by Rachel Hanna
Camden couldn’t think about anything else for the rest of the day. What if Drake was right? All of this time she thought she had done this wonderful thing and saved Sam, but maybe being with him - helping him - would somehow save her in the end.
Chapter 12
Camden went back to Sam’s room that afternoon with a head full of questions. She no longer knew anything about her life anymore. She didn’t know if she loved Preston. She didn’t know if she had feelings for Sam. She didn’t know if her parents had disowned her, or if she would soon be poor.
“Hi there,” Sam said quietly as she entered the room.
“Hi, Sam. How are you feeling today?” she asked as she sat down in the chair beside him.
“Bored,” he said with a slight smile.
“Bored? Well, what would you like to do? Skydive? Roller skate? Maybe do some break dancing?” she asked with a giggle.
“Go outside,” he said looking toward the window.
“You want to go outside?”
“Yes. Break me out of here…” he said with a laugh.
“Let me see what I can do, okay?” she said smiling at him. He was still a very handsome guy, even if he looked a bit disheveled in the hospital bed.
Camden went out into the hall to find his nurse. Today, it was Lily Godfried, a middle aged woman who was as big around as she was tall and had fire engine red hair.
“Lily? Do you think it’s possible for me to take Sam outside? He really wants to get out of his room,” she said.
“That Sam. He is a character, isn’t he? He is bouncing back really well, especially since the stroke specialist and speech therapist were here this morning. Alright, I guess it’d be okay for him to go out for just a few minutes. I’ll get you a wheelchair…” she said as she walked across the room.
Minutes later, Camden wheeled into the room.
“Ta da!” she said as if she was some magician.
“Woohoo!” he said with a smile.
“Now, let’s see how to get you into this thing…” Camden said. She decided to attempt it herself instead of asking for help. It was more about proving to herself that she was capable of helping Sam without nurses coming in. “Okay, I am going to roll this up by the bed. Let me put the brake on…”
Sam was smiling the whole time as he watched her try to figure out the best way to maneuver the wheelchair. Using his right hand and arm, Sam pushed up onto his rear end for the first time in days.
“Wait, Sam. Have you even tried to stand up yet?”
“This morning. Only my right side,” he said with a sad look on his face.
“Are you right handed?”
“Yep.”
“Good.” Camden smiled to let him know it would be okay. She stood beside the bed and he put his right arm around her waist. Her insides fluttered like they never had before.
She pulled sideways until he was standing beside her on his right leg. For a moment, she was looking up at his amazing eyes. It struck her that, in the moment, she felt safer with him as a stroke patient than she felt with Preston at any time.
“Hi,” he said winking at her.
“Hi,” she whispered back. His arm was now draped over her shoulder, and time seemed to stand still for a moment.
“Need some help?” asked Drake who had appeared from behind. Camden was a bit irritated that he had interrupted their one word date.
“Sure,” Camden said pursing her lips.
Drake pulled Sam around and positioned him in the chair.
“Where are you going?” Drake asked.
“Sam wanted to go outside. I told him I would take him for a ride,” she said smiling. Drake smiled back with a knowing look.
“Have fun, Sam,” Drake said winking at him. “I will be here when you get back. We can watch the football game later.”
“Cool,” Sam said waving at his friend.
Camden looked back at Drake as she left the room. “Shut up,” she mouthed at him as he pretended to be Cupid shooting an arrow at them. She rolled her eyes, shook her head and pushed Sam down the hallway.
As they went outside, the crisp air hit them both like a ton of bricks. She turned around and went back inside to ask for a blanket, which a kind nurse gave her.
“Beautiful,” Sam said pointing with his right hand at the mountain leaves.
“Yes, it is. I never get to see the leaves change colors in Atlanta. It is nice to be up here during this time of the year,” she said.
She rolled him around the hospital grounds until they found a place to see an unobscured view of the mountains. She sat down on the ground next to his wheelchair.
“Thank you,” Sam said as he closed his eyes and breathed in the fall air.
“You’re welcome. I know you must be an outdoor guy owning a farm and all. Being cooped up isn’t your thing, is it?”
“No. I love to be outside,” he said softly. “I miss home.”
“I’m sorry, Sam. You are way too young for this.”
“We all have problems,” he said smiling as he looked off in the distance.
“That’s true. We all do…” Camden was back in her mind thinking of her problems. Preston. Her parents. Her career.
“Can I help?” Sam asked.
“With what?”
