Page 78 of Kiss Me Forever

With that, Lex hung up, leaving me seething.

“The call went to Bluetooth, so I heard all of that,” Rowan began.

“Just drive safely, we don’t need another accident.”

Even though the words felt as if I were dead inside, I was trying. Damn it, I was trying.

It didn’t take long to get to the emergency room, as every worst case scenario rolled into one another, and there was nothing left in me but to have my knees buckle. I jumped out of the truck, nodding at my brother, knowing he would deal with parking and everything else. As I ran into the emergency room, I didn’t even have to wait long. Storm Montgomery was there, a glare on his face, and he lifted his chin.

“He’s with us,” he said to the front desk, and then the nurse nodded, and I followed him down the hall.

“Brooklyn’s down here, but I know you need to get to Bella first. Her grandparents are in the waiting room on the other side.” Storm shook his head. “They took one look at her and left.”

I nearly tripped over my own feet, and stared at the father of the woman that I loved.

“What?”

“I don’t know what they were thinking, if they were scared, or just don’t fucking care. But they’re pacing in the private waiting room, and my wife is in with your daughter right now. We said that you two were engaged, and that’s why Everly’s in there and not a social worker.” Storm said the last part so low that I could barely hear, and I swallowed hard, nodding tightly.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Just go get your girl, and I’ll check on mine. And then, you can come and check on her too.”

Feet heavy, I moved past the open doorway, and into the next, knowing that if I went into Brooklyn’s room in that moment, I would fall to my knees and not be strong enough for my little girl.

Because if I looked at Brooklyn in that moment, I would fail at being the father I needed to be. Bella needed me to be strong, so I would be, and then I would hold the woman that I loved. The gasp that escaped the room nearly made me pause, but I ignored it, knowing that Bella had to be scared.

Brooklyn wasn’t alone, and I would be there soon. But I needed to see my daughter.

She looked so small in the hospital bed, with a temporary cast on her arm. She spoke in quiet tones to Everly, before she looked up and smiled at me.

Fucking smiled.

“Dad. You’re here. Is Brooklyn okay?”

I looked at Everly and gave her a tight nod. “Thank you. If you want to go check on your daughter…”

“I will. We were just making friends. But I’ll be back.” Everly stepped toward me and went to her tiptoes to kiss me on my cheek, and my shoulders relaxed ever so slightly. She was just like her daughter in being able to calm me, calm people. But I only had eyes for Bella in that moment. I moved forward, wanting to pull her close to make sure she was alive, and safe, but I didn’t want to hurt her any more than she already was.

“Brooklyn’s parents are with her, and I will go check on her, but I needed to see you first.”

“You should see her. I don’t want her to be scared.”

Her eyes were wide, a little watery, and I cursed, before going to her other side without the broken arm, and holding her close. I did my best not to make her shift, and she sank into my chest and let out a deep sigh.

“I was so damn scared that I lost you, Bells.”

“I’m okay. Brooklyn did really good. She took care of me even when my arm hit the dashboard.”

“I’m going to find your doctor and nurses, and I’m going to get everything that I need to know about this, and then you’re about to be pampered like nobody’s business. Just wait until your grandma and grandpa hear about this and get here. You’re going to be so spoiled. It’s going to be insane.”

I was trying to make light of it, even though I felt like I wanted to throw up.

“If you marry Brooklyn, I get another set of grandparents. I really like Everly. And Storm is really nice and pretty.”

I rolled my eyes. “We need to talk about your ideas of pretty,” I said dryly.

“And I like calling Ms. Kathy Grandma. You think she’ll be okay with that?”