21. Lennie

21

LENNIE

“ L ennon, shut down your computer and come with me, yeah?” Luke never makes an entrance in the front of the office. Either I’m in big trouble, which I find hard to believe when they’ve been slowly giving me more responsibilities, or something is up.

“Okay.” I go through the motions, doing as Luke told me, saving and closing out my work, opening my drawer to grab my purse while hitting the lock button on my computer, and standing up. “I feel like I’m forgetting something,” I admit, my nerves frazzled wondering what’s going on.

“Phone, sweetheart,” Luke nods to where I keep my phone put away from patients yet out in case it’s needed. The office is very easy going as long as you get your work done and aren’t distracted or causing a distraction.

“Yeah, thanks.” I grab it, checking if I have a missed call or text. The screen is blank, which isn’t abnormal. Sometimes the family group chat goes silent for days on end and then all of a sudden, wham! It goes off like a freight train and doesn’t stop until we all respond, getting everything out before Momma Catherine or Poppa Russell puts a stop to it.

Luke being the man he is holds the back of my arm near my elbow. If I were anybody else, he’d probably have his hand on my lower back, except I have a growly alpha bear who likes to roar even though the men I’m surrounded by are his best friends. He’s such a pain in my ass, yet I love the pain in my ass all the same.

“We’re going through the back,” he states as we go through the door leading to where we see patients and the rest of the nursing staff are.

“Am I being led to the principal’s office?” I finally ask when we’re out of hearing distance of the others.

“Nope, I’d move you back here for work any day of the week, but you’re still pretty new here, and I don’t want the others to talk. I will say, another few months, and we’ll do a report, then I’ll move you where you should have been hired all along.” Well, that’s exciting news and not what I expected at all. It still doesn’t tell me why we’re heading further inside the building, bypassing Luke’s office, the employee breakroom, or where we stock the supplies.

“Umm, is this about my test results?” I’m wracking my brain on what’s going on.

“No, but we will be going over those soon enough. We’re almost there, and you can find out for yourself. I’m just the glorified errand boy.” I ponder this answer the entire time he waves his badge in the hospital employee-only entrance. Mainly used for doctors, nurses, and higher-ups. When I go to the hospital cafeteria for a once-a-week splurge and don’t pack my lunch, I’m only able to use this entrance with someone else. Otherwise, it’s going out the front and through the hospital doors others use as well. It’s inevitable I’ll get stopped to ask for directions or if I work there, then it’s a long rigamarole that usually takes up a good chunk of my time to get to the cafeteria, run through the line, pay, head back to the office, and eat.

“Hmm.” We walk through one unit after the next until we’re at the emergency department door. Luke waves his badge again, and I’m finding it hard to shuffle my feet to follow after him.

“Everything is okay, I promise. The faster we get there, the better, okay?” Luke stops in front of me, drops my elbow, and cajoles me to get my rear in gear again. My family is in Colorado and Wyoming, I know that from the group chat that happened bright and early this morning. Plus, I talked to Minnie on my way to work. That means it could be Kennedy, Briar, Asher’s parents, his best friends, or it could be Asher himself. He’d have texted me, though, or at least I think he would, if what Luke says is true and everything’s fine.

“I hate to tell you this because, well, you’re my boss and my boyfriend’s best friend, but I’m going to say it anyways.” I pick up the pace, trying to keep up with his long strides. What is it with all these men in my life being so damn tall with legs up to their ears?

“What’s that, Lennon?”

“You’re a shit liar.” Luckily, I get that out just as he comes to abrupt stop. Power walking while trying to catch your breath is near impossible .

“Well, you can blame Asher for that. He swore me to secrecy.” Luke opens the door. “Here’s your woman, signed, sealed, and delivered. You owe me, big time. Lennon, you’re off for the day and however long he’s down for. I figure you’ll be the one to actually make him recover.” I’m scooted into the small room. Asher is lying on a stretcher, shirtless, with a blood pressure cuff on his arm, an oxygen monitor on his finger, and soot on different areas of his body.

