Shaking his head, he confiscated Hope’s car keys from her purse with a mock glare that belied the small smile tipping the corners of his mouth. “You’ll all stay here tonight since I’m keeping these,” he held up the keys, “until morning.”
“Uh, oh, you guys may end up stuck here for a while.”
Jackson ignored Julie’s reference to his penchant for misplacing his keys and reached down to haul her up from the floor. “Make yourselves at home in the two guest rooms. Goodnight.” With a dip of his knees, he tossed Julie over his shoulder, swatted her ass, and strode down the hall.
“Now I miss Zach,” Sandie sighed, which started the giggling again.
None of them were laughing the next morning when Jackson strode into both rooms, flung open the blinds, flipped back covers and woke each with a blistering swat on their butts. “Up and out of here, girls. I’ve got work to do.”
“It’s six a.m.,” Krista grumbled, reaching behind her to rub her cheek as she rose.
“Yes, and I’m behind. Coffee’s on, help yourselves.”
They stumbled into the kitchen and Sandie accepted the mug of steaming brew from Julie with a groan. “Are you sure he’s not a sadist?”
“About as close to one as I want to get.”
Alessa enjoyed the night so much; she wished she could stay longer. Not only was she facing a long day with a hangover, she knew she’d have to soon consider an end date to her and Sean’s arrangement. She’d decided sometime last night she’d rather end it while they could remain friends rather than risk growing to want more from him than was wise, or waiting for him to walk away.
CHAPTER 11
Sean frowned at the interruption when his desk phone buzzed from Barbara’s line. She knew not to interrupt him with a patient unless it was an emergency. He held up a finger, saying, “Excuse me a moment,” to Mark, a long-time patient, before picking up the phone.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Bates, but there’s an emergency call for you from Dr. Hayes on line two,” Barbara said.
An immediate sense of panic tightened his throat and his palm grew clammy when his father’s face swam into his head as he’d last seen him on Monday, three days ago. He didn’t care about the lack of privacy as he replied, “Thank you, I’ll get it.” Punching in line two, he didn’t hesitate to cut to the chase. “Dax, what’s wrong?”
“Sean, your dad was brought by ambulance to St. Vincent’s ER and asked for me. I’m sorry, he’s suffered a major heart attack and I’m scheduling him for an immediate bypass. How soon can you get here?”
Dax’s calm, straightforward manner settled the nausea churning in his gut, but not the tight grip of fear. “I’m on my way.” After issuing his apologies to Mark, he strode out, discovering Barbara in the process of rescheduling the rest of his appointments for the following week. Mouthing his thanks, he dashed to his car, the warm February afternoon doing nothing to lessen the coldness besetting him.
Damn it, why hadn’t he checked up on the old man after his appointment Tuesday? He didn’t blame himself for his parent’s health, but he’d taken on the responsibility for looking after his dad once he’d matured enough to set aside his rage over Paul’s absent-minded neglect of his mother. A large part of Sean might never forgive him for her death, but that didn’t mean he would behave in like fashion and do the same with his father as Paul had done to his mother.
Dax met Sean outside the operating ward of the hospital then steered him into one of the private waiting rooms, his face etched with concern as his green eyes took careful stock of Sean’s comportment. “Are you okay?” he asked point blank.
“I’m the one who’s supposed to worry about all of you when our crappy upbringings come back to haunt us, but yes, I’m good. How bad is he?”
Dax shook his head and sat down with him in the empty room. “I won’t sugar coat it, he’s critical, that’s why the rush. Other than his heart, he appears to be in good health, so my prognosis is on the positive side. He said you have medical power of attorney, so you’ll need to sign off on the surgery.”
“No problem, I’m just glad it’s you. Go, take care of him. I’ll be here when you’re finished. And, Dax? Thanks, bro.”
“Not necessary, you know that. Sit tight.”
