slung his arm around my shoulders and hugged me close for just a few moments. “I know, but you’ll drive yourself crazy if you spend the next month worrying. Craig’s not going to be successful with his case. He’s got no chance.”
“I’d like to believe that, but I just don’t know.” I hated the uncertainty winding its way around each of my vital organs in turn. “Even Howard says we can’t be a hundred-percent sure what the court is going to say. Craig is still her father, despite the fact that he’s never acted like it.”
My voice cracked, prompting Chris to drag me into his office. Once we were out of sight, he pulled me fully into his arms and crushed me to his chest.
“We’re going to fight it, April. He might be her father, but that doesn’t mean he’ll get anything he’s asking for. The truth is on your side, remember?”
I released a shuddering breath and tried to blink back my tears. “I know. I just hate this so much. I feel like I’m stuck in a singular kind of hell and there’s no way out until this nightmare is over.”
He hugged me closer. “Are you sure you don’t want me to see if we can get the court date moved up?”
“No. The only thing worse than waiting would be going and losing because we didn’t take the time to prepare properly.”
There were no good scenarios that came from rushing to court. I wanted this fight to be over more than anything, but I also kind of wished the court date would never come. If Craig got unsupervised visits with Adi, I didn’t know what I would do. But if he got custody? I felt sick to my stomach just thinking about it.
I leaned into Chris’s chest and took a few deep, calming breaths. Getting through this wasn’t going to be easy, but at least I had him. And Hunter and Katie and even Luna and Cyrus.
My support system was strong and so was I. I just needed to let them support me. If I was going to get through this case, I’d need all the support I could get. Luna had pointed out to me that they were all there for me and that I just needed to let them be. She claimed that people who accepted help from those who loved them were stronger than those who tried to go at it themselves.
Since Chris had come into my life, I felt like I’d allowed him and everyone else to give me a lot more help and support than I should have been comfortable with. But the last few months had warranted accepting a little help.
Adi’s accident seemed to have been the trigger for a chain of events that had irrevocably changed me. I didn’t feel weaker for that change though. I just felt different.
On the other hand, I doubted any parent could go through what I had and be facing a lawsuit for sole custody and come out unscathed. My baby being so badly injured that she needed months of therapy and still wasn’t completely back to normal would’ve been way worse than bad enough by itself. But this?
It was enough to drive anyone a little insane.
Being enveloped by Chris’s powerful arms and rich scent helped me calm down enough that it no longer felt like I was about to hyperventilate. When he let me go, there was a brief moment of panic before his gaze caught on mine.
“I’m here for you, April. Anytime. Day or night.” He planted a kiss on the tip of my nose before gesturing to the door. “But they’re bound to be finishing up any moment now. Let’s go see how those last exercises went.”
I nodded and closed my eyes, taking another beat to get my emotions under control before I followed him out. Adi knew something was going on but I still didn’t want her seeing me as close to tears as I was every time I thought about the court date.
As we walked out of the office, a nurse came running into the room and looked around wildly until her gaze landed on Chris. “Doctor Matthews? We need you down in ER right away. Everyone else is already busy but there’s a man who’s just come in and he can’t wait.”
“What happened?” Chris barked, immediately jumping into action. “Who’s with him now?”
“He was in motorcycle accident and he wasn’t wearing a helmet. I left Nurse Rhonda with him, but she