Page 32 of True North

I huffed out a breath that was equal parts frustration and understanding. My gut was telling me my mom needed a break from me. She’d been so busy worrying about me since the hospital managed to get her breathing under control, and I was only just starting to realize how exhausting that might be. She didn’t need to worry about lifting me up. Not when all her focus and energy needed to be on healing.

“Okay, Mama,” I said softly. I stood from that godforsaken chair, barely holding in the groan at the tightness in the small of my back, and reached over to give her hand without any tubes sticking out of it a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll go grab some coffee.” Goddess knew I needed it. That was for damn sure.

With one last look over my shoulder, I headed out of her hospital room for the vending machines I’d seen down the corridor. I barely got a few feet from the door when a voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Iris?”

I stumbled on me feet, surprised as I turned to find North exiting the waiting room across the hall.

“North? Uh . . .” I looked around for any answer as to why he was here. He was in his uniform, and it had been hours since I called for an ambulance. He couldn’t possibly . . . “Did you have to bring someone in or something?”

“Yeah . . .” Two slashes of pink stretched across his cheekbones. “You.”

My mouth dropped open. “Wait. You’ve been here this whole time?” I was not going to swoon over that. Absolutely not.

He reached up and rubbed at the back of his neck, looking almost shy as he admitted, “Yeah. I’m sorry if that’s weird. I wanted to make sure both of you were okay before I left.”

“But . . .” I pointed at his uniform lamely. “You’re on shift. Won’t you get in trouble for hanging around here for—” I glanced down at my wrist, forgetting I wasn’t wearing my watch.

“Six hours,” he answered for me.

I gaped at him in shock. “You’ve been waiting for six hours?”

He shrugged, that pink growing darker. “It’s not a big deal. And I was actually finishing my shift when your call came through. I turned around when I⁠—”

He went silent all of a sudden, like he was cutting the end of his sentence off with a blunt cleaver, and I found myself getting annoyed at his sudden evasiveness.

“When you what?” I asked, the tone of my voice harder than either of us had expected. But I’d reached my limit on what I could tolerate, at least for the rest of the day. “Say it, North.”

He stared at me for a few seconds, something I didn’t understand (or maybe I didn’t believe it) swirling around in the blue depths. “I turned around when I heard the name Maxwell.”

For some reason, that only made me angrier. Folding my arms over my chest, I narrowed my eyes and let all the frustration I was feeling flow out of me, making the air between us thick and soupy.

“Why?” I demanded.

“Iris—”

“Why. North?” I snapped.

“Because I couldn’t help it,” he clipped back. “Christ, Iris. I couldn’t help it, okay?”

I let out a scoff, shaking my head as disappointment washed over me. “Is this a game to you? Is that it? Screw the girl you know has a crush on you, then mess with her head? Are you getting off on this?”

North’s eyes widened, growing rounder with panic. “What? Iris, no. That’s not⁠—”

I couldn’t do this anymore. I wouldn’t. Not after the day I’d had. I was exhausted. Tired in the kind of way that left a deep ache in my bones. And now that the adrenaline had worn off, all the other emotions were crashing over me, overwhelming me. “Whatever game you’re playing, whatever ride this is, I’m getting off now. I don’t want any part of it.”

I moved to step around him, but he was so much bigger and faster, I didn’t stand a chance of escaping.

“I’m sorry.” He cut in front of me, holding his hands up in surrender, trying to placate me into slowing down. “Look, I really am sorry. I swear, I’m not trying to mess with your head. I needed to see for myself that you were okay. That’s all. I don’t—I know I don’t have a right to worry, but I did. And when I found out it was your mother, I just . . . I wanted to make sure she was okay. That you both were okay.”

My ire drained away at the genuine concern on his face. Gah! It would have been so much easier if I could have turned my feelings off. Unfortunately, life didn’t work that way. My shoulders sank under the weight of the day’s stress. Letting out a sigh, I dropped my head forward, squeezing my eyes closed and pinching the bridge of my nose to stave off the tears that wanted desperately to break free. I’d been holding them back since we got here, not wanting my mom to see and worry any more than she already was. But the pressure building inside of me was growing so heavy, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep it all in.

“It’s okay,” I finally let out on a quiet croak. “I’m sorry. I’m stressed out.” The backs of my eyes began to burn.

“Hey.” His voice was barely there as he placed his index and middle finger beneath my chin, tilting my face back to meet his. Whatever he saw there made the tendon in his jaw tic. I could have sworn he looked almost angry, but before I could get a good enough look, he shocked me by pulling me flush to his chest and wrapping those long, muscled arms around me.

It felt like I was suddenly being wrapped in a cocoon of protection, so nice and warm and cozy, the idea of leaving created a pit in my stomach.