“Your problems. I give great advice,” he said. She was so happy that his speech was improving. It seemed that the stroke had done little damage to his speaking abilities. He wasn’t slurring his words, just talking a bit slower than he probably did normally.
“Oh, do you now?” she asked laughing.
“I am the country Doctor Phil,” he said with a big belly laugh that she had never heard before. It was like music to her ears to hear his laughter.
“I bet you are!” Camden joined in his laughter.
“Your fiance? Is he mad?”
“I don’t know. I guess so…”
“Go home, Camden. Don’t let me ruin your life,” he said with a serious look on his face. She turned to face him on her knees.
“Sam, you aren’t ruining my life. It was already running off the rails before I met you,” she said smiling as she reached up and patted his knee.
“Tell me about yourself,” he said looking down at her.
“What do you want to know?” she asked with a grin.
“What’s your story?” His question cut through her like a knife. She didn’t know why the question bothered her so much, as it was a valid one. She just didn’t know how to answer it.
“Hmmm… my story? Well, as you know, my name is Camden Lane. I am twenty nine years old, and I went through medical school,” she started.
“Are you a doctor?”
“Technically, yes, I am. But, I don’t practice right now. I decided to take a year off to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.”
“And?”
“Well, I still haven’t quite figured that out yet. My parents want me to marry Preston and become the wife of an up and coming doctor,” she said looking off in the distance.
“What do you want?”
“Sam, we don’t need to waste your nice time outside with my problems. Let’s talk about the weather or the scenery or the upcoming holidays…”
“Camden, don’t treat me like I am disabled.” His words cut through her again. Was that what she was doing?
“I didn’t mean to imply that…”
“I am just a normal man. I can still be your friend,” he said with a slight smile.
For the next fifteen minutes, Camden recounted a lot of her life. The more she talked to Sam, the more she felt a connection to him. She could get lost in his deep blue eyes which were fixed on her face as she talked. She couldn’t recall any man listening to her as intently as he did. He seemed to hang on every word, of course she also knew he couldn’t exactly escape even if he wanted to.
She explained her strange relationship with her parents, her confusion about Preston and her close bond with her best friend, Natalie. She talked about the
hike and finding him at the bottom of the mountain with Jenny. They laughed a few times, and she held back tears at other times. She couldn’t figure out why it was so easy to talk to this stranger.
“Thanks for letting me ramble on like that,” Camden said as she stood to unlock the brake on his wheelchair.
“Thanks for letting me be the one,” he said. Her heart skipped a beat. “The One”? What did that mean?
“The one what?” she asked.
“That you confided in. I like that,” he said with a smile. With that, she started pushing him back into the hospital.
Chapter 13
As the days passed, Camden became well known around the little country hospital. She slept in the pull-out chair beside Sam and became involved in all of his rehab. As each specialist came, she was there to listen in and make sure that they were taking good care of him. Preston called occasionally trying to guilt her into coming home. He got more snide and irritable with each passing call, and she pulled away more and more.
Sam was able to start sitting up more, and they took several more trips outside. As he learned to maneuver the wheelchair with only his right arm and leg, he could be more mobile. The doctors and therapists were very optimistic that Sam would regain his strength on his left side with a lot of therapy. He was able to eat on his own, which was a big concern when he first had the stroke. His voice became stronger and clearer. She loved to hear the country twang in his deep, husky voice.
About two weeks after his stroke, the doctors started talking about his release. Camden felt that familiar anxiety in the pit of her stomach as she realized that Sam would be going home, and she would need to leave. After all, she needed to make some big life decisions. Sam wouldn’t need her anymore once he was at home. Drake and Sam’s sister, Rebecca, would take care of him.
“Camden, can you do me a huge favor?” Sam asked as he sat up in the bed.
“Sure. What is it?”
“I need a shave…. Bad. I don’t feel quite strong enough to do it myself yet,” he said. His face was covered in hair now, and he surely looked the part of a mountain man.
“I have never shaved a man in my life, Sam. Let me get one of the nurses…”
“No, no, no… I trust you.”
“Why do you always do that to me? That’s how I ended up giving you a sponge bath, remember?” she asked smiling.
“Oh, yes, I most certainly remember. I might have had a stroke, but a man is a man,” he replied with a smirk.
“Ha ha, very funny. Fine. I shall take great pleasure in cutting your face with a razor, Sam Steele…” she said as she walked over to the bathroom to retrieve his razor and shaving cream that Drake had brought over.
As she returned, he was sitting up in bed grinning at her.
