Finding Forever (Living Again #4) (30 page)

Brant texted Sam, concerned that he hadn’t heard from Lacey all day. He knew she might be sleeping, but he still wanted to make sure she was okay. Today should’ve been treatment day.

“Hey there,” Angela said, sliding into the booth across from him. His eyes widened as he saw what she was wearing. She was a sensual woman with a body she obviously worked very hard for, but she was certainly showing it off tonight. A warning bell sounded in his head, but he pushed it away.

Her dress was extremely low cut, her breasts spilling out the top. It was skin tight, showing every curve of her body, and on top of all of that, it was short, hiking up when she crossed her legs. She had her blonde hair curled around her shoulders, and more makeup than he had seen on some models at shoots.

“Hi,” he said finally, checking his phone again. No answer. His stomach tightened with worry. What if she wasn’t okay?

“Everything alright?”

“I hope so. My girlfriend had her treatment today, but I haven’t heard from her so I’m just worried.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Angela said, waving her hand. “That shoot was
hot
, Brant. Are you ready for what’s going to happen next?”

“What’s that?”

“You’ll be one of the most sought after models in the business with a cover like GQ under your belt. I wouldn’t doubt if the offers aren’t coming in as we speak. This business is full of gossip; I’m sure your name has been floating around there all week. It doesn’t hurt that the country superstar that is your girlfriend’s best friend threw you a bone.”

“Wait. Are you saying that I only got this cover because of her?”

Angela shook her head, and Brant turned his head before he saw an entire boob fall out of her dress. God, he missed Lacey. “No, Brant. I’m saying sometimes a push is all someone needs that was already on track to get there. That benefit she did for your girlfriend really accelerated things for you.” Brant hated how Angela never said Lacey’s name. It was always ‘your girlfriend’.

By the end of dinner, Brant had a headache the size of New York from trying to avoid Angela’s uncovered body parts and her constant chatter about nothing in particular. When she took the check and refused to let him help, he relented, just wanting to get the hell out of there and find out what was going on with Lacey.

He held the door open for her and the frigid New York air hit his lungs, making him gasp. “Thanks for dinner, Angela. It was great to see you.”

“Can we share a cab? I’m not far from where your hotel is.”

Brant sighed inwardly. “Sure.”

She hailed a cab, and he wondered how in the world she wasn’t frozen wearing that in these temperatures. She slid in, and he sat as far away as he could on the other side. Her dress was hiked up even higher now, and he knew that if he looked closely he would see whatever she was wearing under it. He was starting to think that she was doing that on purpose, but he wasn’t playing her game. Not now and not ever.

He practically cheered when they reached his hotel. When he opened the door and turned to say goodbye, he startled as he saw her right behind him.

“What are you doing?”

She stepped forward, a small smile on her lips. “I thought you might want some company tonight. You know, keep your mind off things. And to celebrate.”

He stared at this woman, the agent that had worked for him for several years, and felt speechless. She was
propositioning
him? Knowing that he was in love with his girlfriend? Seeing him at the shoot that he did for her? His girlfriend that had
cancer
?

She must’ve mistook his silence for agreement, so she stepped even closer, brushing her breasts against his chest. “I’ll make you feel
real
good, Brant. No strings. No one ever has to know. I’m sure you have… needs… that haven’t been met in a long time. Take me upstairs, and I’ll give you whatever you want, all night long.”

When she reached down and cupped him through his pants, fire surged through his veins, waking him up. “You have
some
nerve,” he seethed, stepping back away from her. “I
love
Lacey. Is that what you thought was going to happen? Do you make a habit of sleeping with your clients under the ruse that no one will know? You know what, Angela? Not that I would ever do it, but
I
would know! I would
never
do that to Lacey. I love her. Our relationship is way more than sex. You disgust me. I respected you. But for you to
disrespect
me this way, to disrespect
Lacey
, who is at home suffering through her fourth chemotherapy treatment, is the last straw. You. Are. Fired.” With that, he turned on his heel, ignoring her pleas.

As he reached the door to the hotel, his phone rang. Seeing it was Sam, he breathed out a sigh of relief. “Sam. I’ve been worried sick. How’s Lacey?”

“Brant? Oh, thank God.” He didn’t like her tone of voice. Not one bit.

“Sam? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Lacey. She couldn’t have treatment because her numbers were too low, and now…”

Coldness spread over him, and he swore he was going to lose it right in the middle of the hotel. He knew he never should’ve left her. “Sam? What is it?”

“Sorry,” she choked out. “She’s sick. They’re taking her to the hospital right now.”

“Sick how?” Brant took off running for the stairs. He had to get out of here.

“She can’t breathe. The paramedics think it might be pneumonia. They’re taking her now. They have her hooked up to oxygen. Brant, please. Get home.”

“I’ll be there,” he shouted, bursting into his room. He started throwing things in his suitcase while dialing the airline.
Hold on, Lacey. I’m coming home
.

Brant ran down the hallway, not caring if he was being too loud. He had to find her. It had taken him too many hours to get here; but he made it.

“I’m looking for Lacey Russell,” he called to the nearest nurse.

“Sir,” she said quietly. “It’s the middle of the night. There’s no visitation. You’ll have to come back at eight, when visiting hours start.”

