Page 57 of Forever Your Touch

And telling her his intentions right now was out of the question. She had enough to deal with. Besides, Mason wasn’t sure how she’d react, and he couldn’t run the risk of her flipping out and telling him to leave. She needed someone who had her best interest at heart.

The door opened, and Keith came in followed by who he assumed were their parents. They were both older, late forties, maybe early fifties for their father. Josephine could have been her mother’s twin sister. They were alike right down to the facial expressions.

“She’s still asleep?” Keith frowned, concerned.

“They gave her some heavy-duty pain meds. The nurse said not to be surprised if she slept through the morning.” Mason kept his voice down so as not to wake anyone.

“Mom, Dad, meet Mason Kincaid, my best friend and Jo’s fill-in big brother.”

“Mason.” Keith’s mom rushed over and hugged him. “Keith told us everything you’ve been doing for Jo. Thank you, honey. If you hadn’t been there today, God knows how bad it would have been.”

“You slept over at her house?” Her father’s brown eyes narrowed, the expression in them calculating.

“Yes, sir. She and Ray let me sleep on the couch. My dad just arrived from Russia. He has cancer, and yesterday was a bad day for me. Jo helped me not to go out of my mind.”

“Keith mentioned your father was sick. I’m sorry to hear that.” Some of the tension went out of Cooper Maxwell. “Are these friends of Jo’s?” Mr. Maxwell gestured to Nik and Lily.

“No, they’re my brother and sister-in-law. They came to wait with her too.”

“Why?” Mr. Maxwell frowned.

“Jo’s family to me, which means she’s family to them. There’s not a chance they’d let her stay here by herself. Even if Becca wasn’t in the hospital, there would be a revolving door of my family in and out.”

“Dimitri’s wife?” Keith asked.

“Yeah. She went into labor, and we found out she’s having twins, and there’s a problem with one of the babies. Twin to twin transfusion or something. Ava is tiny, and they’re telling us she might not survive.”

“And you’re here instead of with her?”

Mason nodded. “I promised Jo I wouldn’t leave her. I’ve been in to see Becca, said a few prayers in the chapel for her and Ava, but otherwise, I’ve kept my butt planted right here in this chair. My entire family’s been in and out checking on her. She hasn’t been alone today. I promise.”

“You’re a good boy, Mason.” Jo’s mother kissed his cheek, and he barely hid the wince at the wordboy. “Jo’s lucky to have you.”

“I’m the lucky one.” Mason glanced at Jo, and he actually felt his expression soften. “She made me think about a lot of stuff, and it’s changed me for the better.”

Keith’s expression changed, and Mason knew it was time to get the hell out of Dodge. He wasn’t ready to talk to his best friend yet. Soon, but not yet.

“I’ll go and let you guys spend some time with her. I need to check on Becca anyway. These two have a newborn at home, so they’re not getting any sleep. I would appreciate it if you could let them snooze until they wake up.”

“Of course,” Mrs. Maxwell said and took the seat Mason vacated. He should have offered her the chair straightaway. His mother would be disappointed in him, which was why he wasn’t about to tell her. He blamed it on him being damn tired.

“Keith, I’ll catch up to you in a bit.”

“Sure, man. I think we need to talk, yeah?”

Keith knew exactly what they needed to talk about. He’d never been able to hide a damn thing from him.

“Yeah, we do.”

With that, Mason left them alone and went in search of his family, his thoughts turning to Becca and baby Ava.

He only hoped the specialist could keep his niece alive.

Chapter Fifteen

Mason walked outside, unable to take seeing his family in so much pain. Some fresh air would be good for him. Well, it wasn’t exactly fresh, but it would do. It was times like this he missed his uncle’s farm out in Virginia. The autumn air would be crisp and smell of the coming winter. New York had an odd scent. It smelled of machines, of the fumes from the subway, of urine in some places, but amidst all that you caught the various delicious smells of the food vendors and the coffee shops. It wasn’t unpleasant, just different.

He walked around the side of the building, wanting to stay out of the ambulances’ way should they pull up. The emergency room exit was the only one open this time of night.

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