What other choice did he have? He shot off a text to his aunt while memories, good and bad, moved in slow motion through his mind, his years of schooling and counseling others falling by the wayside as bitterness, worry and regrets battled for supremacy. All the times he’d told his friends they needed to forgive and move on came back to sucker punch him with the realization he’d failed to do what he preached. He looked in on his father once a month, brought him groceries and called periodically in between visits. He took care of the gardens in his mother’s memory, not for Paul, who couldn’t care less about them. Otherwise, Sean gave little thought to Paul’s welfare, choosing instead to continue wallowing in regret over his failure as a husband. Now, it may be too late to mend the bridge that continued to keep the two of them from being a family.
“THANKS FOR CALLING, and for the ride.” Alessa smiled in gratitude as she slid onto the passenger seat of Krista’s car. When Krista had phoned about Sean’s dad, Alessa’s first reaction had been an overwhelming desire to be there for him, even though he hadn’t called her himself. She set aside the pang that caused and when she’d told Krista her car was in the shop, Alessa breathed a sigh of relief when she offered to pick her up and go with her to the hospital.
“No problem. I figured you’d want to be there even though it’s your day off. Dax said it’s bad.”
“I know nothing about his family, other than he mentioned his mother passed away when he was a teen. That had to have been hard.” Alessa tried not to think about how little she knew about Sean, and how much that bothered her without realizing it.
“You know how the guys met, and that they all came from problematic childhoods. As you’ve likely noted, they’re pretty closed-mouthed on the subjects unless it’s with each other or with whom they’ve hooked up. I only know Dax’s story, so I can’t fill in the blanks for you.”
“That’s okay, I wouldn’t ask you to, anyway. It’s not like we’re in a serious, committed relationship like the rest of you. He doesn’t owe me his life story.” She thought of everything she’d revealed about her own sorry past, which emphasized how one-sided their relationship had been. Since she was the one who had gone to him with her problems, then asked for his help in coming to terms with what she thought she wanted, Alessa couldn’t blame regrets on anyone but herself.
“Yeah, you two keep telling yourselves that,” Krista returned with a wry grin as she pulled into the hospital parking lot. “I saw the way he looked at you when you were blindfolded, Lessa.”
Alessa didn’t comment, positive Krista had misread whatever expression she’d caught from Sean. The fact he’d ended another scene without wanting her enough to fuck her spoke volumes, regardless of his attentive care a few days ago. They stepped into the elevator, joining two others, and pressed the button for the OR floor before Krista commented on Alessa’s silence.
“So, nothing more to say on the subject, Alessa?”
“No, I—”
“Alessa?” The brunette nurse standing next to her whipped her head around, angry accusation darkening her brown eyes. “Are you Alessa Alexander?”
“Yes, why? Do I know you?” A shiver of foreboding skittered under her skin.
“Oh, quit playing innocent,” the woman hissed, getting Alessa’s back up. “You’re the reason Dr. Ward bumped me out of the OR. I don’t give a shit if you screw every doctor in the hospital, but I sure as hell care when someone sleeps their way into my job.”
“Hey!” Krista piped up, but Alessa laid a hand on her arm to keep her quiet. This was her battle.
“Look, I don’t know who you are or what you’re talking about. If you’ve been transferred out of the OR, I had nothing to do with it. Dr. Ward mentioned an opening, which I declin
ed, and that’s the extent of my involvement.” Why hadn’t she caught on to his manipulations? Alessa wondered with a stab of irritation toward her former lover.
The doors swooshed open and the other woman stated coldly, “If that’s true, then tell Ward to back the hell off,” before storming off.
“What the heck?” Krista muttered as a few other people piled into the lift.
“I don’t know, but I’ll find out later,” Alessa vowed, shoving the incident aside as they reached the OR floor and exited the elevator. The door to a private waiting room stood open, and she spotted Sean sitting on a small sofa, the look of pleasure and relief in his eyes when he saw her warming her insides that the other woman’s accusations had turned to ice.
“How is he?” she asked, sitting next to him.
“Still in surgery. Thank you for coming.” Sean picked up her hand and held it, his gaze shifting to Krista. “He’s in the best of hands, isn’t he?”
“The very best.” She sat on his other side and they remained in companionable silence until Miles came in, followed by Sandie and Zach.