Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 192(@200wpm)___ 154(@250wpm)___ 128(@300wpm)
“Go ahead, Aubrey. Don’t you get it? I want you to hold me to it for the rest of our lives.”
Chapter 8
JUSTIN
WHEN WE PULL up in front of the hospital, I throw the Rover into Park and haul ass around to the passenger side as a guy wearing a uniform steps out through the sliding doors. “What’s going on?”
“My girl’s in labor,” I tell him, and he grabs a wheelchair while I grab her bag from the backseat.
“You can’t leave your car here, man,” he says as I slam the door shut and turn to follow him.
“There’s no way I’m letting my girl out of my sight when the baby could be here any minute.” He opens his mouth, and I know he’s about to tell me that the Rover will get towed if I leave it there. I couldn’t give a fuck, since Aubrey is what’s important to me at the moment. But I figure there’s an easy solution so I don’t need to track my vehicle down when she and the baby are discharged. “There’s a hundred bucks in it for you if you’ll park it and bring me the keys and parking garage ticket when you’re done.”
Aubrey looks over her shoulder, rolling her eyes at me. “We just got here and you’re already bribing hospital employees?”
“It’s not a bribe. It’s asking someone to do a favor in return for money.”
“Yeah, it’s a favor.” The attendant holds out his hand for my key then steps away from the wheelchair, letting me push it as he walks toward the Rover. “And if you decide you need any more favors while you’re here, I’m your man.”
“How much money do you have left in your wallet?” Aubrey asks ten minutes and five contractions later while we’re still waiting to go back to a room.
“Probably a couple hundred bucks, but I’m sure there’s an ATM around here somewhere.” I look up at her from the paperwork they handed us when we got here. “Why? You need something?”
“Yeah,” she pants. “A bribe for the nurse to get me into a room now!”
I press a kiss to her forehead then rise from my chair. “Gimme a second and I’ll take care of it.”
She gives me a jerky nod, and I stalk over to the desk. “How much longer? My woman is about ready to deliver her baby right here in your waiting room.”
“It’ll be just a few more minutes,” the woman dressed in scrubs says without even bothering to look up from her cell phone.
I lean closer and slam down the clipboard. “Put your goddamn phone down and do your fucking job.”
That finally gets her attention, and her head jerks up. “Step back and do not swear at me again. If you do, I’ll call security and have you kicked out.” Her lip curls up in disdain as she mutters, “Medicaid patients are the worst. Popping out babies left and right, expecting the rest of us to cover their bills while they demand the best of everything.”
Her tone is low, but I still caught what she said. “Pardon?” I fight the urge to jump over the counter and strangle her scrawny ass.
“Sir.” Another nurse moves next to me and wraps her hand around my bicep, pulling my attention off the woman I’m currently glaring at. “I have Aubrey’s room ready for her.”
“It’d better be a private room after the shit that nurse just spewed,” I grumble. “If it comes down to it, I’ll pay the difference.”
“No worries there. All we have are private rooms in this unit.” She beams a smile at me as she moves over to Aubrey’s wheelchair and starts to wheel it toward the hallway leading to the rooms. “And even if we didn’t, I’d make sure your girl got one anyway, after you guys had to put up with Marni’s drama. You shouldn’t have had to wait that long or hear her say crap like that.”
“What happened?” Aubrey asks.
I reach down and squeeze her hand. “The girl at the desk was in no rush to get you admitted, because she was too busy being a bitch about your insurance.”
“It isn’t the first time someone’s had something bad to say about me being pregnant with a ‘Medicaid baby.’” She shrugs her shoulders. “But it’s not like I have a lot of options. Johnny doesn’t offer health insurance, and I can’t ask my family for help. Not after what they asked me to do.”
I make a mental note to ask Kenton what it would take to get Aubrey and the baby added to my policy. We’re covered for just about anything with almost no deductible, which is a smart move on his part considering some of the risks we take for the job.
“Marni’s behavior today was unacceptable and is the last bit of evidence I need for Human Resources so they can finally fire her. Please trust me when I tell you that you won’t be hearing anything like that from anyone else.”