Page 51 of Ardent Desires

Logan arches a brow, glancing between us. “Not available, huh? I’ll have to track him down later then.”

And then Lena looks right at me—dead in the eye—and says the words that send my world crashing down around me. “Apparently, there was some sort of emergency with his girlfriend, Vanessa, so he’s not coming in.”

Girlfriend? Vanessa? I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. The words echo in my head as I stand there, frozen. I stare at Lena, trying to understand what she just said.

Logan smirks and shrugs. “Well, that explains it. I’ll catch him later.” He waves and strolls out, leaving a trail of tension behind him.

I barely register him leaving before I turn to Lena, my voice trembling. “What… what are you talking about?”

Lena doesn’t even bother to look up. “Look, girl, I work for Alexander, not you. So don’t expect me to tell you anything.” Her tone is cold, almost cruel, and it feels like a slap to the face.

I don’t say another word. My mind is racing, my heart pounding in my chest as panic sets in. Vanessa. Emergency. Ifeel like I’m going to be sick. Was this why he was being so weird all weekend? Was he withher? Is that why he didn’t answer my calls?

I stumble into the bathroom, locking the door behind me as my stomach churns. The anxiety, the stress, the confusion—it all hits at once, and I barely make it to the toilet before I’m throwing up.

I wipe my mouth, tears stinging my eyes as I sit on the cold bathroom floor, my mind racing with a thousand questions and no answers. I’m pregnant. I’m pregnant, and now… what the hell is happening with Alexander and Vanessa?

I try to breathe, but the panic is too much. Everything feels like it’s spiraling out of control, and I have no idea how to stop it.

Chapter thirteen

Desperate Measures

Xander

I’m staring at my phone, thumb hovering over Ellie’s number. I want to text her, ask how her doctor’s appointment went, tell her I miss her. Hell, I want to FaceTime her just so I can see her face. I haven’t seen her since Friday, and that’s way too long for me at this point.

But then the door opens, and the doctor walks in. I shove my phone into my pocket and stand, my muscles tense as I brace for whatever news he’s about to give.

“Are you the family of Vanessa Chase?” the doctor asks, glancing down at the chart in his hands.

“I’m the one who brought her in,” I reply, my voice clipped. I can still feel the weight of everything that’s happened hanging heavy in my chest.

The doctor nods, his expression shifting to something more serious. “What exactly happened?”

I run a hand through my hair, frustration and guilt twisting together in a knot that won’t go away. “Vanessa came over last night. She was… off. I could tell she’d taken something, thoughI wasn’t sure what. She was hysterical, crying, asking why I was discarding her. She was clearly not taking the break up well. I tried to calm her down, gave her some water, told her to get some sleep.”

The doctor watches me closely, his brow furrowing.

“This morning, early hours, I went to check on her. I found her collapsed in my bathroom.” My voice drops as I remember the panic that had seized me in that moment. “She must’ve gotten into my meds. I keep some painkillers from an old injury. She… took them.”

The doctor’s face remains neutral, professional, as he flips through the chart. “You did the right thing bringing her in. It looks like she had severe alcohol poisoning, and there were traces of a couple of substances in her system—cocaine, mostly—but it was the combination with your painkillers that made her collapse.”

My stomach clenches. The painkillers. I’ve kept them in the bathroom since I injured my shoulder a couple years ago. Never thought twice about them. Never thought Vanessa would...

“What happens now?” I ask, my voice a little rougher than I intend.

The doctor closes the chart, slipping it under his arm. “We’ve stabilized her, but she’ll need to stay for observation. She can have visitors soon, but the nurses will come get you when she’s awake.”

“Can I just see her? I want to…. Can I just see her?”

“Okay. I will talk to the nurse.”

I nod, my jaw clenched as I process everything. The last thing I wanted was to be here, dealing with this. I didn’t even know Vanessa was in this kind of state. I didn’t know she was this… volatile. It wasn’t like this when we were together. Not that I’d ever known. But people change, and apparently, I missed all the warning signs.

“Thank you, doctor,” I manage to say.

The doctor gives me a sympathetic nod before turning and walking away, leaving me alone in the sterile, cold waiting room. I sit back down, my hands gripping the armrests of the chair as guilt gnaws at me from the inside.

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