Chapter 44
44
Melissa
“ M y have more?”
When Zoey came into the ER the night prior, she had been sweaty and weepy from the fever. No one would recognize the kid now. An overnight stay at the hospital with meds and rest, and she was a brand new little girl. I offered her another spoonful of jello, grinning at her conspiratorially. Jello for breakfast wasn’t healthy, but the poor thing deserved it after the night she had. And no one would know. Maggie and Wyatt went downstairs to get their own breakfast, so it was just me and her camping out until they got back and she was discharged.
“Hey, Mel?” Janelle poked her head into the room, smiling at Zoey. “Hey, cutie patootie. Can I borrow your auntie for a second?”
I smacked a kiss on Zoey’s forehead and headed to talk to Janelle just outside the doorway. “What’s up?”
“Hot, and I mean hot , biker man is asking for you downstairs. Can I send him up?”
A grin pulled at my lips as I asked, “Tall, dark hair, looks like a sexy grim reaper?”
She snapped her fingers and pointed at me. “That’s the one. Who is he? ”
“That’s my boyfriend,” I laughed. “Send him up. I’ll meet him at the nurse’s station after this little one’s parents get back from the cafeteria.”
“You lucky, lucky woman,” she teased. “I’m going to start hanging out with you more so I can get a sexy biker of my own.”
“They’re good with kids too,” I pointed out with a smirk.
Her jaw fell open. “Girl, don’t tell me that! I’ll end up in a chapel in Las Vegas with the first one who looks my way!”
Cackling, I shooed her away and joined Zoey again. She offered me some toast from her tray, and I grinned at her as I took a bite.
“How much do you wanna bet one look at you with your daddy and half the hospital will be swooning and clamoring to go to club parties?”
“My like parties.”
Snickering, I bumped foreheads with her, sitting up when I felt my phone ring in my pocket. To distract Zoey, I turned on the little TV in the corner to some cartoons and stepped away from the bed.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” Skylar greeted. Something in her voice made me frown, and I stepped a little farther away from Zoey.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Sort of. Um, we have cameras around the house, and Butch was checking them when he noticed something from last night. It looked like Xander was crying alone in the backyard for a while. I’m just calling in case you didn’t know? I know he’s going through a lot and I don’t want him suffering alone.”
No one had mentioned it to me, but then again, I’d been at the hospital all night. I looked at my watch with a frown. He was probably at school right now, so I’d have to wait to check in with him.
“Thanks for telling me. I’ll talk to him when I get home tonight. He’s at school right now.”
It felt weird to call it home since I didn't technically live there, but not a bad weird. I had been thinking on and off about what Mattias said about me moving in. He was ready whenever I was. It was elating and a little terrifying how fast things were moving with us. I had wanted this for forever and I was worried about making a wrong move and ruining us before we were even truly established. We hadn’t even gone on a real date yet.
“Are you still at the hospital? ”
I hummed, glancing back at Zoey. She was cuddling her stuffed bunny that matched one that Gracie had. They were both overjoyed that they matched when I bought them those. They carried them everywhere.
“I stuck around to support Maggie and technically, my shift started an hour ago. I’m starving,” I pouted.
She snickered. “I’ll send Butch with your favorite donuts. You deserve it after coming through for us last night.”
Snickering, I peeked into the hall towards the nurse’s station. Mattias was there, looking all drool-worthy and perfect, and he had a familiar box in his hand.
“You can hold off on that. Looks like another biker came to my rescue.”
She laughed and teased me a little, but I did the same thing when she first moved in with Butch. Theirs was a whirlwind romance, and they were playing house after only a couple months of knowing each other, some of which were spent in different cities while Skylar tried to make it work with Gracie and Malcolm’s biological dad. I teased her about jumping into the deep end with both feet. It was only fair that she teased me back.
I sobered a little, biting my lip as I looked at Mattias again. “Hey, how crazy would it be if I moved in with him permanently?”
“Considering the way he’s been looking at you for years, I’m surprised you’re not married and pregnant already, honestly.”
That cracked me up and my laugh caught Mattias’s attention. I blew him a kiss and wiggled his fingers, but didn’t beckon him over. He and Wyatt were still weird with each other, and I didn’t know if my stupid big brother wanted him to join us.
“Alright, troublemaker. I’m going to get back to it. Kiss the babies for me.”
“Tell me how that conversation goes. I want to know if I need to buy you a housewarming present.”
“Bye Skylar,” I laughed, hanging up. Right as the door to the elevator opened and Maggie and Wyatt stepped out. Oh hell, this should be fun.
