“Yeah, she was pretty unhappy. Told him that, too. And then, when he sat up in bed and started screaming at her, she was even unhappier.”
“Julian!” My eyes nearly bug out of my head as I, too, launch upright in bed. “What?How?”
“When Gilroy was pestering me while I was trying to find the deceased man’s information, I inadvertently typed this other man’s name into the system—one that Gilroy was asking me to check on after a fairly minor stent procedure—instead. My brain just… misfired. Daniel Van Dyke was decidedlynotdead, and yet, I told his wife otherwise. He was rightfully furious. With me. Philly Gen. The Board of Trustees. And particularly his wife, Lillian Corrington Van Dyke.”
“Corrington…your fellowship patrons?!”
“Yes.” Julian frowns miserably. “The hospital’s biggest donor family thrown into an uproar when the prominent son-in-law set to take over the family business was wrongfully pronounced dead only to wake up and find out that his wife came out as polyamorous to him when she thought he was dead.”
“Oh, Julian.” I press my hand to my mouth, muffling a single, shocked laugh. “Oh, no.”
Julian tugs me back down to the bed, his own smile reluctantly pulling at the corners of his mouth. “It’s not funny.”
“I mean, wasn’t the husband visibly… alive? What about all the machines that beep because you’re alive?”
Julian sighs. “According to Dr. Riveras, Ms. Van Dyke was ‘overcome with grief,’ and this was ‘my fault’because I ‘never listen’and have my ‘head stuck up my condescending ass.’But also, Mr. Van Dyke complainedabout the beeping and lights keeping him awake earlier that evening, and because he’s outrageously rich and important, the attending physician capitulated and let them turn off the monitoring equipment.”
I whistle. “The perfect storm.”
“The Corringtons want me fired, but Dr. Riveras convinced them it’d look bad if the Corrington fellow was suddenly fired in connection to their son-in-law’s treatment. If the press found out, Lillian Corrington’s secrets would be exposed, the family would pull their endowments as retribution, and millions of dollars would be lost. But it’d end my career, too. Donor-killer? No respectable hospital would have me after earning that reputation. So, I’m lying low until the Corringtons cool off and sign the check for the new hospital wing.”
“Wow,” I yawn, then blink appreciatively. “That was a wild ride. I’m glad I coerced it out of you.”
He smiles. “Should I go now, Nomi? Let you sleep?”
“Let me sleep, yes. But stay, if you want.”
“Do youwantme to stay?”
I let my eyes close, the answer frothing along the entire surface of my being.
“Yes.”
As bad as I’ve felt, I’m almost content now beneath the cool press of Julian’s palm against my cheek. The care he’s shown me tonight, the simple, un-fussy way he met my needs without me asking, feels like a gift. Maybe I don’t get to have a future without Crohn’s disease, but maybe I could havethisfuture, where it doesn’t get to have all ofme.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
JULIAN
It’s been three hours, and I’ve already downloadedCandy Clobber, become addicted, bargained with God, emerged on the other side, and deleted it from my phone, and I’mstillstuck in this waiting room that smells like glossy brochures and stale potpourri, hoping that every time the nurse appears, it’ll be my name she calls to bring me to Nomi.
My thumb’s quivering overCandy Clobberin the App Store when, finally, my name is called.
“Julian D’Angelo?” The nurse is wearing magenta scrubs and a skeptical frown as I scramble to my feet, as if she can see inside my soul and it’s nothing but exploding lollipops. “Follow me.”
“How did she do?” I struggle to keep up with the nurse’s quick strides.
“Oh, she lay on that table like a champ. Real A-plus performance.” The nurse rolls her eyes, like I’m the biggest idiot she’s ever met.
I instantly like her.
“So… she’s okay?”
The nurse’s eyes cut to mine with a hint of an amused smile. “She’s fine, sir.”
The recovery area is a long hallway with beds parked diagonally, each separated by curtains. The pleasantly hostile nurse stops, pushes aside the curtain, and there she is. Even the bluish-white hospital gown can’tdim the warm glow Nomi radiates. Her eyes flutter open, and she smiles loosely.
“Hey, Jolene.” Nomi pauses, a divot appearing between her brows. “Josephine?”
