Chapter 185

VICKY’S POV

I pushed through the door of the Medical Center, the sterile scent of bleach and sickness smackin’ me right in the face. The lobby was in chaos—nurses hurryin’ around, screaming kids, and lines of miserable-lookin’ people waitin’ on plastic chairs.

I kept my head down, tuckin’ my chin into my jacket collar, and slowed my pace so I wouldn’t make too much noise. Trackin’ someone in six-inch stilettos on a tiled floor is a real art form, let me tell you, but I made sure to stay a good twenty paces behind Freya’s frantic, bobbin’ head.

She was flyin’ through the crowd like her pants were on fire, completely oblivious to the fact that I was tailin’ her like a bloodhound.

I watched from behind a massive concrete pillar near the pharmacy window as she slid up to the primary reception desk. She looked so tiny, her shoulders hunched over as she talked to a tired-lookin’ nurse with her hair in a messy bun.

I couldn’t hear a damn word over the blarin’ intercom announcements and the general hospital racket, but after a quick second, the nurse nodded, pointed toward the banks of elevators on the north side of the building, and handed Freya a little pink visitor’s pass.

Freya grabbed it, sprinted toward the lift, and disappeared inside just as the silver doors slid shut.

The second she was gone, I bolted out from behind my pillar, my heels clickin’ like rapid gunfire as I hurried over to the exact same reception desk.

“Excuse me, hi,” I gasped out, leanin’ my palms flat against the counter and breathin’ heavily.

“I am so sorry to bother you, but my friend just ran ahead of me while I was catchin’ a really important phone call, and I kinda lost track of her. Please tell me you know where she went? I’m supposed to be right beside her.”

The nurse blinked at me, lookin’ totally exhausted as she tapped her pen against a clipboard.

“Ma’am, a lot of people just went by. Can you describe her?”

“Yeah, yeah, she’s a little thing, wearin’ a stiff grey skirt, crooked glasses, and her hair is in a messy ponytail,” I said, usin’ my hands to show her height.

“Her name is Freya. We’re both here to see her mom. Her mom is really, really sick, and I’m supposed to be backin’ her up today.”

I braced myself, my heart doin’ a nervous little flutter in my chest. Part of me was desperately expectin’ the nurse to look at the screen, frown, and tell me there wasn’t any Freya checked into the system today.

I was practically beggin’ the universe to prove my paranoia right, to confirm that Enzo had done somethin’ foul to my little éclair.

Instead, the nurse just sighed, lookin’ down at her monitor.

“Oh, yes. Freya. She just checked in for Elena. She’s up on the fourth floor, Orthopedics Wing, Ward 4B, Room 412. Just take the elevator, turn left when you get off, and follow the signs for the recovery wards. You can catch up to her there.”

“You mean… her mom is actually up there right now?” I asked, the words slippin’ out before I could catch them.

The nurse gave me a weird, slightly annoyed look. “Yes, ma’am. She was admitted a few hours ago after a bad fall. You’ll see her. She’s probably in the room with her family right now.”

“Thank you so much. Seriously, you’re a lifesaver,” I muttered, givin’ her a quick nod before turnin’ on my heel and hurryin’ toward the elevator bank.

By the time the elevator dinged on the fourth floor, my heart was beatin’ so damn fast against my ribs it felt like it would explode.

I didn’t even know why I was buggin’ out so hard. I trusted Freya. I really, truly did.

She was a sweet girl, and the last thing I wanted was for her to turn around and betray me, or for me to find out she was playin’ some sick game with that Italian bastardo.

I really, really hoped this wasn’t a lie. I wanted her story to be a hundred percent true, even if it meant I was just actin’ like a paranoid psycho.

I turned left down the long, quiet corridor of Ward 4B, the air here much quieter than the chaotic lobby downstairs. I checked the gold numbers on the white doors as I glided past until I finally came to a stop right outside Room 412.

The door was wooden, but it had one of those small transparent glass windows at the top so the doctors could peek in without knockin’. I pressed my back against the wall, took a shallow breath, and then slowly tilted my head to peep through the glass into the room.

The moment I saw the view inside, my chest loosened up instantly.

Inside the small room, a woman was lyin’ on the hospital bed, her left leg completely wrapped in white bandages and propped up on a bunch of pillows. She looked pale and worn out, but she had a kind, tired face.

Sittin’ right beside the mattress on a plastic chair was a young-looking guy, maybe eighteen or nineteen, wearin’ a beat-up Ottawa Redblacks hoodie. He looked stressed. Freya was standin’ right on the other side of the bed, holdin’ the older woman’s hand tight against her chest, her head noddin’ as tears ran down her cheeks.

I couldn’t hear a single syllable of what they were sayin’ through the glass, but you didn’t need to be a genius to read the room. The interaction, the protectiveness of the kid toward the bedridden woman, and the emotion on Freya’s face… it all felt like family.

A real, hurt, struggling family.

There was nothin’ strange, just a girl lovin’ her sick mother.

I stood there for another full minute, just watchin’ them through the glass, until a wave of intense shame hit me straight in the gut. I felt like a total piece of garbage for spyin’ on my own assistant while her life was fallin’ apart.

I pulled myself away from the window, turned around, and marched straight back to the elevators before anyone could catch me peepin’ like a creep.

I made it back down to the parking garage, threw the driver’s door open, and slid into the car with a loud bang of the door. I tossed my purse onto the passenger seat, leaned my head back against the headrest, and took in a deep breath before lettin’ the air escape my lips in a long sigh.

“Hold on a second, Vicky,” I muttered out loud to the empty car as I rubbed my temples where a migraine was startin’ to form.

“What the heck is wrong with you? Why are you so damn paranoid lately?”

I felt ridiculous. Freya was my girl, and I literally accused her of lying without any concrete proof.

“You overthink everything too much,” I groaned, knockin’ the back of my head against the seat.

“Seriously, Vick, you are way too hard on yourself. You’re lettin’ Leo’s crazy warnings get to you real bad.”

I took another deep breath in an attempt to clear the cobwebs out of my brain.

“I’m done. I think I’m done doin’ anything else for today. I think I’m just gonna drop this tab off for repair and go straight back home .I am literally runnin’ mad at this point.”