Page 73 of Bleeding Hearts

Nolan

Kellie was already in a room when I got to the hospital. I’d been out on a call and only allowed to leave once my replacement arrived. It’s been three hours, and I haven’t stopped worrying.

My team and I were working one of the worst five-car accidents I’ve witnessed during my career as a first responder. The air was heavy with the smell of gasoline and burning rubber. We fought our way through the grid-locked traffic and were working the scene when my daughter’s medical emergency was reported by dispatch. The news only escalated my already heightened adrenaline.

There’s no feeling quite like the helplessness that washes over you when you get a call like that. Staying calm under pressure is crucial for us to perform our duties. This often requires you to suppress your emotions, like flipping a switch, to avoid influencing your decisions. It’s almost a rote response that can’t always be turned off, even when it’s your family in crisis. And because I’d activated mine while working the scene, when I finally walk into my daughter’s room, everything hits me at once.

The only light comes from the television. Its low hum a barely audible whisper in the quiet room.

Kellie’s asleep. She has a tube under her nose, feeding her oxygen. Curled up next to her, also fast asleep, is Mollie.

My hand on the cold handle tightens as I quietly close the door, so I don’t wake my girls. With a sigh, I head to the chair next to the bed, the worn fabric cool beneath my aching body as I let myself fall onto it. My eyes remain on the two most precious gifts ever given to me.

My daughters.

A flicker of movement in the shadowy corner catches my attention. I expected Susanne to be there when I turn to look. Instead, I lock eyes with Bethany.

Scanning the room and seeing no one else, I frown. “Where’s Susanne?”

With a subtle nod, Bethany rises and gestures for me to follow, her footsteps echoing softly as we enter the hallway.

It’s the last thing I want to do, but after the hellish afternoon my girls have had, I don’t want to add to their stress. Standing, I bend and press a kiss to both of their foreheads—neither stirs—then follow her into the hall and close the door behind me.

“Where’s Susanne?” I ask again.

Bethany’s touch is light, yet firm, as her hand rests on my arm. “She left.”

“She left?”

“Yep. My refusal to leave upset her. Then she got a phone call and excused herself.” A frown lines Bethany’s face, etching itself into her skin as she furrows her brow. “When she came back into the room, she told Kellie she had to go.”

“Let me guess. Barney called and summoned her home.” With a sigh, I drop my head, the weight of the world pressing down as I take a few controlled breaths. “Did she at least explain why?”

“Something about business and that it couldn’t wait. Kellie was a champ. I could tell she didn’t want her to go, but she told her we’d be fine.” Bethany clears her throat. “I followed her into the hall and tried to get her to wait for you, but she only glared at me and then stormed off.”

“Jesus.” I need to sit down. With no chairs in sight, I settle onto the cold, hard floor of the hallway, stretching my legs out and resting my head against the wall.

“Nolan?”

Hearing the panic in Bethany’s voice, I tilt my head back to look up at her. “It’s been a shit day, and I need to sit. I don’t want to leave the girls, and since there aren’t any chairs in the hall, this will have to do.” I pat the floor next to me. “Sit. There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Unless it’s super important, it can wait.” She slides down next to me and crosses her legs the best she can. “But this can’t. I need to apologize for being a selfish bitch who was scared of her own shadow and ran like a coward. I know it’s probably too late, but if you could find it in your heart to forgive me and let me do everything in my power to make it up to you, I’d like to start over.”

As I bend my knees, I prop my elbows on them and direct my gaze toward the wall in front of us. “What do you mean by that, exactly?”

“I mean, I’d like us to be more than grumpy neighbors who are miserable because one of them fucked up.” She pulls her knees up, drawing her long skirt down over her legs, before folding her arms around them. “There’s more, but I don’t want to have that conversation on a dingy hallway floor inside a hospital. But understand, I plan on bugging the hell out of you, making your life miserable, and not stopping until you either agree or kill me.”

“Those are some harsh terms.” My eyes shift to look at her, and damn the woman for looking so good, even in this horrible light.

“Desperate women do crazy shit.”

I take a moment to think about it, not that I really need to, but it’s not just me I need to worry about.

When I don’t speak fast enough, she says more. “Your face is gonna freeze like that. Not that I’d complain. That sexy frown of yours does terribly awful things to my libido.”

Her words make me growl, and it’s not because I’m mad at her, but I’m not telling her that. “The girls took you abandoning us hard. I can’t let that happen again.”

“I’m all in. Promise.” She lifts her hand and crosses her heart. “Hurting them again will kill me.”

---