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“Good to know.” Carrie set the pen down and looked up at us. “Right now, we can grant you temporary custody until we have a formal hearing since there are no other next of kin. Since he resides here, Mr. Bennett will be granted the custody. We’ll be in touch regarding the details of the hearing.”
After we finished up with Carrie and Dr. Williams, we returned to Piper’s room. Thankfully, she was still asleep, and I resumed my position in the chair next to the hospital bed.
“You must be starving. I’m gonna grab us something to eat from the cafeteria. I’ll be back.”
I glanced over my shoulder at Lincoln, who stood in the doorway. “Okay.”
I looked down at my daughter, still snoring softly and smiled. Taking her hand in mine, I pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Everything is going to be okay, Piper. I promise.”
LINCOLN
The past few hours were so surreal. Sitting in my daughter’s hospital room with Liv after her being gone for almost a month was not what I expected to be doing when I woke up that morning.
Liv had fallen asleep in the chair next to Piper’s hospital bed. We had a lot to talk about since she’d left again, but I knew she had to be exhausted considering she’d left work, jumped on a flight, then drove forty-five minutes to get to the hospital.
She stirred, those pretty eyes fluttering open.
Even though she’d left me again, she still had my heart and still took my breath away.
“Hey,” I said.
Her eyes met mine, and her cheeks flushed. “Hey.”
“Crazy day, huh?”
She snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
I sat up and rubbed my hands together. “I think we have some things to discuss.”
She let out a sigh, glancing over at Piper, who was snoring softly. “Yeah, I guess we do.”
A few awkward moments of silence passed before I asked, “Why’d you leave, Liv? Why didn’t you talk to me first?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, going into her defensive mode. “It was pretty self-explanatory to me. You, Amber, kissing—what is there to talk about?”
I ran a hand over my face in frustration. “Well, you must not have seen the whole thing. I took her outside to her car, but she could barely stand, let alone drive. So I got her an Uber, and while we were waiting, she threw herself at me. She kissed me, but I stopped her. The Uber driver pulled up, I put her in the car, and that was that.”
Liv eyed me for a few seconds. I could tell she didn’t fully believe me by the look she was giving me. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
A long silence stretched between us as she glanced down, avoiding my gaze. After a few minutes, her arms dropped, and she sighed. “I’m sorry. I guess I overreacted.”
I snorted. “I’ll say.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “How would you feel if you saw me making out with an ex-boyfriend?”
The thought made my blood simmer. “Angry. I’d probably knock his lights out.”
A small smile tipped her lips. “Who’s overreacting now?”
I chuckled. “I guess I see where you’re coming from.”
We stared at each other for a few seconds before Liv asked, “So you’re not back with Amber?”
“Hell no. How many times do I have to tell you that you’re it for me, Liv?”
She laughed. “I don’t know. Probably a million.”