“What?” she asked.
“You would never hurt me, and you know it.”
Camden sat on the edge of the bed with a bowl of water and some shaving supplies. She started to wet his face with a cloth.
“How do you know me so well? I could be some kind of ax murderer,” she said with a smirk.
“Because ax murderers don’t generally take care of strangers for weeks on end,” he said.
“You aren’t a stranger anymore,” Camden replied as she looked in his eyes. At that moment, she realized that Sam was, at the very least, a close friend now. She could not longer call him a stranger as she had opened up to him more than just about anyone, apart from Natalie.
She began to shave his beard slowly, up the right side and down the left side. She climbed up onto the bed closer, and got onto her knees beside him so that she could lean in closer. He lifted his chin up so she could shave under his strong jawline. She could hear his breathing get more rapid, and she could feel his warm breath on her cheek when she got closer. Her perfume overwhelmed his senses as it lingered in the air.
“Camden?” he whispered when she was close to his face.
“Yes, Sam?” she whispered back, freezing in place.
“Thank you,” he said. She could feel his right hand sliding up the side of her body from her hips to her back to her neck. Before she could think, she was leaning in to meet his mouth with hers. She had no idea what she was doing. What about Preston? Her engagement? At that moment, she didn’t care about anything else but feeling Sam’s warm lips on hers.
She dropped the razor on the bed beside him and reached around to cup his head in her hands. They couldn’t get enough of each other as their tongues battled for first place. His mouth was soft and willing, and she had never been kissed that way before. The passion was so intense that it was hard to breathe, and Camden was well aware that she was kissing a man who had just had a stroke. Worried about his blood pressure or hurting him, she pulled back. His look was one of confusion as she wiped her mouth and stood up.
“Are you okay?” he asked reaching out with his right hand.
“Yes. I am so sorry. I should not have done that…”
“It’s okay, Camden. I was there too. I shouldn’t have pushed you… I know you’re engaged…”
“No, it’s not that. I don’t want to hurt you in some way…” she said, immediately realizing that this strong man would take offense to her remark.
“Camden, you have to stop thinking of me as disabled. Please.” His irritation could be felt in the room. There was a look of hurt in his eyes, and it pained her to think she caused it.
“I’m sorry, Sam. We’re friends, and I should not have taken advantage. I am going to get the nurse to finish your shave…” she said as she walked out of the room so quickly that he couldn’t argue.
While the nurse finished his shave, Camden went outside to get some air. She was stunned by what she had done, but she wasn’t really sorry that she had done it. She wanted to do it a lot more, but giving Sam mixed signals was not a good plan in her mind. She still had to work out what was going on with Preston now that her wedding was a little over two months away. Was she still engaged? She hadn’t heard from Preston today, and their previous conversations were never pleasant.
Her thinking was interrupted by the ring of her cell phone, and just like clockwork it was Natalie making her daily check-in phone call.
“Hi, Nat,” Camden said trying to sound chipper.
“Uh oh, what’s wrong, Cam? Is he okay?” she asked. Natalie had always read Camden like a book.
“Nothing’s wrong…”
“Liar. What is it?” Natalie said.
Camden walked away from the front door of the hospital to make sure that she was safely out of earshot.
“I kissed Sam.”
“What? Seriously?” Natalie was shocked and giddy at the same time. “Score! He is hot, Camden,” she said with a giggle.
“He’s a stroke patient, Nat. That was not the right thing for me to do.”
“He’s a red-blooded American man, right? And they are releasing him soon, aren’t they? What’s wrong with a man and a woman kissing if they feel that desire?”
“Well, I am engaged to be married…”
“Camden, you and I both know that ship has sailed. End it. Preston is the wrong guy for you,” Natalie said.
“You’ve never liked Preston, so you aren’t exactly objective…”
“No, I haven’t liked him. But, I would tell you the truth anyway. I think you are falling for Sam, but you won’t admit it.”
Camden sat quietly. She could never fake out Natalie. She always knew what Camden was thinking and feeling. And, even more importantly, she always called Camden out when she was lying to herself.
“Cam? Are you there?” Natalie asked, worried that she had hung up.
“Yes, I am here.”
“Let me ask you something… and you have to be honest, okay?”
“Okay…”
“When you think of Preston, what is the first word that comes into your head? Quick!”
“Narcissist,” Camden said, shocking herself in the process. Preston had always been more focused on himself than
on her or anyone else.
“And when you think of Sam, what is the word that pops up?”
