Adley

"I told you I had plans." I stand in the doorway to my apartment. "I need to leave in a few minutes, Crew."

I didn't expect to see him. I told him last night after he got back from Boston that I had plans for tonight too and yet here is, with a bouquet of wildflowers in hand and a devilish grin on his face.

"I brought these so Sydney could put them by your bedside." He brushes past me. "I suppose now that you're here, I can do it myself."

"I'll do it." I reach for the vase and tug it from him. "Thank you for these, but it wasn't necessary."

"It was necessary." He leans forward to give me a soft kiss on the lips. "I want you to wake up to something beautiful every morning."

It's a sweet sentiment, and at any other time, I'd tell him that I would love to wake up to the sight of his handsome face, but right now my focus is singular and it's not on him. "I wish you would have called first."

Those words send his brows shooting up. "Why is that?"

I move to set the vase down on my coffee table. I'm agitated. It started this afternoon with a woman who made it clear to the entire clinic that she thinks I suck majorly at my job. Then I missed the train I wanted to catch to come home, so I had to board a bus, which was overcrowded. I made it home with just a few minutes to spare, so I changed into a simple outfit of black pants and a white blouse without the benefit of a shower or any makeup beyond a light coat of mascara and a swipe of clear gloss over my lips.

"You knew I had plans."

"I didn't think you would be here."

He's right. It's not as though he made a point of coming over here to distract me on purpose. "I'm sorry, Crew. I'm on edge."

He moves to rest his hands on my shoulders. It does little to calm me. It just notches up my uneasiness in an entirely different way. I'm still sore from what we did two nights ago. The ache between my legs is nothing compared to the pounding of my heart when I feel his hands on me.

How could I not want a man who made me feel things I've never felt before?

"Take a deep breath." He bends at the knees to rest his forehead against mine. "Slow and steady breaths, Ad."

My phone chimes on the table next to the vase.

I rush away from him to pick it up. I read the message and it just ups the tempo of my heart all over again. "That's the driver. I need to go."

"A driver?" He walks over to where I'm standing, canting his head to get a look at my phone. "You ordered a car?"

"No." I shake my head. "John sent it."

"Ad." He touches my chin and tilts my head up so our eyes meet. "Assure me again that John is not someone I need to punch in the throat."

I laugh because his smile says more than his words. "He's helping me figure out a few things."

"That's cryptic." He stands back and looks at me. "I'm always here to talk too. You know I'm the best problem solver around."

I drop my gaze. "It's not a problem. It's a dream."

"A dream?" He moves closer pulling me into his strong embrace. "What dream?"

A soft knock on my apartment door takes me from his arms. I cross the room quickly and swing open the door to see the familiar face of John Tate's driver.

"I need to go." I look back at Crew. "I can do anything I set my mind to, right?"

"You know it." He moves toward me with a confident stride. "I believe in you more than I believe in anyone. Follow your dreams, Adley. I'm right beside you every step of the way."

"You don't know what the dream is yet," I whisper as I arch up on my heels to kiss him.

"It doesn't matter what it is. You'll make it come true."

***

I take a shortcut through the Emergency Room after spending more than three hours on the seventh floor of the hospital. I shared the elevator ride down with two doctors and a nurse who talked in low whispers about a patient that will be moved to hospice care tomorrow.

We might not have the same jobs, but I know all about death. I've had to watch people crumble when they've heard the news that their cat didn't make it. I've listened to the wails of children after being told that their dog would never come back home.

Death is a part of medicine. It's a sad but integral part of the cycle of life, and I'm strong enough to handle it. I know I am.

The elevator dings our arrival on the first floor and when the doors swing open the mad rush of the ER is what greets us.

Both doctors head straight for the reception desk. I have no idea if they are ER physicians or not. What I do know is that every single person who works in this building plays a pivotal role in patient care. It doesn't matter if it's the head of cardiology or the people who work tirelessly in the kitchen. They all are essential to the well-being of those who come here for help.

I scan the area. The noise and frenetic energy don't overwhelm me. I take comfort in the knowledge that there are trained professionals who will do their best to help everyone here.

I take a step forward while I dig in my purse for my phone to order an Uber to pick me up.

John offered to call his driver to take me home, but I insisted on finding my own way. When he rushed off for an emergency consultation in the ER, I stayed back and spoke to a surgeon for ten minutes until he too, had to run to help someone who needed him. 

"Adley?" A familiar male voice pulls my gaze to the left.

I search the faces of the people standing near the reception desk. Every one of them is looking for an answer to an urgent question.

"Over here." The voice calls again and I shift my focus more to the right and when I do my eyes land right on him.

"Kade?" I say his name as I move toward him, brushing past a woman with dark hair who is rushing in with a child in her arms.

"What are you doing…" I start to ask what he's doing in the ER at eleven o'clock at night, but my words get caught in my throat when I look past where he's standing to see the face of Crew's sister, his mother and his older brother, Curtis. I've met Lark before but I recognize the others from the photographs in Crew's apartment.

"Kade." I reach for him once I'm close enough. "Where's Crew?"

He points to a corridor that I know leads to a series of exam rooms. "There. He's down there."

I steady Kade's shaking hand in my own. I draw a deep breath because whatever it is, Crew is strong.  "What's happened?"

"You don't know?" He scans my face looking for an answer to a question I'm not aware of. I don't know why any of the Benton family is here.

I crane my neck to look down the corridor but it's just a steady stream of medical personnel going in and out of cubicles. "No. What happened to Crew?"

I bite the corner of my lip suddenly overcome with a rush of emotions. He can't be hurt. I can't breathe if he's hurt. I need him. I care about him so much.

I think I love him.

"It's our dad." His voice breaks as he buries his face in his hands. "He had a heart attack. It doesn't look good."