12. Emma
Chapter Twelve
EMMA
D r. Saha, a neurologist who’d driven down from Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, was there when she woke up.
Emma was in that weird hungover and depleted state she always experienced after a bad migraine. Docile and weak, she submitted to a physical exam before she realized what she was doing.
“I don’t think you’re covered by my insurance,” she said as the doctor took her vitals.
The Indian woman gave her a bright smile, putting her stethoscope aside. “Don’t worry, this consultation has already been paid for.”
She straightened. “Sorry—is Mr. Chapman your boss or your boyfriend?”
Alarmed, she shook her head, but that made it swim. “Neither.”
“I see…” the doctor said in a tone that implied otherwise.
She gently held Emma’s head still, checking the reaction of her pupils with a penlight. “Did this headache begin after the incident he mentioned where he jostled your head?”
“Is that why he called you?” Emma asked, relaxing. “Because of the parking garage?”
The doctor’s brows rose a touch, but her focus remained on her examination .
“He was concerned it was related. But your cousin mentioned a long history of migraines after your accident. I had a quick peek at your medical records, so I saw that for myself, but their overall duration is not as well-documented. On average, how long would you say they last?”
She tried to clear the fog by yawning. “A day or two but I try and sleep when they’re really bad so it’s hard to say.”
The second part of the doctor’s words registered. “Wait, how did you get my medical records?”
“I believe your cousin gave them to Mr. Chapman and he forwarded them to me.”
“ Oh ,” she said, nonplussed.
Her mother had insisted Pedro have the power to make medical decisions for her, in case Emma needed to be hospitalized again. That meant her records were at his disposal. But she hadn’t expected him to share that information with anyone, let alone some strange man.
Although she shouldn’t have been surprised.
Pedro didn’t have an assertive personality. An alpha male like Garrett Chapman would steamroll right over him.
What in the world was she going to do about him?
Emma had expected the kitten delivery last night to be the last time she ever saw him. She had gone out of her way to let him know he was off the hook. But he didn’t seem to be getting the message.
Weren’t billionaires supposed to be assholes? Wasn’t that a universal truth? Could it be he was taking this secret of my success-debt-thing seriously? Or was this all fueled by his pity?
Of course, it’s pity.
There was a reason Emma had a no-contact policy with everyone who knew her before the accident. Not that many of her old friends had been beating down her door since she’d woken in the hospital.
Her mother was still angry over the way so many of them had dropped her after the accident. But in retrospect, Emma was nothing but grateful. That handful of painfully awkward visits with old friends had taught her an important lesson .
For some people, there was no going home again, even when you still lived there.
The doctor began putting her equipment away. “I understand you’ve had a recent CT scan, but I would like you to come in for an MRI this afternoon.”
Emma blinked. “Today?”
The doctor nodded. “Mr. Chapman has already arranged it, but if you can’t make the scheduled appointment, we can find a slot for tomorrow.”
Just how much money did Garrett Chapman have? Because in her experience, no doctor was this accommodating. Come to think of it, they also never made house calls.
“Do you need to move the appointment?”
Emma shook her head. “No. I wasn’t scheduled to work today.”
“Perfect.”
Emma thought they were done, but Dr. Saha continued asking dozens of questions, noting down the answers on her tablet.
Finally, the visit wrapped up. Despite her lingering headache, Emma walked the doctor to the door, eager to speak with Pedro.
Her cousin wasn’t there. The kitten was gone too.
Emma gingerly lowered herself onto the couch, trying not to worry. Garrett had promised to fix the Hannah situation and he would do it. If he tried to wash his hands of it, she would force him to keep his word.
Feeling better, she tried to be productive. Emma hated when her headaches kept her in bed, preventing her from accomplishing all but the simplest tasks. Setting her sights lower, she did some light cleaning in the kitchen, waiting impatiently until Pedro finally returned.
She was all over him the moment he walked in the door.
“Thank God you’re back.”
Pedro took off his windbreaker and gave her a weak smile. “Is the doctor gone?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip. “I’m so sorry about Garrett coming here and telling Hannah about the cat. I had no idea he even knew where I lived. Someone at De Olla must have told him.”
