But I couldn’t wake up.
Not until hours into the night, when the nightmare faded with the sound of our heat kicking on, and I bolted upright in bed.
Sweat poured off every inch of me, and my breaths were erratic, like I’d just sprinted up and down our stairs for hours. I glanced at Charlie, but she was unfazed, a soft smile on her face as she slept peacefully.
And though I saw her, I saw him, too.
I heard him.
I heard the words I always knew to be true.
The next day, I cancelled the rest of my week’s sessions with Patrick.
I had nothing else left to say.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
* * *
Reese
“Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat?” I asked Charlie the following Wednesday evening.
We had stayed late after school to work with the students who would play at the end-of-the-year gala, and at the very mention of food, Charlie visibly turned green.
“Definitely sure.”
I chuckled, but couldn’t hide my frown as she stacked up the last of the leftover packets we’d handed out that evening. We’d had this on the calendar for weeks, ever since Mr. Henderson gave us the task, but Charlie had come down with food poisoning after lunch. I told her we could move the meeting, but she refused, saying it would be too difficult to get everyone together at a different date and time with such short notice.
She’d been a champ throughout the evening, and no one would have known she was ill if they hadn’t outright asked her. But now that the last students were gone and it was just the two of us, her fatigue and weakness had caught up to her.
She dropped the packets on my desk, the wind from the fall sweeping her hair back.
“I also do not want to drive right now,” she said, checking the time on her watch. “But it’s almost nine. I told Cameron I wouldn’t be later than seven.”
“He’ll survive,” I answered. Crossing the room to where she stood, I took her hand in mine, tugging her toward the door. “Come with me.”
“I really need to go.”
“Twenty minutes isn’t going to kill anyone,” I said, and when she glanced for her phone that had been abandoned on my desk all evening, I shook my head. “And no phone. Just twenty minutes, and I promise I’ll let you go.”
Charlie sighed, but nodded, following me down the hall to the library. It was dark inside, but lit just enough to see by the lights from the hall that I didn’t turn on any others. I led Charlie to the couch in the front study section, pulling her into my arms once I was seated against the left armrest.
Another sigh left her lips as I wrapped my arms around her, kissing her hair and rocking her gently.
“Better?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “It’s so quiet. And dark. And there are no… smells. Except for old books, which I can handle.”
I chuckled, sweeping her hair off her forehead. “I told you to stay away from that tuna casserole in the teachers’ lounge.”
She forced a smile, but it was weak, and it fell just as quickly as it’d come. I just squeezed her tighter, glad I could be there for her when she wasn’t feeling well — glad I could hold her without anyone around again, even if just for twenty minutes.
“I wish we could stay here tonight,” she whispered after a moment.
I sighed, running my hand through her hair. “I know, I do, too.” Then, I paused, a new idea sprouting to life. “But hey, close your eyes.”
“They’re already closed.”
I chuckled. “Okay, mine too.” I wrapped her tighter in my arms, leaning my mouth down to whisper in her ear. “Now, imagine we’re not at Westchester. Imagine we’re at home — at our home. We’re sitting on our couch, in our living room, after a long day at work. I’m holding you while we watch the fire, and you’re telling me about your day, and I’m kissing your neck as I listen to every word.”
I creaked an eyelid open long enough to see her smiling before I closed it again.
“What are we wearing?”
“Oh, that’s easy. Nothing.”
She chuckled. “I have a feeling if that were the case, we wouldn’t be just talking.”
My body responded to the insinuation, and I inhaled a stiff breath, adjusting myself in my pants.
“I wish you didn’t feel like you had to throw up every time you moved right now, because now I’m picturing a very different scene.”
At that, she laughed. “Sorry.”
“Oh, don’t apologize, I’ll make use of this visualization later.”
Charlie shook her head. “I wish we could…” Her voice faded off, growing softer. “I wish I could go home with you, that I could make you feel good tonight.”
I sighed, kissing her hair. “I know. Me, too.”
Charlie said it was past nine when she’d checked the time, which meant Blake would be wondering where I was, too. I didn’t have to look at my phone in my pocket to know it was filled with missed texts and calls from her.
“Maybe we could say we got locked in,” I tried.
“I need to go home,” she said softly, stiffening in my arms with her next words. “And you do, too.”
I rocked her again. “I know.”
I hated that we couldn’t stay, that we couldn’t have that night — one night — with just the two of us. It’d been too long, and I wanted more time alone with her. The moments I was able to steal were never enough.
“Have you told her about me yet?” Charlie asked. “About us?”
My stomach knotted, knowing Charlie had to feel the same way about me going home to Blake as I did her going home to Cameron.
“We’ve talked about this, Charlie. It’s complicated.”
“Uncomplicate it.”
She sat up in my arms, her pale lips downturned as she waited for my answer.
