Page 15 of And Everything In Between (Love By Any Means #3)

Everything in the room buzzed or beeped.

Cold air, hard light, and too many wires.

Paige hated all of it. But she stayed, attention stuck on the slow rise and fall of her father’s chest. This was reminder of how quickly paradise could turn into purgatory for her.

This was a lesson in not getting comfortable.

Perry looked smaller somehow, diminished by the white sheets and faded gown.

The doctor explained the situation when she arrived.

Perry had experienced a sudden drop in blood pressure due to his dialysis, nothing they hadn’t seen before, but concerning given Perry’s overall health.

They wanted to keep him overnight for observation.

“You should go home,” Giovanni said quietly from the doorway. “Change clothes. Get some things. I’ll stay with him.”

Paige turned, surprised by the offer. Giovanni leaned against the doorframe, his presence warming the room briefly.

“You don’t have to do that,” she said automatically, the words coming before she could think.

“I know I don’t have to,” he replied. “That’s not why I’m offering.”

Paige looked between Giovanni and her father, torn.

Leaving Perry, even briefly, made her stomach clench with anxiety.

But here she stood in Giovanni's borrowed clothes, hair disheveled, emotions raw from the scare.

It would only be one hour. She'd be back before her father even missed her.

It would be fine. And she really needed the fresh air and a moment to cry.

“He doesn’t know you,” she said, voice softer now, uncertain. “Are you sure about this?”

Giovanni nodded, “If he wakes up, I’ll call you right away. I’ll tell him you stepped out for coffee.”

“Why would you do this?” Her voice was quiet but clear. “You barely know us.”

“Because.” He stepped further into the room.

She blinked. “Because?”

“Yeah, so tell me what you need, Paige. Not what you think you should need. And then let me see to it that you have it. I don’t want anything from you.”

The words struck her with physical strength. What did she need?

“I need a shower,” she admitted, the truth surprising her. “Clean clothes. My laptop for work tomorrow. And I need…” She swallowed hard, the words sticking in her throat “I need to know he’s not alone when he wakes up.”

Giovanni nodded, already moving toward the chair beside Perry’s bed and grabbing a magazine from the end table. “Then go. I got him.”

Paige blinked. “It’s that easy?”

“Paige.” He motioned her forward, so he could tell her something privately. “You trusted me with your body last night. Trust me to sit with your father for an hour. Handle yourself. Bye.”

Put that way, it seemed absurd to hesitate. She’d let this man see her at her most vulnerable last night. Why was this different? Because this wasn’t about her. It was about Perry. And no one, no one, had offered to share that burden with her. Not once.

“My car is still at the fairgrounds,” she remembered suddenly.

“Already handled,” Giovanni said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “Texted Ro. He’s bringing it here. Should be in the lot by now.”

Paige blinked, her mouth parting. “When did you…?”

“Told you. Handled.”

He stood, nodding toward the hallway. “Now, do I gotta tell you to go again?”

That look in his eyes said yes, he absolutely would, gladly. And she was starting to believe he meant every bit of it. Paige inhaled deep, walked over to the bed, and leaned down to kiss her father’s forehead. She lingered, for a second.

“I’ll be back soon, Daddy.” She said it low, just for him.

“Okay, baby,” Giovanni said under his breath, teasing.

She straightened, gave him an amused look over her shoulder.

“Nigga, please. But… thank you.”

His eyes met hers and they smiled at each other. From the outside looking in, you'd think they were a couple. Everything between them just... worked.

“You don’t have to thank me for doing what decent people do.”

“Still,” she said. She needed him to feel what she couldn’t quite say.

Giovanni nodded.

She grabbed her purse and hesitated at the door one last time. He was already settling in, legs stretched out, phone in hand, like he’d been sitting beside Perry for years.

“One hour,” she promised, more to herself than to him.

The drive home felt like floating. She cried, dried her eyes, cried again until she made her way through the motions.

But when she came out of it, her thoughts split.

Half of her was still in that hospital room, watching her father breathe.

She was grateful it wasn’t anything serious.

The other half was trying to make sense of the man sitting beside him and the night they’d shared.

A night that felt perfect from beginning to end and all bullshit aside he’d earned the daddy moniker.

Giovanni had worked her so damn good last night that the visions of his head between her legs caused her a shiver to run down her spine as she made her way to her apartment.

Her apartment greeted her with silent familiarity, everything exactly as she’d left it yesterday.

