Page 82 of The CEO I Hate

Dr. Patterson asked if we had any more questions, then headed for the door, on to his next patient. The moment he was gone, Gabrielle burst into tears.

Alarmed, I looked from Jake to Mia.

“Sorry,” Gabrielle said, covering her face with her hands. I didn’t know if the tears were from relief at hearing Jake was okay or from being overwhelmed, but she rushed for the door, tears streaming down her face.

“Gabrielle?” Jake called after her, struggling to shift himself to the edge of the hospital bed to get back in his chair.

“I just need a minute,” she tossed over her shoulder, disappearing into the hall.

“Gabrielle!” Jake called again. Louder.

“I’ll go,” Mia offered, climbing to her feet. “You get changed.” She bent over and pressed a kiss to the top of Jake’s head. “And try not to scare me like that again.”

He huffed, still struggling to the edge of the bed. I didn’t offer to help him. I’d made that mistake before and he’d snapped at me so hard I’d half expected to see he’d drawn blood.

If Jake wanted help, he’d ask for it. At least, that’s what I’d been told. Ididposition the chair a little closer and leaned my weight against it to stabilize it, so he could grab the armrests and use them to haul himself off the bed.

“God, this is just…” He trailed off, thumping into his chair.

“I know it sucks,” I said. “But don’t you feel a little better knowing everything’s okay?”

“It’s not okay though. Is it?” he bit out, gesturing after Gabrielle, the bitterness in his tone darker than ever.

I hated hearing how frustrated and hopeless he sounded. Mostly, I hated knowing that on top of Jake’s injury concerns, his relationship seemed to be dangling by a thread. I needed to help him fix this. To hold it together. They needed this cruise now more than ever. I could only hope that leaving all this behind for a few days would help them turn the corner, get things back to normal. If it didn’t work…I wasn’t sure what the hell I’d do.

MIA

Gabrielle was damn fast. By the time I’d left the room and gotten into the hallway, she was completely out of sight.

“Excuse me?” I said to the receptionist at the nearby nursing station. When she turned to face me, I realized she had a phone crammed between her ear and shoulder. “Oh, sorry,” I said.

“It’s fine—I’m on hold,” she explained. “Porters. How hard is it topick up a patient on time?” She rolled her eyes. “How can I help you?”

“Did you see a woman go by here just now? Brown hair.” I winced internally. “Probably sobbing.”

She pointed down the hall to a door labeled Quiet Room.

“Ah, thanks,” I said, walking along. I knocked gently once reaching it, then slid inside, closing the door behind me. “Gabrielle?”

She sniffled, wiping at her eyes. She was sitting in the almost dark, the room lit by nothing more than a single lamp with a dull, flickering bulb. “I’m sorry, I’m…coming now.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “No rush. I just wanted to check that you were all right.”

She nodded, wiping more tears away. She wiped and wiped, but they kept coming.

I plopped down in the chair next to hers, my breath leaving me in awhoosh. “Every time we come back here,” I said. “I replay that phone call all over again in my head.” Hearing that Jake had been injured on the job, hearing my mother’s frantic sobs, seeing my father, pale-faced and speechless for the first time in my life…I hated reliving those things.

“I just,” Gabrielle began. “I’m always worried he’s going to push himself too hard, and today felt like that day. Then hearing that he was okay…I don’t know.” She sobbed into her palm. “I don’t know why I’m crying so hard.”

I shrugged. “Maybe it’s not just about today. Maybe it’s aboutmore.”

Gabrielle sniffled. “I’ve been wondering lately whether Jake and I can make this work. I love your brother. I really,reallydo. But he’s notthe same guy he used to be before all of this—the guy I fell for the day we met.”

I wasn’t surprised to hear her say that. Maybe it’s because I knew it was true, as awful as it was to hear.

“And I don’t mean physically,” Gabrielle hurried to say. “I mean, of course that’s different, but I’m talking about all the other things that have changed since the accident.”

“I know,” I said softly. I could tell Gabrielle was burning out—that she’d been burning out for a while. When I thought about standing in her shoes, imagining myself and Liam in the same situation, it was terrifying. Liam was grumpy on a good day, so I could only imagine he’d be downright impossible to deal with most of the time if he had to adjust to such a dramatic change in his life. It took a lot to stand by someone who was struggling this much, and even though I knew Gabrielle was trying her best, I got the sense she was reaching her limit.

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