The Pretend Girlfriend (A Billionaire Love Story #1)(109)

"Is... Is he going to live?" Aiden said.

The nurse smiled at him, sympathy in her voice. "I'm sorry, sir, I don't know. He was listed in critical condition when he came in. If you go to the waiting room, a doctor will be out to speak with you as soon as they can. You're his son?" When Aiden nodded, she pulled a clipboard with an attached pen out from under her desk. "I'll need you to start filling out these forms."

"Are you sure it doesn't tell you anything else?" Aiden said, trying to lean over the desk so he could see the computer, too. Gwen eased him back gently, grabbing the clipboard for him and telling the nurse it would be completed. She led him through the white hallways, following the signs and arrows for the waiting room.

Thankfully, the rows of chairs within were mostly empty. A few crisp magazines waited in bins on the coffee tables scattered about the room. They didn't look read. Gwen understood why. You couldn't do something so casual as reading a magazine while waiting for the news from the OR, no matter how much you wanted to distract yourself.

And she wished badly she could distract herself right then. However, she needed to be there for Aiden, and she intended to be. She put herself in his place, trying to understand what he needed from her.

They must have sat there for half an hour, Aiden gripping her hand so hard she lost feeling in it, before he said anything.

"Why am I so upset? Isn't it strange that I'm so upset?"

"He's your father. It's okay to be upset," she replied.

"But I don't love him. At least... I didn't think I did," Aiden said.

"Are you sure?" Gwen said. From her experience, love could survive and grow in the strangest of places and situations. She could tell then that Aiden cared deeply for his father. If he hadn't, their long rivalry never would have existed.

And, Gwen knew, if that were true, then the same held for Henry.

"I don't know," he said finally.

It took two more hours for a doctor to finally come in. He was an older man with a horseshoe of salt-and-pepper hair surrounding his bald pate, a broad nose, and eyes tired and withdrawn from the long surgery.

"Aiden Manning?" he said.

Aiden and Gwen bolted to their feet. Blood surged past her ears.

"I'm Dr. Lessing. Your father suffered multiple fractures throughout his body. However, our concern is the internal bleeding..."

The bottom of Gwen's stomach felt like it just dropped through the floor.

"Can I see him?" Aiden said.

"We really need to talk about this..." Lessing said.

"We can talk after I see him. Can I see him?"

Recognizing the tone in Aiden's voice, the doctor relented. He led them to the recovery room, advising him to keep the visit short. Gwen started to follow Aiden into the room, but Lessing snagged her by the elbow. "Immediate family only, I'm afraid."

Aiden turned to argue her case, but she forestalled him. "It's okay. I'll be right outside when you're ready."

Deciding that she wasn't going to try and go in anyway, Lessing released her arm. She sat on one of two chairs beside the door and waited.

Perhaps ten minutes later a shrill alarm sounded. A team of scrub-clad doctors and nurses rushed into the recovery room, pushing along a cart loaded with medical equipment. Gwen stood, covering her mouth, unable to blink. She couldn't process what was happening.

Aiden came out moments later, probably kicked out by the doctors. Those few minutes inside changed him. He looked haggard and worn out, his skin sallow and his eyes sunken. When he saw her, he sat down. She sank back to her seat as well.

"What... what happened?" she said.

"He was at some building he was getting restored down in the Village when I called him. He thought I was serious about sending those documents, so he rushed out to his car to try and get to my lawyer's office. There was a garbage truck he tried to swerve around..."

She gave him time, offering her hands. He accepted them, holding tight like a drowning man to a bit of driftwood.

"He told me not to blame myself for the accident, that it wasn't my fault. He told me..." he choked up, taking some time to clear his throat, "He told me he wishes things had been different. And then—And then he said I looked so much like my mother, and how I reminded him of her, and how he missed her so much. And how that wasn't my fault, either."

He laid his head against her shoulder.





Epilogue


Gwen fished for her apartment keys in her purse, finally snagging her finger through the key ring. Today marked a full three months since Henry's funeral, and she wanted to make sure everything was nice before she went to meet Aiden and Beatrice at Starbucks.

She also wanted to sneak a few more lines into the conclusion of the essay she'd finished yesterday. It just needed something a little extra to tie all those arguments together.

That was on her mind as she shoved the door open with her shoulder. This new semester was going so much better than the last one.

Everything was going better, really. Higher grades, more confidence in school, that sort of thing. And Aiden seemed to be gearing up for something big. He'd taken over the company in his father's absence, and had been busy with that, but he'd always made sure to make time for her.

Gwen walked by the kitchen, intent on going to her room and getting some keyboard time in at her laptop, when she stopped and did a double take.