Page 64 of What He Always Knew

Food poisoning I could handle, but driving across town to the hospital where my brother and his wife were, where my sister-in-law and future niece or nephew were in trouble, where my entire family waited without knowing where I’d been or why I wasn’t there —thatwas too much.

I couldn’t even relieve the pressure by getting physically sick. I just had to sit and drive, cursing the speed limit and other cars around me as I tried to breathe through the horrible twist in my stomach.

Cameron was waiting outside when I arrived, his hands in the pockets of his work slacks, dress shirt undone a few buttons at the top. His eyes were worn and tired, his brows pinched together as I rushed toward him. I started in a speed walk that eventually turned into a jog, and by the time I reached him, I didn’t realize I’d been full on sprinting until I crashed into his chest.

“Oh, Cameron,” I cried as he wrapped his arms around me, the familiar smell of his cologne comforting me more than I could have imagined it ever would. “I’m so sorry. I had my phone turned off, and I didn’t know, and I rushed here as fast as I could and—”

“Shhh, it’s okay.”

Cameron rubbed my lower back with one hand, the other smoothing over my hair as I shook my head against his chest.

“No, no I should have been here. Is she okay?” I asked, pulling back enough to look up at him. “Christina? Is she okay? Is the baby okay?”

“They’re both fine,” Cameron said, and a sigh of relief rushed through me, making me even weaker in his arms. He held on tighter. “It’s DVT.”

“DVT?” I repeated, and he nodded, smoothing his hand over my lower back again.

I was familiar with the term from my own pregnancy, the acronym short for Deep Vein Thrombosis. We’d been warned of the risk when we were trying to decide if we could fly for a trip on spring break when I was pregnant. We’d stayed local, just to be safe.

“The doctor said Christina likely sat in the same position too long on the flight,” Cameron continued, “which caused a blood clot in her left leg. She didn’t even realize it until they landed and she tried walking on it. The pain got worse the farther she went, so Graham brought her here. But, she’s okay. They’ve got her on blood thinners and a few other cautionary medicines and they’ve got fluids going through her.”

“And the baby—”

“Is fine,” Cameron said quickly. “Heartbeat is strong, no stress. They want to keep them here for a while, just to monitor everything and make sure her clot clears up and that they can hopefully prevent it from happening again.”

I blew out a hard breath, running my hands back through my hair. “Oh, thank God. Are Mom and Dad here?”

Cameron nodded.

“I’ve got to call Mr. Henderson,” I said, ripping my phone from my pocket. “Tell him I’m not coming in tomorrow.”

“It’s okay. I already got in touch with him.”

I blinked, thumb hovering over Mr. Henderson’s contact in my phone as I looked back up at Cameron. “You did?”

“I did. I told him the situation and he said to take your time coming back, he’ll get you a sub for the rest of the week.” Cameron squeezed my hip where he held me. “And he sends his prayers.”

“Okay,” I said, relieved. “Well, next, we’ll need rooms nearby. I’ll ask the front desk here what they recommend and get us set up for the next couple of nights, at least.”

“I got us all suites here at the hotel connected to the hospital. It’s just a short tram ride away, takes less than five minutes, and we’re all on the same floor. Me and you, Graham, and I got your parents a room, too.”

I stared at Cameron, my heart squeezing like a sponge under my tight ribcage. “The birds,” I said. “They’ll need someone to feed them and give them water, and the cage, it has to be cleaned every other night.”

“Baby,” Cameron said, pulling me closer. He framed my face with his hands, running his right thumb along my jaw line. “It’s handled. I got it all covered, okay?”

My throat was thick with emotion, and all I could do was nod. It was more than Cameron had said to me in the two weeks since I’d been home from the conference, and every word out of his mouth was as comforting as his hug. He’d handled everything, because that’s what Cameron did — it was who he was.

“Now, the one who needs you most right now is your brother. He’s had one hell of a night, and I remember what that felt like,” he said, swallowing. “Being a father-to-be for the first time is already scary as hell, and to have something like this happen, it’s hell on Earth. So, go freshen up in the restroom, take a few breaths, and I’ll meet you at the room with a coffee. Okay?”

Tears were flooding my eyes again, but they didn’t fall. I forced a breath to hold them back, squeezing Cameron’s forearms as he let me go. “Okay. Thank you, Cam.”

He smiled, tucking his hands back in his pockets as I took a breath and headed into the hospital.

I rushed through the halls, asking nurses along the way to make sure I was headed in the right direction. All the while, my mind swirled with thoughts of Cameron.

He didn’t even ask where I was.

And, what was worse, was he likely already knew.