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Strained, Blair nodded, walked to the bed and kissed Dr T’s cheek. “I love you and will see you in the morning. Please be better. Please.”
The older man’s eyelids fluttered, but he didn’t speak.
Oz’s eyes pricked with tears. All afternoon, he’d stayed strong, had tried to provide strength for Stephanie and Blair, but hell, his insides were raw with grief.
He stood, needing a moment to collect himself.
“I’ll walk out with you.” When Blair started to protest, he added, “I need to.”
With only a glance his way at his brusqueness, Blair hugged Stephanie goodbye, promising to call later to check on Dr Talbot.
Oz followed Blair from the ICU room. Silently, they walked to the elevator. Oz trying to pull himself together. Blair thinking Lord only knew what. She punched the down arrow.
When the door slid closed, locking them into the privacy of the car, Oz reached for her, needing to hold her, breathe in her goodness, to grieve with her just for a moment.
“What are you doing?”
“What I’ve wanted to do since I woke up this morning.” He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close and closed his eyes. Maybe if he held her just a minute the ache in his heart would ease. Maybe he wouldn’t feel as if his friend were dying.
“No.” She pushed away from him.
Confused, Oz blinked. “No?”
“Don’t touch me.”
“Huh?” God, he hoped she didn’t see the tears in his eyes.
“Just because I’ve been civil does not mean that I’m speaking to you,” she spat at him.
Reeling, Oz just stared at her. She hadn’t said a lot, but he’d thought that was due to Dr T’s condition. “You’re not speaking to me?”
“No.”
“Blair, about last night—” How did he tell her that he wanted a repeat? Lots of repeats? That he wanted her in his life?
“You mean when you took my daughter out on a sailboat without my permission?”
He frowned. “I thought you meant when we made love.”
“Had cheap sex,” she corrected. “You had no right to take Addy out in a sailboat. None whatsoever.”
In everything that had happened since she’d to
ld him about how Addy’s father died, he’d forgotten about the sailing trip.
“We barely went out of Wolf Bay. She was never in any danger.”
“I don’t care how far out you went. You didn’t have my permission to take her out in a boat. That’s so irresponsible.”
“Irresponsible? How is my spending time with Addy and teaching her to sail irresponsible?”
“Because you risked her safety.”
“That’s crazy, Blair.” One hand holding the closed door button on the elevator, he cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. “At no point was Addy’s safety in question. She was with me. I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”
“Like when you were watching her play with Boo-boo and her knee had to be sewn up?”
Blair knew she’d delivered a low blow even before Oz’s jaw clenched. He’d hurt her, had risked Addy’s life, and a man she loved dearly lay dying. She wanted to lash out at the world. To lash out at Oz.
