Page 112 of One Reckless Night

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JARED

She’d ripped into me earlier, and she’d been right to do it. I deserved every word. I’d been so focused on trying to fix things, on trying to prove myself that I’d forgotten the most important part—her. Amelia didn’t need me to fix anything. She just needed me to be there. And I’d failed at that, spectacularly.

Clair was in Amelia’s lab when I arrived. She had been overseeing Amelia’s research while she was in the hospital. She looked up when I walked in. “Jared, you’re back. How’s Amelia?”

“She’s okay,” I said. “Resting. I think she could use a visit from you, though. If you have time. I need to be here for a couple of hours.”

Clair nodded. “Of course. I’ll go right over. I was just following up on a couple of things.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“How is she really doing?” Clair asked.

“Physically, fine. Healing. But she is not going to do well on this not doing anything. She keeps asking me to get her laptop. I managed to stall her but I don’t know how much longer I can fend her off.”

“I think it will do her good to keep her mind busy,” Clair said.

“I don’t want her stressing about work and research.”

“I’ll go over right now,” she said. “We need a little girl time. Give me a couple of hours with her. You’re a lot to handle. You guys have spent the last five days together. Every minute of every day. She needs a break. I’m the perfect solution.”

“I’m not going to be offended by that,” I muttered.

“Good.”

She left the lab, leaving me with Amelia’s assistants all watching me. I felt like I was a specimen being studied.

“Where’s Amelia’s laptop?” I asked.

One of them pointed toward her office. “In there. Do you need help with anything else?”

“No,” I said quickly, maybe too quickly. “I’ve got it.”

I could feel their eyes on me as I walked into Amelia’s office and grabbed her laptop. Word traveled fast at the lab, and by now, it was probably common knowledge that I was the father of Amelia’s baby. I didn’t care about the gossip, but I hated the way they looked at me—like I was some kind of ticking time bomb. As long as they weren’t talking shit about Amelia or suggesting she was some kind of gold digger, I really didn’t care what they thought.

I left the lab, the laptop tucked under my arm. I went to my office to take care of a few things. I was taking a huge step back, but I couldn’t just stop everything. I passed off the cases I could and did some Zoom calls with those that I absolutely needed to see.

Janie waved at me, rushing toward me like I might run away from her.

“Jared, wait up! I need to confirm these consultations for next week. Are you still able to keep them, or should I reschedule?”

I glanced at the dates she’d highlighted. “No, keep them. I’ll be there.”

She nodded, jotting something down on her tablet. “Good. Dr. Rosworth said he could cover if needed, but I figured you’d want to handle these yourself.”

“Shawn’s got enough on his plate,” I said. “I’ll manage. I’ll be on campus for the next several weeks. I won’t be going anywhere.”

“What about surgeries?” she asked. “Should I let Miami know you’re on… sabbatical?”

“If it’s life or death, I can make the trip,” I said. “But nothing else. I need to be here. On site.”

“I understand. I have you set up for a call tomorrow. Is that still going to work?”

“Yep. I might do it from my house.”

“And how’s Amelia? Everyone’s been asking. Well, not everyone, but you know how it is around here.”