I hated that I put that there — that frown — because in any other situation, I would have done whatever it took to make it disappear. But I wasn’t being a chum when I said it was complicated. It was — more so than I could even explain.
Nothing was black and white in the world we’d found ourselves in.
“Look,” I said, framing her face with my hand. “Every night, Blake comes home with more news about her father. And every night, it gets worse. The only thing she wants to hear from me right now is that it’s all going to be okay, regardless of what happens with her dad, and I can’t give her that assurance by telling her about us.”
“So, you lie to her for her own good,” Charlie deadpanned.
“That’s not what I mean.”
“That’s what it sounds like.”
“Please, Charlie,” I begged. “Try to understand. I know it’s hard, but can you just put yourself in her shoes? Imagine your own father was passing away slowly before your eyes, and the one and only comfort you had was that there was a friend waiting for you at home every night.”
“I get that,” she said, pushing herself up off the couch. She was slow, weak from losing so many fluids, but she waved me off when I tried to help her. “I do. But she doesn’t think you’re just her friend.” She turned to face me. “And I need you, too.”
“Right now, a friend is all I’m being to her. I swear. We haven’t so much as kissed. We sleep in the same bed, but that’s all.” I reached for Charlie’s hand, and she let me hold it as I begged her to believe me. “And you’ve got me.”
“During school hours.”
I frowned. “Come on, Charlie. Don’t be like that.”
“Whatever. It’s fine,” she said quickly, crossing the room. She was already in the hall before I was off the couch. “I should probably get going. She’ll be home soon, and Graham and Christina flew into town tonight. I should make sure they’re all settled in at Mom and Dad’s.”
“Charlie,” I tried, catching up to her. I offered to hold her as she walked, but she shook me off.
“No, seriously. It’s fine. It is what it is, right?”
We rounded into my classroom, and she bolted to my desk, clicking the power button on her phone to turn it back on from where she’d powered it down before our meeting. The screen lit up as it came back to life, and I tugged on her hand, pulling her into me again.
She huffed when I put my arms around her, but I took her chin between my thumb and index finger, forcing her to look at me.
“Do you not understand that I also wish we could be together after school hours? I wish I could come over to your house, or you to mine, or better yet — that we could go completely away from here. But, Blake isn’t the only issue, here.”
She swallowed. “Don’t bring Cameron into this. Not right now.”
“How can I not? Look,” I said, stepping more into her. “It’s complicated. The whole fucking thing. But remember what it felt like when you came to me that night, when we first touched under that fort?”
Her face softened at that, and I took the wiggle room she gave me to slide in more.
“And at the conference? In the rain, and afterward, in my room…”
Charlie closed her eyes. “Yes, I remember.”
“I need you to hold onto that, to those memories, just like I do. Remember how it feels when we get alone, when we have our time.”
“I ruined our time tonight,” she added softly, eyes fluttering open. “Stupid body.”
I chuckled. “You can’t help being sick. I’m just glad I could be here to take care of you and, hopefully, make you feel a little better.”
“You did help,” she said, though she sighed again. “I hope I don’t get you sick.”
“Don’t worry about me. Stomach of steel,” I said, hitting my stomach with a closed fist like King Kong. I bent to kiss Charlie in the next instant and she smiled against my lips, laughing a little as she pushed me away.
“You’re ridiculous,” she said, still smiling, but her face went ash white when she picked up her phone from my desk. “Oh, my God.”
“What?”
“Oh, my God,” she repeated, frantically typing out something on her phone. “It’s Christina. Something happened on their flight over. She’s in the hospital.” Charlie shook her head, still glued to her phone as she blindly felt for her purse and keys. “Shit, everyone’s been calling and texting me. Mom, Dad, Graham, Cameron. They’ve been there two hours now.”
Her face twisted, tears pooling in her eyes, and her hands shook when she finally found her keys.
“Hey,” I said, pulling her to a stop before she could bolt out the door. “Take a minute, breathe, it’s okay. Come here.”
“I have to go.”
“I know,” I said, hugging her anyway. “I know. Please, just take three deep breaths for me. You’re not going to help anyone by getting in an accident trying to speed over there.”
“I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if she’s okay, if the baby…” She choked. “Oh, God, the baby, Reese.”
“Charlie,” I said again, pulling back until I could see her. I held her trembling body in my arms, smoothing my hands over her shoulders. “Breathe.”
She blew out a breath, shaking her head like I was crazy, but then she inhaled long and deep, letting the next breath out slower. I breathed with her, and after her trembling stopped, she opened her eyes again.
“Better?” I asked.
She nodded, though worry still painted her face. “I have to get to them.”
“I know. Drive safe, okay? I mean it. And text me once you know more. Hey,” I said when she started breathing faster again. “It’s going to be okay. You hear me? It’ll all be okay.”
She nodded, eyes finding mine again. “Can you come with me? Please. I just… can you come, too?”
