. We've known each other for years and years and years. She called me when Mina needed a male to take her to a father/daughter dance or some event at school where dads would be showcased or prevalent. I was standing in for her father."

Sean gritted his teeth and his jaw tightened. "Okay."

"So anyway, I've been with the family for years and Gloria needed someone when her parents died to be notified should something happen to them. And that's me."

Sean nodded, gritted his teeth a few more times, adding pressure until the pain in his jaw required him to stop.

He nodded. "Okay, well, I'm Sean West. I'm Mina's father."

Brody's eyebrows rose high into his head. He leaned forward and cocked his head as he looked in Sean's face.

"Were you in the accident with them? It looks like you've got some cuts and bruises on your face."

"Yes, I was driving."

"Okay."

"I saw some of the postings on the Internet. They weren't flattering of Gloria at all. And that's unfair. I've already taken some steps to try and lessen the blow. I understand from Boon that a statement was recorded by all of you. I went ahead and instructed Boon to get that edited immediately. We need to get this out in front of the press as soon as possible, especially in light of the accident. Do you have people working on your behalf with this?"

Sean's eyes narrowed slightly. He had to admit it was nice having somebody else help out with all of this.

He nodded. "Yes, our band's manager has a PR firm working on it. We were just about ready to call Gloria's attorneys and get them working on some aspect of this as well. The network wants to see her on Monday. She's afraid they'll end her contract."

He nodded his head slowly. "I figured. I'll call and speak to the network as soon as I leave here. They don't need to be dumping more shit on top of her at this time.”

Sean's shoulders stiffened, but he didn't leave Gloria's side. He held her hand. They sat in silence for a long time.

Finally, a nurse walked in with a doctor. The nurse looked at him and nodded. Then she looked at Brody and nodded.

"Mr. Pickett, the doctor is here to give you information on Mina Adams. She's out of surgery."

Sean sat up straight. Brody, to his credit, looked over at Sean and nodded.

"This is Mina Adams’ biological father. We would both like to hear the information."

The doctor looked at Sean. His brows furled slightly for a second. He nodded at Sean. Then he looked at Brody.

"Mina's out of surgery. She did well. She's going to be out for a little while. We are going to keep her comfortable and sedated for a day or so until the swelling goes down. She'll be in terrible pain with a headache until that happens. So it's better to just keep her sedated and comfortable so that her body can do what it needs to do to heal.

"Other than that, she has some small cuts on her face. Those have been stitched up. We had a plastic surgeon who happened to be finishing up a surgery just before Mina came in, so we asked him to take care of her face so she doesn't have scars. I can attest myself. This this plastic surgeon is fabulous and it'll be hard in a few months to see that there was ever anything going on with her face.

"She has a broken rib, likely caused from the seat belt and the way she twisted when the vehicle rolled. Her shoulder was dislocated, also from the seat belt. That's been put back into place. Since she'll be sedated, that's not going to cause her a lot of extra pain. When she wakes up, we'll see what her pain levels are and we'll adjust accordingly. Do you have any questions?"

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