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Liam
He saw Aiden coming out of the waiting room looking solemn in his scrubs and deduced the cardiologist had just briefed the Douglas family before he headed into surgery.
Liam nodded his head at the man and said, “Hope it goes well.”
“Me, too.”
He didn’t envy the doctor. While Liam hated to think he’d never get to meet Tim Douglas, the man who’d raised the woman Liam loved so fiercely, the pressure on Aiden had to be ten times worse.
Although Liam didn’t doubt the cardiologist’s skills for a second, he couldn’t imagine the position it would put Aiden in with Dakota if something went wrong. Judging by the expression on Aiden’s face when Liam had seen him holding Dakota in the waiting room earlier, he was obviously still in love with her.
On the flip side, if all went well, which Liam had complete faith it would, Aiden would get to be the hero. Hopefully, that would work to the doctor’s advantage.
As he watched Aiden move to the surgical wing, he wondered how Utah was holding up and wasn’t sure if he should go find out in person.
He’d didn’t know how she was going to handle her family being at the hospital at the same time as he was. Other than Dakota, he didn’t think anyone else from her family even knew he existed, which had posed a dilemma for him.
And probably now wasn’t the ideal time to introduce himself, but he was worried about her.
Just as he pulled out his phone to send her a text, he saw her walking toward him. Without hesitation, he opened his arms wide to pull her into a warm embrace.
“How you feeling, baby?”
She hugged him tighter and murmured, “Mmm, better now.”
“How’s your mom holding up?”
“About as good as can be expected. They’ve been together over forty years, and as she told Aiden, he’s her world.”
“Well, good news is, he’s got the best working on him.”
“I know. I feel in my heart he’s going to come out of this okay. To be honest, I’m more worried about Dakota. I think it finally hit her that Aiden is who she’s supposed to be with, but it sounds like he’s dating someone else now. I don’t know what to do.”
“Just be there for her.”
She glanced up at him with a knowing smile. “Like you’re being here for me?”
He took a deep breath and briefly shook his head. “I’m trying, little bee.”
Utah returned her head to rest against his chest. “You’re doing a good job.”
He wasn’t going to push her to meet her family, even if he did feel like her dirty little secret.
This must have been how she felt for the four months they had to keep their relationship under the radar at the hospital.
Not anymore though. He wasn’t sure people even knew she was an official employee now, she still worked from home and came in so infrequently, but he made damn sure when she was there, everyone knew she was with him.
In his defense, that was how he’d wanted it from Day One when she’d started her restitution at Boston General. Only when it became apparent it was a bad idea for her did he change course.
She surprised him when she asked, “Would you have time to meet my brother Phoenix after I pick him up from the airport tomorrow?”
“Just tell me when, and I’ll have Kath clear my schedule.”
“I think if Dakota and Phoenix are already on board about our relationship, Denver won’t be such an asshole when I tell him. Although, there’s still no guarantee.”
“I don’t care about your brother. But I do want your parents’ approval.”
