CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Despite having a goodsleep the night before, Leilani found herself lulled to sleep in the helicopter. Her head must have fallen onto Jacob's shoulder.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Then took a sip of water from her water bottle. When she turned to him, the look on his face made her blood turn cold.

"What?"

His hand gripped her thigh tightly and mouthed—because she didn't have her headset on— Your mom is in hospital.

"What?!" she cried.

Jacob handed her his phone, and she simultaneously read it while pulling her own device out of her pocket.

It was off.

How the hell had that happened?

Cursing over and over while she waited for it to power up, Jacob was trying to talk to her, but she couldn't hear or focus.

He put the headphones on her head.

"How long?" she asked, as they flew through the sky.

Jacob glanced at the pilot and switched channels to talk to him. "Fifteen minutes."

Fifteen minutes until they landed.

She dropped her face to the phone and reread the messages over and over.

Beside her, Jacob was reassuring her they would get her straight to the hospital, and all she could do was nod.

Jacobs Nurse: Called ambulance after the infection flared up. She can't move and is very swollen. Recommend you come home.

Thank God they were already on the way.

Fifteen minutes and twenty seconds later, Leilani almost tripped over her own feet getting off the helicopter, but Jacob caught her.

"Careful," he said, carrying both their bags.

They'd landed on the roof of a building she didn't recognize, so she let Jacob lead her to the elevator and out of the building. She began to book an Uber, but Jacob stopped her and led her to a waiting car.

"I have to go straight to the hospital," Leilani said, her voice shaking.

"Get in." He nudged her and handed their luggage to the driver. "Jesus, Lani. I wasn't going to ask you to stop for a milkshake first. Of course we'll go straight there."

Right.

She nodded and sat rigidly as the vehicle moved through the streets. When they slowed outside the entrance, she climbed out, pulling her handbag over her shoulder.

"Princess," Jacob said, standing with his hand on the door of the car and his sunglasses down over his eyes. "Tell me what to do here."

She swallowed.

Then plastered on a smile.

"If you could drop my luggage at my house, that would be very helpful. Just hide it around the side of the house."

Jacob stared at her a long moment, then nodded.

Shit.

She walked the few steps back to where he stood and put her arms around his neck. He circled his around her lower back and hugged her so tightly she nearly couldn't breathe.

"Goodbye, Jacob. Thank you for everything. I will never forget you." Leilani wasn't able to completely process how sad she felt walking away from him right now, but she knew it would hit her later.

She had to get to her mom.

But it was clear Jacob wanted to say something, his eyes full of emotion. He'd been angry, misunderstanding what she said earlier, but now she saw sadness. He was so stubborn and had walked away after hurting her with his words, never giving them a chance.

They both knew she wasn't good enough for a Dufort, and that she'd never fit into his other alternative life. That wasn't something she wanted. Leilani wanted the picket fence, babies, and a husband that would never let another man lay a finger on her.

Certainly not fuck her.

All she could do was acknowledge she'd stupidly fallen for this handsome billionaire and hope like hell Jacob refrained from visiting Blake at work for a few months while she got over him.

If her mom died, who knew what life choices she would make? This could be the last time they saw one another.

Jacob shook his head, his fingers gently rubbing her hip. "Go to your mom. I'll have your bag dropped off."

––––––––

IT TOOK HER at leastten minutes to find her mom's room and when she flew in, her heart froze.

Oh, God.

She lay in the bed with tubes sticking out of her, and a monitor beeping away.

"Leilani Kai?" a nurse asked.

"Yes, yes," she answered twice, her head swiveling between the woman and her mom. "Is she okay?"

"Let's go in and sit down."

That meant no.

Oh, God, Mom please stay with me. Don't leave. Don't die.

Leilani wouldn't take her eyes off her, as she stumbled and sat on the chair. "Why isn't she awake? Is she asleep? She's okay, right?"

The nurse shut the door and walked over to the side of the bed.

"My name is Destiny. Your mom has gone into a coma. The antibiotics the doctor gave her have not worked," the nurse said. "We are pumping a new antibiotic directly into her system now."

"That's good, right?" she asked, forcing a smile. "The new one will work if it's like stronger and going in directly."

Destiny rubbed her lips together. "We don't know how she'll respond for another few hours. Her entire body is swollen and could barely move before slipping into the coma."

No, no, no.

Leilani felt her bottom lip wobble and tears slide down her face. She wished Jacob was with her, his big hands on her shoulder, giving her strength.

"Is she going to die?" she croaked out the question.

"Yes," Destiny said, reaching a hand on her shoulder. "If not today, then likely soon. The doctor does not believe her liver or immune system is strong enough at this point. You should stay with her."

"But I thought the drugs would work. Then if she stopped or slowed down the drinking..."

Destiny smiled sadly at her. "The private nurse looking after her said your mom had continued to consume a huge amount each day. The cut on her leg is what likely tipped her over the edge."

"What cut?" Leilani asked, frowning.

Destiny narrowed her eyes at her. "You didn't know?"

She shook her head.

Destiny lifted the linen and showed her. While it was bandaged up, it was on the outside of her lower left leg.

"It likely happened last week," Destiny said. "If she hid it from you, and I don't doubt she did, then I would say your mom was tired of her illness. We see this often."

Tired of her illness. In other words, she wanted to die.

Maybe I am ready to be back with him now.

So you want to be with him?

Yes.

Tears poured down her cheeks as she came to terms with the knowledge her mom had lied to her in the hope her life ended sooner rather than later. She was choosing her dead husband over her daughter, with no guarantee the afterlife was real.

She was actively leaving Leilani.

Her daughter.

Who does that?

Of all the people in the world, this had to hurt the most.

She gazed down at her mom. The person who had given her life. The person who had raised her, loved her, and was supposed to stay with her for at least another thirty or forty years.

What happened to unconditional love?

Leilani knew she was falling in love with Jacob, but would she choose him in the afterlife over a child they may have together?

No.

She could unequivocally say she would not.

Wait...I'm in love with Jacob?

Goddamn it. Could today get any worse?

Leilani brushed the tears away from her eyes angrily and nodded at Destiny. "She did hide it. I would never have gone away had I known."

"Don't feel bad. This is more common than you'd believe," Destiny said. "If you have anyone else you should call, I would do so today, otherwise the doctor will visit tomorrow morning."

She left Leilani alone with her mom, closing the door behind them.

This is it.

Her mom was dying.

"Mom. How could you have done this?" She whispered as more tears slid down her cheeks.

A little while later, she messaged a few of her mom's friends and then sent a couple of messages off to Amy and Vanessa.

Then Leilani dragged the chair right up against the bed and took her mom's swollen hand, laying her head on it.

And cried.