Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 100301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 401(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
To give him that, and then to watch it dissolve into Jordan feeling like the most important person in the world, for him to let us break him down only to build him up again with how much we loved him and treasured him and worshipped him… It was the best kind of high.
I’d never known pleasure like the three of us shared that night.
We’d spent the following day at home together, Ian and I doting on Jordan and watching him for signs of a drop, making sure he knew how much he was loved. He’d loved every second of it. Jordan longed to be spoiled, he reveled in it, and he’d made the Daddy in me come out, the Daddy I didn’t even know I was, until I had him.
Now, if we could just figure out the situation with his grandmother, everything would be perfect.
I was just about to text my boys to check on them, when my cell buzzed with the hospital number. “Hello?” I stood.
“Dr. Birch, we have a trauma—MVA—in four minutes. We’re pretty sure we’re going to need ortho.” Damn motor vehicle accidents. The California freeways were so dangerous.
“On my way,” I replied, rushing toward the emergency department. They called the accident overhead as well, so the trauma team would all be making their way to the ED. The familiar tingle began beneath my skin, my heartbeat already beginning to race. I always felt like this when there was a trauma.
I got there just as the EMTs were pushing through the doors. “Male in his forties, head-on collision, altered LOC, multiple contusions, lacerations, head injury.”
“Oh God.” Dizziness swept over me. I had to reach for the counter to catch myself so I didn’t pass out. The EMT’s words were all a blur. Luckily, I wasn’t the primary doctor on the call, both the ED doc and the trauma surgeon rushing with the EMTs toward a room, along with the nurses and the rest of the team.
“Dr. Birch, are you okay?” the desk tech asked.
It was those words that ripped me out of the fog I’d been in. My heart still thudded, and my brain felt like it did as well, my thoughts twisting up with fear and worry and love. “I know him,” I rushed out.
“He’s an MD. Anthony Marino.”
Christ, I hadn’t even known Tony was already in LA. But then, when was the last time I’d spoken to him? He’d called me, and I hadn’t made time to return his call.
His left leg was twisted in a way that it shouldn’t turn. Fractured femur. His eyes fluttered as the trauma team worked around him, checking vitals and examining him for injuries. “X-ray,” Dr. Simmons called out as Radiology pushed the portable X-ray machine into the room. We all had to step back, but everything inside me was pulling me toward him—Tony, my oldest friend and first love, lying there broken, his eyes darting around before landing on me. I saw it then, the recognition. He began to fight, trying to get off the bed, to get to me.
“Stay still, Tony. I need you to stay still, okay? I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.” My heart was going to explode, just burst in my chest and make me bleed the way Tony was.
When they finished, I rushed over to his side. In that moment, I wasn’t a surgeon. I was a man, scared of losing one of the most important people in my life, even if we didn’t talk every day the way we used to. A man who was afraid of fucking up and hurting him.
CHAPTER FORTY
Ian
I was working at the house when my phone buzzed against my thigh. A small grin tugged at my mouth, then kept going until it turned into a full-fledged smile. I didn’t have a special ringtone for Jordan or David, but somehow, I knew it was one of them. That could have been because outside of Finley or Peyton, they were the only people to message me, but still.
I tugged my phone out of my pocket and fumbled to unlock the screen. As I did, another text came through from Jordan. Daddy, I’m so sorry! We’ll come to the hospital right now.
My pulse dropped, like it had taken a stumble off a cliff. The hospital? We needed to go there? I clicked the message and saw David had sent a group text to both of us. I won’t be home until late. Not sure I’ll be there at all tonight. Tony got into an accident.
Tony? He was in Los Angeles and David hadn’t told us? Why wouldn’t he have told us? Guilt immediately made me feel heavy, like I could sink into the floor. David loved us, and his best friend was hurt. The last thing I should be worried about was why David was there or how this affected me.