Page 19 of Under Fire

“Not if I can help it.”

Glancing at his watch, he murmured, “I’ll be back in a minute.” He left the room.

Delilah stared at the phone as though it were a snake ready to bite if she looked away for a second. The ringing stopped. She breathed a sigh of relief for thirty seconds until the phone rang again. Why wouldn’t he stop? She didn’t want to talk to him.

Matt walked into the kitchen alone and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He drained part of it, keeping his gaze on her. When he lowered the bottle, he said, “Answer the call. Let’s find out what he wants.”

Guilt gripped Delilah. “Liam woke you.”

“I was already awake. I told you, I’m used to three or four hours of sleep a night. I got what I needed. Are you going to answer that?”

The ringing stopped. “No.”

The phone rang again.

Fear seeped into Delilah. Maybe something was wrong.

Matt sat on the seat beside hers. “Answer it, sweetheart.”

Dread swelling in her gut, Delilah tapped the screen and placed the call on speaker. “Hello, Randy.”

A pause, then, “Delilah?” His bass voice rolled out from the speaker. “Thank God I finally caught you.”

“What’s wrong?”

“You have to come home.”

“Why?”

“Your mother is dying.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Matt slipped his arm around Delilah’s shoulders as blood drained from her face. He thought about the PSI teaching schedule. He needed to call Rio to see if his fellow medic would cover Matt’s classes for a few days. He refused to allow Delilah to face her family alone. She’d never go alone again if he had anything to say about it.

Delilah dragged in a shaky breath and leaned into Matt’s side. “I talked to her two weeks ago and she didn’t mention an illness.”

“She didn’t want to worry you, but her health has taken a turn for the worse. If you don’t come home in the next day or two, you’ll be too late. She’s asking for you, Dee. She won’t say why, insists it’s only something she’ll discuss with you.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Matt asked.

“Who are you?”

“Matt. I’m a friend of Delilah’s. What’s wrong with your wife?”

“Dee?”

“Tell him. Matt’s a medic.”

“Michelle has liver cancer.”

Heavy drinker, Matt remembered. “Transplant?”

“Couldn’t find a donor match and now she’s too sick. Dee, will you come? Your mother wants to see you before she dies.”

Matt pressed a kiss to Delilah’s palm. When she glanced at him, he gave her a nod. “You don’t want to live with regrets,” he whispered in her ear. “I’ll go with you.”

She shivered. “All right, Randy. Tell Mom I’ll be there in a few hours.”

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