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She stopped a person or two with her shout, then quickly stalked off afterward. She blended into the hospital traffic, and Bru raised a hand at Wells.
“Really, bro?” he stated, and when Wells didn’t do anything but stand there, Bru dropped his hand. He shook his head. “What’s your problem?”
“She had no business driving out here, Bru,” Wells grunted, and all Bru did was sigh. Bru faced me, and I nodded him along to go after her. I was fine, and Bow was currently headed in the wrong direction of her family. Probably because she didn’t know where she was going.
That was also probably why Bru was picking up his pace down the hall, and since I had a cold coffee in my hand, I tossed it. When I turned back around, Wells was still there. I eyed his hand. “Are you okay?”
He barely paid attention to the injury. In fact, he wasn’t paying attention to it at all as he glared in the direction of Bow and Bru’s exit.
“Yeah, third-degree burns or something,” he grumbled, and my mouth parted. He scrubbed into his hair with his good hand. “Do you know where the others are?”
I told him Sloane and Dorian were still in the waiting room, and Thatcher had gone out to smoke. I explained Wolf had left with Thatcher, and Wells’s next move was toward the waiting room. All of his friends were in that direction, so I got that. I started to go that way too but noticed a familiar face down the hallway. I got closer and realized it was exactly who I thought it was. I lifted my hand. “Anton?”
My stepdad, Anton Weber, turned. He flanked a few doctors in white coats, but he stood out because he was in a suit. He always was for his job. He was a doctor, but more so a television personality like Dr. Drew. He tended to give his advice through media and interviews and was widely celebrated in the medical field.
He was also my stepfather and was very kind. Actually, kind was an understatement. He’d really been there for my mom and my family in general. After my dad had passed, he’d been a huge support system for us and had also helped me after that whole Cissy Armstrong thing. That could have been a huge legal issue since Cissy’s family had money, but Anton had taken care of that.
He’d taken care of me.
It was something I hadn’t thanked him for enough in the past, his help then. I wanted to, but I’d been dealing with so much. Fast-forward into the future, I closed myself off. I did from him, my mother, and everyone in my life.
At least, I used to.
My stepdad’s smile quirked right when he saw me, an older man with dark features and salt-and-pepper hair. He raised a hand. “Fawn.”
I was surprised to see him here and had just seen him and my mom at Christmas. I’d visited them both on the day and the days surrounding the holiday. The trip hadn’t been a terribly long one, but I’d visited, and it’d been great to see them. My mom had cooked a roast, and it’d just been nice. It’d been normal and so good.
I was filled with warmth again by how so much had changed in the past year. How I changed. The only thing that would have made it perfect was if Wolf had been there, but I hadn’t wanted to take him from his own family after such a trying year. He’d expressed concern for me going by myself, but I’d told him I’d be okay.
I really was okay.
I knew that as soon as I hugged my stepdad. It was how I had greeted him and my mom at the airport too. I hadn’t been closed off, and it’d been wonderful.
“Fawn, what are you doing here?” he asked me, his accent thick. He was German, but he’d been in the United States for a while. His smile widened. “It’s so good to see you, but I didn’t expect to.”
I hadn’t either and laughed. “I could ask you the same.”
He was certainly a long way from New York, which was where he and my mom lived. They weren’t there a ton since they traveled a lot for fun and work, but they should have been there now.
“I suppose so,” he returned, laughing too. His eyes warmed. “I’m here for work. A conference. I’ll be doing a keynote.”
Of course he was, an excellent speaker. That was probably why his work surrounded television and interviews now more than anything else. Anton used to be a surgeon in another life, and people respected his opinion.
“I hope everything is okay with you since you’re here, though,” he said, and I quickly explained why I was so he didn’t worry. I told him about the ski trip and how I was here with friends. I also explained to him about Wells and his burn, but how he appeared to be okay. He nodded. “Well, that’s good, and is your boyfriend here? Wolf?”
He was, and I wasn’t surprised he asked about him. All Mom and him did was ask at Christmas, but they didn’t have to probe much.
I couldn’t stop talking about him.
I mean, I couldn’t help it, and they knew what Wolf and I had been through. They knew about how he had cancer, but also how well things were going for him now.
I explained Wolf’s latest development, how he was good and could go back to school, and Anton’s smile widened.
“So wonderful to hear, honey,” he said, his head tilted, and I asked if I could have a few moments of his time. That was if he had a few moments since he appeared to be busy.
“I’d love for you to meet him,” I said, and really did. I always planned for Wolf to meet my family.
“Oh, that’d be wonderful. Let me just go excuse myself from the others,” Anton returned, and my heart lifted. “You couldn’t stop smiling in front of your mom and me at Christmas. It’d be nice to meet the one responsible for that.”
