Chapter 28 - Julian
JULIAN
Harper needed us. The constant pulse of it beat so hard and fast in my chest I barely had room to breathe.
I’d been held suspended in this constant state of uncertainty that we’d never see her again, never hear her voice.
It ruined me. Wrecked me. Dante was worried about me. Hell, I was worried about myself.
How did I explain that losing Harper was like losing all of myself? Not half of my heart, my whole heart and soul.
Standing in Dante’s office with Lila’s words beating me over the head, I knew one thing for sure, I was not, under any circumstances, staying in New York.
“What do you mean, Harper’s in trouble?” Dante loomed behind the desk, his face darkening.
“Be right back.” I turned and rushed from the room, slamming to a stop in front of Bethany’s desk.
“Call our pilot and tell him to get the helicopter ready.” I didn’t wait for her response but rushed back into Dante’s office and explained what I knew.
“Lila called me. Harper is in a hospital in Virginia.”
Dante held up both hands, his mouth twisting. “Virginia?”
“Yeah. She was panicking, Dante. I’ve never heard anyone sound like that before. She said she needed us to help her get to Virginia as soon as possible.”
“Bethany’s getting our chopper ready?” He leaned forward and peered past me. The edge of Bethany’s desk was in view, the woman sitting with her phone to her ear and her mouth moving a mile a minute.
“She better be. If she’s doing anything else, I’ll fire her ass.
” I had no qualms about letting her go. She’d been getting on my everloving nerves for weeks.
I yanked my phone from my pocket and dialed our personal driver.
He answered on the first ring. “Hey, Brad, I need you to pick someone up for me.” I rattled off Lila’s name and address, then hung up after Brad confirmed. “She’ll be here within the hour.”
“I reached out to Anthony. He said he’ll be ready in an hour.” Bethany stuck her head in the door, her gaze skipping from me to Dante, where it held. “Is there anything else?”
“No.” We answered at the same time, and she ducked away with a grimace.
“Get Alexander.” Dante pointed toward the open door.
“Already here.” Alexander rushed in, hands fisted and face tight. “Fill me in. All I heard was chopper.”
I gave him the same rundown before we made our way to the elevator. We had time to kill, but none of us would be able to stand still while we waited. I needed movement. The chaos in my head and heart demanded more than what we’d already done, but there was nothing left except waiting.
Half an hour later, Brad escorted Lila to the rooftop where we all stood in varying stages of hopeful fear. I’d paced until my legs ached but I couldn’t stop.
Dante remained so still he might have turned to stone. Alexander alternated between pacing, cursing, and standing on the edge of the roof while peppering Anthony with questions about how soon we could be underway.
Only when Anthony shot back that the more questions he asked the longer it would take did Alexander finally leave him alone.
Lila hurried over, a backpack slung over one shoulder. She swept her hair away from her face and motioned at the chopper. “Are we ready?”
“Almost.” I shoved my sleeves up past my elbows when the wind tried to push them down.
Anthony waved us over. “Load up.”
We piled into the seats and I handed Lila a headset. Minutes later, we were in the air with all of New York below us.
“Tell us what happened.” I pointed at Lila, then tapped my headset to let her know we’d be able to hear her.
She shook her head, her voice coming out raspy through the headset. “It’s not my place to talk about it. Harper will tell you what she wants you to know.”
“Does she know we’re coming?” Dante sat forward.
Lila grimaced. “No. She called and asked me to come down. I could tell something was wrong, and she finally admitted she’d been admitted to the hospital.
It would take me too long to drive, and I can’t afford a flight.
” She shrugged one shoulder. “I called you because I had a suspicion you’d be willing to fly me down. ”
“I’m glad you didn’t try to tell us we couldn’t join you.” Alexander’s dark look clashed with Lila’s laugh.
She waved a hand toward all of us. “I knew that would never happen.” She paused, and her eyes lowered. “For what it’s worth, I feel bad for not being able to tell you anything. It won’t change my decision, but I wanted you to know.”
“I appreciate your loyalty to her. Everyone should have at least one friend like that.” I tried to smile though it fell flat.
“It sucks for us because we want to be with her and understand why she pushed us away. But we appreciate that you’re being true to your friendship.
” Her stubbornness drove me crazy, but I still admired it.
Not many people could look us in the face and say no.
Lila did it multiple times. The headset kept the thrum of blades at bay, but the rush of wind whipping past the chopper when Anthony pitched the nose forward caused my stomach to roll.
Conversation waned, all four of us lost in our own thoughts, which likely all revolved around Harper. Our worry filled the cabin with a stench of fear, and by the time Anthony landed and we disembarked at the hospital, I had enough nervous energy to fuel the flight back.
Two security officers met us at the helipad and ordered Anthony to leave. He’d called ahead to gain permission to land but minutes mattered, and we couldn’t take up too much time when the hospital might need the landing pad.
