I rushed through the sliding doors, a wave of memories crashing over me.The sterile smell, the beeping machines, the hushed voices—it all brought back the pain of watching my mother waste away.But this time was different.This time, I wasn't a helpless kid.I was here for Olivia, and I'd be damned if I let her freeze me out.
I approached the front desk, my heart in my mouth.“I'm looking for Olivia Friedman.”I barely got the sentence out around the golf ball sized lump in my throat.The words were thick and heavy on my tongue, as if speaking them aloud somehow made the situation more real.
The nurse behind the desk looked up.Her gaze raked over my rumpled pajamas and wind-tousled hair.She pressed her lips into a thin line, creating a web of fine wrinkles around her mouth.The prickliness radiating from her scratched on my frayed nerves.
“Are you family?”she asked.Her fingers hovered over her keyboard, poised to enter or dismiss me with equal efficiency.
I hesitated, the question catching me off guard.My mind raced, trying to find the right label, the magic word that would grant me access to her.
“No.I'm her...”The pause stretched between us, filled with the ambient beeps and hums of hospital machinery.“I’m her boss,” I finally said, the word tasting bitter.
The nurse's expression hardened, and she arched a skeptical eyebrow.“I'm sorry, sir, but we don't have anyone by that name,” she said, her voice carrying a note of finality.“And I can't release patient information to non-family members.”
Cold dread settled in the pit of my stomach.The fluorescent lights suddenly seemed too bright, the antiseptic smell too strong.Where the hell was Olivia?Had I misread her text?Was she in danger somewhere else while I wasted time here?
“Carter!”
The familiar voice cut through my spiraling thoughts.I whipped around, my body moving before my brain could catch up.Mel strode towards me, her white coat billowing behind her.
“Oh, thank Christ.”Relief flooded through me so fast it made me dizzy.“Someone who actually knows what the fuck they're doing.”
Mel's face was a mix of concern and exasperation as she reached me.She shot me a stern look, the kind that reminded me of all the times she'd pulled me back from the edge of doing something stupid.
“I'll take it from here, Susan,” Mel said to the nurse.“Sorry about him.”
As Mel grabbed my arm and guided me away, I muttered, “Thanks for nothing, Susan.”The words came out more petulant than I intended.In my defense, I was having a rough night.
“Stop it,” Mel hissed, her fingers digging into my bicep as she steered me away from the desk.“She's this way.”
I let Mel lead the way, my feet moving automatically while my mind raced.“What are you doing here?”
“I have privileges here.Olivia told the paramedics I was the only doctor she was seeing right now, so they called me, and I came right over.”
“What happened?”
“She passed out in the grocery store.”
My vision swam, the white walls of the hospital corridor blurring at the edges.“What?Why?”The questions tumbled out of my mouth, laced with growing panic.
Before Mel could answer, shouts erupted from down the hall.The sudden noise was jarring in the relative quiet of the corridor.My head snapped up, eyes darting towards the source of the commotion.
We rounded the final corner before arriving at Olivia's room, and the scene that greeted us cracked my chest wide open.Olivia, her face pale and drawn, sat on the edge of a hospital bed, her fingers gripping the thin mattress so tightly her knuckles had gone white.She looked so small and vulnerable.
A man loomed over her.His face was flushed with anger, and veins stood out on his neck as he gesticulated wildly.
“I have every right to be here.I'm your fucking husband, Liv!”His booming voice bounced off the walls.The raw anger in his tone made my fists clench.
Ethan.Her soon-to-be ex-husband.
Olivia's response came out trembling, each word laced with a cocktail of exhaustion and frustration.“Youleftme!I haven't heard from you inmonths.”
Ethan's face contorted, his expression shifting from rage to righteous indignation.“I needed some time and space to think things over.Why aren't you hearing that?”My blood boiled at the condescension in his voice.
Olivia's eyes flashed, a spark of defiance breaking through her fatigue.“Is that so?Or did your girlfriend just finally dump you, so now you're running back to me?”
Ethan recoiled as if he'd been slapped.“What?What girlfriend?You don't know what you're talking about.”His denial rang hollow, the slight quaver in his voice betrayed his guilt.
Mel stepped in.“What's going on here?”Her measured, professional voice cut through the tension like a scalpel.
