Teacher's Pet Complete Series (42 page)

Stepping off the elevators on the intensive care unit, I knew immediately something was wrong. Caroline’s unmistakable voice screeched loudly and emotionally. I rushed around the corner to see whom she was talking to, fearing Lynn was somehow involved. Instead of running into her berating Lynn, however, I came upon Caroline, my father, and my half-sister Selene. Caroline was in obvious distress, which wasn’t unusual because she was a high-strung person. It was my father’s stern gaze and furious silence that alerted me something was very wrong.

“Dad? What’s going on?”

My father and Selene looked my way as I approached, but it was Caroline who answered. “These people! These God damn incompetent people have no idea where my son is!” She gasped dramatically, like breathing was a chore, and her anger turned into a wailing sob of anguish. I was taken aback by what she’d said and the cowering staff’s apparent culpability. None of the nurses appeared able to provide an explanation. How the hell did a hospital lose a patient?

“Have they checked everywhere?”

One of the timid nurses spoke up: “We were sort of understaffed last night, but when the doctor made his rounds this morning, we found the patient had gone missing.”

“Dad?” I looked to my father. The admission from the nurse had him trembling with unspoken rage. I put a calming hand on his shoulder, and his eyes met mine. “I’ll find him. I will.” I honestly didn’t care where Simon had gone to or how; he wasn’t my concern. Seeing my father shake with impotent anger was unacceptable, however, and I’d find my brother for his sake.

Caroline collapsed into my father’s arms, and he patted her back comfortingly. Selene looked lost and afraid, but she also had something of a guilty look in her eyes, so much that wouldn’t catch my gaze, and I wondered what she had to hide. I gave instructions to the hospital staff to follow whatever their protocol was, to send alerts or announcements about a missing patient, and I made sure they got my father and his wife comfortably situated in Simon’s hospital room. Then I pulled Selene to the side to see what information she had and if it could help me on the manhunt.

“You know something, don’t you?” I accused her. We marched together down the corridor, glancing in the stairwell and the public restroom, checking waiting rooms on the floor and the vending machine area, with no luck.

“I might’ve told a certain someone that Simon would be here alone last night.”

“Lynn.” I gritted my teeth to keep from cursing in front of my little…well, half-sister. She had strawberry-blond hair and a pretty face that was a mix of Cornelius and Caroline. I had never even imagined having a sibling, much less a sister, so it was difficult to wrap my head around the fact we were related. My flesh and blood, who had, as I should’ve expected, betrayed me. Heated anger boiled up inside. “How could you encourage her to come here when you knew that she had no business visiting Simon?”

“Dane, I’m so sorry! I just thought maybe she could say or do something that would cause Simon to come out of the coma. He had been asking for her.”

I slowed my stride and stopped to face her. “Selene, Lynn is mine. I don’t care if Simon asked for her. She’s mine.”

Selene looked at me with somber, serious eyes. “Is she?”

The question caught me off guard, because it was one I’d had to ask myself one too many times. I stared at Selene for what felt like forever before my eyes lowered to the floor, and I contemplated what it meant that everyone around me seemed to know the truth to that question. I whipped my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed Lynn’s number again. I had a growing suspicion that wherever she was, we’d find Simon not too far away.

I had no luck, so I called her parents. Mr. Minnelli answered the phone. I heard Mrs. Minnelli giggling like a teenager in the background, and he launched into a gleeful chat about the sightseeing they’d been doing all morning.

“Excuse me, Mr. Minnelli, but I don’t have much time for small talk. Have you seen Lynn? It’s very important.”

“No, Dane. Like I told you earlier when you dropped by the room, we haven’t seen her since yesterday. Is something the matter? Where’s my baby girl?”

“I don’t know. But I will find out.”

“Where are you? We’ll meet you there. I’ll help you find her.”

“I’m at the hospital. No, don’t worry. She’s not here. I don’t think she’s hurt, but she could be in a lot of trouble. She’s missing and Simon’s been taken from the hospital.”

