CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Grace
Grace stared up at the cross inside the hospital chapel. The simple wooden face matched most of the small room, its decor plain and minimal, with most bare walls and muted lighting. She sat in one of the few chairs in the small room, alone. Thankfully.
Pax had dropped so quickly, and hadn’t revived. Despite the paramedics working on him, and the last hour they’d been at the local hospital.
Julie was a nervous wreck every second, and had ridden in the ambulance with him. Ruben rode behind with Daisy and two security guards.
Grace had followed in her own vehicle, her limbs as numb as her mind was frazzled. Her hands were sore from white-knuckling the steering wheel speeding down the highway.
All she could see during those horrible moments was Meggie’s face. The same pale, lifeless face from the gurney at the hospital from years before.
It was happening all over again.
Sitting in that waiting room with Ruben and Julie had been unbearable. The same waiting room she’d sat in when the doctor told her she'd lost her husband and daughter. The waiting room of death.
“Don’t you do this to me again,” she mumbled to the cross. “You’ve already taken her from me once. Wasn’t that enough?”
Only silence answered.
The same silence every time she’d prayed to God over the years.
Grace stared at her phone, sitting on the seat beside her. The screen had shattered from when she'd dropped it. It wouldn't even turn on now. She took in a shaky breath, and clasped her hands beyond the point of pain.
Perhaps I should pray to someone else.
“Meggie, sweetheart, I know you can hear me.” She swallowed. Tears pricked her eyes. “You’re so strong. You always were. Please, help Pax. I’m begging you, share your strength with him. He needs you again.”
More silence.
“I love you so much. I miss you every day.” Tears dropped onto her bare knees. Grace used her skirt’s hem to wipe them off, but more fell in their place. “I can't bear losing you twice.”
After she wiped her last tear, the air conditioning kicked on. The draft blew across her shoulders, causing goosebumps to form along her skin.
She wished she could call Dorian. He had a way of keeping her from the edge. Making her smile at even the hardest moments. His number was saved in her now broken phone. She hadn’t memorized it. Now was the time, more than ever, she needed his comfort.
The way he’d tried to flirt with her their first few encounters after she’d moved in had unsettled her at first. Only because he was that enticing. During a time when she wasn’t ready for it. He was too charming. Those were his moments of bringing lightness into the world. A world that’d been so dark recently.
This room seemed to get darker by the minute.
A soft knock broke her prayers. She wiped her eyes, and hid her face from the door. “Come in.”
“Aunt Gracie?” Daisy peeked her head through the door. She still wore her pink princess costume.
“I never got the chance to tell you how beautiful you look in your gown.” Grace plastered on a sweet smile, the best she could muster.
The girl returned her smile, just as slight. She pushed the door open more, and a tall figure stood behind her. “Prince Eric wants to see you.”
Dorian stepped through entrance, wearing a dark shirt and loose jeans. His gaze locked onto hers, and gave her a smile that told her he knew everything.
Everything about what she felt.
“How did you—”
“Ruben called me.”
Her jaw dropped.
“I’m getting a candy bar from the food box,” Daisy interjected. “Do you want one?”
“No, thank you, princess.”
The girl looked at Dorian. “Want one?”
“Save one for me,” he replied with a wink, and gave her another dollar from his pocket.
The door closed behind her, and Dorian moved up the aisle.
Her legs were too weak to stand, but she didn’t have to. He knelt in front of her, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He held her there in silence, her heart uncinching itself with every heartbeat against his chest.
“Photographers crashed the party, and Pax…he just dropped.”
“I know,” Dorian whispered against her neck. “Ruben told me everything.”
“I can’t believe he called you.”
He pulled back, and rubbed her arms, chasing the goosebumps away. “He said you were the first person who got to Pax. Held him until the paramedics got there.”
That was the moment in her mind that Pax’s face had turned into Meggie’s.
“You need some water.”
Grace shook her head.
The scruff on his face was longer, and scratchy under her fingers. Caressing his strong jawline felt natural to her, calming.
Dorian pressed his cheek into her touch, and kissed her palm.
“Thank you for coming,” she whispered.
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
“Do they know anything yet?”
He shook his head. “Do you want to go sit with them?”
With a deep sigh, she glanced at the cross. “Yeah. I’ve said all I came to say.”
Dorian smiled, and brushed a strand of hair away that had fallen from her ponytail. They walked out, hand-in-hand.
In the waiting room, Ruben and Julie spoke to a doctor in scrubs, a set of papers in his hand. They hung on his every word, and Julie held onto his jacket so tight, she was about to rip it.
Dorian’s arm wrapped around Grace’s waist, and squeezed gently. “It will be all right.”
When the doctor nodded at a question, the parents both sighed.
The tension in the room eased along with their shoulders.
Just as Grace reached their side, Ruben gave her a relieved smile. “He’s okay. All the heart tests are fine.”
“Did he say what happened?”
“Pax has strep throat, which made him dehydrated. Must’ve caught it at the beach last week.”
Julie’s face was pale. “He never had a fever, and he never complained about anything hurting…I can’t believe I missed it.’
Grace hugged her. “It’s all right. He’s okay.”
“They’re going to keep him overnight, just to be sure. Since he’s a transplant patient.”
