Page 34 of The Billionaire's Virgin

Chapter Eleven

Reed

“Fuck,” I cursed loudly.

It was perhaps the fifteenth time I had tried to call Taylor, but still no answer. Her phone was ringing, but she just wasn’t picking up. I was already scared, worried, and angry, but the sound of that ringing phone was enough to put me over the edge.

“Fuck,” I said again, this time louder than the first time.

There was a woman standing right in front of me. She was boarding the plane with two young children, and she turned to throw a dirty look my way. I was on the verge of saying something to her when I bit my tongue. I had enough to deal with without pissing off everyone around me too. And with my luck, I would probably end up sitting right next to her on the plane.

Usually, I flew first class and only occasionally I would settle for business class. But since I had been forced to book an emergency ticket back to New York, I had been squeezed onto an already packed flight. Which meant, the only seat they had available for me was in economy. On any other day, I would have been dreading the flight, but today I would have happily bunked with the luggage if it meant getting back home immediately.

My mind was in chaos. I should have been there with Jenna. I should have been there when they wheeled her into the operating room. Instead, I was stuck in this stupid line trying not to imagine the worst. It took twenty minutes to get on the plane, and when I finally found my seat, I realized I was wedged in the middle of two large men who seemed wider than they were tall.

I got out my phone and tried Taylor one more time. Still, there was no answer, and I could have thrown a fit right there in the airplane. I gave up on Taylor and dialed in Jennifer’s number instead. Thankfully, she picked up a few rings later.

“Jennifer,” I gasped. “Thank God.”

“What is it?” she asked. “Aren’t you supposed to be at the conference right about now?”

“I had to leave,” I said hurriedly.

“What?” Jennifer said before I could finish speaking. “But—”

“Jennifer!” I said, raising my voice. She fell silent immediately. “This is important. I don’t give a shit about the fucking conference at the moment.”

I caught a few looks for that, but I ignored them all. All I cared about at this moment was my daughter, and I needed to feel like I was doing something… no matter how insignificant that may be.

“Reed, what is it?” Jennifer asked carefully.

“It’s Jenna,” I managed to get her name out before my voice cracked.

“What? Reed, what’s wrong?” Jennifer asked, with concern. “Is she all right?”

“She’s being taken into surgery,” I said, trying to regain some control over my voice. “Probably as we speak.”

“What?” Jennifer gasped.

“It’s pneumonia,” I tried to explain quickly, as the flight attendant started making an announcement that we were about to take off soon. “They’re going to perform a thoracotomy on her. I’m getting a flight back… I should be in New York in a few hours, but—”

“What do you need me to do?” Jennifer asked immediately.

“Go to the hospital,” I said, as the flight attendant walked up to me. “Stay there with her. I want someone she’s known her whole life to be with her.”

“Of course,” Jennifer said. “Of course I’ll go.”

“Excuse me, sir?” the flight attendant interrupted my call with an impossibly bright smile plastered across her face. “You’re going to have to switch off your mobile device now.”

“Just give me a second,” I said impatiently.

“Please, sir,” she continued. “We’re about to take off now.”

I ignored her and concentrated on Jennifer. “Jennifer?”

“I’m still here,” she said. “I need the name of the hospital.”

“Dunst and Duke Memorial,” I replied.