Chapter 17
Seventeen
What he thought of as hospital scent hit Matt as soon as he entered the hospital early Sunday afternoon.
How people who worked here every day tolerated it was a mystery to him.
Maybe after a while, the scent killed your sense of smell and you no longer noticed it.
Whatever the case, every hospital he’d ever been in smelled the same, a combination of industrial cleaner and stale air.
Despite his dad’s reassurance, anxiety had plagued him since he got off the phone last night. Now the smell and the surroundings were kicking that anxiety into overdrive.
“Dad wants to know if Theo is with us,” Aiden said as he responded to a text message. “Do you know if he plans to visit Mom?”
“He said he would, but he didn’t share his travel plans with me.” And Matt hadn’t cared enough to ask. Theo was a grown man. He didn’t need to share his itinerary with him.
The elevator doors opened before either of them could press the button, and two employees dressed in blue scrubs stepped out, deep in conversation.
“Well, if I’m here when he shows up and Brianna is with him, I’ll leave and come back later. There’s no way I can deal with her today.”
Matt shared his brother’s sentiment. Hopefully, Theo used his brain and came alone.
“What floor did Dad say Mom is on?” Matt asked.
“Eleventh floor, room 216.”
Half a second after jabbing the button, Matt noticed a woman approaching the elevator, carrying a giant floral arrangement with a pink-and-white balloon attached. He pressed the button to hold the door open.
“Thank you.” The woman sounded as if she’d sprinted from the parking lot.
“What floor do you need?”
“Tenth, please. I’m going to visit my sister and niece. She was born early this morning.”
Since the balloon said “Congrats, It’s A Girl,” he’d assumed she wasn’t there to visit someone who’d had their gallbladder removed.
“She wasn’t due until next week, but I guess she didn’t get the memo.”
He didn’t have much experience with pregnancies, but a week early didn’t sound unusual.
“I have ten nephews. My older two brothers both have all boys, so this is my first niece.”
Based on the excitement in her voice, one would think she’d been the one to have a baby.
“Don’t get me wrong. I love my nephews, but everyone hoped my sister would have a girl because even my cousins all have boys.”
Maybe it was because he preferred to keep as much of his life private as he could, but he’d never understood why some people felt the need to share personal information with random strangers.
Not responding would make him look rude, but what should he say? He didn’t know the woman and didn’t care that her sister had given birth to a baby that morning, or that it was the first girl in a long list of boys.
Hoping for some help, he glanced at Aiden across the elevator. The shrug he got in response told Matt his brother was clueless too.
A person couldn’t go wrong with congratulating someone, right?
“Congratulations.”
The smile on the woman’s face somehow grew. “Thank you. They named her Olivia. It’s our grandmother’s name. I have some pictures.”
At the name Olivia, an image of Liv popped into his head. He’d sent her a short text message before boarding the plane, but she still hadn’t responded. Usually, she got right back to him within minutes, unless she was at work, and he knew she was supposed to have the day off.
The elevator doors opened just as the woman pulled out her cell phone. “I hope whoever you’re visiting feels better soon.”
Aiden moved away from the wall once they were alone. “Just a little talkative.”
“You think? If we’d been together much longer, she would’ve started sharing the names and ages of her nephews.”
“Hey, at least she wasn’t hounding you for an autograph.”
“I’d rather she’d done that. I know how to handle people when they do that.”
“Ten nephews. Must be chaos at the holidays.”
Matt wouldn’t label the holidays growing up as chaos, but they’d always been large events. Although not like when he was a kid, even now holiday celebrations tended to be big gatherings.
Floral arrangements, some with balloons attached and cards, covered every visible surface in his mom’s hospital room.
Clearly, his mom’s friends hadn’t wasted any time sending flowers.
Actually, knowing many of them, they’d probably seen it as a contest of who not only got her flowers first but who sent the largest arrangement.
Flowers weren’t the only company his mom had. Unsurprisingly, Matt’s dad sat in the uncomfortable standard hospital chair near the window while his cousin Sophie occupied the one closest to the bed.
Considering she’d been in an accident less than twenty-four hours ago and was in the hospital, he’d expected his mom to look disheveled and tired—or at least as disheveled as his mom could look.
He should’ve known better. Instead, her hair was perfectly arranged, she wore makeup, and there wasn’t a hospital johnny in sight.
