Page 69
Nate
I found Ollie in what basically amounted to an exam room rather than the ICU-type room Cameron was in.
While his injuries had seemed serious at first glance, they were milder than anticipated, so he’d been moved to a smaller room.
He had a blanket tucked over his legs and stomach, and his arms were propped behind him on the pillow.
When I opened the door and peered inside, he gave me a grim look.
“Doc?” he said. “Please, don’t castrate me. My testicles have so much to live for.”
“You’re a dumbass, you know that?” I said, closing the door behind me.
He grinned and sat up. “Sorry. I use humor to cope with boredom.” The smile faded as he eyed me. “You know this might have all been avoided if you hadn’t run off. You were like a kid who got pissed and took his ball home.”
Shame, deep and painful, washed over me, and I nodded. “Yeah. Probably true. Rick wouldn’t have dared try attacking us if I’d been there.” I tried to crack a joke of my own. “He saw what a pussy you were, and that’s what sealed the deal, right?”
Ollie rolled his eyes. “Sure. We’ll go with that.”
“I can’t believe you let that fucker get the drop on you.” I shook my head. “You’re losing your touch in your old age.”
Ollie adjusted himself in the bed, wincing slightly.
“Yeah, yeah. Next thing you know, I’m gonna have to schedule a prostate exam and a colonoscopy.
” He gave a grin, but then it vanished as he gestured toward the door.
“Look, man, I heard a bit of what you and Cameron were talking about back at the campground. If you want me to finally put a word in for you, I will. I’ll pull JC in here right now and vouch for you. ”
Sighing, I glanced back at the door, then turned to Ollie again. “Maybe. If I can talk myself into it. But only after Cameron is safe and all this is settled.” I shrugged. “If they even want someone like me in their pack.”
“For fuck’s sake, Nate, you aren’t feral.”
“Not yet,” I said.
One day, it would happen. If I never joined a pack, I’d end up going mad just like Lenny Nash had.
I’d come to terms with that. The only reason I had any contact with packs was to make money and keep myself from becoming feral.
Being around shifters would hold it at bay, but without the acceptance and support of a real pack, I’d snap.
I’d become some slavering psycho like Lenny Nash.
The thought of that happening was always at the back of my mind.
A knock interrupted us before the conversation could go much further. Cameron’s mom, Sophia, peeked around the door.
“Oh, hello,” she said hesitantly.
“Come in, Ms. Torres,” Ollie said, shifting his tone away from the chiding friend to the businesslike policeman.
“I wanted to thank you both for helping my daughter,” she told us.
“Not a problem, ma’am,” Ollie said.
“Yeah,” I added. “It was nothing.”
“That’s not true,” she said, but she was smiling.
Her eyes darted around the room, and I thought I could see some wheels turning in her head.
Sophia was a nurse, and she certainly wasn’t dumb.
This secret clinic had to be sending alarm bells off in her head.
Honestly, I’d been shocked when JC told me to contact her and get her here.
“What is this place?” she finally asked, removing all doubt from my assessment.
Ollie and I shared a look, and without missing a beat, Ollie said, “It’s a special police triage unit. Mostly used for worse injuries than this. It was the closest place we had to care for Cameron.”
Sophia nodded, but from the look in her eyes, I knew she saw through the bullshit. Thankfully, for now, she left the subject alone.
“I should be thanking Cameron, actually,” Ollie said, trying to steer the conversation in a less dangerous direction. “She’s the one who called for help.”
“She’s a good girl,” Sophia said softly. “You two should come over for dinner sometime. I can make you boys a big dinner to thank you.”
At the mention of food, saliva filled my mouth, and my stomach cramped with hunger. When was the last time I’d eaten? Dinner the night before? The only thing I’d put in my stomach all day was a shot of whiskey and a beer. That was a long time for a shifter to go without food.
“We wouldn’t want to impose,” I said.
“Right,” Ollie said. “You guys have been through enough without the two of us taking up your time.”
“No,” Sophia said in a stern, motherly tone. “It’s the least I can do. I told JC you three deserve a lifetime supply of arepas . One meal won’t hurt anything. Please?”
Ollie and I shared a look, then shrugged.
“Sure, why not?” Ollie said.
I smiled and nodded, but stayed silent.
