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Another knock sounded and Cal appeared before I could even look up, a grave expression on his face.
“What? What is it, Cal?”
“It’s Megan. She’s here.”
The tension filled my body and I leaned back in the chair, willing my heart to slow down. “Oh. Send her up.” She must have some type of surprise for me if she sent Cal up instead.
“No Case.” Cal shook his head slowly and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. “She’s been admitted here. Persy brought her in.”
“Shit.” I was on my feet in a hurry, falling into step beside Cal as we rushed downstairs to the emergency department. “What happened? Where is she?”
“In an exam room right now, Persy is with her. I don’t know what happened.”
I nodded, barely hearing his words as a sense of déjà vu hit me all over again. “This can’t be happening.” We were just finding out way back to each other, again. “This can’t be happening.”
Cal smacked a hand down on my shoulder. “First of all, nothing is happening. Megan wasn’t bleeding and she was inside the bakery, that much I got from eavesdropping.”
“Thanks.”
Cal stopped in front of exam room C and nodded. “She’s in there.”
“Thanks, Cal.”
“I would say it’s my pleasure, but it’s not. Go in and see your woman. Holler if you need me.”
I nodded and put both palms flat on the door. I inhaled deeply and held the air in my lungs for ten full seconds because I knew I needed to prepare myself for any possibility. Whether she was injured or bloody and bruised, I had to be prepared. Whatever it was, I would be there for her. The breath slowly released and I squared my shoulders, and then I pushed the door open.
“Casey.” Persy was in front of me so fast I barely had time to register anything else. “I don’t know what happened, but I was driving past the bakery and the lights were still on so I figured I’d stop in to check on Megan or threaten to tell on Cody for entertaining his friends in the bakery. The door was unlocked and I found Megan passed out behind the counter.” Her hands balled into fists at her sides and her head fell forward. “I brought her straight here, but I’m sure it’s nothing. Nothing at all. Right?”
I nodded absently, ignoring the tears, the very real fear that was present in Persy’s violet eyes, because I couldn’t let myself think the same thoughts going through her mind right now. “Right, of course. You know how Megan is, sometimes she gets so busy creating that she forgets to eat.”
“I’m sure that’s it.” She tried for a smile, but her heart wasn’t’ in it. “Megan is going to be fine, Casey. She has to be.”
“She will be.” I infused my voice with a certainty I didn’t feel because it was all I had at the moment and I couldn’t bear to see Megan lying on a hospital bed, again. Seemingly lifeless, again. “She will be.”
Persy nodded and turned to Megan’s still form with a soft smile before she kissed her on the forehead and turned to me. “I’ll go wait for Jen and Bob.”
“Thank you, Persephone.”
Her smile softened again. “You must be worried if you’re full naming me.” Then, before she could think better of it, she wrapped her lean arms around me and squeezed tight. “She will be fine.”
Alone with my wife, I stood at the side of her bed with her hand in mine, willing her to wake up. “Come on, babe, show me those big green eyes. I need to see them. Please.” Her hand was soft and smooth, but limp in my arms.
One tear slid down my cheek and I dropped into a hard plastic chair, putting her hand to my heart, willing her to wake up.
The door opened and startled me, but I knew it was the medical team that would check her vitals and run tests to figure out why in the hell she was found on the floor of the bakery.
“Dr. Jackson. We’re just going to take her for a little while. Why don’t you go grab some coffee?” Melanie Gibbons looked at me with a kind smile and laid a hand on my shoulder. “We’ll take good care of her. Promise.”
“Thanks, Mel.”
She nodded and helped another nurse wheel Megan away, all the while I sat there just staring at the empty spot where my wife had been just moments ago. She had to be all right, there was no other acceptable option. None.
She was finding a new path forward with the bakery and I was proud of her. Yeah, it took me longer than it should have to come around, to support my wife the way a husband should, but I was there now. I was happy for her and proud of her, and all I wanted was to see exactly how my amazing wife would pull it off.
