Franklin lowered his head to kiss her andSandy closed her eyes waiting for his lips to brush up againsthers. His touch was light as a feather. She moved her arms aroundhis neck in preparation for a deeper kiss as Franklin held her bodyjust a little bit tighter.
The driver rolled down the dividing window tomake sure they were fine. “Sorry folks, I didn’t mean to jazz thecar on ya.”
They both jumped at the sound of the driver’svoice. Sandy was the first to pull away.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that tohappen.” For just a moment Franklin looked like the loneliestperson in the world before he put the blank mask back onto hisface.
“No apologies necessary Franklin. Neither oneof us planned it.” Sandy reached out and squeezed his hand“And...If you didn’t have a fiancé, I might have even been temptedto go just a little bit further.”
Before Franklin could respond to Sandy, thecar stopped in front of their hotel and the valet driver openedtheir door.
Chapter 20
Ryan Carter finally made it to FirstMethodist Hospital. He’d gone over this time and time again in hishead. He was taking a big risk. He could lose everything if thepress got wind of what he was doing here. Vicky knew him as RyanLee and that is the assumed name he’d use for this purpose. Ofcourse, he knew by now that she was aware of his real identity. Nomatter. He knew he could be a real bastard and sometimes even hewondered if he had a soul. Ryan had a weak spot when it came tochildren. He could never willingly sit by and let a child die if hecould do something about it; even if they were strangers. So, asmuch as he tried to quell his conscience and ignore this situationhe definitely knew he couldn’t allow possibly his only child, hisown daughter, to die if he could do something to stop it.
Ryan hated hospitals. They were so cold. Thisone was no different. There just never seemed to be any color orany life to these places. How did doctors expect for patients toget better in this environment. The antiseptic smell didn’t quitecover up the sick smell. Every direction you turned was white.White walls, white floors, white sheets, white uniforms everythingwas just WHITE. He needed to donate his blood and get the hell outbefore he suffocated. He’d called earlier to get information onwhere he needed to go and what he needed to do as a donor. So, whenRyan stepped up to the nurse’s station he knew he needed to ask forAngel’s doctor. “Excuse me? I’m Mr. Ryan Lee. I’m looking for Dr.Daniel Franks. I’m here on behalf of Angel Martin.”
The nurse who Ryan spoke to looked down ather paperwork and typed something into her computer. Everyone wasaware of the Angel Martin case. The whole hospital was hoping andpraying that a match was found soon. Her chances of survival werereally starting to look bleak. So many people had come to gettested on behalf of the little girl and so far no match had beenfound. “Here you are Mr. Lee. I see you in the system now. However,there are still a couple of forms we’ll need for you tocomplete.”
The nurse handed Ryan a clip board with thedocuments and a pen so that he could complete the forms. “I’ll letMr. Franks know that you are here. Hopefully, you’ll be the matchthat Angel needs. That poor little girl has been through so muchtoday.”
Ryan smiled before accepting the documentsand headed over to the seating area to fill them out. While he wascompleting the remaining paperwork, he was oblivious to thereporter who had quietly walked into the area.
The reporter walked over to the nurse’sstation, “Hello, I’m hoping you can help me. Can you tell me whereJason Rutherford’s press conference is going to be held?”
“Oh, yes I can. It’s going to be in theGovernor’s room. Unfortunately, you can’t reach it from here.You’ll need to go back out those doors drive down to the mainentrance. Once you go inside it’s the second room on your right.You can’t miss it.”
The reporter winked at her making the nurseblush “Thanks.”
As the reporter turned to walk out of theroom he was surprised to see Senator Ryan Carter in the sittingarea. He turned back around to ask the nurse about him.
“I’m sorry is that gentleman over thereSenator Ryan Carter?” The reporter then pointed in the direction ofRyan. Ryan was so engrossed in completing his paperwork that he wasoblivious to the scrutiny.
The nurse had to stand up and practicallystrain her neck as she looked over her station to see who thereporter was referring to.
“Oh no, I’m sorry that gentleman over thereis Ryan Lee. Not Ryan Carter.” Soon after she answered his questionher phone rang and the nurse’s attention shifted back to herwork.
The reporter was pretty confident that thatwas Senator Ryan Carter. He decided to walk over and get a closerlook. He pretended to want a drink of water from the fountain as itwas just a couple of feet from the man. While bending over,pretending to drink from the fountain, he looked over and was ableto confirm that the man he saw was indeed Senator Ryan Carter. Hesmelled a story. First, why was he here and secondly, why was heusing an alias? Was it a coincidence that two of Minnesota’s mostpowerful men were here in the same hospital in Atlanta? Oh yeah,there was a story here and he was determined to find out just whatit could be.
Chapter 21
Sandy finally made it to her room. She’d leftFranklin downstairs in the lobby after they’d checked into thehotel with a promise to meet back up at five o’clock. She needed toget to her room and decompress. Between the dire reality of Angel’ssituation and her confusing feelings toward Franklin, she
