Trick - A Stepbrother Romance (17 page)

He sighed again and put his glasses back on. I’d never seen him look so tired before.

“I know I haven’t always been the best father. I was never around when you were young. It was mostly my fault my marriage with your Mom broke down. I just thought…I always thought that if I worked hard and made lots of money, I’d be able to give you a good life. It never occurred to me until it was too late that money, nice houses and good schools aren’t everything. You needed more than an absent father, Princess. I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “No, don’t talk like that, Dad. You were just doing what you thought was right.”

“It was still wrong of me,” he said. “Now come here. Give your old man a hug.”

I stood up, my legs shaking as I made my way over to his desk. He cradled me against him for what felt like an eternity, and sobs racked my body as I laid my head on his shoulder. The tabloid problem seemed like it was a million miles away, in some far off galaxy.

My mind quickly entered the bargaining stage of grief. I kept trying to make mental deals with the universe.
Trash me in the media forever, call me a slut, call me a whore, do it for the rest of my life…just make my Dad better. Please.
But I knew it wouldn’t work. The only thing that would help now was a donor match being made available within the next couple of months.

The worst part of that was that I was basically praying for someone else to die so that my father would live. If that wasn’t fucked up, then I didn’t know what was.

Dad finally spoke up again, his voice gruff with tears. “I have to go to the hospital now,” he said. “I have another dialysis session at two.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Maybe next time, Princess. I don’t know if I want you seeing me like that right now. So weak and helpless…it just feels…”

His voice trailed off again, and I nodded. “I understand. Go to your appointment. And when you’re done there, I’ll help you tell Julia what’s going on.”

“Thank you, darling. That would be very helpful. I’ll see you at home soon.”

He kissed me on the cheek before leaving, and I stood motionless, watching him walk out of the office and up the hallway. I kept trying to make myself move, and I had to remind myself to breathe. It felt as if my heart was being squeezed by a fist and all the air had left my lungs, and finally I crumpled onto the floor underneath Dad’s desk, my shoulders racked with sobs as the tears flooded back again.

I wasn’t sure if I’d ever stop crying ever again. Just when I’d thought my life had taken a downward turn and couldn’t get much worse, along came reality to smack me in the face with the fact that it could be so much worse than I imagined.

Nothing could be as bad as this, though. My Dad was dying. This was rock bottom, and things had never been this terrible.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

PATRICK

Things were finally looking up in my world.

I’d just finished the meeting with the producers over at Keller-Nolan Studios, and it hadn’t gone as I’d expected at all. I’d assumed they’d called me in so they could formally withdraw their movie offer after all the media shit that had gone down in the last couple of days, but it was the complete opposite of that. They’d called me in to make sure that I was definitely on board with the project, and they’d offered to double my salary for the movie. So now I’d be raking in a cool seven million from it.

It turned out that the character I was going to be playing had some sort of story arc where he enters a hot, forbidden relationship with a woman, and apparently the recent tabloid situation about me being in a taboo relationship of my own had convinced the producers beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was perfect for it. They’d told me that they could spin the recent drama into advertising for the movie, and all I had to do was confirm my interest and sign some papers.

I wasn’t signing straight away – I was going to have a lawyer look them over first to make sure I wasn’t getting screwed in any way, but overall it appeared that my career wasn’t going to be anywhere near as affected by the tabloid shit as I’d initially thought it would be. The scriptwriters were still ironing out some details for now, but shooting for the film would begin in four months up in Vancouver. I’d even scored my friend Alex a minor part in it, so he’d probably be getting a call from them sometime soon.

The first person I wanted to share the good news with was Lucy. Unfortunately, she wasn’t answering any of my calls or texts, so I assumed she was still at CBC getting reamed out by her Dad.

Time for a rescue mission.

It was about time I faced him, anyway. He was a great guy, and in staying away from him and refusing to own up to the truth face-to-face, I was being a pathetic little coward. I headed over to CBC and strode into the offices, and Ron’s secretary glanced up at me.

“Hi, Patrick,” she said. “If you’re looking for Ron, he’s just popped out to an appointment.”

“Oh. Where did Lucy go?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t see her leave. I assume she’s still in his office.”

Weird.

I opened the office door to find it apparently empty, but muffled sounds from under the cherry-wood desk made it all too clear that Lucy was still in here.

“Lucy?” I called out, quietly closing the door behind me. “Babe, come out. It’s not that bad. I’m sure your Dad’s angry, but it’ll all be okay. I promise.”

I crouched down by the desk and looked under it to see her crumpled up in a ball, her body trembling as she sobbed. When she saw me looking down at her, she sniffed and wiped her face with the back of her hand.

