Page 49 of Her Loving Hero

“You were my baby brothers. How could I hate you?”

Wyatt thought back to those days. He’d been fourteen. Benny had been seven, Luke six and Kyle had been four. Their mother had died the year before, since her heart began failing after giving birth to Kyle. Leonard Mazur was a prick and resented the hell out of Wyatt. To this day, Wyatt had no idea why.

“Who are you?” A man in a white coat asked as he walked in followed by a nurse. Wyatt assumed he was the doctor.

“This is my brother,” Ben said with pride.

The doctor grinned. “Hello Brother, I’m Dr. Zokov,” he held out his hand to Wyatt and shook it. The doctor turned to Ben and leaned on the rail. “Ben, why don’t we have your brother step into the hall for a bit while you and I have a bit of a talk and I check things out?”

“Sure thing. Wy, I think that woman Emily is waiting for you,” Ben winked.

“Ah, the ability to wink. This bodes well,” the doctor smiled even wider. The nurse pulled open the door for Wyatt.

Wyatt ignored it, instead he went over to the other side of the bed and leaned over Ben and cupped his cheek. “I’ve missed you like hell, baby brother.”

Ben reached up and gripped Wyatt’s wrist. “Me too, Wyatt. Me too.”

* * *

Wyatt foundGray Tyler in the waiting room. “Where’s Emily?” he asked.

“She’s in the bathroom. Riya dropped by a change of clothes for her, and after two days she said she wanted to freshen up. She hasn’t left Ben’s side since we got here.”

“How was she able to get in to see him?”

“Kenna.” Gray said succinctly.

“Kenna? Not Dex?” Wyatt was tired from the flight and all the worry. How in the hell had Kenna worked things, she didn’t have any computer skills.

“She called in some favors with the nurses here in the Loma Linda hospital.”

“I’m dumb. I should have realized.” Wyatt sat down and sprawled in one of the hospital chairs. At the familiar feel of industrial polyester underneath his ass he immediately remembered. He sat up straight. “Shit, how are Kenna and the baby?

“They’re fine. Just fine.”

“What’s-”

“Wyatt?” He turned to see Emily looking like a fairy princess in a pink sun dress. But where she had looked so happy in Ben’s room, now she looked sad.

What was wrong?

“Gray, can you take me home? Or do you need to talk to Wyatt first?” Emily asked.

Wyatt looked at her in confusion. It got worse when Gray went to go stand beside her. “I’ll do whatever you need, but I really think the two of you need to talk,” he said to Emily.

“I just want to go home.” It was obvious she was fighting tears.

What the hell?

Wyatt jumped up and stood before her, bending at the knees so they could be at eye level he gave her an encouraging smile. “After I talk to the doctor and Ben goes to sleep, Gray can take us both back to San Diego. Gray’s right, I need to explain things to you.”

“I need to go home and process. We can talk after you’ve had some time with your brother. Maybe we can talk tomorrow. Right now, I need to be alone.”

“Emily, I just got back, and I want tell you everything. I’m sorry I didn’t before. Please give me this chance.”

Wyatt could see her white knuckles as she twisted her hands in the fabric of her skirt. “I just need a little bit of time. Ben is the important one, you stay with him.”

Every cell in his body screamed NO. But this woman had had her choices taken from her before, he couldn’t do that to her now.