“Nate, would you like to see Cameron? She’s awake,” Sophia said.
I was on my feet in a flash. “She is?”
Sophia nodded. “JC is speaking to her, but I think he’s about done. I’m sure she’d like to see you.”
“I wanted to check on her,” I said.
Happiness and excitement burst through me.
Cameron was awake, which meant she was probably okay.
As quick as that happiness had appeared, it vanished, and trepidation took its place.
Our reunion at the campground had been joyous but brief.
She’d passed out within minutes of me arriving.
We’d have to sort out the feelings our fight— war was a more apt description—had stirred up.
But at least she was safe and sound here.
“Well, come on, then,” Sophia said, waving me on.
Standing, I glanced back at Ollie. “You good?”
He shrugged and smiled bitterly. “I guess so. They say they might release me today. Looks like I’m not even gonna get a sponge bath from a hot nurse. This is the most disappointing hospital stay ever .”
I snorted a laugh, then followed Sophia into the hallway. We didn’t immediately walk down to Cameron’s room. Sophia stood still until Ollie’s door latched, then she looked at me, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Is something wrong, Ms. Torres?” I asked warily.
“Call me Sophia. And I’m not sure.”
I frowned. “Are you gonna tell me what’s up, or will I have to guess?”
She sighed and gazed around the clinic. “Something strange is going on. I know that. I can see that, but I’m not sure what.”
Unease trickled up my chest, burning the back of my throat like acid. I did not want to have this conversation right now. If anyone was going to take a chance and tell a human about our existence, it needed to be JC.
Thankfully, Sophia shook her head. “What I really wanted to talk about was Cameron.”
I leaned back, kicking one foot up to rest on the wall behind me. “What about Cameron?” I asked.
“Well, she’ll probably be mad that I’m saying this,” Sophia said, “but I’m not blind.”
“Not sure I’m following you,” I said.
“There’s a connection between you two. I can see it,” she went on, and she looked at me with what I could only call hopefulness. “She’s always had a hard time making connections to people. The only person other than family she’s ever become attached to is her friend Lesley.”
“Hang on,” I said, holding up my hand. “She was close to being engaged to Rick. You don’t call that a connection?”
Sophia surprised me by turning her head and feigning spitting on the ground.
“Bah, pendejo . No.” She shook her head firmly.
“That was Cameron grasping at straws. I knew it and tried to get her to see that, but she was too blinded by her hopes and dreams of a happy life.” She hung her head and frowned.
A sad, guilty look flashed across her face.
“It’s partly my fault for the life I’ve given her since Callum vanished. ”
“Callum?” I narrowed my eyes. “Is that her birth father? She said she never knew him.”
She nodded. “He disappeared when she was only a baby. Even though she has no memory of him, I think there’s a hole inside her.
A missing piece that neither I nor Gael can fill.
I’ve always worried that she blames herself for Callum leaving.
That vacuum inside her heart could never be filled.
I watched her try with boyfriends while she worked her way through high school and college, but she never allowed herself to be vulnerable enough to let love in. ”
She sighed and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. This was a strange conversation, and if I knew Cameron half as well as I thought I did, her mother was right that Cameron would be pissed she was telling me all this.
That being said, I was curious beyond belief and wanted to know more about her.
“So what was Rick, then?” I asked.
“We’ve had a rough go of it,” Sophia admitted.
“That’s always been a point of stress for her.
It’s all my fault. I’ve been searching for someone to love the way I loved Callum, and I haven’t been the best judge of character.
When Gael’s father walked out, things got even worse.
Too bad there aren’t any time machines to go back and change things.
” She shrugged. “Cameron craves structure and support. She knows she can’t stay with me forever, and she’s trying to find something to fill that void.
Rick came along and slid right into her life.
He had the money, the success, the looks—everything she thought she needed for structure.
But even from the beginning, I could see it wasn’t true emotion. ”
“This is getting really deep. What are you trying to tell me, Sophia?”
“I’m rambling,” she admitted, rubbing her temples. “Sorry. What I’m trying to say is that you have to give my girl time. She’s built some very strong walls around herself. If you want to be with her, you’ll have to navigate that. It might take her some time to come around. That’s all.”
I nodded slowly. “I think I can do that.”
She huffed out a little breath. “Good. Let’s go check on her.”
Table of Contents
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