Page 34 of Bully's Second Chance
She shook her head. “Things like this are never for the faint of heart. It’s okay, you stay—”
“I said, I’ll come help. And I promise you, a faint heart is something I don’t have.”
She stared at me for a long time before she nodded. “We could use all the help we could get getting him in and out of his clothes.”
I nodded. “Then, by all means, lead the way.”
Because helping Jax’s father while he flew home was a great deal better than taking some damn day off and twiddling my thumbs when there was work to be done.
Even if it wasn’t the work I was hired to do in the first place.
13
Jackson
“Adelaide!”
I stormed through the front doors and dropped my luggage before passing off my pea coat to Mr. Sommer.
“Adelaide! I need an update, now!” I yelled.
As I charged up the stairs, nurses came from out of nowhere. A couple of the male nurses thought they could attempt to stop me from making it into my father’s bedroom, but they were sorely mistaken. I pushed them out of the way, demanding to see the one woman I had entrusted my father’s care to.
But, the second Lily stepped out of his room, I paused.
“Hey—hey there.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Are you always this ornery with the people keeping your father alive?”
Relief washed its way through my veins. “So, he’s still alive?”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I didn’t expect you back so soon.”
I peered over her head. “Yeah, well, I didn’t expect my father to practically die while I was gone. Let me in.”
“No.”
I glared at her. “You might think you have that position in my life, but believe me, no one does. Now, get out of the way before I move you.”
But, she held her ground. “I’m not moving anywhere until you speak with the nurse first.”
Adelaide came panting up behind me. “She’s right. We need to talk before you—”
I growled. “That’s it, I’ve had enough.”
I charged past Lily as she yelled out my name, but the second my eyes fell onto my father’s frail figure, I realized why she said what she said. I’d never seen my father so pale. I saw the veins running beneath his skin just about everywhere I looked; his face, his arms, the tops of his hands. It was like I could see the whole of his insides. Like his body was mocking me for leaving and punishing me so I wouldn’t ever do it again.
And as I sat at his side, I took his ice-cold hand within mine.
“How much longer does he have?” I asked.
Adelaide perched on the edge of his bed, gazing down at me. “You should’ve let me prepare you before you shoved that poor girl out of the way.”
I licked my lips. “Is she all right?”
I heard a door slam in the distance, and it made my eye twitch.
“Not particularly,” Adelaide said flatly.
