Free Demanded by Him (Wanted Series #3) by Hazel Kelly

chocolate free one.
    I needed to stop playing with my food. I straightened up and
then slouched again. I needed to figure out if he wanted me there, if I was
doing the right thing by staying.
    “I’m here to see Sophie Jones,” a man said.
    I looked up. He looked just like Wyatt, except older and softer
and with shorter hair.
    The nurse looked up at him. “She can’t have any visitors.”
    “What about my brother? Do you know where he is?” The man leaned
the heels of his hands on the counter and looked around the waiting room.
    The nurse raised her eyebrows. “Your brother?”
    “Her dad. Wyatt Jones.”
    “He’s inside with Sophie now.”
    “I thought you said she couldn’t have visitors.”
    “If you’ll just take a seat, sir, he’ll be done visiting with
Sophie soon, and we should have an update at that time.”
    “I’ll be right here,” he said, pointing to the seat next to me.
    The nurse nodded at him and swiveled away on a chair two seconds
later.
    “I’m Addison,” I said when he turned around. “I believe we spoke
on the phone.”
    He squinted a little like he wished he had some reading glasses.
    I swallowed.
    He stuck out his hand. “Austin.”
    “Nice to meet you.”
    “So were you with Wyatt when he got the call?” he asked, sitting
down.
    “Yes.”
    He squinted at me again. “You look like someone I used to know.”
    I raised my eyebrows. “Who?”
    He waved the question away with his large hand. “Have they told
you anything?”
    I shook my head. “She had a seizure when we arrived, and they
made us leave the room. Last I heard she was in a coma.”
    “Jesus.”
    “I’m sorry I don’t know more-”
    He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “And Wyatt’s
back there with her now?” he asked, nodding towards the grey doors.
    “Yeah,” I said. “He’s been back there for a while. I’m sure
he’ll be out any minute.”
    Austin nodded straight ahead, keeping his eyes on the doors.
    “I’m sorry. That’s a lie.”
    He looked at me.
    “I mean, he’s with her, but I have no idea how long he’s been
back there. Time’s gone all funny and I-”
    “It’s okay.”
    I smiled.
    “And it’s two o’clock by the way,” he said. “There’s a clock on
the wall behind you.”
    I turned around to look at it. It was primary colors and its
hands looked like crayons. “Thanks,” I said, gripping my knees. Then my
eyebrows jumped up my face. All the years in Mrs. Collins house taught me that
feeding people always fixed things. And if it didn’t, it was still worth a try.
I reached for the bag below me and pulled it into my lap. “Can I interest you
in something to keep your energy up?”
    He leaned forward and looked in the bag. “Got a spoon for that
yogurt?”
    I nodded. “Yeah. It’s in the bottom of the bag.”
    He looked past me. “My daughter will probably want that.”
    I turned to look over my shoulder. A pretty blonde woman with an
exaggerated side part was walking towards us with a little blonde girl in a
black leotard and pink shorts, her hair in a tight bun.
    Austin shook his head when they reached us. “We can’t see her
yet.”
    The woman’s mouth formed a straight line while the little girl
stared at me from behind her mom’s leg.
    “Addison,” he said. “This is my wife Karen and my daughter
Gigi.”
    I stood up and shook Karen’s hand. Her eyes looked dark and
rested, like she saw through other people’s shit for a living.
    “Nice to meet you,” I said. “And you, too, Gigi,” I said, lowering
my head and waving at the girl from a distance.
    “Say hi, Gigi,” Karen said.
    “Hi,” she peeped.
    “Hi what?” Karen asked, her hand on her daughter’s head.
    “Hi Alison,” Gigi said.
    “Addison,” Karen corrected.
    “It’s fine,” I said. “You got it.”
    “All we can do is wait right now,” Austin said. “But Addison has
some snacks for you girls so get stuck in.”
    Karen rolled her eyes.
    Gigi raised her eyebrows.
    I