Page 77 of The CEO and the Mountain Man

“Well, sir, maybe not in a low-stress environment. But you were thrown from your horse. And you broke a bone and were losing blood. Your body immediately went to source glucose to take care of the pain and the repair work, and there was none. That’s why you kept passing out.”

River was shaking his head, distraught. “Dad…”

“Still not letting you take the blame for this one, son. I promise I will be more careful about my calorie intake. I just… Every time I think about the fact that I almost lost you, and when I see how awful this has been for you, that I would do anything to take it away from you, I feel so...” I swallowed heavily. “Helpless. It makes my stomach riot at the thought of food sometimes.”

“But you have been helping me,” he said, almost angry. “You made sure I got therapy, you didn’t force me to take summer school, you dragged me all the way out here…”

“I also brought supplies so that you could have your little summer fling with Miguel…” I cracked, going for the bad joke.

River shot me the finger, but a smile slipped through anyway.

The doctor chuckled. “Sexual health is important. But so is metabolic health, Mr. Jensen. I can provide some suggestions for you to take to your doctor back in Chicago, but the biggest one is gonna be getting more calories on a regular basis.”

“I can do that.” I grabbed River’s hand, shaking it until I had his eyes on me. “Honestly, I was just trying to keep up. You aren’t the only dramatic one.”

River snort-laughed because I was ridiculous, then collapsed in on himself. His shoulders turned inward, shaking as tears streamed down his face.

Father of the year, right here.

“You really scared me, Dad,” he said through snot and tears.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” I turned to the doctor. “Do you need anything more from us?”

“Not at the moment. But this could’ve been much, much worse if you hadn’t had the help you did. The hypoglycemia was the most dangerous element.”

“I hear you, Doc. I’ll do a better job of staying on top of the calories.”

“Good.”

The doctor left, but the nurse stayed behind and squeezed River’s arm. “My station is right outside this room. If you need anything, just ask.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

River’s crying jag ended as abruptly as it’d begun, leaving him standing there, looking lost.

“Come here, son,” I said, gesturing with my good hand. “I’m okay. My dad jokes aren’t going anywhere, and you never came close to losing me. Sorry, you’re going to have to wait for your inheritance just a bit longer.”

River set aside his stick and carefully crawled into bed on my good side. “Shut up. And stop making jokes.”

“Nope.”

“Ugh. So embarrassing,” he muttered, touching his forehead to my non-injured temple.

We lay there for a long time, breathing in sync with one another.

“So, this trip to Snow Creek … a spectacularly bad idea or…”

He gave a wet laugh. “You’ve had worse ideas.”

Chapter 23

Clark

Aknock at the door woke me. River was still attached to my side.

“Yes?” I called out, and River stirred.

Miguel poked his head into the room. “You boys taking visitors?”