“Everything is ruined,” she said.

“No, don’t say that. Your Dad will come around to us being together eventually.”

“It’s not that,” she replied, shaking her head. “He’s not even all that mad about us being together at all. He was just worried that we’d leave the country to get away from the tabloids, and he needs me close right now, because….because…”

She struggled to get the words out, and I sank down to the ground and sat as close to her as I could.

“Lucy? What’s going on?”

“He’s sick,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “He could die soon.”

A chill ran down my spine. Surely I’d misheard her. Ron had always seemed as healthy as an ox.

“What?”

“He’s dying,” she repeated. “His kidneys are failing. He needs a transplant. He’s on the donor list, but it’s long, and he only has a few months left. He can’t get a kidney from any family members because we’re all O blood types, and he’s an AB. God, Patrick, what if he can’t find a donor in time?”

She started crying again, and I rubbed her arm and made soothing sounds as tears pricked at the backs of my own eyes. Shit, Ron was dying? No fucking way. He couldn’t. It wasn’t just Lucy that needed him, it was everyone. All his staff members loved him, his family loved him, I loved him…my Mom loved him. Hell, even his ex-wife was still on decent speaking terms with him. I couldn’t imagine the world without him.

“I have an idea,” I said a moment later. “We could put together some sort of benefit campaign to try and get a donor.”

She raised her head and looked up at me again. “What?”

“A benefit campaign,” I said. “I’ve seen it done before. Not for a kidney, but some other health-related thing. A kid was sick, and some celebrities got together to find a bone marrow donor. We could do something like that. I know heaps of actors who’d probably be happy to help. Everyone in this business loves your Dad.”

“I don’t know if he’d go for that,” she said. “He’d feel bad about using his status to do something like that.”

“So?” I said. “If it’s the difference between him living and dying, then I think we should do whatever it takes to help him.”

She sniffed again. “I guess so. It is a good idea.”

“I just don’t know how much publicity I’ll personally be able to attract,” I continued, thinking out loud. “My reputation is a little shot right now, as you know. But things are picking up already. That offer from Keller-Nolan is still on the table.”

She wiped her face again and glared at me. “Is that all you can think about?” she said. “Your reputation? Your movie career? My Dad is
dying
, Patrick.”

“No, that’s not what I meant,” I said. “Sorry, I worded it badly. I was just thinking about how we’re going to be able to put this benefit thing together and get heaps of people interested in supporting it.”

She crawled out from under the desk and stood up, and I followed her.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. I knew what you meant. I’m just so…so….God, everything is all so screwed up. It’s just too much. First there was Jimmy, then the accident, then the thing with Claire, and now this…it’s too much. And I can’t even imagine what my poor Dad is feeling.”

She grabbed a tissue and blew her nose before continuing. “I think I just need to be alone for a while. I want to crawl into a hole.”

I looked down at her, my heart aching as I saw the pain and sorrow in her eyes.

“Okay,” I said softly. “I understand. Let me know if you need anything. Anything at all. Just call me, and I’ll be there.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, wrapping her small arms around me in a tight hug before grabbing her bag and exiting the office.

I watched her go, a pang of guilt plaguing my insides. I’d been trying to help, but I’d done a shitty job of explaining what I meant. She was in a bad emotional place at the moment, and I’d probably screwed up by mentioning the recent media debacle and how it affected my career. But it would be okay. We were at the point where we both knew that no matter what happened between us, all would be forgiven. Always. She just needed a little time alone to calm down and piece her thoughts together.

While she was doing that, I was going to help out as much as possible in terms of making sure her father got through this.

Whatever it takes
, I told myself.

That’s exactly what I was gonna do.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

LUCY

Have you ever felt like you are utterly exposed and yet somehow invisible at the same time? It was weird, but that was how I felt right now. My life was still being put on blast all over the media, but in my own private world I felt strangely unseen. Partly because I felt like hardly anyone knew the real me as opposed to what was being portrayed of me in the tabloids, and partly because of Patrick. He seemed to have completely vanished in the last two days. I’d been trying to call him to no avail, and he hadn’t been home. No one else seemed to know where he was either.

I shouldn’t have snapped at him in my Dad’s office the other day. I hadn’t meant to go off on him, but I’d been so emotional that everything just got to me; every little word, every movement, everything I saw. Even the birds chirping outside the window had been irritating me. I just wanted everything in the world to disappear while I collected my thoughts, and I’d taken out those emotions on Patrick even though he’d only been trying to help my Dad.

