“So are you still out there playing the field, Jacob?”

A journalist called out to me from the audience, and I grinned. “Let’s just stick to questions about the show.”

She pouted, and the rest of the gathered journalists tittered. “C’mon, surely you can just put a few rumors to rest for us?”

I looked over at my Code Grey co-stars, who all simply shrugged and nodded. “All right, go on,” I said.

“Is the threesome rumor true?”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “Christ, is that one still doing the rounds? No, it’s not true. The ladies in question are very nice, and I have indeed met them before, but I definitely don’t recall any sort of ménage a trois arrangement.”

She looked satisfied and scribbled something down before looking back up at me. “What about these new rumors going around about you being bisexual or gay?”

I grinned. I guess James’ date had contacted the media about me after all. “That’s not true either,” I said. “Sorry, guys.”

She made another note. “And what about the rumor that you’re sleeping with a consultant on your new movie?”

Jesus… what?

Had Nora and I not been careful enough at work over the last few weeks? Surely we had. Aside from a few sneaky glances and comments here and there during filming, we’d saved our relationship for the confines of my house in order to escape any negative attention on Nora. But obviously someone had caught on to what we were doing. Either that or these were just typical rumors that got spread on every set, and they were based on nothing at all.

I kept a straight face. “No truth to that,” I said. I cleared my throat. “I try to stay professional on the set, believe it or not,” I added with a wink.

“Okay, enough about Jacob’s many alleged women,” the Code Grey creator said with a laugh, holding her hands up. “Back to the show. Next season we’re going to be focusing on an arc between Dr. West and the new nurse, Callie. We’re also going to explore the…”

I stopped paying attention as she spoke. Something was buzzing in my pocket. After surreptitiously pulling my cell phone out and sitting it on my lap under the media conference table, I turned the screen on and frowned. I had five missed calls from Nora, three from Ina, and several texts from both of them.

Nora: I need you. Please call when you’re finished with your press conference thing.

Ina: You should get back here. I just got back from my trip. Your girlfriend is here and she isn’t very happy. She told me the situation… it’s pretty messed up. Tried calling but you aren’t answering. Get home ASAP.

I made my apologies and left the media event. It was almost finished and I’d given the journalist vultures their pound of flesh anyway, so I didn’t feel too bad.

When I was home, I raced inside and found Nora sitting on the sofa in the main living room downstairs, sipping a cup of tea as Ina spoke to her in a soothing tone.

“What’s going on?” I asked, dropping my bag and hurrying over to them. “Did James do something else? I’ll kill the bastard, swear to fucking god…”

“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Ina said, giving me a tight smile. “Good luck, Nora.”

She left the room, presumably to head back out to her guesthouse. I sat down. “Baby, what happened? Did you get the restraining order?”

“No, it was denied.”

I clenched my fists. “What the fuck?”

She hurriedly explained the situation with that. Then she shook her head. “That’s not what this is about, anyway. It’s something else. Nothing to do with James.”

I frowned. “Oh. Well, what is it?” I asked, wondering what could possibly be more important than her situation with James’ ongoing harassment.

She looked at her feet for a long moment. “Remember how I had to go to the doctor today to get my STI test results and get the birth control sorted?”

“Shit, is there something wrong?” I asked. “Because no matter what it is, you know I can deal with it. No judgment.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine. Very healthy. So healthy, in fact, that the doctor mentioned something about me being a good candidate for blood donation.”

My frown deepened with confusion. “And?”

“And that was all well and good. I’ve been meaning to donate for a while. She gave me some brochures to remind me. Anyway, she said I’m the universal donor type. O-negative.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“Yeah, for people who need blood. But not for me.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I saw the brochure again when I got home, and it reminded me of something.”

“What?”

“It made me remember what I saw when we went to visit my parents a few weeks ago. Remember how I was clearing the table, and I found those cards with my mom and dad’s blood types on them? Mom said they’d just donated the day before, and the doctor had given them those cards to remind them of their blood types. Mom stuffed the cards in a drawer and changed the subject right away after that.”

“Yeah, I vaguely remember that. What about it?”

“The cards said A+ and AB+.”

“Oh, shit, that’s right,” I said, comprehension finally dawning on me. I scratched my jaw. “I know I only play a doctor on a show and have no real medical training, but that seems… impossible. No child of theirs could be an O-negative, unless my recollection of high school biology fails me.”

“No, you’re right. Ina even looked it up for me to make sure, when she came in and found me practically hyperventilating. And the other day, you said my parents were talking about something in the kitchen when you walked in on them, right? Something about me almost seeing something and catching them out.”

“Yeah. Fuck. Maybe the blood type cards were the thing they were worried about you seeing, and that’s why they were freaking out when I heard them talking.”

“Exactly. That’s exactly what I thought.”

“Shit...”

She looked at me, her eyes wide. “This whole time, I could’ve been adopted or god knows what else, and they never told me. I just don’t know what the hell to say or even think.”

I nodded grimly. “Neither do I. But I know what we need to do.”

“What?”

“Face the issue head on, Nora. Go up there and see them. Maybe there’s a simple explanation. Maybe that wasn’t even your dad’s blood type. Maybe they gave him the wrong card by accident.”

She nodded weakly. “I know I have to talk to them. But… I don’t know how. I can’t do it alone.”

“You won’t be alone,” I said firmly. “You’ll have me. Go and get in the car. I’m taking you to Santa Barbara right now.”

“We can’t go there now.”

“Why not? It’s only a two hour drive. Filming doesn’t start till late tomorrow. We’ll be fine. We’ll take Oscar. He’ll love the ride. And Nora… you need to know what’s going on.”

She nodded slowly. “You’re right. Let’s go,” she said, her voice barely above a murmur.

The northwest drive was made in silence, save for the sound of Oscar panting with joy as he stuck his golden head out one of the back windows to watch the world speed by. Nora obviously wasn’t in the mood for talking, and I didn’t want to push her. There’d be plenty of time to talk later, once we knew what the fuck was going on with her family.

When we arrived, it was just after seven o’clock. Nora’s parents came outside when they heard my car in the driveway.

“Jacob, Nora. This is a big surprise,” Roy said, a wide grin breaking out on his face as he strode toward us. “We were just having dinner.”

Nora didn’t make any small talk or pull any punches. “I also had a big surprise today,” she said. “I found out you two have probably been lying to me my whole life. Unless there’s some sort of explanation as to why I have a totally different blood type to either of you?”

She looked at her parents expectantly, hands on her hips and Oscar by her side. Anne’s face immediately turned ashen, and I knew we were right before she or her husband even said a word.

“Nora…” she began. “I’m so sorry.”