Abruption by Riley Mackenzie Read Free Book Online

for anything.”
    “Oh, you don’t have to make a trip back. I’ll change the bandage,” Jules interjected. She must have finished ironing out her date details.
    “Thanks, but Meg’s got it. If you could just make sure he gets his meds on time, I’d appreciate it.”
    Meg’s eyes widened at my response, and Jules looked at me like I was a total ass. Shit. I just did it again. Was this really the new me?

“M a, she’s nineteen … no, Ma, listen to me ... Ma, she’s not the devil. She’s NOT trying to kill you.”
    Seriously? If anyone overheard my end of this phone conversation, they would assume my mother was insane. She might be teetering, but who was I to question her sanity? After all, she did raise three girls. Okay, maybe she had a little more work to do with Mercedes, but close enough.
    “I have to go, Ma, I’m at work … yes, I will speak to her, promise … I really have to go … Ma … Ma, I. Have. To. Go … Love you, too. Ciao.”
    Mercedes strikes again.
    I ended the call and rolled my eyes toward the ceiling. I loved my family to death, but they bordered certifiable. And even though my baby sister should probably be labeled an angel, navigating peer pressure, college, and boyfriends all under Alonzo and Cecilia Chiappetti’s roof, I could also see my parents’ side. I may have talked her out of branding herself with a car insignia, but I guess in her mind an eyebrow ring didn’t seem as permanent.
    I massaged my temples and silently thanked God for the five millionth time that my scholarship to Columbia covered room and board, and I got through the self-expression stage without any additional holes. Before I self-inflicted (more) wrinkles, necessitating a premature trip for Botox, Cara popped through our shared office door.
    “Oh, Jules, you’re still here. The front desk’s looking for you—I told them you left. Thought you were only covering until ten?”
    “I was. I just stayed to work on my pilot proposal.”
    “Look at you, two months on the job and already making a difference. Let me know if you need anything, I’d really love to help. I think your pet therapy program is an awesome idea. You’re inspiring, girlfriend.” Cara was my nurse-manager counterpart and a real sweetheart. She was a few years younger and hard into the dating scene; otherwise, we would have probably hung out more.
    “Thanks. I can use all the support I can get.” And I meant it. My presentation before the hospital board was a week away. “Do you know why the front desk needed me?”
    “Oh no, it wasn’t them. Dr. Hunter was looking for you. I have to run—I’m already late for spin class. Call me later.”
    The sun, moon, and stars must have aligned and I missed it. Why else was Guy Hunter looking for me? All admissions came through me, so I would have known if Finn was being readmitted, and thankfully, I hadn’t laid eyes on that cutie pie since his overnight stay eight weeks ago. His extensive work-up turned out negative. He never spiked again and was released with a clean bill. More often than not, this was the case with fevers of unknown origin. Thus, the name. It was frustrating as all hell.
    As for Hunter, Sr., I wish I could say I hadn’t seen him either, but I wasn’t lady luck. We had two awkward run-ins. Yep, not one but two.
    The first was a few days after Finn’s discharge, when I randomly caught him and two of his residents from the corner of my eye and did what any normal, polite human being standing alone in an elevator does when the doors begin to close on people approaching. Okay, so maybe normal people take note of their arms being weighed down with a tray of makeshift craft supplies before waving at the elevator sensor, but that was beside the point.
    Needless to say, it wasn’t pretty—my cheeks lit up and Poppa Personality forwent the customary “thank you,” rolling his steely blues. His residents graciously rushed to pick up everything I dropped (which was just about