“Fred, you do know that this is just a test of how far you’re willing to fight for Luke, don’t you? You got on a plane for him. You’ve faced your fears for him. You just now need him to see that no matter where he goes…”
“I’ll travel the last mile of the way.” Nina’s eyes watered at my statement as my own tears gathered.
“Exactly,” she replied.
“Now, I think you should go and tell him that,” James uttered as the taxi pulled over to the curbside and I gazed up at the sign.
Moorfields Eye Hospital.
* * *
Ipulled my shoulders back and noted the signs.Maternity.That’s where we needed to be. I began to follow James and Nina, watching the pink-colored signs as we twisted our way down the corridors, avoiding patients in wheelchairs and women screaming in labor, obviously being transferred from one area to another.
Were they going to the same place as we were? Should we follow?
I could’ve asked a porter, but I knew what I was doing dragging my feet. I shook my head as I pulled my suitcase behind me, desperate to reach our destination. I should’ve questioned if we were going the right direction, but who was I kidding? Luke was in this building. Under the same roof as me and instead of running to him, I wanted to flee in the opposite direction, petrified of more rejection. More pain.
Thomas would’ve told James exactly where to head to the moment we arrived, but it still didn’t make it any easier. I felt out of control. That every decision wasn’t my own, and I was dependent truly on Luke’s family. It should’ve scared me, but the moment James opened the next set of double doors, I jolted and froze as my front collided with James’s back.
“Why have we stopped?” I asked. “We need to get to Luke.”
I cast my eyes upwards and noticed the frazzled man pacing the length of the corridor come to a halt with his eyes locked dead straight on me. I couldn’t not notice the resemblance as I felt the wind knock from within me as I stumbled backwards a step, reaching for the wall.
“Fred…” Nina grabbed my forearm and bent down, her eyes filled with concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m okay.” I righted myself and took in the man by my side. “Thomas,” I said, testing the name on my lips.
“Freddie, come on.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder before shouting back to James and Nina over my shoulder. “Family room. Don’t say a word.”
“We won’t,” James uttered.
“Our lips are sealed.” Nina blew a kiss as Thomas caught it.
* * *
To say I was confused was an understatement. James’s wife was in labor and he was here with me, trying to fix the mess that his best friend and I had found ourselves in. I couldn’t understand the logic, but Thomas obviously did.
“I’d never been so glad for you to bloody arrive and get here,” Thomas began.
“You haven’t,” I said in reply.
“Luke is like a brother to me. He is in knots over you.” Thomas breathed as he continued to pace the room. I bet to try and remain calm. “I’d never known him to be such a stubborn fucker—scrap that; when it’s someone else’s relationship, he loves to be the meddling fool. Just ask James and Nina.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that.
“Did he tell you why he ran?” I asked hesitantly, unsure how much Luke had been willing to share. “He did, and he didn’t like my response. His cousin has always been a twat, and he’s still controlling his life now, and he’s not even here.”
“Not any longer he won’t,” I uttered, as I placed my hands on Thomas’s shoulders as he raised his brow. “I won’t let him run. He forgets you are his family, but so am I. It’s time I made him see that.”
“Thank you, Freddie,” Thomas uttered as he covered my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. “Luke deserves the world.”
“And he’s always got it with me. Now go and help that woman of yours bring that beautiful baby into the world and let me worry about the rest.”
Thomas nodded as we walked side by side together with a mutual understanding. I was going to get my man back—now.
* * *
Thomas pointed out the sign for the family room and I took in a breath as I opened the door. He’d warned me it was literally his family—Luke’s family in there and if I needed to talk alone, then the room we’d just been in was vacant also. If you’d asked me an hour ago, I probably would’ve taken Luke there to protect our privacy, but I didn’t care where he wanted me to be. I’d go wherever he wanted and if that was surrounded by everyone he cared for, then that would be where I’d make him realize I was his—forever.