AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
NOAH
The scariest moment of my life was when Amber nearly fainted.
Hate to say it but carrying her to the car felt good. I miss holding her, being close to her. Wish I knew how I messed up so terribly. Have to find that out.
After they roll Amber away, I call my brothers and tell them where I am and what’s happening.
“Ryder’s here, and we’re on our way,” Blake says.
“Thanks.”
When I look back on this day objectively, I’ll recognize what a jackass I’ve been. The woman behind the receptionist desk—who I’ve come to realize is also a nurse—has enough on her plate without having to deal with me and my antics.
Despite it all, she keeps her composure, and for that, I am grateful. I can also say the same about the nurse tending to Amber and the doctor who visited her. They all treated me better than I deserved.
I position myself in the waiting area so I can see Amber’s room—if that’s what they call them— and every time somebody leaves her and moves my way, I’m all over them, peppering them with questions. Get the standard, “She’s fine,” from them, and that’s it. For some reason, I don’t believe them. They’re keeping something from me.
Sitting with my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands, I hear the doors swoosh open. “There he is.”
“Hey, you guys.”
“How is she?” Blake asks.
“I don’t know,” I answer. “They won’t tell me anything.” The nurse taking care of Amber comes out from behind the curtain and starts talking to somebody. “That’s her nurse.”
“Hey.” Ryder waves to the woman behind the receptionist’s desk.
“Friend of yours?”
“Jamie. We occasionally hook up. Let me check and see if she knows anything.
“That would be great.”
Ryder walks over to her, and she smiles. It’s a beautiful smile, which I might have seen earlier if I weren’t such a dick.
They talk, and she giggles.
“He’s a smooth one,” Rob says.
“Yes, he is,” Blake answers.
Amber’s nurse quits talking to whomever and advances down the hall and up to the desk. Jamie, the gal behind the receptionist counter, introduces her to Ryder. He says something that’s probably charming, and she gives him an ear-to-ear grin.
“Smooth,” Rob states again.
“Yep,” Blake responds.
Jamie and the nurse talk a bit, and then Jamie writes something down and hands it to her coworker. Ryder says something—again, probably something that’s clever—that causes her eyebrows to flash up and hold.
Rob: “Smooth.”
Blake: “The smoothest.”
Amber’s nurse gives Ryder a quick head bob and Jamie a crisp wave before whirling and walking away.
Ryder taps the receptionist counter and ambles back over to us. The receptionist is watching him with a devilish grin until the point when he reaches us. Probably not even aware she’s doing it.
