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Gage pulled into a space at the hospital. He had to push his personal issues aside. Again. Focus on the job. He’d been telling himself that for days, and it would be nearly impossible now.
He strode into the ER.
The desk nurse gaped at him. “Who?”
Gage pulled up short. “Clare Juarez?”
“Oh.” Relief washed over her face. “I thought it was a cop.”
“Where is she?”
Understanding dawned. “Oh. Three.” She pointed.
“Thanks.” Gage headed for room three, so much swirling in his mind that he nearly clipped a nurse going the other direction. No one ran in or out of three. In fact, it was pretty quiet.
He spotted her young friend Selena down the hall on a chair. Waiting. Tears in her dark eyes.
Gage slid open the clear Plexiglass door to the room where a doctor bandaged Clare’s upper arm. Left side. She wrote with her right, so the injury wouldn’t stop her.
On her other shoulder she had the telltale scar of a gunshot wound. On the side of her neck, he spotted a burn scar. Not big, but not nothing. He knew how a lot of wounds felt, but she’d lived a life he’d never experienced.
He might never have met her again.
He walked to the end of the bed and gripped the rail there, squeezing with both hands until his knuckles were probably white.
She’s alive. Thank You.
He hadn’t wanted to consider the fact she was dead. He’d never get to find out what happened to their child. For the second time in his life he’d have to go through losing her.
Gage wasn’t sure how that would’ve gone down. They didn’t exactly get along, but he cared about her. The woman she was now? Clare had turned out to be amazing. He’d like to have her in his life, except all that would do is remind him of everything he would never have because she’d taken it away from him.
“Are you just going to stand there and stare at my feet?”
Gage lifted his gaze.
The doctor grabbed her things. “I’ll get the nurse to come in with instructions and discharge papers.”
“Thank you.” Clare nodded to her.
The door slid shut behind him. Gage swallowed. “Are you okay?”
“You asking me that makes me wonder if I’m not okay, so maybe just don’t ask.”
She could’ve died. Gage tried to breathe. “What happened?”
“I had a miscarriage.”
It took his mind a second to assimilate what she’d said. “I didn’t…,” he began. “That’s not…” He linked his fingers behind his head and squeezed the back of his neck. “A miscarriage?”
She nodded, the expression on her face full of longing and a whole lot of softness. “The baby died.”
Gage’s eyes burned hot. He sniffed. “What happened at the park?”
Clare swallowed. She looked to the side and started talking about the robbery crew and how Selena’s boyfriend was one of them. He wanted to come in. Talk about what he knew. Then a drive-by.
Gage didn’t let go of the bedrail. “He got shot?”
“He’s alive. They took him to surgery.” She turned on the bed and put her feet down. “I need to see if Selena is all right.”
