“Seth, I’m so scared.”
As soon as Seth arrived at Yvonne’s hospital room, Bianca–her eyes <b>red </b>from crying–rushed into his arms, trembling all over.
“My mom just started coughing up blood.”
Seth had hurried over the moment he got Bianca’s call. The doctors and nurses had gotten there first and were already running a thorough exam on Yvonne.
He gently tried to calm Bianca down.
When the doctor finished, he reassured them, “There’s no need to be rmed. That wasn’t actually blood from her lungs–just a little blood mixed in with phlegm. Sometimes, when a patient coughs violently, tiny blood vessels can break. It’s nothing serious; her body will heal itself.”
Bianca finally let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.”
Once the doctor left, she looked at Seth with a shy, almost embarrassed smile. “Sorry, I panicked and was so scared. The only person I could think to call was you. I hope I didn’t wake you up?”
“Not at all. You can rx now, okay?”
Bianca’s smile returned as she nodded, a little too enthusiastically. “Yeah.” “I’m d you came.”
Just then, Forrest rushed in. After Bianca exined what had happened, relief washed over his face.
“Thank you for everything these past few days.” Forrest shook Seth’s hand warmly. “Bianca’s been run ragged looking after her mom. Let me take over here–you two should get out this weekend, enjoy yourselves, take a break.”
He turned to Bianca with a fatherly smile. “And while you’re at it, make
<b>11:30 </b>
sure you treat Seth to a nice dinner for me. <b>Once </b><b>your </b><b>mom’s </b><b>home </b><b>from </b>the hospital, we’ll have him over to the house for <b>a </b><b>real </b>meal.<b>” </b>
Bianca couldn’t hide her happiness. “Will do!”
Before leaving, she reminded Forrest to pick up Yvonne’sb results <b>from </b>diagnostics.
Forrest nodded, gave a quick word to the nurse’s aide, and headed <b>to </b>theb. As he flipped through a stack of reports searching for Yvonne’s name, a familiar one caught his eye.
He paused, then flipped back a page. Rosalind. Rosalind Gilmore.
The name sounded almost identical, though the spelling was a little different. The age matched up, too.
Probably just a coincidence, Forrest thought, brushing it off. He turned his attention back to finding Yvonne’s report.
Outside the hospital, Bianca asked Seth if there was anywhere special he wanted to eat.
He shook his head. “Not really.”
“In that case, let’s just go back to Willow Brook,” she suggested.
Seth nodded, but as they started walking, he suddenly stopped in his
tracks.
“What’s wrong?” Bianca asked, puzzled.
Seth’s gaze was fixed on something ahead.
Bianca followed his line of sight and instantly spotted Noreen–along with Dn.
She stared in disbelief. “Why are those two together again?”
A flicker of cold sharpness shed in Seth’s eyes, but Bianca didn’t notice. She kept specting aloud. “Wait, do you think back at Hesper Lounge, your secretary was already cozying up to Dn?”
Bianca scoffed at the thought. <b>“</b><b>Seth</b>, I have <b>to </b><b>admit</b><b>, </b><b>your </b><b>secretary </b>is pretty crafty.”
Seth didn’t respond, simply turning away with an even colder <b>expression </b>than before. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”
Bianca hurried to keep up, but couldn’t resist ncing back at <b>Noreen </b><b>and </b>Dn, her eyes full of meaning.
From across the way, Noreen saw Seth and Bianca, too.
Just as she’d expected–Seth was leaving with Bianca again.
She’d told him, quite seriously, that things between them were over.
He hadn’t bothered to reply. As soon as Bianca called, he’d turned his back and walked away.