Page 32 of The Sweet Life

“Oh my God, what happened to my baby?”

The door to Flynn’s bedroom swung open, and Willow rushed inside. “Mom, what’s wrong? What’s wrong with Sage?”

Gia held up a finger. “Jake?”

“Yeah. Sorry, the doctor just came in.”

“Is she in the hospital? What hospital is my daughter in, Jake?”

“What do you mean, Sage is in the hospital. Mom, what’s going on?”

Flynn walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He stood at Willow’s side.

“I’m trying to find out,” she told her daughter while holding Flynn’s gaze. Just knowing he was there steadied her.

As if sensing she needed him, he stepped closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It might be easier if you put him on speaker, Gia.”

She nodded and pressed the Speaker button, holding the phone out between her and Willow. Flynn appeared to be waiting for something before he said, “Jake, it’s Flynn Monroe. You’re on speaker with Gia and Willow.”

Okay, so he’d been waiting for her to speak. She wasn’t thinking straight. She was usually good in a crisis but not when it involved her children. Then, as she’d clearly proven, she was a basket case.

“Hey, okay. Sorry, they’re in out and of here, and I’m trying to get answers for you. At first, they thought she was having a heart attack.”

“A heart attack!” she and Willow cried at the same time. “But that’s impossible,” Gia continued. “She’s young and healthy.” She heard a familiar voice grumbling in the background. “Is that Sage?”

“Yeah. You can talk to her as soon as they finish up with—Sage, would you do as the nurse says, please?”

Gia raised her voice. “Sage, do what the nurse tells you. She’s always hated being told what to do. Hospitals too,” she said to no one in particular. “I think it goes back to when she broke her leg.”

“Jake, you said theythoughtshe had a heart attack. Does that mean they’ve ruled it out?” Flynn asked.

Gia looked at him, gratitude no doubt shining in her eyes. She was so glad he caught that, which he could obviously tell. He moved his hand from her shoulder and gave her neck a gentle squeeze as they waited for Jake to respond to Flynn’s question.

After this was over, and she was positive Sage was okay, Gia was going to have a chat with Jake about ignoring what was going on in the hospital room so he didn’t leave them hanging. Then again, from what she could hear, he had his hands full dealing with Sage.

Jake came back on the line. “Pretty much. They have a couple more tests to run but she’s bossing everyone around and trying to get out of the bed. I’m sure she’ll be fine if she follows doctor’s orders.” They heard Sage giving him crap in the background. “You don’t need a third opinion, Sage. You’ve already had two. You’re burned out. I’m not a doctor, and I could have told you that.”

Willow leaned in and yelled into the phone, “I told you last month that you were burned out!”

“Uh, Willow, I don’t have you on speaker, so if you don’t mind, could you not yell into the phone? You nearly blew out my eardrum. I’m glad you find that amusing, Sage.”

Gia frowned. She’d always been keenly interested in holistichealing and had read enough that what Jake was saying didn’t make total sense to her. “Jake, how did they confuse burnout with a heart attack?”

“She had a panic attack.” He sighed. “Sage, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. People have them all the time, and your burnout probably made you more susceptible.”

“Jake, why would my daughter have a panic attack?”

“It might be better if I let her tell you. Hang on.” There was a long pause. “They’re taking her down to CT. She’ll call you when she’s back in the room.”

“Are they keeping her in the hospital?” The phone went silent for several minutes. “Jake?”

“Sorry, I wanted to wait until they’d wheeled Sage out of the room. She’s dehydrated and her blood pressure was high, so the doctor is admitting her overnight. She’s at Mass General if you’d like to come.”

Gia stood in line at the hospital cafeteria with her sister Eva. Amos had called her family. Apparently, Flynn’s father and Gia’s mother had exchanged numbers at one of the many joint family celebrations they’d attended this past year.

“Okay, so now that we’ve escaped the fam and know that Sage is going to be fine—”

“You were in her hospital room with me, weren’t you? She’s hardly fine, Eva. She’s devastated that she’s been suspended indefinitely. You know how she feels about her clients.”

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