I awakened slowly, gradually becoming aware of the light weight on my chest and the yellow sunlight across my face. I opened my eyes slightly, noting the light didn’t hurt so badly now that the morning had come. My arms were around Lynn’s warm, soft body, and I could feel her heartbeat against my chest. A smile flitted across my face. She had slept downstairs after all. That tiny act of consideration made me warm with love for her.

I tried not to wake her, as I tested my muscles by wiggling my toes and shifting my legs to see if the aches from yesterday had abated, and I sighed with relief when everything moved more fluidly than it had before, but I wasn’t out of the woods. Not yet. I tried to remember what had brought me to this point, but the accident was a blur. All I could sift out from the jumbled memories of the night of the party was my anger and sadness about Lynn and my need to get as far away as fast as I possibly could.

I still didn’t know what had happened, but I remembered a blinding flash of light and the swerve of my bike. I must’ve been hit by a car or ran into something like a street lamp.

I had come so close to dying. In my attempt to escape the love that I had for the woman cradled in my arms, I had almost lost everything, my family, the love of my life, my birth-given right to keep breathing. My loved ones had been there for me, I was sure of that. My loving mother wouldn’t have left my side, and I knew in my heart my father had made an appearance or two, though I doubted he had lingered long.

The sense of belonging and being loved almost brought me to tears, as I thought about the loved ones I would have never seen again had I never opened my eyes. Yet in the serendipitous way life can sometimes be, the tragedy was responsible for bringing Lynn back to me.

She stirred against my chest, and I dropped a tender kiss to her forehead. Her voice was raspy and sexy with sleep. “Is everything okay?” I nodded, resting my cheek on the crown of her head. She snuggled against me, but pulled back suddenly. “I hope I’m not hurting you.”

“You’re not.”

“I guess by now everyone has figured out you’re not at the hospital anymore. I wonder how that’s playing out? I’m sure Caroline is making an example of the staff, chopping heads off at the neck and taking names. Katelyn is skewering the nurses. Your dad is shutting down the whole facility.” Lynn giggled softly at the image she was painting.

“They’re not that bad.”

“Ha! Your loving, dear, sweet mother had me forcibly removed by security guards. I would put nothing past her.”

“Did she really?” I was surprised.

“And your darling significant other tried to pick a fight with me in the waiting room. If Bobbi and Sonja hadn’t shown up, I’m sure that bodybuilder would’ve cracked me in half with her bare hands.”

“Wow! All that you had to go through trying to see me?”

“Yes, but I’ve got you here now. That’s all that matters.”

“You’re right. That’s all that matters to me, too. I just need to know how to keep you here. Do you want to talk about that thing you said about moving to New York?”

She lay on top of me, silent. I listened to her inhale and exhale, and I wondered what she was thinking. My chest felt tight at the thought of losing her. She had plans to leave me. She deserved a chance at happiness. I knew I shouldn’t begrudge Dane that, but Lynn didn’t love him. She loved me, and I didn’t know how I would face the pain of knowing that he got to have her.

“Never mind that. What about Katelyn?” Changing the subject.

There wasn’t much to think about for me. Katelyn was someone who had filled space for a bit of time, but I didn’t care for her like I cared for Lynn. Sure, being with Katelyn would make my mother happy. She was the type of woman my mother thought would be an asset to the family. The kind to try and make me a polished gentleman. I knew Caroline could only see Lynn’s flaws and the fact she hadn’t grown up in the lap of luxury, but I could see Lynn’s goodness and sweetness. Those were luxuries money couldn’t buy.

“Do you honestly think I could go back to her, knowing that you love me?”

“But how can I leave Dane? I owe so much to him. He’s been so helpful time and time again, and I…care for him too.”

Hearing her almost say she loved him hurt my heart, but I listened to what she was saying, not just the words. “I think you appreciate him. I don’t think you really care for him like you do for me. Whatever he has promised you or paid for, I could pay him back, remove any and all debts owed.”

Lynn rose up on my chest and stared me in the eyes. “It’s not about any money, Simon. Money doesn’t solve everything and money doesn’t move me. What moves me has to do with his feelings. I don’t want to hurt him.”

“He doesn’t have any feelings. Trust me when I tell you that Dane is really only taken with the idea of you. He’ll grow bored. He’ll lose interest. And then what?”

