Page 43 of This Is Love (The Light to My Darkness 3)

I just stared at her, waiting for her confession.

“What?” She pressed her lips together as she looked at me. A tell that meant I was absolutely right.

“I’m waiting to hear what else is on your mind.”

“I’m pretty sure I made it pretty clear what was on my mind.” Her eyes trailed down the front of my body.

“I meant besides that. You remember fragments. I remember everything, baby.”

Her throat made an adorable squeaking noise. “You’re acting like I did something bad.”

“I didn’t say you did anything bad. I’m saying you did something without asking me first.”

“Well…yeah…I did that.”

I raised my eyebrow.

Her eyes darted to my eyebrow and her throat made the same noise. “Sorry,” she said and lightly touched the top of her chest. “I think I’m parched.”

“Mhm. Out with it.”

She sat back in her chair and grabbed a notebook from the desk. “Fine, you win. I talked to Porter and our lawyer and everyone thinks that Dr. Nelson will be staying in prison for the foreseeable future. But we will have to most likely provide testimony if it goes to trial. Which…I’m definitely nervous about. But if they hear directly from one of us it’s more likely to stick. Not the correct legalese, but you get the idea.”

“It’s okay. I can handle that.”

“Oh. Good.” But she didn’t look that relieved as she looked back down at the notebook. “We also have a flight to catch in a few hours. So we should probably pack.”

I was not expecting that. At all. Hadn’t she done enough running? Just when I thought I had her back, she completely reverted to her 19-year-old self again. “Penny, we can’t go anywhere. Liam needs us here. He needs you.”

“I know. That’s why he’s coming with us. We’ll be flying with him. So we need to go pack.” She looked back down at her notebook and flipped a page, her eyes scanning her notes.

“Penny, we can’t just up and leave. Liam needs to be in the hospital. He needs the oxygen tubes and the machine that helps him breathe. He needs to be in a sterile environment.”

“Right, he needs to be in a hospital. Not necessarily that one. James, the answer was right in front of us the whole time. Remember that huge donation you gave The University of New Castle after we left? I remember, because I didn’t think you should have done it. The way they treated us left a sour taste in my mouth, but you did it anyway because you saw the good. It’s where we met. It’s where we fell in love. It was the start of our story.”

“I remember.”

“Well, they used that money to expand their curriculum. It helped them improve their medical program. And the best doctor that deals with preemies every day works there. He’s our answer. He can fix Liam. And the best cardiologist in the country was luckily on vacation in Malibu this week. It was easy to get him to change his plans. He’s meeting us there.”

“I thought you liked your cardiologist?”

“I trust a doctor in New York as much as I trust those homeless people who pee on the subway.”

“I don’t think…”

“And he’s not coming for me. I mean, I’ll have him check out my heart murmur if you’d like. But he’s coming for you.”

I took a deep breath. “The doctors here have been looking after Liam just fine this whole time. I’m used to them. He’s used to them. We’re not moving him on a whim. And I’m fine. I’ve told you that I’m fine. All of this is completely unnecessary.”

“You’re not fine, James. You don’t think I’ve seen you stop to catch your breath? You don’t think I’ve seen you wince when you lift something? You’re anything but fine.”

“Penny…”

“And it’s not a whim! I’ve spent all morning doing research and making calls.” She flipped to another page in her notebook. “Eighty percent of Dr. Hughes’ patients live past infancy. And…” she looked back down and pointed. “Thirty-seven percent of those patients go on to live normal, healthy lives. I know that number is still low, but…”

“We’re supposed to talk to Liam’s doctor this morning. Let’s see what he has to say before we…”

“I’ve already talked to him. His numbers aren’t this high. Not nearly this high.”

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