Page 19 of Nanny for the Damaged Ex-SEAL

When they're gone, I turn to Marie. "You were on a call when you should have been tending to my child. I pay you to take care of him, but you chose to do something else because I wasn't home. What would have happened if I'd not walked in when I did? You didn't even call an ambulance. I'll take you home now so you can get some sleep. But please, pack your things as soon as we get there because you're leaving in the morning. You're fired."

Chapter 7

Aria

I'mgoingcrazy.Justa tad. No, not a tad. Who am I kidding? I’m swimming in a large maniacal ocean. Still haven't found a job. My love life is still shit. My rent is still hanging over my head. I'm left to my thoughts and it's driving me bonkers. I reach for my phone. I need to talk to someone. Bria is at work. I’ve been strangely distant from the few friends I have. Well, the few friends I had, because I can’t remember the last time I saw them. That leaves me with Amy. I dial her number. She doesn't pick up. I wait a few minutes and dial again. She picks up this time.

"Are you home?" I inquire. "I want to come over."

Her voice is low when she says, "No, darling. I'm not. But I'll call you when I get home," and ends the call before I can say anything else. My “something is wrong” signal goes berserk. Amy is cheerful ninety-nine percent of the time. Something isn’t right. I sit on the sofa and lay my phone beside me. Is Dad okay? Is something wrong with him? Is she hiding something from me?

I pick up my phone and dial again. This time it's Dad's number. He doesn't answer. But I don't relent. I call again and again.

"Hey, Aria. Your stepmom is busy right now. She'll call you when she's done."

If he picked up his phone, then he's okay. But why is Amy suddenly so busy, and she’d said she wasn’t home? “Is she there with you, Dad?”

He exhales. “Yes, but we’re at the hospital.”

“Hospital? Is she okay?”

He stalls for a bit.

"Dad, is something wrong with her?" I ask impatiently.

"No. I mean, nothing is wrong with her. It's not her, it's Ethan."

I hear Amy's voice in the background. "Now, why would you tell her?"

"I heard that, Dad. What aren't you supposed to tell me?"

I hear Dad say to her, "She has to know, doesn't she?"

Then to me he says, "Ethan's in the hospital."

I spring up. "Why. What happened?"

"He choked on something."

I hear Amy say. "Oh, my God, Charles! Now she's going to be worried."

She's damn right, I am worried.

"Which hospital?" I ask Dad, but it's Amy who answers. She’s taken the phone from him.

When I get the name, I reach to my coffee table for my car keys and rush out the door. Then immediately rush back in, and drop the keys, which happen to be my file cabinet keys, back onto the table. I keep forgetting I sold my car last week. I grab my coat and rush out of the house to catch a bus.

When I arrive at the hospital, I see Dad and Amy at the reception area, sitting beside each other. I accost them even before I get to them. "Why didn't you tell me? Where is he? Is he okay? Can I see him?"

Amy holds my hand as I get closer. "Because we didn't want you to worry. You've got a lot on your plate already."

Dad nods. "He's stable and awake now. But he's still on oxygen, so he's not talking much yet."

"Still, you could have told me. Can I see him?"

"Connor is in there with him. I can take you,” Amy offers.

I'd completely forgotten about Connor. At the mention of his name, I tense up. Connor had told me to stay away from his child the last time we saw each other. What if he does the same thing today? Would he want me to see Ethan? But really, this isn't about him. It's about the little boy, and I assume that at age forty-one, he'd be mature enough to know that. He wouldn’t freak out in front of Amy, he respects her too much to do that. If I was alone then maybe I'd have something to be worried about. But you never can tell with Connor; his moods are like irregular weather patterns in the Arctic. Cold one minute, and even colder the next. Never warm.

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