The bars were up for Zoey’s bed, but I didn’t want to leave her alone, so I beckoned Maggie with a wave. She left Wyatt and Mattias to stand around awkwardly, glancing over her shoulder a few times with a frown.
“What’s he doing here? Did he come to talk to Wyatt?” she asked .
“No, I’m pretty sure he’s here to see me. Can you stay here? I don’t like littles in those big beds by themselves.”
She nodded and went to join her daughter, still frowning at the pair by the elevator. After I was sure Zoey was safe, I jogged out to join them, catching the tail end of the pure awkwardness of the conversation.
“She worked late. Figured she’d be hungry,” Mattias grumbled.
“Thanks… I was going to pick her up something after we got discharged. I felt bad making her stay.”
They went quiet again, avoiding eye contact with each other. I couldn’t stop myself from commenting.
“Wow. This is so awkward, I feel like medical intervention is necessary. Wyatt, do you seriously still have a bug up your butt about us?”
That got me a dirty look from Wyatt, but I just smirked at him. Even when he threw a tantrum as epic as he had, he was still my older brother. He loved me and I loved him. His idiot moments included.
And, because he loved me, he very awkwardly admitted, “Apparently, I was the only one who didn’t notice you two hovering around each other.” His spine straightened, and he frowned at Mattias. “How long exactly have you been together?”
I rolled my eyes, but Mattias answered before I could snark at him. “A couple of weeks. I didn’t want to start anything without talking to you first.”
Which proved he was a much better person than I was. I would’ve thought of it eventually, but telling my brother about my relationship was not high on my priority list when the guy I’d been pining over finally kissed me.
Wyatt grunted, sounding a lot like Mattias when he didn’t actually want to participate in a conversation. I poked his side and glared at him.
“Knock it off. I don’t need your permission to date and you should be happy that I’m dating someone you know you can trust. Just like I was happy that Maggie ended up with you, so I didn’t have to pretend to like her boyfriends. Stop being an asshole or I won’t invite you to our next game night with Xander.”
He sighed heavily, exasperated, but he needed the push. They needed to get past this because Wyatt was Mattias’s best friend and he needed someone to talk to that wasn’t me. The new situation with Xander required a village, and I knew Mattias needed more than just me to support him.
After the awkwardness faded, we made tentative plans for bowling night on Saturday, since Zoey would be healthy enough to join by then. The conversation ended on a good note and Wyatt returned to his little family just as the doctor was coming to let them know they were being discharged. That gave me a few minutes to talk to Mattias, so I dragged him to the end of the hallway out of the way.
“Tell me those are what I think they are.” I pointed to the box in his hand.
He grinned, handing it over. “I figured you’d be hungry.”
“Ugh. If I wasn’t already in love with you, this would seal the deal,” I groaned, popping a donut hole into my mouth. He even got my favorite. Seriously. I was going to marry this man.
His fingers drifted along my temple, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. “How are you? Did you get any sleep?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Not really. I made myself Zoey’s nurse since the IV scared her so much. She trusts me, so she lets me take care of it. Honestly, they wouldn’t have even kept her if her fever came down with meds. It was stubborn though, and the pediatrician is cautious with things like that.”
He hummed, stroking my cheek with his thumb. I leaned into the affection with a sigh. Working long shifts like this was hard, especially when the patient was someone I cared for so much. I knew she’d be okay, but I was still stressed when she was brought in. Having someone come out just to support me felt nice.
“What about you? How’d you sleep?”
His expression darkened a little. “Not great. I had a nightmare and woke up Xander. We ended up watching a movie on the couch and sleeping out there. I think he wanted to give me Thor for the night, but I didn’t want him all alone.”
Damn. I’d forgotten about his reaction to sleeping alone. “Have you considered talking to someone about it? Nightmares that bad aren’t something you should ignore.”
He mirrored Xander’s favorite move, lifting his shoulders noncommittally. Men. Seriously. How they survive without us is beyond me.
“How was Xander?” I asked carefully. I didn’t want to tip Mattias off that I knew something he didn’t, but I doubted he missed Xander crying by himself.
He shook his head. “We need another appointment with the therapist. He’s shutting me out again and I don’t know why. I feel like I upset him or something.”
Putting my hand on his arm, I rubbed it supportively. “I’m sure that’s not it. Just give him a little time. And another therapy appointment is a good idea. I’ll see what Addison has available.”
Leaning, he pressed a gentle kiss to my cheek. Very work-appropriate, but it still made me want to swoon.
“Thanks, Mel. I don’t know how I would’ve done this without you.”
“One day at a time,” I answered. “You would’ve been okay. You’re too good to not figure it out eventually.”