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Even now, as she stepped onto the elevator, she worried that Seb might be upstairs visiting his new niece and nephew. After she left Well Brook, she’d gone to cover the Snack Shack until Laura’s part-time employee Ricky showed up.
She’d spent the entire afternoon watching the parking lot waiting for Seb’s SUV to pull in, but it hadn’t. Now she was at the hospital, another place he might be, and she realized just how many places she might see him.
Halfway down the hall to Laura’s room, she heard her name. “Kennedy.”
When she turned, she saw the man who Seb had been jealous of her talking to the day before. Jealous. She still couldn’t believe that he’d felt that way. Normally, that behavior would be a huge red flag to her. But the way he’d said it, the look in his eyes when he’d told her she was his, had seriously turned her on.
If Sebastian Savage was a test that the universe was giving her, she was failing miserably.
“Hi, Dr. Parker.”
“It’s Aiden.” He smiled widely revealing a straight row of perfect teeth.
“Right, Aiden.”
“Are you here to see your friend? The one who had the babies?”
“I am, yeah.”
“Well, I’m glad I ran into you.” His smile widened. “I was wondering, I don’t want to be too forward, but would you be interested in—” His pager beeped and when he glanced down at it, Kennedy saw his expression change. “I’m sorry, I have to go.”
“Oh, okay. It was nice seeing you.” She was actually relieved he’d been called away before he could ask her out, which was a total one-eighty to how she would have felt just a few months ago. Or even a few weeks ago.
“You too.” He turned and was heading down the hallway when a code call came over the hospital PA system.
She remembered nurses having to call in codes like that several times. A ton of doctors would rush into the room and surround her. The sounds of monitors beeping, and the squeak of rubber-soled shoes on tiled floors made her instantly feel nauseous and dizzy.
Now she wished that Seb was here. Him just being at the hospital yesterday had helped so much. She’d heard of people having emotional support animals, but Seb had been her emotional support human.
Kennedy took a deep breath and tried to center herself before lightly knocking on the door and stepping inside to find a full house. Laura was in bed and Lori was lying beside her. Her mom and Luci were each holding a twin on the loveseat couch, and Leti, Knox, and her dad were all standing in a circle talking in hushed tones.
“Hi,” Kennedy said quietly, not wanting to wake the babies if they were sleeping.
“Hi,” Laura’s face lit up and she reached out her arms.
Kennedy went to her bedside, leaned over and hugged her friend.
“You look beautiful!” Kennedy gushed as she stood back up.
Laura’s hair was in two Dutch braids and she was wearing a little bit of mascara and lipstick.
“Thanks. Lori did my hair and put some makeup on me so I would feel human.”
“It looks beautiful,” Kennedy reiterated. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired, but good.”
A nurse came in behind Kennedy and so she moved away from the bed so Laura could have her vitals checked.
Before the nurse left, she announced, “I know everyone’s excited to see the babies, but we really need to limit the number of visitors in the room if we can to two or three, max, at time.”
“Okay, thanks.” Knox and Laura both agreed, and the nurse turned to leave.
Kennedy was disappointed that she’d just gotten there and hadn’t been able to hold the babies, but she understood the hospital rules. “Okay, well, I better go. It was good seeing you—”
“No, don’t leave,” Laura reached out her hand. “You just got here.”
“Here, mija.” Laura’s mom stood and handed Kennedy the baby who was wrapped in the pink blanket. “You stay. We’ve been here all morning.”