Before everything changed. The half-empty iced coffee on the counter.

The work folders spread across the dining table with her dead laptop next to them.

Had it only been twenty-four hours?

Paige moved through her routine on autopilot, shower, clothes laid out, hair wrapped.

The hot water washed away the anxiety and worry, but not the memory of Giovanni’s hands on her skin.

Something was happening. Something she wasn’t prepared for.

Something she’d never expected when she slid into his car yesterday.

But what was she to do now? Giovanni wasn’t giving her space to disappear.

She quickly moisturized her skin before throwing on a turquoise workout set. She wanted to be comfortable for her overnight stay at the hospital. She packed her bag, double-checking to make sure she didn’t forget anything.

She was about to head out when her phone rang on the counter, causing her heart to jump to her throat. She relaxed when she realized it was only Brooks.

“You good?” he asked. “I went by to drop off his sugar-free cake at the center, and they told me he was at the hospital.”

She hadn’t thought of calling anyone yet. She knew her mother wouldn’t care. And everyone else was busy. Perry wouldn’t want a bunch of people crowding him and personally she wasn’t in the mood either, but she would keep them posted.

“Yeah,” she confirmed, tucking the phone between her ear and shoulder as she locked up her apartment. “His BP dropped during breakfast. They’re keeping him overnight for observation. But he will be okay.”

“You need me to come through?”

Paige hesitated going back and forth how much she would say.

“I’m good for now,” she said finally. “Got someone with him while I grab some things.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Someone Paige?”

Paige could hear the question in Brooks’s voice, the curiosity. He could be so nosey. An he always thought he was someone’s dad. “Marriage sure makes you niggas nosey. You bout as bad as your wife and sister. I swear.”

“Fuck that don’t try and dodge me. JT weak ass got out or something?”

“Giovanni,” she said simply, knowing Brooks would connect the dots. “Giovanni is someone.”

Another pause, longer this time. “G? Emon’s cousin?”

“Yes,” she confirmed.

“Huh,” Brooks said, the single syllable. “So, we all mixing and mingling.”

“He’s... he’s good people, Brooks.”

“I know,” Brooks replied, his tone carefully neutral. “You know I trust your judgment. Most of the time.”

The joke landed as intended, easing some of the tension in her chest. “I’m heading back to the hospital now. I’ll text you with any updates.”

“You’d better,” he warned. “And Paige?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s good you’re not alone,” Brooks said, his voice softening. “Been worried about you carrying all this by yourself.”

“I’m fine,” she said automatically. “Everybody worrying is stressing me even more.”

Brooks’s snort carried clearly through the phone. “Sure you are. Like you were fine when you broke your arm in third grade and didn’t tell nobody for two days. Crazy.”

The memory made her wince. She’d always been this way, swallowing pain, handling things, proving she was strong enough, capable enough, enough.

“I’ll call you later,” she promised, deflecting and ending the call.

As she was about to leave, her eyes caught on the silver-framed photo on her dresser. One of her, Perry, and PJ. Before everything fell apart. Before prison and dialysis, and funeral arrangements.

She picked it up, running her thumb over the glass. They’d been happy then. Not perfect, never that, but happy in their own chaotic way. A family.

Her phone buzzed with a text message.

Giovanni: He’s still sleeping. A nurse came by to check vitals. All good. Take your time.

Paige: On my way back. Need anything?

His response came immediately.

Giovanni: Just you.

Paige tucked the phone into her pocket, gathered her bags, and headed back to the hospital. When she stepped back into the room, Giovanni was still in the chair, watching ESPN, oblivious to him doing the most thoughtful thing a man had ever done for her. She watched as Perry joked.

“She only got one daddy, nigga. Who the hell are you?”

Giovanni laughed and swiped a hand down his face.

“Just a friend, for now. Paige stepped out.”

“Mhhm, friend my ass.”

Paige had heard enough. She cleared her throat and stepped into the room. Both of their faces lit up when they saw her. Giovanni stepped aside to let her sit but he stopped her gently before completely passing.

“You good? How you feeling?”

“I’m good,” she responded before glancing back at Perry with a smirk. “We gon’ talk about you eavesdropping later.”

“I’m not dead shit. Just half.”

“Don’t play like that, Daddy. Look at where you are.”

“You talking to me or him?”

Paige blushed and fought a grin. “You. He’s just a friend.”