Which wouldn’t be soon, but the hospital had a policy surrounding updates where the care of minor children was concerned. I wasn’t allowed to turn the parents down outright unless very specific sets of circumstances were present. And none of them were present in this instance.
As much of an asshole and as shitty a father as Craig was, he had every right to request information from the physician treating his daughter. Even if he was only there to lay down the law regarding my interactions with April.
He sneered at me. “I’m not waiting around for a report while you fuck my wife. You will stay away from her.”
I didn’t bother pointing out their marriage status to him again. The guy was acting like a Jack Russell who’d pissed on a toy. “April will do as she pleases, as will I.”
Heavy footsteps entering the room had both of us turning toward the door. Hunter stood just inside, frowning and seemingly sizing the other man up.
Recognition flashed in his eyes a second later, and he dropped his duffel bag on the floor. “Is there a problem in here?”
“I see it’s time for me to go.” Craig took a step back from me but glared as he pointed at my chest. “It would be a shame if you lost your license for dating inside the office. Let’s not go down that road.”
He held my gaze for another beat, triumph in his eyes and the way his brows jumped. When he’d finally marched out the door muttering something about how he could’ve fucked up the giant if he’d wanted to, Hunter and I exchanged a look.
“What was that all about?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I’m not sure. I think it was just meant to be a warning.”
“About April?” As he came back up after he grabbed his duffel bag off the floor, he faced me and scratched his head. “I thought they’ve been divorced for years.”
“They have, but he mentioned something about having heard we were spending time together. It doesn’t seem like he was too happy about knowing she might be seeing someone else.”
“What’d you tell him?” He slung the bag over his shoulder and jerked his head toward the office. “I’m going to put my stuff down, so speak up.”
“There’s not much to say. I told him I’d do whatever I wanted and so would April. I’d have said the same thing even if it wasn’t me she’d been on a date with.”
“Sounds like you.” He paused in the doorway and pitched his bag onto the couch from there. “You didn’t tell him it was you, though, did you?”
“No, but I would’ve if you hadn’t come in.” I shrugged. “I’m not ashamed of her and we’re not doing anything wrong.”
“Doesn’t make a difference to a guy like that.” He scratched the back of his head. “I heard him saying something about his wife. I’m assuming he hasn’t gotten remarried.”
“Nope. He was talking about April.”
Worry crept into his eyes as he crossed the room back to me. “You think he’s delusional? Thinks they’re still married?”
“It’s not that.” I released a heavy breath. “I think he got used to feeling like he was still in control of her somehow. She wasn’t dating, she was taking care of Adi all by herself, and he could come and go as he pleased.”
He whistled under his breath. “You really think that’s it?”
“I do.” The corners of my mouth pressed in. “Guys like that always seem to have an issue with control. They’re losers who fuck up everything they even look at, but they get off on feeling like they’re masters of their tiny little universes.”
“Look who paid attention during his psych classes,” he joked as he started up the tablet to check our schedule. “What was that he was saying about losing your license for dating in the office?”
“He doesn’t have any idea what he’s talking about. Don’t worry about it.”
He laughed. “Oh, I’m not. I know there are no rules about dating in this place. Hell, half the people who work here are hooking up, dating, or married.”
“I don’t think he knows that.”
“Well, as long as you know there’s nothing to worry about,” he said.
I glanced up toward the ceiling. “Yeah, I know. Thanks. Who’s up first this morning?”
“Lisa. She’s had her second round of surgery. There’s a note from the orthopedic surgeon saying we need to pay special attention to her lower back.”