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I raced down the hall to the den where the two of them had been playing chess earlier. Seeing James at the table with his forehead braced on his hand, I knew Mila was right to come get me.
I hurried to him and crouched at his side. “What’s going on? Do you feel okay?”
He started to shake his head but stopped abruptly. “Dizzy. Can’t breathe.”
I barked out an order for Mila to stay with him while I called 911, which felt like it happened in a daze. It felt like I was trapped in a nightmare as I gave them my address and relayed James’s symptoms and most recent medical issues.
I stayed on the phone with dispatch, answering her questions and following the instructions she gave as we waited for the ambulance. It felt like it took eons for the EMTs to arrive, but when I looked at the clock, I saw that only five minutes had passed.
They had James on a gurney in less than a minute. “Extremely low blood pressure,” the one EMT told me.
“Could be dehydration,” the other one said.
“Mr. Ryerson, have you eaten today?”
He blinked a few times before he whispered, “Not hungry.”
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Jesus Christ, why hadn’t I made sure he was eating and drinking?
The decision to transport him to Cedars Sinai was a no-brainer. I followed behind the ambulance with Mila in the car. I knew it was a risk that Marcella could show up, but I didn’t give a rat’s ass. James needed to know his daughter was there. If it meant he survived but lost every goddamn cent in his bank account, it would be worth it. I called his head doctor on the way there, and she told me she would contact his other two primary doctors on her way to the hospital.
I thought my stress level was as high as it could go, but it went through the fucking roof when I got to the hospital waiting room and looked at my cell phone. In a text that told me absolutely nothing, Allie dumped me.
I raced outside and called Allie’s phone, but she didn’t pick up, so I left a message. When she didn’t respond to that, I spent the rest of the night in hell. If I wasn’t with James and his medical team, I was texting Allie and trying to figure out what the fuck was going on.
It was the worst night of my life. I was relieved when James started showing signs of improvement with fluids and medication. Still, I was so fucking shell-shocked by Allie dumping me that I couldn’t feel anything other than pain.“How was she today?”
“She’s the same as she was last week when you started asking this question,” Mason answered. “She’s doing her job, but something is definitely off. I’ve tried feeling her out, but she’s always in a hurry. In fact, it feels like she’s almost standoffish with me right now. Whatever is going on with her, I don’t want to push.”
“She won’t answer my calls or texts.”
“I’ve been there,” Mason reminded me. “When Rory stopped talking to my ass and changed her number while I was in another country on a shoot, I almost lost my fucking mind.”
“Yeah, but you figured out pretty quickly why,” I pointed out. “I’m still scratching my fucking head. We were fine, and then she said she wanted to ask me something. The next thing I knew, I got a goodbye text. I’m so in love with her that I bought an engagement ring, for fuck’s sake. I know you’ve said not to come to Chicago, but—”
“Stop. You can’t come to her work. Whatever is going on, you need to let her finish this. She’s enough on edge that I’m worried she’ll quit if you turn up here.”
That took the wind out of my sails in a big way. I was losing my fucking shit without her. From what Mason was saying, she wasn’t happy, either.
“You’re sure I shouldn’t get on a plane?” I asked for the eight billionth time.
“Don’t stop with the emails, texts, and whatever gifts you’ve been sending. Other than that, give her space. She hasn’t changed her number, which is a good sign. If she gets any worse, or I think anything is physically wrong with her, I’ll have your ass on the first plane. Shooting is over in a matter of days, Vaughn. Stay the course.”
Not going to her made me feel like I was being eaten up inside. I hated every second of it. My entire focus was on getting to her as soon as she got back to Los Angeles. One way or another, she had to tell me why she really dumped me. Unless the reason was that she didn’t love me, I would do whatever it took to get her back.