Pedro sat on the couch. “Yeah, he explained what happened, confusing you for some sort of corporate Mata Hari. But he is determined to make up for it.”
To anyone else, that wouldn’t sound ominous. “It was nice of him to arrange for the doctor,” she acknowledged.
Dr. Saha was a specialist with a long list of credentials she was pretty sure her regular HMO doctor had never even heard of. Getting her down here for a house call was on par with the odds of winning the lottery.
“He has a gorgeous penthouse. It’s bigger than any house I’ve ever been in.”
Emma’s lips parted. She sat next to him. “You went to his place?”
“Yeah.” Pedro lifted a shoulder. “That’s where I was. I went to get the cat settled. He said it was half his anyway.”
Unbelievable . “We’re not sharing Meowmus Maximus.”
Her cousin’s brows rose. “I thought his name was Prince.”
“I changed it because he is my cat whom I do not share with anyone.”
“Except he lives in a penthouse with someone else now…” Pedro sighed, looking down. “Look, about what Hannah said…”
“Again, I’m sorry about that. I knew she wasn’t a fan, but I had no idea the Chos were looking for an excuse to get rid of you. Hannah seemed so happy when I moved in.”
Pedro looked down at his hands. “I guess the cat was a bridge too far.”
Emma felt terrible. She reached out to touch his arm. “I can talk to her. I’ll tell her the cat’s gone. It will be all right.”
He shook his head. “I think it’s too late for that.”
“No, it’s not. I know Hannah was upset, but the Chos can’t kick you out because of the kitten. Not when they allow other tenants to have pets. Especially since Meowmus won’t be living here anymore,” she added, unable to keep the sadness from her voice.
“They are the landlords. They make the rules.”
She held up her hands. “Renters have a lot of rights in California. If Hannah and her parents try and make an issue of this, we can get help from one of those tenant rights groups. ”
It wasn’t as if the apartment posed a hazard to the other residents. There was no food waste. No chance of vermin beyond silverfish.
Not yet anyway.
“ Em .” Pedro rubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t think this is working out.”
The little ball of anxiety that had been sitting in her stomach since Hannah’s explosion grew exponentially. “What isn’t?”
Her cousin looked down at his lap. “You living here. I don’t think it’s a good idea anymore.”
His words were so unexpected she didn’t process them for a long moment. When she finally did, it was like the ceiling had fallen on her. “You’re kicking me out ?”
He held up his hands. “It’s not like that.”
Her head was spinning. “Then I can stay?”
Pedro swallowed, but he straightened his shoulders with uncharacteristic firmness. “No.”
“Please don’t freak out—you’re not going to be homeless. Garrett is finding a place for you.”
“Oh God,” she groaned. That was the last thing she wanted. How could Garrett do this?
Then she remembered the look on his face when he’d seen the piles of things in the room.
“ Wait . Did he offer to take me off your hands first? Is that why you’re doing this?”
“I know this is a shock,” he said, ignoring her questions. “But I’m trying to do the right thing here.”
He broke off, his voice cracking. Pedro's shoulders rounded back up as if he was drawing in on himself. “It was different… seeing this place from someone else’s eyes.”
Emma’s panic quieted, sympathy welling at the palpable despair in his voice.
She didn’t need to ask if he was referring to Garrett, not Hannah. Not that the younger woman’s low opinion wouldn’t have decimated him under normal circumstances.
But everyone else faded into the background when Garrett Chapman was in the room. His presence would have thrown the hoard into sharp relief.
Emma had only known Garrett a few days in this post-accident incarnation of herself. But this awareness of him felt older, as if she had been pre-tuned to pick up his frequency.
What an idiotic thought. Emma rubbed her forehead. The stress was making her stupid. She had Garrett’s number because he was a white alpha male who thought his money and power entitled him to run other people’s lives. The US government was full of them.
No. Her shy, troubled cousin wouldn’t be able to stand his ground against him.
His next words confirmed that conclusion. “Garrett spoke to Hannah and convinced her not to evict me but there were conditions. One of them is that you and the cat are going to be relocating to a new apartment.”
