Page 19 of Playing the Game
“I thought his kid was stillborn.” Jonah pushes back in his chair. “Am I missing something?”
“Seriously, Jonah?” A ripple of distaste rolls through me. “I can’t do this right now.”
I get up and leave the room. My thoughts need to be with Jami, not with Jonah’s disconnect. Every one of us has a troubled past. If we sit and go through all the details, we’ll be here for years to come.
None of that matters. Only Jami’s health matters. Only the love we have for him matters. That’s all he’d want from us, anyway.
I pace outside the operating room corridor. Differentnurses and staff come in and out with tense expressions, but nobody will tell me how Jami is.
Memories of us growing up together flood my mind. I’ve loved that man since the first time he kissed me, even if I disguised it as a dare.
He mostly ignored me and my attempts to flirt until I was fourteen. But when I started developing breasts and hips, I’d catch him sneaking peeks. He told me at the sushi restaurant that he had loved me for sixteen years.
Why didn’t he tell me back then?
How did I never know?
I guess I did on some level, but I always talked myself out of it, thinking I was making up his feelings in my head. It was easier to believe that.
At least, it was the only thing that made sense. My parents never modeled a healthy relationship, so I had nothing to go on. All I knew was that sometimes Jami seemed into me, and other times, he was distant.
My parents were hot and cold like that with one another, and I wanted nothing that resembled their relationship. But Jami was different from them. He was always kind to me, even when he was keeping me at arm’s length.
“All that wasted time,” I mutter.
“Code blue. Code blue. Operating room five.” It’s called out over the intercom. My heart stops the second it fills my ears.
I rush to find a nurse. “That was for Jamison Stone. What’s happening to him?”
“I’m afraid I can’t disclose that information.” She gives me an apologetic smile.
“Please tell me what’s going on with him. I’m all he has.”
She places her hand on my arm. “Try to remain calm. The team is doing the best they can.”
My gaze, wild with panic, connects to hers. “Tell me what is going on. Is he dying? Please, you need to let him know I’mhere and will never leave him. He needs to know so he’ll fight. Please go tell him.”
She nods and rushes through the doors. I stare at them, willing her to come back to me and tell me he’s okay.
She’s gone for what seems like an eternity. The air stills into an eerie, thick fog. Every minute that passes, I feel Jami slipping away.
“Are you Dori?” a deep male voice asks from behind me.
I spin to find a doctor standing before me. “Yes. What happened to Jami?”
CHAPTER 5
HUNTER
A rock is lodgedin my stomach. If Jamison didn’t make it through his surgery, there’s no saying how Dorothy will be.
What is this tragedy going to do to us?
It’s a selfish thought, but I can’t help letting my mind go there. My driver pulls into the hospital drop-off lane and I jump out before he stops.
I run to the operating floor first. No one is in the waiting room, so I ask the nurse where Jamison is. She directs me to the ICU floor and relief floods my veins. He’s alive. I can breathe a little more.
A few minutes pass and I’m stepping off the elevator onto the ICU level. Closed double doors to the unit are before me. There’s a waiting room at the end of the hall. I start in that direction, but the doors to the ICU open.
