Page 290 of Her Reluctant Hero
Chapter Eighteen
Peyton raced into the hospital after tossing another twenty at the cab driver. She stumbled into a nurse but didn’t look back, didn’t apologize, as she headed for the elevators, slapped the up button. Adrenaline had her muscles quivering till the doors slid open and she stepped inside.
She would be between Gabe and Kim now. She snorted a little laugh. Being in that position had started this to begin with.
Now she needed to worry about what to say to Gabe. She had four more floors to figure out whether she was back for good.
Who was she fooling? She couldn’t walk away from him twice. Once had been hard enough.
Again her thoughts drifted to those early days with Dan. Would she have walked away, knowing the pain she’d suffer when he died? Maybe. Maybe she’d have been able to. But look at what she would have missed, his energy, his big personality, his love.
What would she miss if she walked away from Gabe now?
She’d told herself he didn’t love her, she’d only known him a week.
But no man jumped out of an airplane when he hated to fly. No man risked his life for a woman he didn’t love.
And she’d been such a coward, she’d left him at his lowest point.
She didn’t deserve him. But God, she wanted him.
The doors slid open on the fourth floor and she turned toward his room. Before reaching the door, she sensed something was wrong, and she would have more time to decide what to say.
His bed was empty, the sheets rumpled, a streak of blood across the pillow.
Peyton pivoted toward the nurse’s station. “Where is Gabe Cooper?”
A young nurse in Betty Boop cartoon print scrubs didn’t look up from her paperwork. “They took him to x-ray.”
Peyton’s heart rate slowed a fraction. “Where’s that?”
“First floor, turn right when you get off the elevators, end of the hall,” the girl said as if she’d said it a thousand times.
“Thank you.” Peyton turned back to the elevators, but couldn’t shake the unease. Maybe it was just the uncertainty of making up with Gabe, worry over his reaction to her return. God, she really hoped that was what caused her anxiety.
But when she reached x-ray, the tech told her Gabe had been in earlier. No one knew where he was. She checked with admissions, had the girl there promise to page his doctor to see if Gabe had left against medical advice.
Maybe she had this all wrong. Maybe Gabe had been pissed off and left.
Maybe—her heart bumped at the thought—he’d come after her.
Agent Devlin strode through the sliding glass doors as she walked out of admissions, trying to decide what to do next. She’d had the cabbie call the agent on her way back to the hospital, but what if it had been for nothing?
But no, her instincts were good, usually. Kim would come after Gabe, she was sure. Whether or not Gabe would be here was another issue.
She approached the agent, grateful to have someone with whom to share the burden.
“I thought you’d gone home,” he said.
“I changed my mind. I started thinking Kim wouldn’t walk away and I did...” She trailed off. He didn’t want to hear this. “Any word on Kim?”
He shook his head.
“Have you talked to Gabe?”
“I have. Maybe an hour ago.”
Hope surged. Not much could happen in an hour, could it? “Because he isn’t here now.” She explained what had happened. “When you talked to him, did he seem like he was ready to leave against medical advice?”
