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Before I take two steps, the conference room door swings open. Stuart Ballerini rushes this way with a squad of reporters in his wake. His arms are wide open. “Tess, thank god you’re okay.”
He grabs me in a hug before I can fend him off. Funny. Even when I was small, my father didn’t hug me.
“I was worried sick,” he declares while more than one phone camera records us. “A father’s worst nightmare, getting that call tonight.”
I grit my teeth and keep my arms at my sides. “I cannot deal with you right now so back the fuck off before I start screaming.”
He pulls back. His chin quivers. “You’re exhausted. I understand. This has been a horrible night. But I’m here for you, sweetheart.”
The hell with him. I’m no longer his marketing prop.
Dani chases me when I march down the hall, trying to get away from Stuart Ballerini as fast as possible without running. She takes my arm in solidarity. I’m grateful to have it.
I’m not paying much attention to which direction we’re going. We wind up in the lobby of the Emergency Room. The sight of the wide glass doors upsets me and for a second I don’t understand why.
Then I do. I can see through the glass. It’s no longer pitch black outside. The sky lightens with the approach of dawn.
I’ve never hated sunrise before. I hate this one.
While I stand in the middle of the ER, glaring in pointless fury at the night’s end, two men walk through the glass doors.
One of them is Conner. The other is my uncle.
Conner is bleary-eyed and filthy after spending a night crawling through dumpsters and scouring the grimy corners of the east side.
It’s my uncle who looks me in the eye and delivers the painful truth with a sad shake of his head.
They have not found Micah’s hand.
And the night is over.
Uncle Josh walks my way and wraps me in a gentle hug. He murmurs his sorrow and I don’t push him away. He risked his life tonight only because I asked him to.
Dani is trying to speak to Conner. He doesn’t appear to hear her words and instead looks right over her head at me.
“Conner.” I go to him and he breaks into a sob, falling to his knees with his head lowered.
“Forgive me,” he chokes out. “Forgive me, Tess.”
I don’t know which of us is more heartbroken.
Conner did absolutely everything he could. I whisper this in his ear as I bend down and try to pull him to his feet. He’s my friend. My family. He kept me safe like Micah told him to.
Dani watches us, her tears falling freely, and I pull her over so she can help me hold Conner together. He gulps in air and allows us to hug him tightly.
I know we’re being watched but when I raise my eyes I’m surprised to see Haven is among those watching us. As always, Haven Marchenko is difficult to decode but there’s sadness there, especially when her gaze centers on Conner.
Gage sends a text to Dani. Micah is going to be wheeled back to surgery soon. Now that there’s no hope of reattaching his hand the wound will need to be closed up.
“I have to see him first.” I pull back from Conner and Dani. “There’s something I need to say.”
The walk down the corridor feels like an eternity.
Micah sits up in bed. His remaining hand is clenched in a fist as he glares darkly out the window at the rapidly lightening sky.
He’s furious and he looks it. Who wouldn’t be?
“Can I have a minute with him?” I say to Gage, who sits in the chair at Micah’s bedside.
