“You kept her from hurting herself.”
Sean stared at her. Guilt lodged in his heart, warring with the deeply ingrained resentment. “It’s not my job to keep Romina from hurting herself. It’s not my responsibility to make her whole. After I left and had time and space to think about it, I realized the problem was bigger than Romina. I called you. I told you to get her evaluated.”
“She was fine with you around,” Bettina said stubbornly. “There was nothing wrong with her. You hurt her when you left.”
“It wasn’t me, and it wasn’t really her fault either. She needed help, far more than I could give.”
Garry slammed his hand on the table. “That is not true. My daughter—she’s not a crazy woman. She doesn’t need drugs pumped into her—”
“Sean?” Romina’s weak voice was scarcely audible.
Sean glanced at the bed. Romina’s eyes were open. Her hand moved weakly against the sheets.
He went to her bedside and grasped her hand in his. “Why did you do this?”
“So glad to see you.” Her hand stroked his cheek. Her touch was lighter than a feather. “I missed you so much.”
“Romina, why did you take the drugs?”
“I called you. Why didn’t you call me back?”
“We broke up. We weren’t good for each other.
“I missed you. I just wanted to hear your voice. I knew this would bring you back.”
“What?”
“I knew you’d come back.”
“You overdosed deliberately to bring me back?” He yanked his hand from hers as if burned. “You’re a—”
Brian’s firm grip on his shoulder steadied him. “Not now. We’ll handle it later.”
“But—” I hated—absolutely hated—my life with her. I’m not going to get sucked back. I can’t, or I’ll go mad myself.
A soft knock drew their attention to the door. Sean’s eyes widened. “Debra?”
She stepped into the room, her brown-eyed gaze darting over everyone present. “Jack said you were called away by an emergency and told me where you were. Hospital food isn’t the greatest, so I brought dinner. It’s probably enough to go around—”
Garry stared at Debra and then turned to Sean. His hands clenched into fists. “Is this who you left her for? The other woman?”
“No, I—”
“Thank you for bringing the food.” All smooth charm, Brian stepped forward to take the package from Debra’s hands. He set it on the side table before ushering Debra from the room, closing the door firmly behind the both of them.
“Who’s she?” Garry demanded.
“It’s none of your business. She has nothing to do with this.”
“Of course it has everything to do with this. It’s why you haven’t answered Romina’s calls. It’s why you haven’t come back.”
“Leave her out of it. I left Elkins, and I stayed away. I was my choice. It had nothing to do with Debra.”
Romina’s voice quavered. “You love her. I’ve lost you.” She sucked in deep breaths. Her body shook hard.
The machine monitoring her heart rate suddenly screeched an alarm.
Outside the hospital room, Debra spared a quick glance back at the closed door. Willpower kept her voice steady. “I guess I came at a bad time.”
“Not great.” The man who had escorted her from the room agreed. “I’m Brian. Sean’s brother.”
“Oh.”
“He’s told you about me.”
Debra shook her head. “Not really.”
“No need to spare my feelings. He thought he had every right to hate my guts, and I thought I had every right to hate his.”
“I don’t understand.”
Brian gestured to a chair, and Debra sat, her emotions numb, her thoughts swirling.
“I started dating Romina about seven years ago. The relationship wasn’t great; we fought a lot, and when I was drafted into the pro leagues five years ago, I told her we were done as a couple. I would have to move away, anyway, but she said she wanted to come along. I refused, and she dropped a bombshell; she said she was pregnant and that the baby was mine. I did the math and realized she was lying. I couldn’t have gotten her pregnant when I was away at the trials. So I dumped her and left.”
“And Sean stepped in.”
Brian nodded. “I thought he was the father. Why else would he have stepped into the spot I vacated?”
“Because he was your brother. Because he wanted to do the right thing. He would never have slept with your girlfriend.”
Brian tilted his head. “You know him well enough to come to his defense.”
“I’ve known him for less than three months, but I know Sean. He’s a good man.”
Brian nodded. “I should have trusted him more. Anyway, I thought he got her pregnant behind my back, so I didn’t talk to him. He thought I had abandoned my pregnant girlfriend when I made it big, so he didn’t talk to me.”
“Why did he leave her?”
“You’ll have to ask him. I haven’t spoken to him in five years. I don’t think I’m qualified to explain his actions.”
Footsteps rushed down the hallway. Nurses raced past them and pushed into Romina’s room. Without a word, Brian ran after them, leaving Debra alone in the waiting lounge. She drew a deep breath and felt it tremble in her lungs. What was she supposed to do? Hang around and wait for news of her boyfriend’s ex-girlfriend—the woman who had been calling Sean incessantly for months—or go home to her son?
Her chest aching, she rose slowly and walked toward the exit.
“Debra!”
She turned. Sean ran up to her, but stopped short of throwing his arms around. Instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets and stared down at his feet before meeting her eyes. “Thanks for coming. For dinner.”
She shrugged. “It’s just a small thing.”
Sean shook his head. “It’s not. Your kindness—the way you take care of people is not a small thing.”
It didn’t seem right talking about herself when another woman was in the ER. Debra’s gaze flicked to Romina’s room and the small cluster of family and friends standing outside it. “How is she?”
“She had trouble breathing. The doctors are working on her and
