Begin Again novel Chapter 208

"Can you please slow the fuck down?" Matthew shouted in the passenger seat, sweating buckets as he held on to the grab handle for dear life.

Liam, though, didn't even notice his palpable fear. His mind was drowning in a million questions as he raced through the streets. He knew Matthew would get a speeding ticket or two because of his reckless driving. But he didn't care; his only concern was getting to the emergency room.

"Yeah, dude, you're gonna get us killed if you don't chill!" Julian, grabbing on tight to Matthew's headrest, voiced his fears from the backseat.

"Can you both shut the fuck up?" Liam screamed at the brothers when he briefly lost Cassandra's Jeep. "I need to think!"

But he couldn't think, not when his mind was swimming with questions, and raw terror still gripped his heart.

His son was out of danger, thanks to Eden's nerves of steel and her uncanny ability to remain level headed in a crisis. But, Liam's heart was still in pieces at the revelation that Aiden almost died from an allergy he likely inherited from him. The same allergy that had almost ended his budding relationship with Eden when he overreacted over her innocent mistake.

"He's okay, right? He was breathing when Eden took him, right?" Liam turned to Matthew for assurance, wishing he'd tell him the past fifteen minutes were simply a nightmare he'd soon wake up from.

"You need to calm down and keep it together," Matthew said.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Liam raged and banged his hand on the steering wheel. "Aiden almost died, and you're telling me to calm down!"

"I think what he meant—" Julian tried to say, but Liam's phone going off in his pocket paused his mediation speech.

With one hand still on the wheel, Liam pulled it out and threw it on the dash when he saw it was James. He was not in the mood for another lecture on security protocols.

"Can we talk about how awesome Eden was, though? I mean the way she handled that shit. She was final-boss level mode!" Julian rambled from the back. His voice, much louder than it normally was, was a huge giveaway he's anxious. Like Liam, he often rambled when he was scared out of his wits.

"She was. She's obviously done it before." Matthew agreed and glared at Liam. "And to think you gave her such a hard time over the cookies—"

"Do you have to bring that up right now?" Liam barked and kept his eyes on the road, hooting at the car in front of him to get the hell out of the fast lane. It's not for pussies. When they refused to move, he flashed his headlights and signalled before he overtook them.

"Yes, I do!" Matthew snarled right back. "I think it's quite relevant, don't you think? I mean, you gave her such a hard time over your allergy. The same allergy you seem to share with your son."

"I still think she deserves an award for her nerves of steel." Julian carried on singing Eden's praises.

Feeling incompetent, irrelevant and inadequate, Liam couldn't agree more. Eden had needed him, but his fear had frozen him in place, and he'd failed her terribly at the most crucial of times.

"Did you know allergies are hereditary?" Matthew asked.

"They're quite common," Julian leaned forward and waved his phone to show off his Google search history.

"That's not what I asked!" His brother groaned in frustration.

Liam ignored both of them and slipped into morbid silence, thinking back to what Brenda had said. She'd looked away for a second. But while she was distracted, however briefly, someone had gotten very close to his son to slip him something to eat.

What were the chances that it was—

No, Liam mentally shook himself. There was no way it could have been the Ivanovs. Not when James and his men were hovering nearby. It had to be someone in the crowd, and they'd innocently given his son something to eat because he was so cute and cuddly.

The idea that a random stranger could give his son something to eat didn't sit well with him, but he preferred this possibility. It was better than the alternative.

Aleksei was a bastard through and through, but Liam wanted to believe he had a shred of conscience and wouldn't go after a baby.

Wouldn't he, though?

His phone beeped again, putting an end to his troubling thoughts. He reached for it and read James' text, his body quivering with relief.

"It was an old lady," he announced. "It wasn't Ivanov."

Matthew stared at him and waited expectantly. Julian, too, drilled a hole to the back of his head with his eyes.

"James pulled the security footage from the aquarium, and it turned out some old lady gave Aiden a piece of chocolate," Liam explained.

"And you thought it's the Ivanovs, why?" Julian asked. "Do you know how insane that sounds? You need to handle this shit with Aleksei fast. It's starting to mess with your mind. You can't keep looking over your shoulder like this."

"What's taking them so fucking long?" He growled as he slipped the phone back in his pocket and paced the corridor.

"It's only been fifteen minutes," Julian pointed out.

Liam ignored him and headed to the accounts department to settle the medical bill. Everyone was still waiting when he returned, but Matthew was now sitting way too close to Cassandra, and Julian was the obvious third wheel, but he wasn't getting the hint for some reason.

"Anything?" He asked.

Julian shook his head and stared at the clock while Matthew and Cassandra carried on chatting in hushed tones, and Brenda kept herself occupied with her hands on her lap on the opposite bench.

The examination room door opened, Eden came out, bouncing Aiden on her hip.

Liam's heart lurched from his throat back to his chest, and a giant wave of relief thrashed his body, threatening to knock him off his feet as he watched mother and son blow kisses at each other.

If he didn't know better, he would have assumed they just came in for a routine checkup; that's how normal and happy they looked. The horror they'd gone through just a few minutes ago was already a memory he hoped would soon fade with time.

Eden looked up and threw him one of her radiant smiles, and Liam knew then they were okay. She wasn't furious or disappointed with him for failing her when she had needed him the most.

He opened his arms, and she danced into them. And for the shortest two minutes, he held them both tight, refusing to let them go even when Aiden began to squirm and complain.

"He's okay," Eden said as she tapped his back gently. "You can let go now."

"No! I need another minute." He shook his head, and he held her tighter. "I love you both so much. I don't know what I would have done if something happened to our boy."

"He's okay," she assured him again. "But very soon, he'll be knocked out from the medication. It's been a long day for him."

"And you," he kissed her nose and took Aiden from her. "Let's go home."

"Yeah, let's do that," Eden agreed as she laced her hand with his, and he led them to the dispensary to refill their son's prescription.