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His cell rang, and he answered it, relieved to hear his brother on the other end. “You did it,” Hunter said. “Thank you.”
“I pulled a few strings. But you better hope Gracie signs off on all the paperwork. She needs to before they release her.”
“She will,” he said confidently, but inside he grew nervous. If that crazed grandma got to her, she’d try her hardest to put a kink in the works.
“Have you spoken to her this morning?”
“Not yet. I’ll be able to soon, though.”
“Thank Christ,” Alex muttered. He sounded stressed. “This wasn’t easy. I really had to pull out all the stops.”
“And I’ll owe you ‘til my dying day,” Hunter said. And he meant it.
“You don’t need to get all dramatic on me. Just…make sure this is going to happen without any glitches. I have a funny feeling about it.”
“It’s the grandma. I should’ve never told you about her.”
“I’m thankful you did. I don’t want her interfering. And I know you and Gracie parted on rocky terms so the chance that this could go south is high.”
“I refuse to let it,” Hunter reassured. “Don’t worry. I promise it’ll work out. Trust me.”
“Oh, I trust you. I just don’t necessarily trust anyone else involved in this endeavor.” Alex paused. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to mention this to you but you should know. There’s some trouble in your department.”
Dread crept over Hunter, making him weary. Now what? “What’s going on?”
“It’s Marcus. He claims you threatened him. He went to Becky and complained. She filed his complaint, and in her notes he suggested he might sue.”
“Sue for what?” God, he really needed to get his emotions under control. He was screwing up all over the place and he was supposed to be the one brother who remained calm under pressure.
When it came to Gracie, all bets were off.
“Oh, there’s an entire list of things he could sue you and Worth for. You can’t threaten him, no matter how much he pisses you off. I know you guys were friends but you have to watch what you say.”
“I know, I know.” Hunter sighed. “This is the last thing I need to deal with.”
“And that’s why I should’ve never mentioned it. Don’t worry, we have it under control. I’m meeting with him later this afternoon. I’ll smooth his ruffled his feathers.”
“What if you can’t?” Hunter asked.
“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
They spoke for a few more minutes, Hunter earning plenty of glares from various hospital staff. He finally hung up, shoved the phone in his front pocket and lingered outside the entrance to the ICU.
/> He contemplated what Gracie’s grandmother said. No way could the baby belong to anyone else but him. Her words were meaningless. She was looking for a reaction, and he refused to give it to her. Her motives were a mystery. He could understand wanting to keep Gracie around after not seeing her for so many years, but why would she go to such lengths to get him out of her life?
It made no sense, and made him wonder if she’d exhibited the same over-the-top possessive behavior with Gracie’s mom. Could that have been the reason Gracie’s mom ran away? A crazed mother who tried to control everything and everyone?
Now that made sense.
It also scared the hell out of him.
“What are these forms?” Gracie rifled through them, her exhausted brain having a hard time comprehending. There was so much to read, so much to take in, and she really didn’t want to deal with it this morning.
She wanted to see Hunter. Her grandma had stopped by earlier, agitated and not much of a conversationalist. She’d seemed angry when Gracie had told her she briefly saw Hunter last night, which Gracie found odd. Why would that bother her?
“They’re release forms, Miss Hayes.” The man who’d accompanied the shift nurse was older and wore a suit and tie. He looked important. “We need you to sign them before we can release you to Lenox Hill.”
“Release me? To Lenox Hill?” She thumbed through the forms once again, the lines and lines of tiny print making her vision blur. “But why am I being released from here?”
