Dr. Mom And The Millionaire. Christine Flynn
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anyone else raging. But his defenses had been strained by the physical toll on his body and he simply hadn’t been prepared for her to hit in such a vulnerable place. Only seconds passed before he replied, but those silent seconds had already given her her answer.
He knew that, too.
Confusion and disbelief melded with a host of sensations he truly did not want to deal with. “How could you possibly have known that?”
“Ryan and Tanner were at my party.” Her voice seemed to soften. “I was talking with Ryan’s wife and Tanner’s fiancée when their meeting with their brother came up. When I learned that the brother was coming from Seattle, it was just a matter of putting two and two together. Even if the coincidence about the meeting hadn’t been there,” she said, her glance slipping from his face to his rangy body, “there are a few similarities between the three of you. Once you get past the bruises, it’s not that hard to tell you’re related.”
His glance cut warily toward the closed door. “Where are they now?’
“At the restaurant. You said that my being your doctor doesn’t have anything to do with why I’m here. I am your doctor, though. That’s why I can’t say anything about this unless you say I can.”
He was her patient. No matter how she felt about Ryan and Tanner, her patient had to come first. “I know how badly you wanted to get in touch with them.” She was drawn by that need, too. Now that she understood why it had been there. “If you’d like, I can help.”
Chase lifted his hand, threading his fingers through his hair. The gesture was new, recently acquired and absolutely no help in dispelling the agitation knotting every one of his already tender nerves. He hated that he couldn’t move. He hated that he couldn’t pace. More than anything, he hated the way his stomach jumped every time he thought about the moment he’d finally see the two men he’d never laid eyes on before.
His brothers.
Until a couple of months ago, he hadn’t even known they’d existed. But he’d discovered a lot of things in the four months since he’d learned that the people he’d thought were his parents…weren’t.
“You haven’t said anything to anyone?”
“No one,” she assured him, sounding as sincere as she looked.
“Then please don’t. I still intend to meet them, but not in a bed, and not wearing this.” Lifting his hand, trailing IV tubing with it, he plucked at the neck of his hospital gown. “I’ll call them after I get out of here.”
“They won’t care if you’re in a wheelchair or flat on your back on a gurney. And they certainly won’t care what you’re wearing.” All she’d have to do was make one phone call and Ryan and Tanner would be there in a heartbeat.
The set of Chase’s jaw turned defensive.
“I’ll care. I’ve already left messages that I’d been detained,” he said, dead certain she was going to argue with him. She had the same look that she’d had when she’d told him he was acting like a wounded bear. Stubborn and sympathetic. Only now it was confusion rather than exasperation that diluted the latter. “I’ll call them when I’m better.”
Alex opened her mouth, only to close it again. Her first thought was that he was just being his usual headstrong self and wanted the meeting to take place on his terms. Yet, seeing his brow furrow with strain as he reached to knead a spot above his brace, it didn’t seem to be ego or pride prodding him. When she’d explained the seriousness of his injury, how it was possible that, given the worst scenario, he could lose his leg—or his life—he’d scarcely blinked. What she saw in him now, was the anxiety she would have expected then.
That made no sense at all to her. But she’d seen enough fear in patients to recognize it all too easily. She just couldn’t imagine him being afraid of anything. Unless, she thought, caught short by the idea, he was afraid that if his brothers saw him now, they would accept him only out of pity. Or, maybe, he was afraid they wouldn’t accept him if he appeared weak. Not that they were likely to think such a thing with his reputation, she thought—then remembered that his brothers had no idea who he was. They’d been expecting Andrew Malone. Not Chase Harrington.
Conscious of how his jaw tightened when he leaned back, the feeling she’d had when she’d left him in recovery washed over her again. She remembered how he’d struck her then as being so very alone. Only now she had a strange sense that being alone wasn’t his choice. It was simply the only way he knew how to be.
“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do,” she agreed, shaking off the disturbing thought. “But there is something I can do, if it will help. I can’t release you any sooner, but I can get you out of this room. For a while, anyway.”
His glance shifted to her, curious and intent.
“I’m sure it won’t do for you to meet in Ryan’s office. That’s his turf,” she added, letting him know she had a few observational powers of her own. “But I can find you an empty meeting room. You’ll have to be in a wheelchair, and you’ll still be hooked up to an IV,” she cautioned, “but your nurse can help you into your street clothes.”
She tipped her head, trying to think of what she’d overlooked. Trying mostly to ignore the way her stomach fluttered when his attention lingered on her mouth before settling on her eyes. “I can set up the meeting for you myself.”
He didn’t even try to hide his skepticism. It narrowed his gaze, seeped into his voice. “Why do you want to help me with this?”
“Because you’re my patient,” she told him, unable to imagine why he looked so suspicious. “And your brothers are my friends. I think you should know they want to meet you as badly as you want to meet them. And I know you do,” she informed him easily. “You wouldn’t have come this far if you didn’t.”
“I’d rather wait until I’m on my feet before I met them. It would just be…easier. I don’t have any clothes right now, anyway. They cut off what I was wearing in Emergency and I have no idea what happened to my travel bag.”
The words rang more of excuse than reason. He had to know that.
“It’s your call,” she conceded. “Just let me know if you change your mind. If you like, I can give you a number where I can always be reached.”
Looking as if he were complying only because it was easier than not, he nudged the business card on the tray-table toward her. It had landed face down, so she wrote her pager number on the back and dropped his pen beside it.
“For what it’s worth,” she said, because the knowledge might make it easier for him, “all that matters to them is that you’re family.”
He looked at her as if he hadn’t a clue what difference that should make. He didn’t ask, either. When ten seconds ticked by and he hadn’t said a word, she stepped back from the bed. She had no problem helping people when they really needed or wanted it. The one thing she’d learned not to do was step in where she wasn’t welcome. She’d done what she could for Ryan and Tanner. And for Chase. But Chase clearly preferred to handle the matter on his own.
The only thing he’d asked of her was why she would want to help him in the first place. He’d looked at her as if she had some angle; as if he couldn’t believe she wanted to help him simply because he needed it.
“I should get back.”
“Yeah. You probably should.”
There were people waiting for her. Telling him she’d see him tomorrow, telling herself there truly was nothing more she could do, she turned away.
She was halfway across the room when she heard him murmur, “By the way, I understand it was yesterday, but happy birthday.”
He watched her pause by the door. Surprise, then a smile moved over her face. That smile was as gentle as a spring rain and just as inviting.
“Thanks,”