Speaking of Dad, I couldn’t even imagine what he was going through during all of this. He’d finally told Julia about his condition, with me by his side, and the expression of utter heartbreak on her face had made me feel physically ill. Seeing as she was his wife, my Dad probably felt a billion times worse. Not only that, I had no idea what it was like to have a ticking timer on my lifespan. I mean, I knew that I’d die one day, but knowing that you only have a few months left to live is a vastly different story.

It really put into perspective just how minor my own troubles were. Yeah, it sucked having my face all over the gossip sites, being called a tramp and whatnot, but at least I was healthy and alive. In the end, that was the most important thing for a person to have.

Right now I was lying in my bed, trying and failing to stop thinking about my Dad’s impending death. Since he’d told me, time seemed to have sped up, and now it felt like the next three months would be gone in five seconds flat. It wasn’t enough. I needed more time with him.

I guess everyone who was about to lose a family member went through the exact same thought process. There was never enough time. We were always praying for just one more day, one more hour, one more minute. One more second.

Right now, Dad was at the hospital getting his dialysis, and Julia had gone with him. She hadn’t said a word to me about my relationship with her son yet, and I was grateful for that. It seemed pointless to bring it up when something so much bigger was happening.

My phone buzzed on my bedside table a moment later. It was my Mom.

“Hi, Mom,” I said, cradling the phone between my ear and neck.

“Hi, sweetie. Would you be able to meet me down at Murdoch Hospital? I just got a call from Julia to come in, and she asked for me to bring you too.”

I sat bolt upright in bed. “Did something happen to Dad? Is he okay?”

“I don’t know. She didn’t say much on the phone. I don’t know if she even knows what’s going on. She sounded very upset.”

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”

After I hung up, I raced down to the hospital as quick as I could, and I met my Mom and Julia in the waiting room. Julia was seated, and Mom was already there next to her, rubbing her shoulders.

“What’s happening?” I said anxiously, my hands beading with sweat as I sat down.

Julia swallowed hard and then looked at me. “Your Dad’s taken a turn for the worse. Something happened just before he was due to get his treatment today, so they’ve admitted him. They haven’t told me anything else just yet.”

My eyes welled up with tears again, and my entire head ached like mad. Julia choked up again and put her head in her hands, and my Mom spoke up.

“Have you seen Patrick, Lucy? We’ve been trying to get hold of him, and he isn’t answering.”

I shook my head. “No. I haven’t even seen him since the other day.”

There was an awkward silence between the three of us for a moment. I could tell what they were both thinking. They were wondering if Patrick and I were still together or if the tabloid drama had torn us apart, but they felt too uncomfortable to bring it up, especially at a time like this.

My Mom sighed a moment later. “I can’t believe this is happening to Ron. He was always a big health nut when we were together, and I assume he still is. Hardly ever drank, never smoked, ate well.”

Julia nodded in agreement, and my Mom continued. “All I ever did was drink wine and never exercise, and yet he’s the one here right now. It doesn’t make any sense. It should be me.”

“Don’t say that, Kylie,” Julia said, squeezing her hand. “No one deserves to be in this situation.”

It was nice to see them supporting each other. So many people hated the new spouses of their exes, but it had never been like that in our family. My Mom and Julia had always gotten along well.

“Mrs. Martinez? I’m Dr. Grey.”

We looked up to see a dark-haired doctor in navy-blue scrubs standing near us. He had kind hazel eyes and a warm smile, and Julia spoke up.

“We’re sort of all Martinez women here,” she said. “But I’m Julia Martinez. Is there any news on my husband?”

“Yes, there is,” he said. “I have some bad news and some good news.”

“What is it?”

“The bad news is that Mr. Martinez’s condition has rapidly deteriorated. His blood pressure is through the roof at the moment, along with other serious complications. But the good news is that we finally have a donor match.”

Our eyes all widened. “A donor?”

The doctor smiled. “Yes. A family member came in the other day to see if he was a match, and as it turns out, he is. I thought you were all aware of this?”

We shook our heads.

“Who is it?” Julia asked.

Dr. Grey looked confused. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Martinez. I thought you were aware that your son came in. We didn’t think there would be a high chance of a match, seeing as he isn’t biologically related to Mr. Martinez, but as it turns out they match up perfectly. Both AB blood types with all the right markers. We have them scheduled for surgery in a few hours.”

Patrick was the donor. Holy hell.

That explained why he hadn’t been answering his phone. He’d been here the whole time, getting tests run on him to see if he could help my Dad out. Gosh, was there anything about him that wasn’t selfless these days? He’d saved my ass countless times in the last few months, and now he was saving my Dad.

