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“Fine.”
I sigh and drop down on the sofa. “You’re obviously not fine. I’m pulling every string I can, John, but I’ve only barely been able to move you up the transplant list.”
John smiles at me, and for just a second, I see the man he used to be. I never expected it to happen, but when Emilia left, John and I ended up becoming closer. I felt so bad for the sacrifices she’d made for my family that I wanted to make sure to take care of her Dad in her absence. It started with me offering to get a drink together, and John having to take me home, wasted and in tears over his daughter. Ever since then, he’s slowly but surely become a second dad to me. It kills me that I can’t help him. I’ve got all the money in the world, yet I can’t get him a kidney transplant. Not legally, anyway. I’m not above sourcing one elsewhere if he doesn’t have one when time starts to run out. There isn’t much I won’t do to save his life.
“You chased the latest nurse away, I heard.”
I keep hiring him nurses, and he keeps finding new ways to chase them away. I finally learned where Emilia got her wild streak.
“The fake eyes in jars were a nice touch. I got a call from Officer Oliver this afternoon, telling me they had to come in and search your house because your latest nurse reported that you were harboring body parts. I was told she feared for her life.”
He chuckles and I inhale deeply. I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes. He’s just as stubborn as she is.
“I don’t need help,” he says, crossing his arms. “I’m not a child, Carter. I don’t need a caretaker.”
I bite down on my lip and shake my head. “I don’t get why you’re being so difficult. I have money, John. Why won’t you at least let me hire you a chef that can create a diet for you that works with your treatment? Every time I see you, you look thinner. And what’s with chasing away the nurses, anyway? They’re here so you can do your dialysis at home. Do you really want to go back and forth to the dialysis center every single time?”
John looks away, falling quiet. I look up at him in surprise. He always has a retort ready for me, but not today, it seems. He glances at his phone in his hands for a few seconds, and then he nods.
“I’ll take you up on your offer,” he tells me, his eyes steady and calm. I’m startled. I haven’t seen that look in his eyes in years. He looks confident and just a little… calculative.
I look at him with raised brows. “Which one of my offers?”
He smiles, and my shackles are raised. When he looks at me like that, he looks just like the fearsome prosecutor he used to be.
“I’ll move into that ridiculous mansion of yours. You have a perfectly good chef, don’t you? And you have space for all the equipment and supplies I’ll need if I want to have in-home dialysis. Besides, you have that nice little gym of yours. I’m supposed to keep working out to stay healthy, but it’s getting too cold to go for walks.”
I blink at him in surprise. I’ve been asking him to move in with me for months now. Why is he suddenly agreeing?
I nod slowly, feeling blindsided somehow. I’m not certain what he’s up to, but he’s got something up his sleeve for sure. “Okay, great. I’ll make the arrangements, and I’ll attempt to hire another nurse, if there’s even a single agency left that’ll still take my calls. I’ll have everything ready for you in a week or so, all right? I’ll send my assistant over to help you pack and coordinate the move.”
John nods and claps me on the back as he walks me out. “Thank you, Carter,” he says. “You know, I’ve never said this to you, but you’re the son I never had.”
I grin at him as I walk out, but I can’t shake the feeling that I just got played. I’m still feeling off as I walk up to my parents’ house.
“Mom?” I shout as I walk in. I hear the clattering of pots and pans and follow the sound into the kitchen. She looks surprised to see me and walks up to hug me.
“My baby, you’re home,” she says, beaming. I nod and tighten my grip on her, lifting her off the floor with ease. “Your dad just went to bed. Did you go see John?”
I nod. “Yeah. He finally agreed to move in with me, you know?”
Mom smiles. “It’s about time. I’m worried about him staying in that house all by himself. Every time I try to go over to keep an eye on him, he ends up shooing me away. At yours at least he’ll have staff around at all times. It’ll probably be easier for him to accept some help that way.”
I nod in agreement and glance over at the mess she’s made in the kitchen, but I know better than to ask questions. When she’s baking up a storm it usually means she’s worrying about Kate again.
Kate moved to London years ago, and part of me wonders if it’s because she wanted to follow Emilia. As far as I’m aware, the two haven’t spoken in years. I wonder why she chose to go there of all places.
“You staying over?”
I nod and yawn again. I might as well. I’m here now, anyway. I kiss Mom goodnight and walk up the stairs to my childhood bedroom. I walk in and pause by the door, my eyes lingering on the view from the window. My heart still aches every single time I look into her room. John has left everything untouched, and every time I’m here, memories assail me. It’s so easy to fool myself into believing that she’ll walk up to her window any second now. I haven’t seen her in years. I don’t even know who she is anymore, yet my heart still aches at the thought of her. It’s foolish, but even after all these years, Emilia owns a little part of my heart.
Chapter 3
Emilia
I’m nervous as I cook dinner, intent on wowing Sam. I still feel horrible for forgetting about our anniversary last week. Sam hasn’t said anything, but he’s been different all week. I know he’s disappointed in me, and all I want to do is put a smile back on his face.
I’m anxious as I wait for him to come over. With my luck, he’ll end up having to work late, or there’ll be some emergency he just won’t be able to walk away from. I love his heart, but being a doctor’s girlfriend isn’t easy.
