Page 43 of The Criminal’s Cure

“Hamburgers again?” Ty glares at me as if I just put a plate of yesterday’s trash in front of him. He shoves it away, sending his tater tots toppling over the edge and onto the table.

I let out a heavy sigh, not having the strength to fight him on this tonight.

It’s been like this all week, every single thing turning into a fight or battle.

When he gets up for school, what he wears, why he can’t have candy for breakfast, how quickly he needs to move so we aren’t late, who buckles his seat belt, where I drop him off for the day.

This is all before nine o’clock in the morning, and it just continues all day until we both collapse into bed at night.

“Bud, please just eat it. I promise tomorrow we’ll get pizza or something, but for tonight...” I’m so desperate for him to eat something of value that I bribe him. We can’t live like this any longer.

“Maddie says pizza isn’t healthy and you should only eat it for special occasions.”

“Well, Maddie isn’t here, so eat your damn burger.” The second it’s out of my mouth, I regret it, my frustrations getting the best of me. I rub my forehead. “Ty, I’m sorry, I—”

“I wish you had gone away and not her,” he growls, knocking his glass of milk over and tearing out of the room.

“Fuck,” I hiss, tossing my plate into the sink and slumping into the chair. I expected it to be rough without Maddie, but this is an absolute disaster. We’re way worse off than we were before, and I don’t have a lot of fight left in me.

It’s been a week since Maddie left. Seven days.

One hundred and sixty-eight hours. I guess technically she didn’t leave—I kicked her out in what could go down as the most asshole-ish move of my life.

Even if I can somehow find her and convince her to talk to me, I’ll regret the way I treated her for the rest of my life.

I’ve spent every one of those ten thousand four hundred and sixteen seconds trying to track her down, and so far I have nothing. I have less than nothing.

Maddie turned off her cell phone, closed every account in Nevada she had, and if she’s still in the city, she isn’t using her real name to stay at any hotels. She evaporated into thin air and it’s really starting to piss me off.

And apparently Ty feels the same.

I told him that she took the job in LA, but he’s a smart kid.

He knows something happened between us and he blames me.

He should, of course, but it’s still hard to stomach.

My son hates me, the girl I’m in love with is gone, and the one mission that has defined me the last few months is over.

I’m about to throw myself the world’s biggest pity party when I hear Ty shrieking from his bedroom.

Bolting from my seat, I rush to him and find him curled up on his bed in the fetal position. He’s clutching his stomach, rocking back and forth, moaning in pain.

“What is it? What’s wrong, Ty?” I kneel on the floor next to him.

“My stomach hurts.” He sobs.

When I reach for him, he recoils away. “Can you show me where, buddy?”

Ty points to his stomach in no specific area, just writhing around on the bed.

A thousand possibilities run through me.

An appendicitis? Complication from his wounds?

All the junk food I’ve bribed him with the last few days?

It could be many things. Fuck, I wish Maddie was here.

I don’t want to overreact, but he’s in so much pain that I can’t ignore it.

It’s after hours at his pediatrician, so now I’m left with only one option—St. Luke’s.

“Okay, come on, bud.” I scoop him up into my arms and carry him to the truck. He groans, still holding his stomach the entire way there, and even as we go inside.

There is a check-in desk at the front of the Emergency Room and I start there.

“Good evening, sir. How can I help you?” the bright-eyed receptionist asks.

“My son is having severe stomach pain, and he needs to be checked out,” I say. Ty lays his head on my shoulder, a little calmer, but still whimpering softly.

“Absolutely,” she says. “I just need you to fill out a bit of paperwork and we’ll get someone to see him right away.”

I take the clipboard from her and fill the forms out quickly. Within just a few minutes, she leads us back to a room, and I lay him on the bed to rest. His stomach doesn’t seem to bother him as much now that we’re here, which is strange considering how severe his pain was just minutes ago.

“Good evening, I’m—Oh, Roman. Hi.” Maddie’s friend Peyton comes into the room and washes her hands.

“Hi Peyton,” I stumble. “This is my son, Ty. He’s having some stomach pain.”

“I see.” She smiles at me, and then sits next to Ty. “Hey there, little man. My name is Peyton and I’m a nurse here. I’m going to do a quick exam if that’s okay with you, and hopefully we can figure out what’s going on with your tummy.”

When she reaches for him, Ty jerks away.

“Actually…” Ty’s eyes fill with guilt, and he looks at me like he’s about to cry. What the hell? “Daddy, I’m sorry. My tummy doesn’t hurt. I just thought Maddie would be here and…”

He dissolves into tears, burying his face in my chest.

Peyton raises her eyebrows as we glance at each other, a small smile on her lips. “Oh.”

“What?” I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. I just got thoroughly played by my six-year-old, and if I wasn’t so embarrassed, this might be funny. Might .

Jesus Christ.

“Ty, this is serious. There are people here who really need help, and you know you’re not supposed to lie.”

“I know, Daddy,” he pouts, eyes cast down as I scold him.

“Peyton, I am so sorry. We’ll definitely be having a discussion about this at home.” I rub my forehead. “I’m sorry we wasted your time.”

She gives me a warm, understanding smile. “It’s really okay, Roman. I get it. Change is tough.”

Yeah, no kidding. Ty is still in trouble, but now that the urgency has passed, I won’t let an opportunity pass without asking her about Maddie.

“Do you think we could talk in the hallway for a minute?”

“Of course.” She nods. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Ty. It was nice to meet you.”

Peyton and I head out of the room, and I latch the door behind me. I don’t expect Ty to cause any more mischief, but I didn’t expect him to try to set me up, either.

“I know what you’re going to ask me, Roman.” Peyton puts her hands on her hips.

“I just want to talk to her, Peyton. Is she in tonight?”

She shakes her head. “No, she isn’t with the hospital anymore. When she found out the truth about Dr. Bauer, she went straight to the authorities. There were no charges filed against her, because she was just a trainee, but the board asked her to leave the hospital.”

Fuck. I run my fingers through my hair in frustration. She threw herself under the bus to make sure I got the justice I was looking for. Rejecting the opportunity in LA meant that she’d have nowhere to turn, and yet she went to the police, anyway.

“Do you know where she’s staying? I’ve been trying to find her all week.”

“I wish I could help you, Roman, but I can’t.”

“Look, Peyton, I know you’re just looking out for your friend and that you want to protect her.

I get it. But you have to trust me. All I want to do is apologize.

I fucked up the best thing in my entire life and I’m willing to do anything I have to do to get her back.

Anything . And I know if she could just hear me out, she would feel the same.

Please. I’m begging you, please just give me an address. ”

Peyton studies me carefully, trying to determine whether or not she’s gonna give me what I want. “She’ll kill me if she knows I did this for you.”

“I’m not trying to hurt her, Peyton,” I plead. “And if she doesn’t want to see me, I’ll let it go. But I at least have to try.”

“Fine.” She lets out a heavy breath. “All I know is that she’s going to be here tomorrow around lunchtime to clean out her locker. I don’t know where she’s staying, so that’s your only opportunity.”

I can’t wipe the smile off of my face. I’m not too late. I still have a chance to make this right. “Thank you so much, Peyton. You have no idea how much I appreciate…”

“Yeah, yeah. Just don’t make me regret it.” She smirks. “And don’t give your son a hard time about lying. I think it’s pretty sweet that he’s so determined to get the two of you back together.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I chuckle.

It is pretty sweet how much Ty loves her. I just hope I don’t screw this up again.