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While Beck checked on Abel as he received treatment, Seth coaxed Heavenly down the hall to get some fresh coffee.
They sat together in the largely deserted cafeteria, and a sense of déjà vu played through his head. Their first conversation had taken place across an impersonal white table in the middle of a sterile environment like this. He’d been dazzled then. He was confused and mad as hell…but, damn it, still dazzled now.
He stared at Heavenly—her tear-stained face and slumped shoulders. Exhaustion pulled at her. Seth couldn’t stand it any longer.
He reached out for her, so gut-wrenchingly relieved when she laid her fingers across his palm. “Angel, I can only imagine the pressure you’ve been under, trying to cope with all this on your own. Why didn’t you say anything? Beck is a damn doctor. He could have helped. Hell, I would have—”
“None of my problems were yours.” She dropped her gaze to the cup of coffee in front of her and took a deep breath. “After eight years, you get used to juggling everything alone. Maybe that sounds like an excuse to you. I don’t expect anyone who hasn’t been in my shoes to understand.”
She was right; he didn’t understand. But now wasn’t the time to hound her for answers. Tonight, she needed support, especially since she looked half a breath from falling apart.
He inched his chair back and spread his arms open. “Come here, angel. You look like you could use a friend. Why don’t you let me hold you?”
Tears filled her eyes as she hesitated, then bolted out of her chair and crawled onto his lap. Wrapping her up tightly, he smoothed a hand over her head.
“I’m scared.” She sniffled. “Dad dying is my worst nightmare.”
“I’m sure,” he whispered. “But if that happens, I’ll be here for you. I don’t know what it’s like to watch my father slowly fade away, since I lost mine suddenly. But I get the grief. I can lend you an ear and my sympathy. Think positive right now. Beck will make sure Abel gets the best medical care possible.”
“Dad shouldn’t be relapsing this much. Each time he does, I’m afraid he won’t be coming home with me,” she choked out.
Seth couldn’t help her father, but he could give Heavenly something priceless: comfort.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed her face against his chest and sobbed in huge, heaving, chest-buckling gasps, like she hadn’t had anyone to cry on in forever. It ripped his goddamn heart to listen to her. Seth wished he could protect her from the world and the pain and whatever happened next with her father. But he couldn’t, so he let her cling, held her tight, and murmured soft assurances as he stroked her hair.
It was well after two in the morning when they pulled to the curb in the slum surrounding the dump Heavenly and her father called home. To say he was shocked was the understatement of a lifetime.
As Heavenly guided her father up the walk, Seth shared a look of disbelief with Beck.
“If you have a couple of assault rifles, pass ’em out,” the doctor mumbled. “We might need them to make it inside her place.”
“No shit,” Seth whispered. “I can’t believe she lives here.”
Obviously, his angel was surviving off the nickels and dimes she made waiting tables. He’d had no idea—and he wanted to howl in regret.
“Not for much longer.”
“You got that right,” Seth vowed.
As he and Beck helped the old man across an uneven courtyard and up to the front door, Heavenly ripped away a bright orange overdue rent notice. Her embarrassment spoke volumes. Fuck, this night kept getting worse. Seth was kicking himself for not looking into Heavenly from the beginning, for ignoring his instincts, and for not pushing her for information. If he’d learned about her dad’s health and her substandard living conditions months ago, would he be hovering over her protectively now? Would he be wondering if tonight would bring her closer or just give her another excuse to pull away?
The whole night had been an epic WTF.
When Heavenly opened the door to her tiny studio apartment and flipped on the light, Beck’s stomach pitched as cockroaches scurried to find darkness. Yes, it was clean, but by the looks of the peeling paint, matted carpet, and water-stained ceiling, the place should have been condemned decades ago.
Well, he understood now why Heavenly refused to let him pick her up for any of their dates. She’d been embarrassed. He’d give her a pass for pride since he had plenty of his own, but he wouldn’t absolve her for lying to him about everything else, especially her father and his deteriorating medical condition. For fuck’s sake, he was a doctor. One phone call, and he’d have set Abel up with the best physicians in LA months ago. All she’d had to do was open her goddamn mouth.
