Chapter 19
19
Millie
I doze off while I wait to be transferred to a private room, and when I wake in an unfamiliar space, it’s quiet and the lights are dim.
The only sound I can make out is Ezra’s voice. “Yeah, man, I promise to take good care of her. Try not to worry. Do you want my number, in case your sister doesn’t answer?”
Sister ? My heart stumbles a little. Is he talking to Asher?
I inhale, working up the energy to speak, but it’s no use. My eyelids are too heavy and my mouth is too dry.
The next time I wake, the room is empty. An IV has been inserted into my arm, and I’m groggy as fuck.
Where’s Ezra? Did he go home?
I spot my phone on a table a few feet away and force myself to sit up.
Just as I swing my legs over the bed, a deep voice reverberates through the room. “What are you doing?”
Ezra strides around the foot of the bed and places a hand on my shoulder.
“I have to pee,” I croak .
“Stay still. Let me call someone.”
A minute later, a nurse helps me out of bed, and when I’m mostly steady on my feet, Ezra offers to take over.
“I can do it myself,” I snap. The moment the phrase is out, I regret my tone.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t.” He wraps his arm a little too tightly around my waist as I hold the IV pole.
I’m in a hospital gown and fuzzy socks that keep the coolness of the tile from soaking into me as I pad over to the en suite restroom. Fuzzy socks that look oddly familiar, actually.
In the doorway, I stop and study my feet. “How did I get these?”
“Val dropped a bag off.”
Ezra turns so his back is to me but refuses to close the door while I pee. Then he’s practically carrying me back to bed.
The nurse checks my IV and the bag dangling from the pole. “We’ve got you hooked up to fluids for now. We’re waiting on the blood bank, but we’ll start the transfusion shortly. If you have questions, I’m sure your husband can answer them for you.” With a chuckle, she winks at Ezra. “He’s asked more questions than any patient or spouse I’ve ever met.”
He shrugs his shoulders in return.
Husband . He told them we were married so he could come back with me to triage. How long is he going to keep this charade going? And why do I like it so much?
Once the nurse leaves, Ezra presents a small duffel. “I wasn’t entirely sure what you’d need, but Val did a good job packing. I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up. I was trying to find out why it’s taking so long to get the transfusion started.”
“It’s okay. Really. You can go home if you want.” I run my fingers through my hair, noting the rat’s nest of tangles at the back of my head, and for the first time in hours, I think about how truly horrendous I must look .
“You must be out of your damn mind if you think I’m going home after you lost so much blood.”
The vehemence in his response makes me chuckle. “You’re awfully bossy.”
“What can I say? I like bossing you around.”
There’s no fighting my grin. “Are you flirting with me, Mr. Greer ?”
“Lay back.” He glares.
I quirk a brow.
“Not like that,” he huffs, though his lips twitch in amusement. “You need to relax.”
“Why does every phrase you utter sound like something you’d say in the bedroom?”
He tucks me in, then props a hip on the bed, slipping his large hands to my feet and kneading them through the sheets.
A sense of calm instantly washes over me. “Thank you.” Sighing, I rest my head against the paper-thin pillow.
“For what?”
“For staying.”
The transfusion is uneventful and over in a couple of hours, though the doctor wants to keep me overnight to make sure I don’t have an adverse reaction.
Between the transfusion and delicious hospital food—no, seriously, it’s amazing—I feel significantly better.
Despite the way the chair pulls out to a bed, Ezra has to twist his body unnaturally to fit. I’m tempted to once again suggest he go home, but there’s no point. He won’t go. Plus, I really don’t want to be here alone.
His phone dings, and he smiles at the screen.
“What’s with the goofy face?”
“Huh?” He peers at me over the device. “My face isn’t goofy.”
Grinning, I huff a laugh. Yeah right .
“Look.” He turns his phone around, but he’s too far away for me to see clearly.
I pat the bed and scoot over. He obliges without fussing, his right hip flush against my left on the single mattress.
He holds the phone out again, showing me a picture of Bea with a giant bubble of snot coming out of her nose.
Laughing, I zoom in to see her adorable little dimples. “How do you have a picture of my niece?”
“Asher sent it,” he says, tapping the screen.
“My brother Asher?” Dumbfounded, I sputter, “B-but how do you have his number?”
“He called your phone when you were out of it earlier, and I gave him my number. We’ve been texting.”
My chest tightens. Did Ezra tell him about our scheming? Shit. “ You’ve been texting ? What have you been chatting about?”
“I’ve been keeping him updated. Your parents too. We got on the topic of parenting, and I told him about Kane. Asher seems like a cool dude. I don’t know how he’s raising a kid all on his own. He said he’s happy to give advice any time I need it.”
I suck in my bottom lip. What the hell? He’s asking my brother for parenting advice? We’re supposed to be faking this whole marriage thing, yet suddenly, it all feels a little too real.
“I should call my parents.”
“I already did. They said to call when you wake up, but it’s three a.m. in New York. It’s only midnight in LA, and Joey said she would wait up. Why don’t we call her first?”
We ? Before I can agree, Ezra has tapped the FaceTime icon, and the room is filled with the request tone .
Joey answers quickly, her eyes wide. “Amelia Ruth Greer, you gave me a fright.”
“A fright?” I laugh weakly, ignoring the way my whole body aches. “Easy, Hallie Parker.”
“Hallie? I thought Annie said it.”
I smirk at my cousin. “Technically it’s Annie, but she’s pretending to be Hallie.”
“Who’s Annie? Who’s Hallie?” Ezra whispers.
“The girls from The Parent Trap .” I elbow him. “Only my favorite childhood movie.”
“Hi, Ezra.”
“Hey, Jo.” He salutes the screen.
“How are you, boo?” she asks me.
“I’m fine.”
My head and Ezra’s are pushed close together so we’re both in the frame, and we’re sporting matching top knots.
“Feeling much better after the transfusion.”
“Are you taking good care of our girl?” She wags a finger.
“He is,” I answer.
At the same time, he kisses the side of my head and says, “Of course.”
Fuck, he’s really gotta stop with all the damn sweetness.
Or else.
No more than two seconds after hanging up with Joey, a text from Asher comes through.
“What’s he doing up in the middle of the night?”
“Bea’s molars are coming in, and he can’t go back to sleep,” Ezra informs me, like he and my brother are lifelong buddies.
What the hell is happening?
Another picture of Bea comes through. This time, she’s fast asleep, snuggled in footed pajamas and cuddling my old stuffed bunny—also called Bunny. Feel better, Lee Lee , the text reads .
As I soak in the image of my niece, my nose burns and tears well in my eyes.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Ezra pulls me tight against his side.
“What if I can’t have kids?” I wipe my eyes. “I don’t even know if I want them. I mean, I’m pretty sure I do, but ugh…”
“Where’s this coming from?” With his lips pressed to my head, he rubs my arm, soothing me.
I let myself melt into him. He smells like hand sanitizer, but I don’t care because he’s so damn warm.
“The doctor said she suspects endometriosis. My aunt has it, and she was never able to get pregnant again after Joey. What if?—”
“Shh. Let’s not jump to conclusions. We can ask the doctor more questions in the morning.”
There’s that “we” again. It’ll go to my head if he doesn’t stop.