Emma could barely believe her ears. Garrett had negotiated her out of her home.
“So it’s not enough for the kitten to go,” she said. “I have to leave too.”
Pedro was near tears as well.
“I’m not well, Em.” He gestured to the mess around them with a broken half wave. “And if I can’t take care of myself, how can I take care of you?”
“I take care of you too!” she protested. “We take care of each other.”
Or at least they tried. But even she had to admit they did a piss-poor job of it sometimes.
She swallowed, wiping under her eyes. “What if you get worse after I’m gone?”
“I might. I can only try. I’m going to start therapy.”
Emma sucked in a surprised breath. She had broached the subject countless times, but Pedro had always dismissed the suggestion or changed the subject.
Well, of course he wouldn’t listen to her. She was more messed up than he was. Yet the moment Superman walked in the door …
But he was finally getting help . Was she even allowed to be mad?
“Garrett and I had a long talk about it,” he continued, and she decided yes. Yes, she was.
“He has found someone who deals with people like me. A specialist, like he found Dr. Saha.”
“That’s good,” she said, trying to stay positive despite her fears for herself.
Where would she live? Would it be near a bus line? Or in a safe neighborhood? San Diego wasn’t the most dangerous place, but every city had bad spots.
And what would she tell her mother? If Mariana found out she was no longer living with Pedro, she’d be on the phone every night.
Her mother wouldn’t pressure her to come home, but she would want detailed rundowns of her day. Mariana would have helpful suggestions and thousands of unfounded worries.
Emma would be a basket case in a matter of weeks.
She bowed her head. What if she couldn’t hack life in the city without Pedro? Maybe she should go home?
Her cousin’s phone buzzed. He lifted it and bit his lip. “Garrett is on his way.”
Standing up too fast, Emma leaned on the couch to steady herself. “Why is he coming here?”
Pedro stood too, scanning the room as if he wanted his precious piles to disappear. “He’s going to take you to the doctor to get an MRI. Then he’s going to take you to look at a few places after.”
He gave her a bright smile. “I’m sure they are going to be amazing apartments.”
Apartments, plural? Was she going to be living alone? Emma didn’t know what to think about that.
There was nothing she wanted more than to regain her independence. But what if a debilitating migraine took her down? True, there hadn’t been much Pedro could do when that happened, but his presence had been a comfort.
“Pedro, we don’t even know Garrett.” He’d met the man today for Pete’s sake. A few scant hours with him and he was ready to hand her off to the man.
“But he knows you.”
The flinch was involuntary.
“ Hey .” Pedro’s arms came around her. “I know it’s difficult for you to be around people who knew you before. But the situation with Garrett is different.”
“Because he hates me,” she scoffed.
“No, he doesn’t.” Pedro sounded surer of that than any of the other things he’d said. “He obviously admires you. He told me all about debating you in class and how smart you are.”
“The old me was smart.” Emma couldn’t hide the dejection in her voice. She looked away so she wouldn’t see Pedro’s hangdog face.
How had this happened? A few days had passed and suddenly everything in her life had turned upside down.
Emma rubbed her damp hands on her leggings. “I don’t want this. He just feels sorry for me.”
“It’s not pity. I don’t know what it is but it’s not that.”
Pedro leaned forward, covering her hand with his. “I know you’re skeptical, but Garrett Chapman is important and powerful. He’s the type of man who makes things happen. If he wants to help you, then you should let him.”
She started to shake her head when he interrupted her. “Em, I know this is going to sound really shitty, but I have to be cruel to you to be kind to myself.”
Emma leaned away from him. “What?”
He closed his eyes. “Some people are coming to pack up your things while you’re at the doctor.”
Holy shit. Emma gripped the couch to keep the room from spinning. But this time her headache was not to blame. “This isn’t a conversation, is it?” she asked. “I don’t have a say in moving out. The decision has already been made.”
Irritation flashed across her cousin’s face. “It’s not like I’m throwing you out in the street. Your new place is going to be way nicer than this one.”
He broke off when his phone buzzed again, not meeting her eyes. “He’s here.”