“I’ll come by myself every afternoon if no one else can do it,” he said, pointing at the door with his clipboard. “I have to get back to my rounds, and I still need to check on Phillips before I go.”
“Of course.” I turned to Eden’s bed, taking him in for a long moment. I envisioned color on his cheeks and that wide smile on his face, willing him to be sitting up by the time I could come back here again. When I see you again, you’re going to look so much better. Fight, Eden. You hear me? Give this fight everything you’ve got.
As I turned to head toward the door, the doctor’s voice rang out behind me. “Dobbs?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll call you if something changes for him. Your number is in his file.”
“Thanks, Doc. I really appreciate it.” I pushed the door open and left him with my best friend, trusting that at least I had one person looking after him in my corner.
It was a hell of a lot more than I had when I’d walked in there.
Chapter 26
Sofia
“It’s busy out there,” I said as I walked into Haley’s kitchen at the deli. Jerking my head back to indicate the dining area, I unfurled the light summer scarf I had around my neck.
Haley sprinkled microgreens into a salad bowl and beamed as she presented it to me. “I know. Mom took out an ad in some hotel guest books. Tourists are loving it.”
“That’s great.” I hopped onto a metal stool and plopped my purse and scarf down on the counter, hooking one knee over the other. “See? You’re a raving success.”
“I wouldn’t say raving,” she said as she placed the salad on the serving rack. “But things are definitely looking up.”
“I would have waited until later to come by if I’d known you were so busy. While I’m here, can I help with anything?”
Her blonde ponytail bounced as she nodded. Reaching for the pass, she frowned down at the orders until plucking one of the papers up and handing it over. “You can handle my Asian chicken baguette, right?”
“Of course.” I tucked my hair behind my ears and went to wash my hands, calling to her over my shoulder. “Can we talk while we work?”
“Please.” She checked another one of her orders and went to work after handing me a pair of gloves. “The only thing I hate about the deli is not having anyone to talk to most of the day. Tell me about Lincoln. Are you still hanging out with him?”
“Yep, but things have taken an unexpected turn.” Baguettes lay in a basket in the center of the counter. I lifted one out and searched for a serrated knife, carefully slicing it in the way I knew Haley preferred. “I’m not sure exactly what happened, but it sounds like Lincoln somehow ended up on a mission despite being on suspension.”
Haley looked away from the pasta dish she was putting together, a deep line forming between her eyebrows as her gaze met mine. “What? How?”
I shrugged and popped the bread into the oven, moving to grab and grease up a pan to cook the chicken. “That’s the part I’m not exactly sure about. Dad got called in a couple of days ago, flew into a rage, and then let it slip that guys who were on suspension had gone way off script.”
Her light eyebrows swept up on her forehead, her hands stopping their movement as she stared at me. “Are they okay?”
“Lincoln is.” My heart burned for the pain in his, though. “I think his best friend was hurt. Quite badly. He hasn’t said it in so many words, but I have a feeling about it. Dad said one of the guys was in critical condition, and it’s not Linc.”
Cheeks growing pale as her brown eyes darted from one of mine to the other, she waved me on. “So? Is he… you know?”
“Alive?” I sighed. “I think so, but only because I think Dad would have mentioned it if he wasn’t.”
The skin around her eyes tightened. “What the hell were they doing on a mission if they’re suspended?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, then chewed on the inside of my cheek. “But I think my dad is one of the people who has to decide their fate.”
“Seriously?” Her chin dropped and worry darkened her gaze. It still hadn’t wavered from mine. “Girl, that’s wrong on so many levels.”
“Why?” I paused, holding one marinated chicken breast above the pan. Droplets of oil and spice rolled off it, hitting the hot oil with a sizzle.
For a minute, it was the only sound in the kitchen. Haley searched my eyes, then frowned. “Why? You’re sleeping with a guy while your dad is in charge of deciding whether he gets fired or not. Doesn’t it seem unethical to you?”
“I’m not the one making any of the decisions.” I finally lowered the meat into the pan, fussing at it with the pair of plastic tongs in my hand as I tried to formulate my explanation. “All of this is only unfolding now. Neither of us knew it when we first hooked up.”
“Sure, but now?” Her lips formed a flat line as she banged a metal bowl down on the counter. “Now you know who he is, who your father is to him. What if he’s only using you as possible leverage against your dad?”
“He’s not,” I insisted, bending over to check on the baguette and drizzling an olive oil mixture over it before placing it back in the oven. “I know it might seem like it’s a possibility, but he’s really not doing that. We hardly ever even talk about my dad. The one time we did, it didn’t end well.”
“It doesn’t mean he’s not using the mere fact that he’s slept with you as possible leverage against your dad to influence the decision,” Haley argued, keeping a close eye on my reactions. “I’m just