The cast on her leg and wrist were the only signs that something was wrong.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, leaning down to kiss her cheek.
“Much better now that Sophie fixed my hair and did my makeup. I scared all the nurses this morning.”
He wouldn’t label his mom as vain, but she believed in never leaving the house unless everything from her hair and makeup to her clothes looked perfect.
“She’s exaggerating.” His dad winked at him. “She only scared two.”
Any remaining anxiety disappeared at his dad’s comment. If his parents were joking around as usual, his dad had been right when he said there wasn’t anything to worry about.
“Do you know when you’ll go home?” He’d never spent the night in a hospital as an adult, but he imagined it wasn’t the most comfortable place to be.
“We’re not sure. How long are you staying?”
“At least until you’re home.”
“Good. I’ve missed you. Did your girlfriend come with you? And don’t deny you’re with someone. Michayla showed me the pictures of the two of you in the Star Report.”
Michayla Simmins had been the housekeeper for as long as he could remember, and she had an unhealthy obsession with social media. When she found photos or read articles about him or the band, she always shared them with his mom.
“By the way, you look cute together.”
Cute? No grown man should be called cute, not even by their mother. Evidently, his mom hadn’t gotten the message.
“Liv isn’t with me. She had to work this weekend, so she couldn’t come to the wedding. But hopefully we can visit in the fall.”
At the word “wedding,” his mom cringed. “Speaking of Adam’s wedding, avoid visiting your aunt and uncle while you’re here. They’re livid that Adam went against their wishes. I’ve never seen them so angry.”
Aunt Shannon and Uncle Benjamin had always been his least favorite, and their recent behavior had only solidified their placement at the bottom. “I didn’t plan on visiting them.”
Other than his parents, he hadn’t thought about seeing anyone else while in California.
“How was the wedding? We would’ve loved to go, but we understood why Adam didn’t invite us,” his mom asked as a nurse entered holding a tiny cup.
While the nurse administered his mom’s medication and checked her vitals, he pulled out his phone to read the text message he’d received. Rather than finding one from Liv, though, he saw a message from his agent.
After replying, he pulled up Liv’s number.
Matt: Did you end up working today?
“The wedding was nice. Fairly low key,” Aiden answered. “I was surprised you weren’t there, Sophie.”
“Chase and I already had plans. I wanted to cancel, but I couldn’t convince him. He can be stubborn.”
More like pigheaded. For the most part, his cousin’s husband seemed like a decent guy, but there was no changing his mind about anything.
“Theo just texted me,” his dad said, setting his phone down. “They’re going to be here in about ten minutes.”
His dad’s use of the word “they’re” meant one thing—Theo wasn’t alone.
“Hey, Matt, I’m starving. What do you say we go get something to eat and come back later?” Aiden asked.
He had no desire to stick around and see who was with Theo. “Sounds like a plan. Sophie, do you want to come with us?”
His cousin’s eyebrows bunched together, and her gaze moved between Matt and Aiden. “Love to. Chase won’t be home until late tonight.”
Sophie clearly found it odd that they were leaving without waiting to see Theo first. If the tables were reversed and she was hightailing it out of there when her sister would arrive in a matter of minutes, he’d find it suspicious too.
And once they were alone, Matt knew she’d question them about it.
“Do you want us to bring you anything when we come back?” Hospitals weren’t known for their delicious meals, and Matt knew his mom was a picky eater.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll run out later and get something for us,” his dad assured him.
“Well, if you change your mind, call me.”
He expected questions from Sophie before they reached the elevator. However, she remained silent until they stepped outside.
“You didn’t want to wait for Theo?”
“I haven’t eaten a meal since six o’clock Eastern time. I’m starving. We’ll see him later.”
Technically, Aiden wasn’t wrong. They had breakfast at six, but they had sandwiches on the plane.
“It would’ve taken less than two minutes to say hello. What gives?” she pushed.
“Nothing. I spent the last three days with him, and Matt spent the last week with him. He’ll survive without us for one day. If I don’t eat soon, I might pass out.”
“Whatever. Where do you guys want to eat?” Sophie didn’t sound convinced, but at least she was letting the matter go.
Matt opened the passenger door for her. “You pick.” Unlike him, Sophie spent a lot of time in the area, so she’d know what places were good.
“Anything specific you feel like?”
“Up for anything. Aiden?” Matt glanced across the roof at his brother.