This month flew by faster than the hell that caused the fallout of my and Jessa’s short-lived relationship. Sadly, we grew farther apart, with Warren constantly lingering around and my focus more on Jacks than anything.
I had to take partial responsibility for it dissolving to nothing, as my only priority was Jackson and my everyday busy life as a top surgeon at this hospital. I felt myself sinking into that dark void more than once but throwing myself into working and being with Jacks made those sensations go away as quickly as they came.
“Look at your pimp self,” I said to Jacks, walking into the room where he was dressed and ready to leave rehab.
“I’m good, man,” he said. His words were still a bit slow, but the speech therapist said he’d made excellent progress, and by next week, Jacks could be talking like he’d been before the surgery.
“I’m so damn proud of you, kid,” I said, hugging my son with whom I’d formed the most wonderful bond throughout his recovery. Then, I stepped back and looked into his cheerful eyes. “Seriously, you’re doing better than I expected a sixteen-year-old to do in recovering from this surgery. Insanely better, and it’s just a matter of time before we get the brace,” I pointed at the brace on his right arm, “off your throwing arm and get you back in the game.”
Jacks smiled and unexpectedly hugged me back, “Thank you. You helped me so much.”
I felt tears burn in my eyes and knew I could quickly lose my shit if I weren’t careful. “You helped me too, kid.”
“Oh?” Jessa chirped with excitement, walking into the room. “How’s that, Doc?”
I didn’t know if it was the excitement of Jackson’s big day of going home, the anticipation of where it all went from here, or the realization that Jacks had got me through a month that I probably wouldn’t have survived without him, but I stared into Jessa’s radiant eyes, and I couldn’t tolerate being back in this position with her.
I needed her back.
“The car’s here. The Uber is a killer ride, Sport,” Warren said, his voice slicing through the air and making me angry the moment I’d heard him.
This fucking guy again, I thought. The bastard had come back into Jessa’s life and most likely manipulated her into taking him back because he knew she was vulnerable.
“All good here, Dr. Brandt?” he said. I couldn’t stand this man, and that was putting it mildly.
“I just signed off on the last of his charts.” I looked to where Jessa and Jackson stood together, ignoring mine and Warren’s bizarre stand-off. “The therapists will meet with you tomorrow and review the outpatient rehab guidelines.” I looked back at Jackson. “When you’re ready, Collin and Jake have insisted on a game of beach football,” I said. My friends and I worked with Jacks over the past month to ensure he kept moving forward, fighting, having fun, and never giving up.
“Don’t you think football is pushing it a little bit?” Warren popped off.
“Okay,” the outpatient team leader said, walking into Jackson’s room, where I was ready to punch Warren in his whitened teeth.
Fucking douchebag.
“All’s good here. He’s officially discharged from St. John’s,” I said, smiling at Jacks. “I’m on-call this week, but your mom and I discussed me popping in and out to check on you if that’s good?”
Jacks smiled, but it was apparent the poor kid was confused. One day he was going to Lakers games with my best friend while his doctor and mother were on vacation in Mexico, and the next thing he knew, Warren was back in his life—and now living in Southern California. He hadn’t said a word about any of it, but honestly, he had more significant problems than discussing his mom’s relationship patterns.
“Laguna Beach isn’t exactly around the corner from here,” Warren said. “Are you sure you can be that far from the hospital?”
You’re a fucking prick, I thought, hating this asshole more and more by the second.
“Don’t be a dick, Warren,” Jacks said, shocking me. And after looking over at his annoyed expression and Jessa’s wide eyes, I didn’t know where to take this.
“I see you’ve learned some lovely foul language while under the care of Dr. Brandt,” Jessa said as Warren tried to figure out how to pick his jaw up off the ground.
Jacks smiled at me. “Dr. Brandt doesn’t cuss,” he laughed.
God, this boy. I wanted to hug him and tell him he was a chip off the old block, but that was for a different day. It was another thing I wanted to discuss with Jessa but would do so when this gnat of a man wasn’t hovering around like the annoying fucking insect he was.
“Never,” I agreed. “All right. The team is here, and the rehab center usually does a fun send-off when patients leave, so don’t keep them waiting.”
“I’ll see you soon?” Jacks said, and I nodded.
As the room filed out, Warren decided to pull a chickenshit move and glare at me like a middle schooler. I’d had about enough of his shit for the past month, and I wasn’t about to let this bitch piss me off on my son’s big day.
“Can I speak to you for a moment, Warren?” I said, staying back.
“It’s okay,” he said reassuringly to Jessa while I kept a professional expression and refrained from rolling my eyes.
“Yeah, I’m not going to kick his ass or anything,” I said after she halted. “I just need to go over some stuff, ensuring Warren understands. I haven’t talked to him much over this past month, and I want to ensure he’s up to speed with supporting Jackson and you.”
I plastered the fakest smile I could manage to get Jessa to trust that I wasn’t going to level this dick standing proudly to my left, and she hesitantly left the room.
“What’s the deal, Cameron?” Warren questioned.
I slid my hands into my pockets. “I intend to get my lady and my boy back. I suggest you not get too comfortable living in Southern California.”
I didn’t give a shit anymore. I might as well make my intentions clear with this fucker so he wouldn’t be surprised when his ass was heading back to New York in less than a month.
“Oh?” Warren said, his gaze darkening. “Well, if it makes any difference, I wasn’t the one who called and begged for me to come back into their life—that would be the woman out there who doesn’t trust herself with you. So maybe you should tell her, not me.”
I smiled, “She was scared, and that happens. So, I’m not surprised she’d fall back into the arms of a man who most likely made her comfortably miserable.”
“Miserable, my ass,” Warren said. “She’s a good woman, not the type to live her life chasing adventures and thrills. I know you believe it’s as easy as that,” he snapped his fingers to prove some point, “but there are responsibilities in this life to attend to when you’re not born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”
“You insult me because my father was wealthy?”
“You insult yourself, Cameron. Take my advice: if you care about Jessica and Jacks, leave them alone. Let them live a normal life where they aren’t spoiled by material things that give false hope.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“They’re not grounded when they’re with you. Not everything is yachts, expensive cars, and beach houses on loan by friends. That isn’t the real world, and until you can see that, you’ll never understand why Jessica blames herself for her son falling into that coma.”
He turned and left as quickly as he could.
I didn’t know what to think. What I did know was that this intimidated asshole had insulted me and my life, which he knew nothing about. The idea that I wasn’t grounded was laughable. I was a top pediatric neurosurgeon at a world-famous hospital, and I didn’t become so by galivanting around the world on a yacht with no responsibilities.
I certainly hoped that short-sighted prick heeded my warning because I was on a mission to take back the two most important people in my world, and none of his petty insults would stop me.