I sure knew how to pick ‘em, no sarcasm intended.

I really should have known he’d do this. As I thought about it, I remembered what he’d said when we went to donate blood all those weeks ago, when we were still at each other’s throats. He’d told me he was an AB blood type. He must have gone and tracked down Dad’s doctors as soon as he realized he might be able to help.

“Now, Mr. Martinez isn’t awake at the moment due to some of the medications we have him on, but Patrick is just down the hall. Would you like to see him before we take him into the OR?” Dr. Grey asked.

“Of course,” Julia said, taking my hand. “Lucy, why don’t you go and see him first?”

I looked at her with surprise etched into my features. “Are you sure?”

She smiled and squeezed my hand. “Of course. There’s plenty of time. You go ahead.”

That was the moment I knew she was okay with me being with Patrick. Compared with everything else that was going on, our supposedly forbidden love just wasn’t a big deal.

I returned her smile and hugged her. “Thanks, Julia.”

Dr. Grey led me down a few corridors and then paused outside a patient room.

“Here you go,” he said. “I’ll be right out here. When you’re done, I’ll go and get Mrs. Martinez.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

As I pushed the door open to see Patrick lying in the hospital bed, he flashed me a dazzling cheeky grin. “I was wondering when you’d show up,” he said. “I asked one of the nurses to call you ages ago, but they’ve been pretty busy. Apparently there was a huge car pileup on the I-5, so it’s been hectic around here, as you can imagine.”

“So this is where you’ve been,” I said, returning his grin as I walked over to his bedside. “You could have told me you were doing this. I was worried when you didn’t answer your phone.”

“What, and ruin the surprise?” he said. “Nah, I was going to tell you as soon as I found out I was a match, but it’s all been a whirlwind, as they say.”

I grabbed his hand and stroked it, staring into those wondrous blue eyes of his. Tears of joy at seeing him again and knowing that my Dad would be all right began to pool in my own eyes.

“Patrick…I can’t believe you’re doing this,” I whispered as the tears began to slip down my cheeks.

He gave me a beatific smile.
“Yeah, well, since I got fired from Six Angels, I don’t really have anything better to do until this movie starts shooting up in Canada.”

I smiled through my tears. “Very funny. You know this isn’t a joke, right? It’s a major operation.”

His smile faded, and he reached out and squeezed my hand. “I know. Your Dad has done a lot for me, and he’s made my Mom really happy. It’s the least I can do.”

“Thank you,” I said, wiping my tears up with the back of my hand. “I already owe you my life three times over, and now my Dad will too.”

“Hey, you guys deserve to be alive and happy,” he replied. “And don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’m not gonna die on the operating table or anything. Even if I do, I’ll come back. Remember on The Werewolf Diaries? Shifters have nine lives, just like cats.”

I smiled again despite my fear that something might actually go wrong with the surgery. “Please don’t talk about dying. You know it’s not funny.”

“But it might be, after five years and several hundred stiff drinks, right?”

“You always say that,” I replied, shaking my head and smiling. I was still unable to believe he was in such high spirits despite the fact he was going to be sliced open in just a few short hours.

“So what’s this about a movie in Canada?” I asked, changing the subject to something less morbid.

“Oh, shit, I thought I told you. Turns out Keller-Nolan really want me for that movie. I thought they wanted to meet with me to rescind the offer, but they said they really want me and offered me double the original pay.”

“Seriously? Oh my God, that’s great!” I said. “So you’ll be all recovered from this by then?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. As long as everything runs smoothly, I should be outta here in ten days. The movie doesn’t start shooting for another few months, and by then all I’ll have is a pretty little scar on my gut.”

“You don’t have a gut,” I said. “You have perfect abs. You look Photoshopped!”

“Says you, with that perfect ass of yours,” he said, reaching over and groping me.

“Patrick!”

“Hey, come on…I’m in hospital, and they have me wearing this stupid gown. Cut me some slack and let me grab my girl’s ass.”

I giggled and leaned down for a kiss, and his hot lips on mine filled my entire body with a comfortable warmth; one I’d missed in the last couple of days. With him by my side, I’d always be warm, safe and secure. He’d proved that to me time and time again, and I knew that I never needed to doubt him ever again. He’d always be here for me.

The boy I’d once despised had grown up into the man I loved, and I couldn’t imagine having it any other way. Nope, he was mine forever, and I was his.

I just hoped our forever wouldn’t be cut short by something going wrong with the surgery.

“Lucy,” he said, seeing the look on my face as I pulled away. “Don’t worry. I’ll be fine, baby. I promise.”