Page 44 of Egotistical Jerk
Bridget grabbed my hands and squeezed them hard. "Ohmigoodness, I'm so freaking excited right now! We should go on a double date. Soon." Winking, she added, "And then I'll tell you about my and Simon's first double date. It was interesting, that's for sure."
My brain felt thick and foggy; forming a simple sentence almost impossible. Still, I managed a half-assed, "Sounds fun."
"Hey," Bridget gave my hand another squeeze. "Stop looking so worried. Everything is going to be perfect."
As desperately as I wanted to believe my friend, I couldn't shake the feeling that life as I knew it was about to change. It was just a question of whether it was going to be for the better or not.
Chapter 20
SEBASTIAN
"You're sure about these?" Furiously scanning through the results, I didn't even spare the lab tech a second glance.
"I ran them twice, Dr. Ryker."
"Shit!"
I shoved the papers back into the envelope with a little more force than was necessary before stomping back to my office. After slamming the door shut behind me, I threw the results on my desk and swore some more.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
I was way too wired to sit; pacing the length of my office instead. Cheryl's body was shutting down and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I didn't even know what the hell else to test for at that point.
Tilting my head back, I dragged my fingers through my hair and stared at the ceiling; willing it to give me the answers I needed. There had to be something I was missing, something I'd overlooked.
Closing my eyes, I dragged a pull of air through my nose before releasing it through my lips. After doing it a few more times, I opened my eyes again and seated myself behind my desk. Reaching forward, I snatched the top file from the stack sitting on the corner and opened it to the first page.
The words remained unfocused as I aimlessly stared at it for who knew how long. Somewhere along the way, the best piece of advice my father had given me started ringing in my ears.
If all else fails, go back to the beginning."
So, that's exactly what I did.
Minutes melted into hours while I went through every symptom, every test, every treatment we'd administered to Cheryl. My desk was covered in scattered papers and medical books. The answer was there, I knew it was. I just needed to find it.
A knock on my door sounded and when I checked the time on the wall-mounted clock, I was horrified to see that I had already spent a good three hours nose-deep in Cheryl's medical records.
"It's open," I said, my voice croaky from not using it and not drinking anything either.
The handle turned and a part, a very big part, of me hoped it was Mia. Because if anything or anyone could ease some of the weight on my shoulders, it would be her.
Unfortunately for me, it wasn't my sexy little redhead on the other side but rather our Head Physician, Dr. Diana Sheppard.
"You got a minute?"
It wasn't a question. Without waiting for my reply, she stepped inside, closed the door behind her and carefully seated herself in the chair in front of my desk.
I leaned back against the leather, perching my elbows on the armrests, and balanced my ankle on my knee. "What can I do for you, Diana?"
Diana Sheppard was about a decade younger than my mother, but every bit as fierce. What else could you expect from Merrill Ryker's protégé? And when she studied me with slightly narrowed eyes, head cocking just a little, it felt exactly like one of my mom's looks. The ones that were usually followed with words of disappointment.
"There's a rumor floating around, and I need you to tell me it's not true."
"What rumor?"
Her assessing gaze roamed over my desk before meeting mine again. "Apparently, you're getting quite friendly with someone on your team."
Well, shit. "As far as I know there's no policy prohibiting me from getting involved with anyone who works at this hospital."
