Page 44 of Vain

“Are you checking out Aiden or Mathews?” Wade teases.

“Aiden, obviously. Though if you decided your precinct should all start wearing chaps and Stetsons, you’d get my vote.”

He throws his head back and laughs, drawing the attention of those around us. I twist my baseball cap back around so the bill faces forward again and tug it lower.

“Alright, let’s go and visit Zoe. I cleared it for you to spend some time with her. I’ve also made it abundantly clear that Cora’s behavior yesterday was unprofessional and reflected poorly on the hospital, given that they are trying to attract donors.”

“That’s not going to make me any more popular with her. You know that, right?”

“I don’t need you to be popular. I need you to be safe.”

“What is in the water down here?” I mumble.

“Say what now?”

I shake my head as we walk down to Zoe’s room. “Let’s just say you guys are a different breed of men from the ones I usually encounter.”

He shrugs, clearly not sure what to say to that.

“Don’t worry. It’s a good thing.”

When he reaches the door, he knocks. When he doesn’t get an answer, he opens it and looks around, finding the room empty.

“Might have gone for testing. Let me go find out. Wait here for me.”

“Sure.” I stand outside the door as he walks around the corner to the nurse’s station. He’s gone only a couple of seconds before Cora turns the corner. She doesn’t look the least bit surprised to see me.Fantastic.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she snaps at me as she walks closer.“Visiting is for family only.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it. Besides, Zoe doesn’t have any family. Does that mean she should be left alone? She’s just a little girl, for Christ’s sake.”

“Yes, well, that’s irrelevant now anyway. Zoe passed away last night from complications. Now, I can’t have you loitering around. Either leave, or I’ll have security remove you.”

I stand frozen at her words, the blood draining from my face as my brain flips through images of Zoe from yesterday, looking for signs. She seemed happy I was there. The nurses didn’t seem overly concerned about her condition, and I’m sure one of them told me she was being moved to a regular ward soon.

“I don’t understand. She was okay. She was happy.”

“She was a very sick little girl. After what her body had been through, it was too weak to keep fighting every ailment she continued to catch.”

I grab the wall to steady myself, feeling tears run down my face at the fucking unfairness of it all.

“Do I need to get security?”

“What you need to do is shut up,” I snap at her. “Stop acting like a spoiled bitch and have some heart. A child died. I’m sad. You should be, too. You probably knew her better than I did.” I sniff, wiping my cheeks with the sleeve of my shirt. “I’ll go andwait for Aiden and get out of your way,” I mutter, needing to get away from this vile woman.

“This isn’t a vacation spot. You can’t just hang out here all day when we have sick people to look after.”

I shake my head and turn away from her, heading toward Kellen’s room.

“Hey,” she snaps. “I’m talking to you.”

“And I’m done listening.”

I feel her hand on my shoulder just as Wade approaches me.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Not surprisingly, Cora says nothing. But then she’s hardly likely to admit to being a raving bitch now, is she?