This morning I had a husband. Now, I have an ache in my chest that I’ve carried with me since I left the penthouse. Something tells me it will always be there.
I make my way to the doors of the emergency department as soon as Eldon sends me a text telling me he’s arrived.
He barges in as the sliding glass doors part for his arrival.
Wearing his police uniform and with a stoic expression on his face, he looks imposing.
I know he’s scared.
In mere moments he’ll be on cloud nine, knowing that the woman he adores and wants to marry is expecting their first child.
“Trina!” he calls my name as he rushes toward me. “Where’s Aurora? How is she feeling?”
“She’s in an exam room.” I point in the direction of the corridor I just came from. “She’s good, Eldon. She’s going to be so happy to see you.”
“I’ve been worried sick,” he admits. “I could kick myself for not texting you when I saw your first message. I thought it was about her birthday and the card Asher was signing. I was busy. I assumed it could all wait.”
“You’re here now.” I smile. “Go to her. I’m going to wait out here.”
“What room is she in?”
I glance toward the corridor again, but something catches my eye. It’s a person. A man with graying hair raises his hand in greeting.
“Trina?” Eldon questions. “Are you all right?”
“I see someone I know,” I whisper. “I hope he’s okay.”
“I’ll find Aurora,” Eldon says before taking off toward the corridor. “You check on your friend.”
As he sprints away, I stare at the man in the doorman’s uniform who is approaching me.
“Eugene?”
“Mrs. Locke.” He smiles. “You’re here for Mr. Locke, aren’t you?”
Panic darts through me as I scan the faces in the waiting room in search of my husband’s. “Graham? Where is he? What’s wrong?”
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry. No, no, it’s not Mr. Locke. It’s Mr. Abdon. They’ve admitted him to the cardiac care unit. Mr. Locke is with him now. I assumed you came to be with him. He’s pretty shaken up.”
“Is Lloyd all right?” I question as I swallow back a sob. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I’m not sure.” He steps closer to me. “After you left earlier, he wasn’t feeling well. He had trouble catching his breath.”
This is my fault. All of this is my fault. I upset Lloyd, and this is the result.
“Why don’t you head up there?” He shoves two cups filled with coffee at me. “I ran down to the cafeteria to get these. I’m sure Mr. Locke would prefer to see your face instead of mine right now.”
I’m not as sure as he is, but I push everything that happened earlier aside. I have to face this and my husband. If by chance, I’m granted a moment with Mr. Abdon before he passes, I need to apologize to him again and thank him for giving me the job I had.
It gave me the man I love, and even if we don’t have a future, I was married for a brief time to the one person on this planet who owns my heart.
Chapter Fifty-Four
Graham
I step out of Lloyd’s room even though all I want to do is shake him awake.
I know that Dr. Morgan will take the lead when it comes to convincing Lloyd that he needs the stent procedure, but I’m going to be chiming in.
I want Lloyd to live.
I want to know more about his son. I want to go to that scattering ground with him and just sit.
He needs to know that he’s not alone. He’s got me, and I hope to hell he has Trina.
I tug my phone out of my pocket.
I was warned not to use my phone on this ward. The nurse who wagged her finger at me told me to silence it. I did, but a glance through my missed calls and text messages tells me my wife hasn’t tried to contact me.
“Dammit,” I say, not giving a shit if the nurse overhears me. “Where are you, Trina?”
“I’m here.”
I don’t know if I’m fucking dreaming or not, but I turn at the sound of that soft voice.
“Graham,” my wife says my name, and suddenly my world feels centered. “I’m so sorry.”
I go to her. I don’t care that she has two cups of coffee in her hands. I wrap my arms around her and hold her against me.
Then, I sob into her neck.
I cry for the pain I see on her face.
I cry for the tears streaming down her cheeks, and I cry for the man in bed who gave me my life.
He rescued me from the downward spiral I was in.
He sent me to a school where I met my best friends, and he gave me a job working alongside him.
The entire time he was helping me, he was burdened with a grief so profound it almost destroyed him. Then, another layer was added to that when he lost his wife.
“How…how is Mr. Abdon?” Trina stutters out.
I step back and grab both cups of coffee from her. “Come with me. He’s asleep, but I know he’ll want to see you when he wakes up.”
Her hand on my forearm stalls me. “He won’t. Something happened earlier. I don’t know how much he told you.”
“None of it,” I say. “All I know is that he had your wedding rings. Please, Trina, come with me and tell me what’s going on.”
As another tear falls onto her cheek, she nods. “I’ll tell you all of it.”
Trina stands next to Lloyd’s hospital bed, staring down at him. “This is all my fault. He’s going to die because of me.”
I wrap my arms around her from behind to still her. She’s shaking through a series of sobs.
“He’s not going to die, Trina,” I reassure her. “He needs a procedure. Once that’s done, the doctor told me there’s a strong chance that Lloyd will live for years.”
She spins around to face me. “What?”
I skim a hand over her cheek to brush away her tears. “There’s a partial blockage in one of the arteries that lead to his heart. He needs a cardiac stent to open it back up.”
“Then he’ll be okay?” her voice holds as much hope as her eyes.
I see what I feel when I look at her, relief and trust that what the doctor said is true. Lloyd isn’t going anywhere. He’s going to be a part of our lives for years to come.
I want Trina to be a part of my life forever, so I glance down at her hand. “Why did Lloyd have your wedding rings?”
She bites her bottom lip. “This isn’t the time to talk about this, Graham. I don’t think I should be here when he wakes up. I upset him.”
She tugs free of my grasp and heads toward the door.
I’m on her heel before she makes it halfway there. I grab hold of her arm. “Stop, Trina. Please. I need to understand what the hell happened today.”
Her head drops. “He went to the bakery to get a chocolate cake. He spoke to my mom about us. She told him he was wrong about us being married. She told him where I really live, Graham. He knew our marriage was fake.”
I move around until I’m standing in front of her. “He confronted you about all of this?”