Page 34 of Born To Be My Baby

"You can after I check you out. If you're feeling up to it, you can go home today."

"I'm up to it. But I don't want to go home. I'll stay close so I can be here with Mina every day." She didn't know where that would be, but she'd figure it out.

The doctor nodded. "We can talk about that."

He neared her bed and checked her vision. She didn't see double. She counted his fingers, and he shined a light in her eyes. He asked her to pull down on his hands, checked her reflexes, then declared her fit to go home.

"It usually takes a while to process the paperwork, so you can go up and visit Mina while we process you out."

"Sounds good."

The doctor nodded and left without another word. She scooted to the edge of the bed, let her feet dangle, then froze. "I don't have clean clothes."

"I bought you some yesterday in the gift shop," Sean offered. "All they had were sweatpants and a sweatshirt, but they're clean."

"Thank you." For the first time, she looked at his clothing. He wore a T-shirt and a pair of jeans. He had the jeans on yesterday during the interview and concert, but she didn't remember the T-shirt.

He chuckled. "I had it on under my dress shirt yesterday. My dress shirt has blood on it."

She nodded. "You look good in a t-shirt."

He laughed. "You'd say that."

She grinned. "Okay. I need to get dressed."

Brody stepped back. "I'll wait outside."

Sean stepped to her closet and pulled a plastic bag from inside. "They put your clothing in here. I didn't buy you undergarments so these will have to do."

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. When I get to my suitcase, I'll have clean clothes."

"That's at my house. I had someone take it and Mina's car there last night."

"How far is your house?"

"About twenty minutes from here."

She nodded. "Okay."

He stepped closer and bent down to look into her eyes. "We can stay there at night and come back here every day. You'll be close, be able to shower and get some rest. And we'll have time to talk."

She swallowed. "Okay." She'd take the time to process her quick answer later. Her heart still hurt, but her head tried telling her heart Sean loved her and had his reasons. Which he's now apologized for.

He stood and chuckled. "That was easier than I thought."

26

The hospital insisted Gloria ride up in a wheelchair to visit Mina. Sean insisted on pushing the wheelchair. Gloria muttered something about too many people insisting they do things, and she didn't have a say. He chuckled as he wheeled her down the hall to the bank of elevators. Brody walked a few steps ahead and pushed the button to open the doors.

The three of them entered the elevator. None of them said a word.

His feelings were all over the board about Brody. He was there for Mina and Gloria when they needed him. And he couldn't fault him for that. He wasn't there.

But he envied him the time that he had with Mina and Gloria. The times he should have been there. He should have been with Mina for all those milestones. He should have been a father to her. And that rankled.

But he kept telling himself it wasn't his fault. And Brody stepped up when he wasn't around. And no matter whose fault that was, he did it. But it also rankled because Sean knew why Brody stepped up. He loved Gloria. Probably still did. Even though he was married now. But he saw the futility in sticking around, waiting for Gloria to fall in love with him. If she hadn't done it all those years ago, it wasn't going to happen, right? At least there was solace in Sean knowing that.

Brody was married to someone else. And that left the door open for Sean and Gloria to decide if they could patch up their relationship and be a family or if that decision made all those years ago was a decision that was going to stand. Minus, of course, his absence in Mina's life. He wasn't going to let that be a factor in the future.

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