Page 76 of Gray Area

“No,” is the response I get.

“No?” I ask, confused on what she is saying no to.

“No, you can’t just abandon your shift. We have things to do.”

“I’m sorry—”

“Go to the fourth floor.”

“Candida, I am leaving,” I say firmly, and then I hang up. She is one of those supervisors who sits there and tells others what to do while she literally does nothing. I’ve done more work on thephone call I just had with her than she has in the past year for sure.

She can shove her no. I have more important matters with my new family.

Chapter 42

DECLAN

Slade enters just moments after Vivian left.

“How is Roman?” I ask.

Slade huffs out a humorless laugh. “Pissed,” he says.

I laugh a little at that too. Roman is not used to being told he can’t do a lot of things, and he didn’t take it well when we’d said he couldn’t see Dad.

“He was happy to see Vivian though,” Slade says.

So was I, I muse.

“So what did the doctor say?” Slade asks and I update him. “God, I had no idea he had any heart problems,” he says, looking over at Dad then meeting both Axel’s and my eyes.

I decide the time has come and gone for the secrets my dad has been keeping. But right as I’m about to start talking, a crew ofstaff members in blue scrubs come and inform us they are taking my father to the cath lab, and they need us to leave the room.

We all take one last look at Dad, each of us squeezing his hand, and make our way out to the waiting area. When we get there, we find Vivian just to the side of the chairs, in a heated debate with an older woman, who looks like she used a box of Crayola crayons to do her makeup.

“I don’t care if your second cousin’s neighbor’s best friend needs a kidney; you are finishing your shift.”

I am about to walk over and remove Vivian from the toxic mess who is sadly mistaken if she thinks she can talk to her that way when Axel suddenly appears at Vivian’s side.

“Is there a problem?” Axel asks, his eyes boring into the Crayola Queen. Axel’s hair is currently down and wild, him having run his fingers through it as he sat with my father. His voice is void of any emotion, and it makes it almost scarier.

The woman’s eyes go wide. “No.”

“Good, because we have a family emergency and Vivian will be leaving,” he explains.

The woman looks from Axel to Vivian, who looks just as shocked as she does.

“Okay,” she says to Axel, who gives her a curt nod.

Axel looks back to Vivian. “Do you need to get your things?”

Vivian blinks at him and then nods. “Yeah, I-I’ll be right back,” she says and heads off. The housekeeping woman turns to go but heads in a different direction, Axel’s eyes trained on her until she is out of sight.

“Thanks,” I say to him.

He looks at me. “I like Vivian.” It’s then I realize that Vivian has pretty much everyone in my family wrapped around her finger.

“I’m going to take Vivian and Roman home,” I tell my brothers, and Roman immediately complains. I crouch downin front of him. “Look, buddy, Dad has to have tests and a procedure for his heart, and I don’t know how long that will take.” I then lean into his ear. “And, Vivian didn’t sleep well today and I need her to go home and rest, so I’m using you as an excuse to get her out of here,” I whisper conspiratorially.

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