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I shook my head. “No. It’s not a good idea, and I’d be more comfortable in a hotel.”
“Why? It’s—”
“Completely fucked up if I stay in Jensen’s house while he stole my girl and has been raising my kid.” I interrupted abruptly. “No chance. The thought of being there makes me want to kill something. You shouldn’t even be suggesting it.”
I glared at her as heat rushed underneath the skin of my face and my chest felt like I had a two thousand pound weight on it preventing me from breathing. I was suddenly claustrophobic, and though I wanted to talk about Remi, that was all I wanted to discuss.
The nurse was hurrying back and I took the pen and paper she handed me and scribbled my name on it. “Thank you, Ace. Wow, my brother will never believe I have this.”
I nodded once. “Not a problem.”
“You’re here to see Remi? She’s such a sweet soul.”
“Yes. She’s my daughter.” The words slammed out as more of a declaration than an answer to the woman’s question.
“Oh,” the woman said, shock flashing across her rosy face. “I didn’t know.”
“Neither did I.” It was a cheap shot, but the words were out of my mouth before I barely registered what they were.
The nurse looked taken aback when I quickly brushed past her and stalked my way toward the elevators. I was embarrassed at the outburst; anger and resentment about being robbed of Remi’s life resurfacing. “Teagan, are you coming?” I threw her name over my shoulder in a command that she follow me.
I could hear Teagan murmuring an apology and telling the nurse she’d be back soon as I pushed the down button. Soon, she was beside me waiting the few seconds before the elevator dinged and the stainless steel doors slid open.
I could sense her nervousness as much as she knew how pissed off I was. It was written all over her as she fiddled with her iPhone. I couldn’t help but wonder if she was texting Jensen and resentment reared. When the elevator doors closed behind us, she shot me a quick glance before training her eyes back on her phone. “I’m looking for a hotel. There’s a Marriott Express down about a mile from here, but it’s not up to the standard I’m sure you’re used to.”
My face twisted and I huffed. “I don’t give a shit about the hotel, as long as it has a bed. The closer, the better.”
“I’m sure you’re tired with the time difference,” she said, tentatively stating the obvious. The difference in our interaction now and when we were with Remi was painful. I felt awkward for the first time ever with Teagan, but then, a lot of bad shit went down in the past six years. I wanted answers to some of it, and the rest I didn’t want to know.
As if on cue, my phone rang from the back pocket of my jeans. I knew it was Bronwyn, but I didn’t have the desire to talk to her. “Yeah. I just need a couple of hours. What time can I speak to the doctors? And will they even talk to me since they think Jensen’s her dad?”
“They make rounds early. Around six, and yes, your name is on her birth certificate.”
I softened slightly. At least she wasn’t denying me completely. It crossed my mind that I might have a legal battle in front of me, but that would have to wait until after Remi was out of danger. My heart seized a little. What if she didn’t get better? “How many of them are there?”
The elevator doors opened and we began walking through the hospital toward the main entrance that led to the parking garage. “They seem endless. There is a pediatric oncologist, a hematologist-oncologist, a dietitian, and a radiologist oncologist; though he is just on consult right now.”
I sighed heavily. “This is so fucked up. How can such a perfect little person have to deal with something this horrible?” I could feel my throat tighten as emotion surged. “Ughhhhhhh!” I yelled up into the high ceiling; the tiled floors and stonewalls echoed my agony and another person and security guard we passed, both stared. I didn’t give one flying fuck.
“I’m sorry, Chase.”
I swallowed and stopped, waving her in front of me to go through the roundabout that would take us outside. “Save it,” I said, bitterly. As if saying she was sorry could change one goddamned thing. “All I care about right now is Remi. I want to know everything; what they’ve done, what’s next in the treatment, and what the prognosis is.”
Teagan pulled the keys out of her purse and her car honked in front of us as she unlocked it with the key fob. I almost threw myself into the passenger seat and pulled the door shut harder than was needed. The slam ricocheted through the concrete garage.
“As I said earlier, she’s been through two rounds of chemotherapy, and it was awful. Every horror you’ve ever heard about it, it’s true. She’s terrified of going through that again.”
“Obviously, it hasn’t worked,” I said shortly, leaning an elbow on the car door below the window and used two fingers and my thumb to rub both of my eyes. They felt dry and as if they were filled with sand. “The hematologist is the blood doctor, right?”
“Yes.” She started the car and the air conditioner started to blow cool air. It made me feel less claustrophobic inside the confines of the car. I turned to look at her. “She and the radiologist are working together now. If we can find a match, then they’ll keep her in a clean room and radiate her to kill all of her own marrow, and then we have to hope it will take.”
“That’s terrifying. Will she die if it doesn’t work?”
Teagan nodded. “With no working marrow, she’ll have no immune system or any way to make new red blood cells. She’ll get blood infusions, but she needs healthy marrow.”
“I want the test first thing in the morning, then.”
“It’s several tests, Chase, and it may take a few weeks. I know you have games and… other things to consider. I’ll ask the doctors to work around it as much as possible.”
