Page 56 of The Billionaire's Secret Heir

Chapter Seventeen

Exhaustion kept trying to drag Madi into sleep. She fought it, adjusting her bed to the most upright position, biting the inside of her cheeks, pressing her fingernails into her palms. They had said she could sleep, despite what she’d always heard about not sleeping after a concussion. They were here to monitor her, so it was fine. But she didn’t feel fine and she didn’t want to fall asleep. Until she had eyes on Becka, she couldn’t. It had been hours. More time than she had been separated from Becka since Calista died.

Calista. Madi closed her eyes. It was so soon after her accident, just two months. What were the chances? Or that Becka’s car seat would keep her safe, but a flying projectile in the car had given her a laceration?

Bitterness threatened to rise and she swallowed it down. She didn’t want to question God or be bitter. For the moment, she couldn’t see any things of beauty. Just small moments that led her to this hospital bed, separated from Becka.

If Beckett had driven his SUV instead of the sports car, they wouldn’t have needed the van. If Graham had taken the van in when the brakes seemed soft. If her car hadn’t broken down. If she hadn’t agreed to dinner. If she hadn’t said yes to dating Beckett.

That last one was hard to shake, even though she didn’t want to even think about their relationship right now. It should have been the last worry on her mind. But it was still right there, a lingering sense of unease. She had told him earlier they would finish the conversation another day, but it felt more like she was putting off the inevitable. She didn’t think they could come back from this. It wasn’t a reality she was ready for, especially considering they wouldn’t let her up out of bed yet to see Becka. Hopefully Beckett at least could be there with her.

But did she want Becka bonding to him more if they were going to end things?

What would a breakup mean for his relationship to Becka?

Madi rested her head in her hands, feeling an ache in her neck at the movement. She should have stayed away from Beckett. Getting her heart so emotionally wrapped up in him when he was Becka’s father had been a huge mistake. Now she would be forced to see him and have him in her life for Becka’s sake, her heart breaking as she did.

“Madi?”

Her eyes opened. Had she fallen asleep? The thoughts in her head were a tangled mess, the last one she could trace back had something to do with a tiger. Yep. Definitely dreaming.

Bret stood next to her bed and she blinked in surprise.

“You texted me to come,” he said. “Do you remember?”

Memory was such a funny thing right now. It came right now in flashes between foggy spots. Beckett’s tortured face just before impact. Becka’s screams. The blood soaking her tiny blue dress. A screaming that was coming from her own mouth, demanding answers, ordering them to fix Becka. Paramedics bending over her in the ambulance. The panic as Becka’s screams stopped. The noise and bustle of the triage room. Flashing red lights in the CT scan.

“Madi?”

“I’m sorry. I think I remember.” She didn’t. Her mouth felt dry. She must have been trying to swallow because Bret held up a large plastic cup with a straw. It took a moment for her to get the straw between her lips. Drinking felt amazing. “Thank you.”

“I know this is a dumb question because you aren’t okay, but are you okay? Is Becka?”

Madi expected tears, but they didn’t come. “I have a concussion and a sprained shoulder. A few minor things. Becka needed stitches. She lost a lot of blood and needs a transfusion. I haven’t been able to see her yet.”

She hadn’t seen or talked to Bret in weeks. Did he even know she had been dating Beckett? She didn’t think she had told him. Not that it mattered. She didn’t know why she had texted Bret. Instinct? He had been there with her after Calista, so that must have been it. She thought she captured a hazy memory of a moment earlier where she hadn’t remembered about Beckett, only Bret. Trying to think back over the past hours made her more confused.

“Can I talk to someone for you?”

Bret looked like he was itching to back out of the room. Madi remembered that about him. He liked a problem to solve, a task. Not feelings, nothing difficult or personal or painful. This was all of those. As much as she didn’t want to see him, she needed Beckett. He had disappeared to give blood. They had given him freedom to move around the hospital or he had discharged himself. What had he said? She couldn’t remember.

“Find Beckett. He’s here somewhere. Giving blood. Maybe the nurse will know?”

A look of shock passed over his face, but he quickly hid it. “Why is he here?”

“He was driving the car when we got hit.” That seemed like the simplest explanation for now.

“You texted me about Beckett earlier. Asked about a contract with his father and an heir. Does that have something to do with this?”

She blew out a breath. “No. That’s something I’m trying to figure out, but not anything that matters at the moment. Can you just find him? They won’t let me see Becka, but he can.”

“Sure. I’ll be back in a few.” He gave a tight smile and walked out of the room.

Madi stopped trying to fight the exhaustion for a moment. Bret would be back with Beckett. She could send him to see Becka. He was really the only other adult that Becka knew or trusted. Which was a painful sort of irony. Or was that just a bad coincidence? Her brain was too cloudy to know the difference.

Until she could set her own eyes on her, sending Beckett to see Madi would have to be enough.

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