Page 7 of Lilly

"But you DO know him. You've had dinner with him several times. And he's Reed's dad, which makes him almost family."

My temper rises at the thought of that, but I quell it, not wanting this to turn into a fight. "Dean is not a member of this family, and having dinner with him a few times does not mean that I know him. I can't stop you from sharing Dean's request with Harper, but I would strongly advise against it. I don't want you to get in the habit of coercing your friends into doing things they're not comfortable doing. That's something your mother would do."

That's all I need to say. If I even hint that Lilly is acting the slightest bit like her mother, she stops the behavior and never does it again. Her greatest fear is to turn out like Katherine, and given that, I try not to use the comparison often, but in this case it had to be said. Katherine uses people for her own personal gain, even her friends and family, and I don't want Lilly doing the same.

"How are the waffles?" Rachel asks, changing topics before an argument erupts.

"Very good," I tell her.

"Next time we should add chocolate chips to the batter," Lilly says as she pours chocolate syrup over her waffle. I don't know how she manages to stay so thin the way she eats. She's always snacking on licorice or chocolate or other candy. She loves sweets, whereas Garret has no interest in them. Like me, he doesn't have a sweet tooth.

My phone rings. I normally wouldn't answer it during breakfast but I see it's Grace calling, which is unusual for a Sunday morning.

"Hello, Grace," I say, getting up from my chair.

"Hello, Pearce. I'm sorry to interrupt your Sunday but I wanted to tell you about William. Or has Garret already called you?"

"No. What about William?"

"He's been hospitalized. He was brought in about an hour ago."

"What happened?"

"He passed out. Meredith said he went into the office early this morning and soon after he arrived, he passed out."

William works constantly, even on the weekends, just like I used to do. Add in his duties as an upper level member of the organization and I'm not surprised he's ill. It's too much for one person.

"Do they know what's wrong?" I ask.

"They're not sure. He's awake now and they're running some tests. Meredith said William hasn't been feeling well for the past month or so. She said he's been extremely tired and has had headaches that have been getting worse the past week."

"Has he seen a doctor about this?"

"No. Meredith tried to get him to go but he told her he didn't have time." She pauses. "Pearce, I'm worried. I can't lose another son."

"He'll be fine," I assure her. "When are you going to see him?"

"Today. I was just about to book a ticket. Jade is coming with me. She didn't want me going alone."

"I'll go as well. Don't worry about getting a ticket. We'll take my plane. I'll call my pilot and have him get it ready."

"Pearce, you don't have to do this. I know you're busy."

"You and William are family. I wouldn't even consider not going. I'll call you back once I get timing for when we can leave." I hang up and immediately call my pilot.

"Pearce, what's wrong?" Rachel asks.

"Just a moment," I tell her as the pilot answers. I tell him to prepare the plane, then end the call and turn to Rachel. "William is sick. He's been hospitalized and I'm flying out there to see him, along with Jade and Grace."

"I'll come with you." She stands up and takes her plate to the sink.

"There's no rush. They have to get the plane ready. It'll be a couple hours."

"Am I staying here?" Lilly asks.

I don't want Lilly here alone. When she's at the dorm, she has other people around her and the campus has excellent security, but I worry about her being alone in this house. It's in a very exclusive neighborhood and protected behind a secure gate but our neighbors are not at all friendly. They like to be left alone, so if Lilly needed help, they'd be of no assistance.

"You'll be going with us," I tell her, then I call Garret's number.

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