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I unbuckle the seatbelt, ready to leave the car.
“I’ll come with you,” Sterling announces.
“No, you don’t have to,” I immediately say.
He shrugs before opening his car door. “I want to. Come on.”
I sigh, knowing there’s nothing I can do to stop him as walks over to my side of the car and opens the door for me. Once I’m outside, I look up at the hospital in front of me, my heart pounding in my chest.
Please, please, please let her be okay.
I first met Paige when she was still in high school. She walked into my café when it first opened, all smiles, and asked if I was hiring. I wasn’t at the time, but I guess something about me drewher in. She kept coming every day and we got to talking, and from there we formed a close bond.
She’s a lot like me in some ways. Paige’s dad abandoned her and her mom a couple years ago, and since then they’d been finding it a little hard to survive. Money was tight, so tight that she couldn’t even afford to go to college at the moment. But Paige has never let her experiences bring her down. I admire her so much, and I’m terrified that something bad has happened to her.
When we arrive, we’re told to go up to the third floor where Paige’s mother is. Sterling’s a gentle, reassuring presence at my side. He’s the one who talks to the nurses who direct us to where to go. Paige is currently in emergency surgery, so we find Colleen pacing in the waiting room, tears streaming down her face.
She cries harder when she notices me. I immediately steps toward the older woman, pulling her into a hug.
“It’s okay, Colleen. Be strong,” I say softly. “What happened?”
She starts to speak, her tone a little hysterical. “I’m not sure either, but there was an accident. A truck collided into their car. Paige wasn’t the only one in the car, but she was in the back seat and she had her seatbelt on so she wasn’t as hurt as the other kids. The doctor said she has some internal bleeding and they’re performing surgery right now to fix it. But they’re more worried about her leg. They said it got pretty damaged when the car flipped over and she’ll need a major surgery to fix it otherwise she may never walk again. I-I don’t know what to do, Emilia. How am I going to afford a surgery like that? What am I going to do about my baby girl?”
I hug her closer, rubbing her back in an effort to console her. My heart is still racing as I consider all that she’s said. I’m so grateful Paige is still alive, and I know she’s a fighter and willpull through, but she doesn’t deserve to go through life without the ability to walk. It would crush her. It would crush me.
I’m not going to let that happen.
It takes a couple of minutes but I finally calm Colleen down enough that she sits down. In that time, Sterling’s brought her a cup of water. I offer him a grateful smile as I accept it, handing it to Colleen. Once she’s settled, I get up, walking over to where Sterling stands at the side.
He arches an eyebrow in question as I pull him farther away from Paige’s mother.
“Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate your presence, but you can leave now,” I tell him.
He pauses, and for a minute I think he’s going to argue, but then he offers me a terse nod.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay, though?”
“Yeah. I’m just going to wait for Paige to get out of surgery. Colleen said she should wake up awhile after so I’ll wait for that to happen before I leave.”
“Okay. Just let me know if you need anything, okay?” he states.
I smile. “You’re being such a good person right now,” I can’t resist pointing out. “It feels weird.”
“Don’t get used to it, Cameron,” he says lightly.
“There’s one more thing,” I start, feeling a chill run through me. I struggle to get the words out for a minute, but then they’re leaving my lips quietly. “I’m ready to sell my café.”
Sterling’s eyebrows rise. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look so surprised.
“You’re what?”
“You heard me. You were right earlier. I can’t keep holding on to a café that’s not bringing in much profit. I need to focus on the benefits selling my café will provide.”
He’s visibly confused. I can practically hear the wheels turning in his mind as he tries to figure out what’s changed between now and when we were talking earlier. Then I see understanding dawn in his features when he comes to a realization.
“You’re doing this because of Paige, aren’t you?”
I blow out a breath. “Yeah. Colleen’s not going to be able to afford the surgery and I need to help Paige.”