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He did, of course, but not before passing me a wink. He disappeared behind the hospital doors after her and was gone for about ten minutes before he returned. He came back with a chocolate bar and a smile on his lips.
He tossed the chocolate to me. “Bru’s fine. He’s sleeping.” What the fuck? “I didn’t see him, but I spoke to his doctor personally. He’s resting and stable, and you’re welcome for the chocolate, by the way.” He leaned forward. “Blair showed me where all the good snacks were.”
I noticed Blair was missing, and I wondered what other delights might have been exchanged back there. Ares had only had a few minutes, but something told me that probably didn’t matter. I sat back. “How did you just do that?”
He might have gotten a college girl to do what he wanted, but getting a doctor to stop and talk to him was different.
Then again, if she’d been a female doctor…
His big shoulders popped. “My family has a lot of influence over this hospital. When I come through, people move their feet.”
Aka they most likely donated a crap-ton of money. He didn’t say this, but he might as well have. Money was influence. Money talked.
His lips tightened a beat before he continued. He outlined his lips. “Anyway, his doctor says he’s fine. Bru’s actually not even down here anymore.”
I stood. “Where is he?”
“Since he’s stable, they’ve moved him to another wing of the hospital. He needs to stay overnight for observation.”
“Why didn’t they tell me?”
Ares pushed his hands into his pockets. “I guess they got a hold of y’all’s guardian. Spoke to the guy personally, and he agreed with the plan of action.” His eyebrows narrowed. “It seems your Montgomery took care of everything.”
He did, but he hadn’t called me. In fact, I’d been trying to get a hold of him most of the night. At least, I had before my phone died. That’s how much I’d called him.
I pushed my hair around. “Can I go see him?”
Ares shook his head, and my heart sunk. He put a hand on his chest. “I couldn’t even go. It’s past visiting hours, and I’m not family.”
“Well, I am.”
“But it’s still past visiting hours, little. And you were right about that accident. The hospital is a clusterfuck right now, and I was lucky to get the few moments I did get with the kid’s doctor. The hospital doesn’t want a bunch of people wandering around. It’s a bad time, and they’re not making exceptions for anyone. Not even me.”
This was complete bullshit, all of it. I wanted to go back there and punch someone in the face. They couldn’t treat people this way.
Ares’s head tilted. “But it sounds like the kid’s doing okay. The doctor advises you to go home and apologizes for not coming out to speak to you. Once they got a hold of your Montgomery, they didn’t do anything more after that. They were busy with that accident, I guess, and got sidetracked.”
And I was nobody. I wasn’t like Ares. People didn’t move because of me. I growled. “So they forgot about me. Nice.” My teeth gnashed. “Someone should fucking sue these people. They don’t have their shit together.”
“Yeah, oversights definitely tend to happen here,” he said, looking over my head. His eyes had narrowed when he made eye contact again. “But you should go home. Get some sleep. Parking out in the lobby isn’t going to get you anywhere.”
He was right, of course, but it made me feel better to be at least in the same place my brother was. At least, until visiting hours. “I should just stay. I don’t even have a ride home anyway.” I could call a ride share, but I wanted to stay anyway.
Ares studied me. “I could give you a ride.” He pocketed his hands. “I’m already here, and I’m not getting on the road to head back out of town tonight. It’s too late.”
“Where were you coming from?”
“Lake Shelley,” he stated, and my jaw fucking dropped. That was like out of state.
I started to mention that, but Ares was waltzing toward the door.
He lifted a hand. “Come on. I’ll swing you home.”
He didn’t give me a chance to negotiate, and apparently, Ares really did move people.
I went begrudgingly, but it was hard to argue knowing someone had driven a state over to help. I didn’t know why he did, but I didn’t argue with that either.
He’d gotten me answers.