One guard led us into the hospital and toward a security room.
“Do you know where Harper is?” Dante tapped Lila’s shoulder.
She checked her phone. “Floor three. Room 769.”
Dante matched his pace with the guard. “Can you take us there?”
The guard checked a clipboard then eyed each of us. “I can direct you to the nearest nurse’s station. They’ll take over from there.”
The blank, off-white walls flashed past as we broke into a slow jog.
Our guard led the way to a bank of elevators and punched the button. All five of us crammed ourselves into the tight space and waited one last time.
When the doors opened, Dante led the charge to the nurse’s station, where four women watched our approach with wide eyes.
One stood, an older woman with graying hair and horn-rimmed glasses that had come back in style. “Can I help you?”
“Harper Bloom.” Dante barked her name with the same commanding tone he used in the board room. “We need to see her.”
“And who are you?” She set her hands on her broad hips and glared up at Dante.
He gave our names, pointing out each of us in turn.
Fuck. She wouldn’t let us in. It occurred to me at the same time everyone else took a collective breath.
The nurse, Rose based on the lanyard hanging around her neck, typed on the computer and scrolled, making a “hmm” sound. “I’m afraid I don’t see any of your names except for Lila.” She smiled at Lila. “You’re welcome to go in, sugar.”
Lila gave us a sad smile and hurried to the doors locked with a keypad that one of the nurses had to unlock with a swipe of her keycard.
The doors opened, and Lila ducked through.
I reared back, hoping to catch even a glimpse of the room where Harper was.
Nothing but more blank white walls and closed doors.
The nurse’s expression hardened as she turned back to Dante. “The rest of you can wait over there.” She pointed at the waiting room.
A soul-crushing weight landed on my chest. I rubbed it with one hand. “Please. You don’t understand. We need to see her.”
“When she says you can, I’ll be more than happy to let you through.” The hard lines in her face remained tight and cold. “We believe in privacy around here, and Miss Bloom has not put anyone except for Lila on her emergency contact list.”
“Have you checked all her paperwork?” If Harper had been in Virginia the whole time, she might have paperwork that gave us access. “Did she come in through the ER?”
“Young man, I’m losing my patience. This is a hospital, and we’re obligated to follow certain rules and laws.
I cannot give out any information on any patient to any person without their consent.
It’s a violation of HIPPAA, and I would lose my license.
Now, if you do not remove yourselves from this desk and wait over there, I’ll be forced to have someone remove you. ”
I took a step back, grabbing Dante and Alexander’s arms when they both remained rooted to the spot.
“We won’t get anywhere like this. Come on.
” I hated it. I hated every fucking second we were apart from Harper, especially knowing she was on the other side of those locked doors.
Feet away but inaccessible. Only a nurse could let us through, and then only if Harper allowed it.
She didn’t even know we were here.
“Shit, we should have made sure Lila told her we’d come.” I dragged all three of us to the waiting room and pushed Dante into the nearest chair.
Alexander sat on his own, bending forward to place his head in his hands.
Hospitals were always so cold and lifeless.
This one was no different. An empty cardboard box had more personality than the waiting room where I paced.
Hard plastic chairs lined every wall, and a television high in the corner played a cooking show.
I snorted. Like anyone sitting out here waiting to see a loved one gave two shits about food.
The smiles on the judges’ faces on the show sent me forward.
Dante caught my elbow and yanked me back. “Punching the TV won’t help.”
“You don’t know, you haven’t done it.” In my experience, trashing a place helped a hell of a lot.
“Public property.” Alexander spoke around his hands.
At some point, he’d propped his elbows on his knees and placed both hands over his face.
When he dropped them, I understood why. Red rimmed his eyes, and he sniffed while clearing his throat.
“You’ll get arrested, then we’ll be fucked twice over without a prayer of getting back there to see Harper. ”
“We’re not getting back there as long as dragon lady is at the desk.” I paced to the vending machine, eyed the candy and what they called coffee, and turned away with a snort.
“We can’t pay or charm our way through, but we might be able to talk one of them into telling Harper we’re here.
” Dante stretched out his legs and crossed his ankles.
Tight lines fanned out from his eyes and mouth, and he stared at the doors keeping us from Harper like he might develop x-ray vision any second.
“I fucking hate being left in the dark like this.” I tunneled both hands through my hair.
One of the nurses stood up at the nurse’s station.
She glanced our way, then walked in the other direction.
We were not making a great first impression, but hell if I could rein in my concern because it made them uncomfortable.
We were not arrogant assholes…well, not all the time.
We never really tried to use our power to push people around.
They might not see it that way. They might see us as bullies, or three men who were a threat to Harper.
They were right to protect her, but that didn’t make it any easier on us.
Once again, we were on the outside looking in, with no knowledge of what had happened to Harper or if she was even okay.