Page 3 of Cryptic Curse
When I reach the hospital, I bypass the valet parking—even though I have fortune enough for ten lifetimes, I’m never ostentatious—and park in the lot.I get out of the truck, lock it with my key fob, and then walk into the hospital, my boots clicking on the marble tile.
I stroll to the elevator, press number four, and head up to my father’s room.
When was I last here?
Last week, I think.I sat next to my mother for about an hour, saying nothing to her or to my comatose father.When a spam text hit my phone, I told my mother it was important and I had to go.
She didn’t ask me to elaborate.
If she had, I would have made something up.
But part of me knew she wouldn’t.She and I are kind of like oil and water.I have no doubt that she loves me just as much as she loves my brothers and sisters, but yeah.We don’t really mix.
When I was little, I wondered if it was because I was the only one who didn’t get her eyes.
Now I realize that we’re just different.We look at life in opposite ways.She likes to tell me I look at things in absolutes—what’s right and what’s wrong.In her eyes, nothing is truly wrong or truly right.
Frankly, I think that’s bullshit.
But she is who she is, and I am who I am.
I walk through the hallway leading to my father’s room.
“Hey, Hawk,” one of the nurses says to me.
I give her a friendly wave and smile.“Hi, Grace.”
“Such amazing news about your dad.”Grace’s eyes shine.
Grace has been my dad’s day nurse since he got here.She’s taken great care of him, and a few times I’ve thought about asking her out for coffee.
She’s really pretty—blond hair, blue eyes, killer body—but something has always stopped me.
“Yeah, thanks.”I give her a smile.“Is my mom in there?”
“Yeah, and Falcon and Savannah too.”
“I’m sure my sisters and brother will be here soon.”
“Anyway…” Grace bites her lip.
“Yeah?”
She sighs.“I need to see your ID.”
I raise an eyebrow.“What?You know who I am.”
“I know.But your brother?—”
“Falcon?”
“Yeah.He says we need to ID everyone who goes into your dad’s room now.”
I narrow my eyes.“Uh…why, exactly?”
She shrugs.“You can ask him, I guess.He’s arranged for an armed security guard to stand outside the room.”
“What the…?”