Her lips turned down at the corners, and I wanted to kiss away the frown. I had to be brutally honest with her, because I couldn’t see her running off to New York with my brother only to have her hopes dashed. He couldn’t possibly love this woman like I loved her.

My lips brushed Lynn’s, and she kissed me back. Her mouth was a tender balm that alleviated any residual pain. I embraced her tightly and deepened the kiss. I felt her move against me restlessly, and I knew, like always, whenever we touched, flames ignited.

“I’ll hurt you. Stop.”

She pulled away. My lips tingled where hers had touched. She was right, I regrettably conceded. Besides, I had to go to the bathroom. I gently pushed her body away from mine and struggled to sit up.

“Wait! Do you need any help?”

“Let’s see here.” I stood up laboriously, but I managed to stand straight and tall, and I wasn’t as unsteady on my feet. I took a shuffling step, and all my ligaments and joints seemed to work properly. I stiffly made my way to the downstairs bathroom under her watchful gaze. I sighed with relief behind the closed door. I was happy I could finally get around on my own. The last thing I wanted her to see was me falling flat on my face.

Tension leaked from my shoulders, and I relaxed when Simon finally made it safely to the bathroom. He was improving quickly, and that made me feel better about whisking him away from the hospital. Though Simon had made it clear he didn’t want to spend another minute in that place, I had been concerned that he needed more medical attention—but he seemed to be doing fine.

I sat down on the couch and absently rubbed the blanket we had shared, the covers still warm and touched with the scent of Simon. I couldn’t resist smiling, thinking how different it felt to wake up in his arms. With Dane, I had risen with lust and a desire to please, but with Simon my morning had begun with contentment and love. There was no way of denying and no further confusion. I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t go with Dane, no matter what I owed him. My heart was in California. It was with Simon.

A pounding knock on the front door startled me out of my thoughts. I glanced nervously at the bathroom, hoping Simon had heard and would come out and answer, but he didn’t. I tiptoed over and peeped through the peephole, but whoever it was had the hole plugged. Growling softly, intuition telling me trouble was on the horizon, I reluctantly opened the door. It was Caroline, and she was beyond pissed.

“Where the
fuck
is my son, you piece of trailer park trash!” She barged into the room, pushing me aside without so much as a hello. I stumbled back.

Dane poured into the door behind her with a scowl twisting his face. “Where the hell have you been and where’s Simon?” He didn’t even bother to correct Caroline for calling me trailer park trash, and I have to admit, that stung. I tried to stammer a reply, but my parents were right behind Dane.

“Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?”

My mother fiercely confronted Caroline. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you will not talk to my child like that!”

“You tell you miserable witch of a daughter to manifest my son this instant, or so help me, I will—”

“Everybody, calm down this instant!” Cornelius’ voice rang through the room like the roar of a lion, and was followed by tense descending silence.

My mother and Caroline squared off, staring each other down. I tried to slide in between the two women. As much as Caroline was a monster, my mother was a protector, and I had no doubt blood would be shed if I didn’t intervene. But Dane grabbed me by the arm and spun me around. “Where is he?”

I jerked my arm away, pissed to be handled that way by him. “He’s in the bathroom.”

“You let him go by himself?” Caroline let out a cry of distress and rushed across the room to the bathroom just as Simon opened the door and stepped out. Her hands flew to his face, checking his bandages, and she made cooing, babyish sounds as she hovered over him like a swarm of locusts. “Oh, my poor, poor baby. How could that terrible bitch take you away from the hospital? I can’t believe no one heard you crying out for help. I left you; it was my fault. I thought you would be safe, but I’ll never leave you again!” She rained kisses across his face as Simon protested.

“Mother…Mom…
Mom
! I asked her to take me away. You have no right to be angry with her.”

Caroline turned back on me, and my mother stepped In between us as Caroline advanced. “You twit! You let him convince you to take him from the safety of the hospital. What if he had gotten hurt? This more than proves you don’t love him. You’re nothing but a slut! Running around causing a rift between two brothers, causing family turmoil, like a common whore!”