“Asher.” I drop my purse, the contents clattering to the ground. It doesn’t matter. The only person that matters is my man, who’s currently in the hospital, and I have no idea why. No, I take that back. I know why. His job. It’s hard, it’s ruthless, and it can take away the person you love in an instant. I also know he wouldn’t be half the man he is without the job he loves so much.

“Come here, Lennon.” I see him wince when he lifts his arm.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Why didn’t you have someone call me right away?” I fire off questions at rapid pace.

“I tweaked my back, or at least that’s what I’m thinking. They’ll take me to get an MRI just to be sure. The stairwell gave way while we were coming back down. I was the last and took a nasty fall. They wouldn’t let me come in after work since it happened on a call. Hopefully, this is all precautionary and nothing is wrong. Now, you gonna stand over there all day or come to your man, Lennon?” I still have so many questions running through my mind. The worry that this could be worse than he’s playing it out to be takes hold. I mean, I know he’s not paralyzed because he has shifted his legs a bit. Yet, a bulging disc or a herniated disc, that’d put him down for a while.

“I’m coming, but don’t scare me like this ever again, you hear me?” I try to be stern, but I’m quickly falling to pieces. I’m at his bedside, he’s cupping my cheeks, and his lips are on mine. I close my eyes, breathe in his presence, and finally start to calm down from the past five or so minutes.

“I hear you, gorgeous. Loud and clear. Though it was an accident, so I can’t guarantee it won’t happen again,” he says once we’re done with our kiss. I’d have liked for it to last longer than it did, but there’s a knock on the door, and we are in a hospital. I’m thinking a hot and heavy make-out session may be frowned upon.

“All good?” The door opens, and Luke peeks his head in.

“We are now,” Asher grumbles.

“Okay, before they take you upstairs for imaging, I figured I’d go over the results of Lennon’s bloodwork. I’d have done this a lot sooner, except a certain person didn’t get her labs done until earlier this morning.” Asher looks from Luke to me, cocks that eyebrow in his way, asking a question that I’m not answering. It took me a minute to build up the courage to get shit taken care of. Sue me. I shrug my shoulders at him. Asher gives me a slight nod and an uplift of his lip. He gets it. He sees me, he hears me, and he’s here for me.

“Yeah, yeah. Out with it.” Asher holds my hand, squeezing it gently, and my stomach, which was already sinking to my feet, plummets even further. I’ve always kept my head up, even with the saying ‘When it rains, it pours’ running through my mind. I made lemonade out of lemons, margaritas out of limes, so on and so forth. Yet right now, this feels entirely too ominous.

“Just as I expected, everything looks normal. I’d hazard a guess that the other party was the issue,” Luke says. I stay silent, processing what I’ve been told all along, what I thought in the back of my mind, and what I’m slowly allowing myself to believe. Yes, I have small blips along the way, but who wouldn’t after having lies battered into your head by the person who is supposed to love you?

“Lennon, it’s okay. Come here,” Asher says. I move, getting as close to him as possible without climbing on top of him and melding with his skin. My breathing finally returns to normal. Our foreheads meet, and he gives me the words I so desperately need. “We’re gonna have a baby. Mark my words, gorgeous. If not, there are other options. Anything you want, I’m going to give it to you.”

“I would like to see how things go for the next few weeks, still chart like you have been, and should things not progress, we’ll do an ultrasound. I’m hopeful that won’t be necessary, though,” Luke says, making our moment that much better with his news.

“Thanks, Luke,” Asher says, since words are hard for me to form. I nod instead.

“Anytime,” he replies just as the sound of knuckles on a door sound through the room.

“Knock, knock. Are you ready for your MRI?” I hear someone in the background, but right now, I’m in a clench with my man, and nothing could interrupt us from celebrating.

“They’re going to need a couple of more minutes,” Luke says, then walks out the door with the nurse.