The Billionaire Playboy's Regret (Lark and Max) novel Chapter 91

Entering the hospital waiting area over eight hours later, Lark was feeling exhausted. She’d been in constant communication with her parents, Max, and Margot, yet she felt out of the loop and lost.

“Daddy?” Lark called her father who was sitting with his hands in his head on a row of chairs. “Where is everyone?”

“Lark,” he got up and hugged her tight, lifting her clear off the ground. “Thank you for coming back. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.”

“Gracie was taken down for the scans they wanted to do. Your mom and Fallon are down in the cafeteria making Johan eat. I can’t eat or leave. If she comes back up here and we’re not here, she’ll be upset.”

“Did they let her wake up again?”

“They did but she’s really groggy. She knows Sawyer is dead. His last wishes were a cremation, and we did it before we even held Mom’s funeral,” Grady spoke quietly, “but we have his ashes waiting for her to do with as he wanted. I let her know we didn’t do the funeral without her. She was pretty distraught.”

“I bet.”

“She called me daddy,” he said blinking back tears, “and then called your mom, Mom. She said she could hear us talking to her and how your Mom made her feel loved.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Lark wiped her eyes.

“She’s really emotionally volatile,” Grady whispered. “All the trauma is coming at her at once. We’ve spent a month getting used to it but she’s starting at ground zero.”

“I called my counsellor, the one I see who helps me with the PTSD from the attempted rape. I asked her if she knew anyone local here in Houston who could help with trauma processing. She is going to send me a list of her colleagues. I brought Max to one of my sessions with her.”

“Did you? How did that go?”

“He said he realized now why I didn’t want to do a bunch of other therapy. She’s pretty intense. I go to her once biweekly, and it can be a lot.”

“I remember the first time we went there with you, and I instantly hated her. I found her so cold until I realized she was giving you what you needed. She read you like a book.”

“She did and still does,” Lark sighed. “Max has a lot of guilt he needs to work through. She’s helping us navigate it.” “Good. How’s he feeling?”

“He’s doing really well,” she rested her head on her dad’s shoulder as they sat back down on the chairs. “He’s putting in the work. If he’s complaining about it, it’s not to me. I haven’t heard a single complaint,” she paused, “Well, other than when I make him unsalted and unbuttered popcorn for movie nights. That gets complaints.”

“You may as well eat Styrofoam.” Grady made a face.

“Ha. He said the same thing,” Lark laughed at her father. “He’s missing you and Olivier a lot. I can tell. You guys are often his sounding boards. Johan is all wrapped up here too.”

“I’m sorry,” Grady said quietly.

“No, Dad. He gets it and so do I. We both agree this time, relying on one another has been good for us. It’s made us stronger as a couple. We have years of friendship behind us but now, we have more and we’re listening to each other and really communicating in a way we never did before. It’s good. Though,” she sighed, “when he wears his retainer, he snores loud, Dad. I mean loud.”

Her dad laughed, “I know. We were on a camping trip one time, and he kept me and Olivier up all night. You’ll need some noise cancelling headphones.”

“Who can sleep with those on?”

“I do,” he laughed, “your mom snores.”

“I heard you, Grady Hoffman,” Everly walked into the room. “I don’t snore. I provide evidence I’m still alive, so you don’t worry about me. I’m considerate,” she winked as she pulled Lark up into her arms and hugged her tight. “Hi sweetie, how was the flight?”

“Not bad. Hardest part was waiting. I wanted to get here.”

Fallon grunted, “I hate flying when it’s that time of the month. Yuck.”

Grady made a face and shook his head, “too much info, Fallon.”

“I’m just saying, I feel bad for Lark.”

“Why?” Lark looked at her in confusion.

“We’ve been synced since I was twelve. Didn’t you hate having to change in the airplane toilet?”

Lark made a face, “Fallon, I’m not on my period.”

“Are we out of sync? Since when? Mori and Ollie are both on theirs too.” She looked at her mom, “you too, right? It’s why Dad and Olivier always said it was like entering hostile territory. All of us are synced up together like a weird version of a sci-fi film. Even Margot was synced with us.”

Everly shrugged, “I started yesterday.”

“Me too,” Fallon waved at Lark and then her eyes widened, “are you pregnant?”

“No. We used protection and,” she made a face. “We haven’t been intimate since before all of this started.”

“You’ve skipped a period, Lark,” Fallon pushed it and then dug her phone out and started texting furiously.

“What are you doing?”

“Asking Margot if she started.”

“She did. She had Max bring me wine yesterday because she said I was cranky. She must have presumed it was my cycle. “She staggered backwards and sat down, “I’m late.”

Grady reached out and took her hand, “hey, it’s been a crazy month. Fallon, ask your new husband,” he said the word with a sneer which didn’t meet his eyes as Fallon hit her hip into his, “to stop by the pharmacy to pick Lark up a test.”

“Why my husband?” Fallon frowned up at her dad.