“Thank you. I’ll need some of my things. Casey, can you go with Aidan and help him pack up what I’ll need?”

Casey’s eyes bulged like Emma had just asked her to help Satan achieve world domination. “I can’t stand being in the same room with him, least of all help him paw through your things!”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Fine then, be an immature ass about it. I’m sure Connor will be happy to do it.”

“Sure thing, Emmie Lou,” Connor replied, stepping forward to thump Aidan’s back. From the way he winced, Emma was sure Connor had hit him a little harder than necessary.

“I appreciate that Connor,” Emma replied. Staring pointedly at Aidan, she said, “Just the essentials. I won’t be staying very long.”

The corners of Aidan’s lip curled into a self-satisfied smirk. “We’ll see.”

“You’re impossible,” she muttered.

“Okay, then, guess we better head out and get started. That way everything will be ready for you when they discharge you in the morning,” Connor said.

Aidan nodded. “Sounds good.”

After a long, drawn out sigh, Casey said, “Fine. I’ll go with you.”

“Seriously?” Connor and Aidan said at the same time.

“Yes,” she snapped.

Connor held his hands up. “Fine. It’s your funeral.”

“Let’s face it. Considering I’m the only one out of the three of us who has a vagina and knows what Em would want, you’re going to need me.”

With a snort, Connor said, “Yeah, well, I’ve known her longest and—”

“You’ve practically got a vagina?” Casey teased with a smile.

“Har, f**king, har!”

Emma laughed. “Would you guys knock it off and get going?”

“Man, you’re already bossing us around,” Connor said, with a grin. He nudged Aidan. “You’re in for a fun two weeks, Slave Boy.”

Aidan chuckled. “I don’t mind. Emma can use and abuse me to her heart’s content. As long as she’s happy and healthy, I’ll do anything she pleases.”

Connor stared at Aidan for a moment and then shook his head. “Yep, you’ve got the love-bug bad, dude. Very, very bad.” He turned back to Emma and winked. “See you tomorrow, Emmie Lou.” He leaned over and gave her a hug and a kiss. Before he pulled away, he whispered in her ear. “Work him hard, Em, but give him a chance too.”

“I’ll try.”

Connor swapped places with Casey who also gave Emma a big hug. “When I’m done, I’ll come back and stay the night with you,” Casey said.

Emma shook her head. “No, no, I’ll be fine. It’s just one night. It’s not like I haven’t spent a few nights in the hospital. It’s just I’m usually on the other side of the bed.”

“Are you sure? Nate’s pulling an all nighter tonight, so I don’t mind.”

“I’m positive. You can come in the morning or to the house tomorrow.”

Casey’s body went taut at the prospect of Aidan’s house. “We’ll see.”

When Casey turned to go, she swung her massive purse around, nailing Aidan in the balls. With a groan, he doubled over, puffing out a few breaths and then sucking them in. Once he recovered, he jerked his head up. His blue eyes narrowed into slits of fury.

Casey gave him a sweet smile. “Oh, I’m so sorry. My bad.”

Aidan muttered under his breath, but he didn’t challenge Casey. “Come on,” Connor said, taking Aidan’s arm. Once Aidan and Connor had gone out the door, Emma called, “Case?”

Glancing over her shoulder, Casey said, “Yeah?”

Emma gave her a tight smile. “Be nice to him, please?”

Casey sniffed a frustrated breath. “How can you ask that of me? You know how I feel about that…douchenozzle!”

“I know, but there’s more to what happened than you understand. So give him a little bit of a break.”

Whirling around, Casey threw up her hands. “Dammit, Em, why do you have to be so nice and forgiving?”

“I didn’t say I was forgiving him. I just understand more now.” At Casey’s continued doubtful expression, Emma said, “Just trust me on this one.”

“Fine, I’ll be civil, but I can’t be nice.”

“Does civil mean you won’t nail him in the balls again?”

Casey gave an evil grin. “It means I’ll try.”

“Try hard, okay?”

She nodded.

“Thank you.”

Casey blew her a kiss before heading out the door. Throwing her head back against the pillows, Emma blew out a puff of air. Her hand went to her abdomen as she continued gazing up at the ceiling tiles. “Please God, please watch over Noah and don’t let anything bad happen to him. Nothing else in the world matters as much as delivering him healthy into this world at the right time.” Closing her eyes, Aidan’s face flashed before her, sending her eyes popping back open. “And if Aidan is truly the one, soften my heart to him…or give me a sign I should move on.”

Her prayers were interrupted by a nurse and an orderly. “Time to move you upstairs.”

The orderly brought the wheelchair over, and Emma swung her legs out of the bed. After she sat down, she smoothed the hospital gown down over her legs. They took a quick trip up the elevator to the 3rd floor. She couldn’t help but wonder which floor Patrick was on. She made a note of her room number, so she could text it to Casey…and to Aidan.

A sweet-faced middle aged nurse came in just as she was getting settled in the bed. “I’m Connie, and if you need anything, you just let me know.”

Emma smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

Once Connie and the orderly left, Emma turned on the TV to try to get her mind off of things. She was enjoying some old reruns of I Love Lucy when a gentle rapt came at the door.

“Yes?” she called, her brows furrowing at who would possibly be knocking.

It cracked open before Pesh stuck his head in. “Hey there.”

Emma inwardly groaned. He was the last person on earth she expected to see. Shooting up in the bed, she smoothed her ruffled bed hair and hoped she didn’t have leftover raccoon eyes from crying. “H-Hi.”

Wagging his finger, he made a tsking noise as he stepped into the room. “Just couldn’t let Mr. Fitzgerald be outdone, huh?”