Brant shook his head. “No. I just need to know if she’s okay.”

The nurse looked at him, probably wondering if he was sane. He probably looked like he had just rolled out of bed. “Are you family?”

He paused. Shit. “She’s my wife. I was out of town, and she was brought here. She has cancer…”

Her expression changed. “Okay, let’s look and see what floor she’s on first, and then I’ll let you know what the notes say. But, you still can’t see her until the morning.”

Brant nodded. She clicked a few buttons. “What’s her name?”

“Lacey Russell.”

“Okay, Mr. Russell. She’s on the oncology floor, the fifth floor. It says in the notes that she’s stable. That’s all I can tell you.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, relief flooding him. Brant looked up at the clock. Now he just had to wait four hours to see her. He walked down the hall to the waiting room, wondering if Sam or Aubrey were here somewhere.

Brant opened his eyes to a sound he didn’t know reverberating around his head. Realizing he was sleeping in a chair in Lacey’s hospital room, he couldn’t even remember how long he had been there. Daylight flooded the room, streaming sunbeams on Lacey’s body.

Nurses flooded the room, making him further confused. What were they doing? It was then that he realized the sound was coming from one of the machines hooked up to her, and he flung himself out of the chair.

“What’s going on? What is that?”

“You need to leave,” one of the nurses called, wheeling a cart close to Lacey’s bed. They were calling out commands, all of them moving around like a synchronized team. “Now,” the same nurse commanded, taking his arm and shoving him out the door.

Brant stared at the closed door, listening to the muffled sounds of their voices. The beeping continued, followed by another sound he couldn’t decipher. He then heard a page over the loudspeaker for a code blue in room 525. Brant looked at the door to Lacey’s room. 525. Code blue? Wait. That meant that… NO!

Where were Sam and Aubrey? How long had he been here? He’d never been so confused in all his life. The last thing he remembered was running for the airport, desperate to get to her. Was the rest of it really a blur?

A doctor came rushing down the hallway. It was one Brant had never seen before. He skidded to a stop right in front of Brant.

“What’s going on with her?” Brant asked, desperate for anyone to answer him.

“I have to get in there,” he answered, opening the door. Brant stuck his head around the doorway to see if he could see anything, but they had the curtain pulled. Fear gripped him so hard he had to slide down to the floor in the hallway.

He reached in his pocket for his phone so he could call Sam and Aubrey, but it wasn’t there. Great. He rested his head in his hands as his brain raced a thousand miles an hour. Nothing could happen to her; he would never survive it. After everything she had been through, it couldn’t turn out like this.

After what seemed like days, the door opened slowly and two of the nurses came out, wheeling the machine he had seen going in there before. They looked at him briefly before heading down the hallway. They weren’t going to tell him if she was okay? He was just about to knock on the door to see if he could find out anything when it opened.

The doctor looked him in the eyes, the other nurses behind him. Brant felt like his heart was going to break out of his chest. He didn’t think he had ever been that terrified in his life.

“Are you family?”

Brant hated that damn question. If he could, he would marry her right now at her bedside. Just because he didn’t have that piece of paper, they never wanted to give him any information. “I’m her husband,” he lied.

“Follow me,” the doctor said, indicating for him to go down the hallway. He stopped at what must be an empty hospital room and led him inside. At this point, Brant thought he might throw up. Why would he be taking him in a room to talk to him?

“I’m very sorry to tell you that your wife didn’t make it,” the doctor said. Brant shook his head. No. This was a joke. He had just seen her five days ago when he left for New York. She was ready for her fourth treatment. She had felt well enough to make love to him.

“No,” he choked out. “Are you sure? Lacey Russell, age twenty-six?”

The doctor nodded solemnly, and Brant’s knees gave out, forcing him to lean on the empty bed. He realized that this is what Lacey’s bed would be now. Empty. Just like his life.

“What happened?”

“She got pneumonia, and with her weakened immune system, her body just started shutting down. Essentially, her body was working so hard trying to keep her alive that her heart gave up. We shocked her several times, as well as administered CPR. Her heart never restarted. This doesn’t happen often in cancer patients, but it is a valid concern we have during treatment.”

Brant sucked in breaths, telling his lungs to cooperate. He clutched his chest, the pain so visceral he thought that his heart was going to give up too, just to be near her. He’d never gotten to tell her he was there, and now it was too late. All of it was for nothing now. The dream of being on GQ to show her how much he loved her, leaving her to go to New York for what he thought was a good thing to do for her. It had been a horrible decision, one that would stay with him for the rest of his life. He was done with modeling. There was no way he could ever go back now. He didn’t even think he could stay in Nashville. Everything would remind him of her.

“I’m very sorry for your loss. Is there anyone I can call?” Brant thought briefly of Lacey’s dad, sister, and of course Sam, knowing that this was going to fall on his shoulders to break all of their hearts. He shook his head, words failing him.

“You can go say goodbye if you want to,” the doctor said quietly. “We’ll move her out in the next half an hour. Take your time in here. I’ll tell the nurses this is where you are.”

Move her out. Like she was some sort of product they had to relocate. Brant nodded, wanting nothing more than to throttle the guy. He knew it wasn’t his fault, but it would make him feel momentarily better to choke the life out of someone who let Lacey leave him.