AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re more patient that I am,” Cameron muttered. He pushed past the crowd and slipped inside.
The sight of Lili’s tiny body lying motionless beneath the covers and hooked up to all manner of machines and IVs was overwhelming. He stopped, in shock at the sight.
The doctor was still talking when Rachel heard the door open behind her. She turned, her eyes widening when she saw Cameron, but she said nothing.
Cameron saw the bandage on the side of Rachel’s head and the darkening bruise on her jaw, and for a moment, he was sorry he’d let Danny Biggers live, but then he made himself focus on what the doctor was saying.
“Breathing is better. Blood pressure is stronger, but we’re going to have to watch for other side effects. We’ll know more in the next twenty-four hours,” he said, and then noticed Cameron was in the room. “I’m sorry. And you are?”
Rachel answered for him. “Dr. Leeds, this is my brother, Cameron Pope. He’s the one who found Lili.”
“Good job, Mr. Pope,” the doctor said. “You saved her life. Another hour and we’d be having an entirely different discussion here.”
“Ghost did it,” Cameron said.
Leeds was taken aback by the comment, and it showed. “A ghost?”
Cameron shook his head. “No, a dog. His name is Ghost. He was a bomb-sniffing dog in Iraq. He saved my ass more than once there. We came home together.”
“You both did it,” Louis said. “We’ll never be able to thank you enough,” and he gave Cameron’s shoulder a quick squeeze.
The doctor eyed Cameron’s face. “I’d say your face needs some attention, too. What happened?”
“It’s just scratches from running through the woods in the dark. I’ll heal. Is Lili going to intensive care?”
“Yes, for now,” the doctor said.
Cameron frowned. “What about Rachel? Does she have a concussion?”
“A slight one,” Dr. Leeds said.
Cameron eyes narrowed angrily as he turned to Rachel and Louis. “The sorry son of a bitch. This didn’t have to happen. I want to know why you and Louis weren’t notified he had escaped.”
“I’ve already had that same discussion with local authorities,” Louis said.
When Rachel moved back to Lili’s bedside, Cameron followed.
“Rachel, honey, now that I know Lili’s in good hands and is going to recover, I won’t stay. I need to get Ghost to the vet. He has a bad cut on his right front paw. I don’t know when it happened but he never slowed down and never quit running. I didn’t even know about it until I got him home and saw blood in the car seat and on the floorboard.”
“Oh no! I’m so sorry,” Rachel said. “That dog is amazing. He loves you so much, he’ll do anything for you.”
“Works both ways,” Cameron said, and gave her a quick hug. “Give Lili my love. Tell her Uncle Cam says as soon as she’s all better, he’ll bring her cookies.”
Rachel smiled through tears. “You two and your cookies. I’ll tell her. And just so you know, Louis and I owe you forever.”
“You owe me nothing. Call me to keep me updated on Lili, and go easy on yourself for a few days, too.”
“I will. Now go see to Ghost. Between Louis and me, we have all kinds of extra help at our disposal.”
Cameron passed the doctor on his way out of the room, but the moment he emerged, he was inundated again by the waiting family.
“The doctor says her prognosis is good. They are giving her something intravenously to offset the drugs Biggers gave her. She’s going to the ICU out of caution. That’s all I know. They’ll be out soon and you can talk to them yourselves,” he said, then walked back up the hall and disappeared through the double doors.
Still concerned about Ghost, he ran back to the Jeep, but he needn’t have worried. Ghost was curled up in the passenger seat, and the bandage was still seeping fresh blood.
“Good boy,” Cameron said as he slid in behind the steering wheel. “Now to get Sam out of bed.”
He glanced at the time. It was just after 6:00 a.m. as he pulled up the vet’s number and made the call, hoping Sam was not out on an emergency somewhere.