“That’s good.” She gave her a reassuring smile. “You’re an incredible mom.”
Daisy returned with her candy bars, the security guard following in her wake. She beamed when Ruben scooped her up and told her the good news. “I got him a candy bar, too!” She waved the chocolate bar in front of her dad’s face.
The doctor led the family to Pax’s room, while Grace remained in the waiting area with Dorian. They sat on a couch in the corner, and she allowed her body to relax into him. His lips grazed her temple, and she absorbed his warmth.
“What were you doing before Ruben called you?”
“Getting fired.”
Grace looked at him, and sighed. “How do you feel about that?”
He fluttered a kiss along her cheek. “Duane was pissed. But I feel pretty good, actually. Being here with you… I just wish it were under better circumstances.”
“I’ve always hated this waiting room.” She glanced around the semi-sterile surroundings, the walls a drab taupe, and the floors a thin carpeting. “Hospitals in general…not my favorite place.”
“So, you’re saying this would be the wrong time to say I love you?”
She pressed her lips together, but her smile kept spreading. There was no stopping it. The combined relief and joy flooding her heart was impossible to contain. She chuckled. “I’ve learned there’s never a wrong time to say those words.”
“Well, good.” Dorian lifted her hand to his lips, and kissed her knuckles. “Because I do. Whether or not America’s favorite host likes me.”
She chuckled again. “He’s open to a new hairstyle, at least.”
That time, he laughed. “He can keep the Ace Ventura hair. I get you.” He placed his lips on hers, and smoothed his tongue along the seam.
Grace opened for him, soft and slow. His mouth tasted salty and savory, like sweet tea mixed with her tears. There was a lot to work out when they re-entered reality, but this time she wasn’t doing it alone.
“I have a confession,” she breathed, savoring his delicious taste.
“Anything.” He rested his forehead on hers.
On a deep breath, she let out the words she hadn’t said in so long. “I love you, too.”
He grinned, cupped her face, and kissed her again.
“Are you ready to face the inquisition when we walk out of here?” she asked.
“I welcome it.”
Dorian
Ruben’s jaw muscles flexed as he stared hard at Dorian, outside Pax’s hospital room. Dark circles haloed the man’s eyes, and his skin was pale, despite the recent beach vacation. That man had endured more stress over the last few weeks than anyone’s fair share. “I apologize for losing my temper earlier.”
He shook his head. “You have a better excuse than most.”
“I don’t like the judgments tabloids have jumped to with regard to me and Grace. So, I won’t do the same with you.’
Dorian swallowed. “Most of that was false.”
The celebrity crossed his arms and shifted his stance. “Which part was true?”
“I used to be a Knight.”
His brows scrunched together. “Explain the difference.”
“Higher end clientele. A little more focused purpose.”
This time, Ruben’s eyes drifted down the hall.
Grace and Julie visited with Pax, now awake and talking inside his room on the other side of the wall. His wife laughed at something.
“I assume Grace is aware of all that?”
“Of course. I would never lie to her.” Dorian lifted his chin a little higher. “But she was never a client.”
The man started to chew on the inside of his cheek, like he hated the taste in his mouth. “I know. You’re neighbors.”
He squared his shoulders. “Either Grace told you that, or you’ve had me investigated.”
Ruben tilted his head. “I did no such thing. My publicist on the other hand…”
Dorian shoved his hands in his pockets. “Wherever you’re going with this, I don’t discuss my former clients, nor anything about that role.”
“None of that is my business, even though my publicist is screaming for more details.” Ruben’s ringtone echoed down the walls, and he quickly silenced it. He scowled at the caller ID. “Case in point.” He ignored the call. “My only concern with regard to you, is Grace.”
“Then we at least have that in common.”
“If you hurt her, or are out to scam her like the others tried, I’ll set my whole team of lawyers against you. There won’t be anywhere you can hide.”
Dorian tried to hold back a chuckle. “Do I look like the kind of guy who hides?”
The celebrity shrugged. “You’d be surprised how men respond when the shit really hits the fan.”
Now, he chuckled. “I call your fan, and raise you a roadside bomb. I know exactly how I respond to those. I’m a Marine.”
His cocky expression disappeared on that one.
“I’ll save you the effort of trying to defend Grace. Because she’s more than capable of doing that on her own. Which is why I’m in love with her. Now, I respect you and Julie a thousand-fold for everything you’ve done to help her, and kids like Pax. For living through watching your child fight for his life. That’s a struggle I can’t imagine. I’d love the chance to spend my life helping her with her dream. The rest…is between her and me.”
Ruben looked sideways at him, and then finally extended his hand.
Dorian shook it with a firm grip.
“Good to hear.” He turned toward the door, and grabbed the handle.
“One last thing,” Dorian interrupted. “This thing with her charity, and the investigation probably coming. Obviously, she’s done nothing wrong and that will come out. But if there’s anything you or your network can do to make it a little easier on her, I’d be grateful."
The man’s expression softened, and he waved his hand. “Already on it. Let’s just say she won’t have to worry about sponsorship for a long time.”
“Thanks.”
“If you really mean what you said, that you want to help her live her dream…she’ll be going to a lot more charity fundraisers and formal events. Keep your tux dry-cleaned.”