SMELLING ROSES

Chapter Twenty

A white lab coat swayed around the corner and I followed behind. I passed a few whispered conversations and hopeful families before finding Doctor Simmon's again. She looked over a chart but didn't see me. Sweat beaded on her forehead and her brows snitched in. She chewed at her lip and hustled down the hall to another room. It was nicer. VIP status. Even the hallway looked different.

She pushed open a door and disappeared inside. I could hear Wren's voice and I stopped at the door's window.

He paced in the middle of a spacious hospital room like he awaited the outcome of a sentence. If Doctor Simmons looked stressed, then Wren was in agony. What were they hiding?

I leaned in and saw a woman lying in bed.

I could never forget her face. She haunted my dreams at night and popped into my head the moments I doubted myself the most. Her hazel eyes, big natural gray curls, and that stern smile she thought said I want to help you, but really said you mean nothing to me. Emilia De Luca. The doctor who, as far as I was concerned, tried to kill my mother.

That day played over in my mind. If it wasn't for her, my mother could have gotten the help and guidance she needed. Because of her, time was taken from my mother's life. We still didn't know what complications she'd have because of the coma. Doctor De Luca didn't just not believe me, she didn't believe my mother's pain. And she was in so much pain.

I forced myself inside.

Wren's pacing came to a halt. He looked like he was going to pass out. A million questions piled up in my head, but there was something more important.

I headed straight for her and he planted his feet. "Nora-"

"You!" Like a vampire in a frenzy for fresh blood, I was going to clothesline him. "My mother just woke up from a three-month coma all because you couldn't take the time out of your day to get her help. How do you feel-"

"Nora, no." Doctor Simmons pushed me back. Wren dropped his stance and gripped my hand.

"Felix, who is this?" Emilia asked from her pampered bed.

"Felix?" I barked. "Who's Felix? Wren, why's she calling you Felix?"

"Oh, that horrible stage name. I'm sure your father is happy about that one." She swatted her hand, and I noticed the brace on her arm. Please, tell me, she didn't use this lush hospital room for a sprained wrist!

"What?" I asked.

"Nora, let's talk about this outside," Wren begged.

"Felix, I don't care who you sleep with, but don't let them barge into my room unannounced." Her eyes scanned over my clothes and down at my bare feet. "Can't you find someone else's son to get money from?"

"Son? Really?" I yanked away from him and shoved my fist into his chest. Did he seek me out? He hated his mother so much he wanted to use me to piss her off. Or was he working with her?

"You don't even know who I am, do you?" I demanded from his mother. The entire hospital would hear me at this point. She needed to apologize to my mother. It hadn't even been a year yet, and she had already forgotten about us.

Wren pulled onto my dress to get me out. I flung myself away from him. "And stop touching me!"

"Please. Let's talk outside," he begged.

"Thank you. Your whining's giving me a headache." Emilia touched her forehead, sinking into the bed like she had gone through hell. But I just got out of it, and you don't come out looking like that.

Did she even care? She hadn't even taken the time to hear anything I said. Even if she didn't remember me, she should remember my mother. Someone should have told her the patient she refused, ended up in a coma weeks later. She should be throwing herself at my feet. She should feel something. Anything.