Page 42 of Every Broken Piece
“And your name?” Martha asks, pulling my attention back to the reason I’m here, but I keep crazy woman in my periphery.
“Gabriel Strong.”
“Are you related to Ms. James? Only family can see her.”
I grab the edge of the desk to keep from sagging. She’s alive. Otherwise, Martha wouldn’t have mentioned visitors.
I didn’t realize how terrified I was that I hadn’t made it in time.
“I’m...” Not related to her.
Martha raises an imperious eyebrow and scowls. “You have to be related to see her. Hospital rules.”
Pixie Girl is now standing beside me, head tilted up to study me, but I ignore her and the crazy woman. I need to see Tess and I’m not leaving until I do. A glance at the security guards tells me they’re not paying attention to me. Martha, though, stands like a sentinel to the entrance of the hospital. There’s no getting around her.
“Gabriel Strong?” Pixie Girl asks quietly.
I glance down at her. “Yes?” There’s so much going on I don’t know who to concentrate on first. Martha, waiting to hear if I’m related to Tess. Pixie Girl, who’s suddenly clutching my arm, or the crazy woman with the guards yelling loudly about her parental rights as they herd her to the doors.
“GS,” Pixie whispers. She turns to Martha and leans over the tall desk, still clutching my arm like she’s afraid I’ll disappear. “This is Tess’s fiancé. He’s her only other relation besides me.”
Everything in me locks up in shock. Herfiancé?
“I—”
Pixie squeezes my forearm to the point of pain and it occurs to me that if I want to see Tess, then she’s my ticket because Martha’s furiously typing on her computer, then handing me a wristband with Tess’s name and room number on it.
“You know where to go?” Martha asks Pixie.
Pixie nods, loops her arm through mine and pulls me past the desk toward a bank of elevators.
“Hurry,” she urges, walking fast.
I don’t know what the hell’s going on but if it gets me to Tess, I’m following.
She veers off down a hall before we get to the elevators. Rounding the corner, she glances over her shoulder but not at me. She’s looking at the arguing woman who’s almost at the front doors now thanks to the guards. The closer she gets to being thrown out, the louder she shouts until everyone passing through is staring.
Pixie yanks me into a short, dead end hallway with a locked door on either side that says employees only.
She releases me and widens her stance, scrutinizing me with a wrinkled brow. No one’s looked at me with such obvious judgment in years and I find myself wanting to shift from foot to foot.
“Gabriel Strong,” she says. “I don’t know what you’re doing here but I’m damn glad to see you.”
I clear my throat. “And you are?”
“Amelia. Tess’s best friend and right now the only family she’s got. Except you now.”
Yeah, we’ll discuss that later. “She’s told me about you.”
Her head tilts. She reminds me of a fairy, or a sprite, something fey-ish. Fantasy isn’t my favorite genre, but I seem to remember it’s full of sprites and fairies who I imagine would look like her. Short and trim and full of sass. “She’s told me about you too.”
Tess has talked about me to her friends? It goes against the NDA, but that’s not important. Tess discussedme. With her friends.
“Your Tess’s GS.” She says it like it’s obvious.
I must look as confused as I feel because she grins. It’s a wobbly grin, a lot sad. “Tess talked about you a lot but wouldn’t tell me your name. Now I know why. You were in her phone as GS.” She suddenly frowns. “How’d you know to come here.”
“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” I’m itching to get to Tess and my frustration is showing. “Is she okay? What happened? Why’d you tell Martha I’m her fiancé?”
