AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay. Thank you.” My cheeks felt wet, and I buried my face in my hands as Miranda wrapped her arm around my shoulders, bringing me in to lean against her.
Where the hell is Rhett?
Miranda and George stepped out a few moments later to go get us all coffees. I called Rhett again, leaving a voice mail letting him know everything was fine and that we would be back home soon.
I prayed he would call soon, just to let me know he was fine.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Rhett
I checked myphone for the third time since I’d sat down in the seminar over an hour ago. Worried about Brendan, or more so—Bella. Brendan had a little cold. But Bella’s anxiety with that stuff always made me nervous. Maybe I should have skipped the conference this morning until we were sure Brendan’s cold was nothing. Then I would be with them instead of sitting here stressing.
Thirty minutes later, relieved that I could step out to call Bella, I walked out into the lobby area. My phone vibrated in my pocket, but before I pulled it out, a guy I’d met a few times approached.
“Hey, Rhett,” he said as he extended his hand for me to shake.
“Hey, Jordan.”
We talked for a few minutes before I excused myself to check my messages, leaning on the excuse that it could be The Dock. Pulling my phone out, I opened the text message from Bella, and my stomach lodged in my throat.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Bella:Brendan had a seizure. He’s alert but I think he’s okay… your parents are driving us to the ER to get him checked out. Call me when you get this.
I dialed Bella, but her voice mail picked up. My feet moved faster than I ever thought they could. Pushing past people and getting a few side eyes that I didn’t give a fuck about, I sprinted to the exit. Throwing my phone in the passenger seat, I gunned my truck out of the parking lot. Not giving a shit about the speed limit, I sped through the city but cursed when I hit the brakes as traffic came to a standstill.
I reached over and grabbed my phone from the seat to call Bella again.
You’ve got to be shitting me.
My battery was at 1 percent, so I plugged it into the charger and focused on maneuvering through traffic quickly. I needed to get out of this damn city. Finally, I merged onto the highway, and the self-doubt crept into every crevice of my mind. All the times I walked away when she needed me. All the times I wasn’t there for her. What the fuck did I think I was doing? I couldn’t ever be enough for them. My head whirled.
“Fucking hell!” I slammed my hand against the steering wheel.
Thoughts of her in the hospital sitting alone while the doctors gave her bad news had my stomach twisted in knots.
I took a deep breath, trying to pull my shit together before calling Bella. I wanted to hear her voice and for her to tell me they were fine. The line rang four times before her voice mail picked up once more.
Goddammit.
I had the urge to punch the windshield, but instead, I yelled at the fucking phone to call my father. I couldn’t handle my mother at the moment. I loved her, but her play-by-play of those past two hours was not what I needed at that moment. I just needed to hear everyone was okay.
Dad would give it to me straight without all the extra shit I didn’t give a fuck about.
“Where the hell are you?” His stern voice rang through the bluetooth in the truck, and I cringed. Maybe Mom would have been better. He had every right to be annoyed. My jaw clenched. What the hell is a cell phone good for if it doesn’t work during an emergency?
“I’m on the interstate. Are you guys still at the hospital? I tried calling Bella, but she’s not picking up.”
A deep exhale came through the line. “No. We’re home; they’re resting.”
If they were home already, then maybe it wasn’t anything serious. But a seizure was always serious, wasn’t it? I rubbed my hand down my face in an attempt to clear my racing mind.
The silence stretched on for a moment before he said, “Care to tell me why you haven’t called or texted anyone before now?”
My jaw clenched again. Here we go with the twenty questions. What did he think? I’d ignored my phone on purpose?
“I’m sorry. I didn’t have reception in the seminar. And I didn’t see the messages until I walked into the lobby.”
