Chapter Forty-Seven
NASH
Nash hadn’t understood what Brandon meant about doctors being brazen until the moment the cardiologist in India told them Kiran’s father had passed away. Nash knew from firsthand experience that hospital staff distanced themselves from crises so they wouldn’t take the tragedies home…but what about the families themselves? They had to go to empty homes.
Nash could read Kiran’s devastation in her eyes. How would her mother go home without her father?
But the doctor continued speaking, and it took concentration to recognize his misguided attempts at explaining what the end game was.
“Ma’am, there was an unexpected complication… He flatlined—”
“Is he alive?” Nash asked.
“Yes, sir. He gave us a scare, but he is in recovery. We will see for the next three days how he does and then continue to monitor him.”
“My dad is alive?” Kiran’s voice emitted a cry, laugh, and sigh of relief all at once.
“Yes, ma’am,” the doctor said, relief flooding his voice that his message had been heard. “A nurse will alert you when he wakes.”
The doctor left the room.
Kiran glanced up at Nash, exhaustion in her eyes and joy on her face. Nash kissed her again.
“He made it, baby. He made it.”
Kiran leaned against the door of the tiny waiting room and slid down it, rubbing her sleep-deprived eyes with her palms. Her shoulders dropped in relief, like a tsunami wave.
Nash bolted to her side. “Kiran, come here,” he said softly as his arms found their way around her shoulders. “It’s okay.”
Kiran cried into his shoulder for another five minutes. Nash let her pour out the tension she’d been feeling—for her sister, for her mother, for her entire family and the years they’d lost. This was far more than a physical victory for her father. Nash knew it was a victory for all of them.
“He made it. He’s a Mathur, baby. What did you expect?” Nash murmured.
Kiran looked up at him suddenly as her eyes widened. “What did you just say?”
“I said ‘He’s a Mathur.’”
To Nash’s slight bewilderment, Kiran laughed and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him straight to the floor next to her.
“I love you,” she said to him.
Nash felt his mouth fall open, caught off guard by the emotional weight of the moment, but she spoke again.
“You said you loved me when you got here…and I love you too, Nash, so much.”
Nash leaned down and kissed her softly, gently sucking on her bottom lip. She gasped and pulled at him hungrily. Her sounds of wanting him turned him on, and he had to force himself to get up.
“Let’s go, baby. You have to tell your mom and sister that your dad’s coming home. I’ll be at the hotel… Meet me there when you’re able to.”
Kiran wiped her eyes, giving him one more hug.
She left to meet her family, and Nash walked through the lobby to find Mohammad again. He wanted to get back to the hotel—he had an email to write.