I swallowed, chest aching with the way she watched me.
“I want to, Charlie. I do. But, Blake…”
Her breaths stopped altogether, mouth flattening, and she stepped back from my hold. “Right.”
“She’ll be home soon, and I just…” I tried to explain, but I could see by Charlie’s expression that there was nothing I could say. “It’s better this way. You need to be with your family right now. How would you explain it to your parents, if I showed up with you tonight?”
“You’ve been a part of our family since you were a kid,” she countered.
“Yes, but what are you going to tell them? That you were with me all night at school, that we stayed long after everyone else left? Or that you had already left, but you called me first instead of rushing to the hospital once you turned your phone on?” I shook my head. “Graham will call and tell me soon, and I’ll come to the hospital then. We were supposed to meet up tomorrow evening. He’ll call me, Charlie,” I said again, making her look at me. “And I promise, I will come.”
She let out a long breath, nodding, though I knew she hated the truth of the situation as much as I did.
“Okay,” she said after a moment. “I have to go.”
“Text me,” I told her as we walked out to her car — well, as I walked, and she practically sprinted. I held her door open for her as she climbed inside, holding it open until she promised. “Let me know you made it okay.”
“I’ll try.”
“Charlie.”
She sighed. “I will. And I’ll drive safe.”
“It’s going to be okay,” I repeated.
Charlie tried to smile, but it fell short, and as soon as I closed her door, she backed out of the parking lot and peeled off down the road.
***
Charlie
By the time I made it to the hospital, I was sicker than I’d been all day.
Food poisoning I could handle, but driving across town to the hospital where my brother and his wife were, where my sister-in-law and future niece or nephew were in trouble, where my entire family waited without knowing where I’d been or why I wasn’t there — that was too much.
I couldn’t even relieve the pressure by getting physically sick. I just had to sit and drive, cursing the speed limit and other cars around me as I tried to breathe through the horrible twist in my stomach.
Cameron was waiting outside when I arrived, his hands in the pockets of his work slacks, dress shirt undone a few buttons at the top. His eyes were worn and tired, his brows pinched together as I rushed toward him. I started in a speed walk that eventually turned into a jog, and by the time I reached him, I didn’t realize I’d been full on sprinting until I crashed into his chest.
“Oh, Cameron,” I cried as he wrapped his arms around me, the familiar smell of his cologne comforting me more than I could have imagined it ever would. “I’m so sorry. I had my phone turned off, and I didn’t know, and I rushed here as fast as I could and—”
“Shhh, it’s okay.”
Cameron rubbed my lower back with one hand, the other smoothing over my hair as I shook my head against his chest.
“No, no I should have been here. Is she okay?” I asked, pulling back enough to look up at him. “Christina? Is she okay? Is the baby okay?”
“They’re both fine,” Cameron said, and a sigh of relief rushed through me, making me even weaker in his arms. He held on tighter. “It’s DVT.”
“DVT?” I repeated, and he nodded, smoothing his hand over my lower back again.
I was familiar with the term from my own pregnancy, the acronym short for Deep Vein Thrombosis. We’d been warned of the risk when we were trying to decide if we could fly for a trip on spring break when I was pregnant. We’d stayed local, just to be safe.
“The doctor said Christina likely sat in the same position too long on the flight,” Cameron continued, “which caused a blood clot in her left leg. She didn’t even realize it until they landed and she tried walking on it. The pain got worse the farther she went, so Graham brought her here. But, she’s okay. They’ve got her on blood thinners and a few other cautionary medicines and they’ve got fluids going through her.”
“And the baby—”
“Is fine,” Cameron said quickly. “Heartbeat is st
rong, no stress. They want to keep them here for a while, just to monitor everything and make sure her clot clears up and that they can hopefully prevent it from happening again.”
I blew out a hard breath, running my hands back through my hair. “Oh, thank God. Are Mom and Dad here?”
Cameron nodded.
“I’ve got to call Mr. Henderson,” I said, ripping my phone from my pocket. “Tell him I’m not coming in tomorrow.”
“It’s okay. I already got in touch with him.”
I blinked, thumb hovering over Mr. Henderson’s contact in my phone as I looked back up at Cameron. “You did?”
“I did. I told him the situation and he said to take your time coming back, he’ll get you a sub for the rest of the week.” Cameron squeezed my hip where he held me. “And he sends his prayers.”
“Okay,” I said, relieved. “Well, next, we’ll need rooms nearby. I’ll ask the front desk here what they recommend and get us set up for the next couple of nights, at least.”
“I got us all suites here at the hotel connected to the hospital. It’s just a short tram ride away, takes less than five minutes, and we’re all on the same floor. Me and you, Graham, and I got your parents a room, too.”
I stared at Cameron, my heart squeezing like a sponge under my tight ribcage. “The birds,” I said. “They’ll need someone to feed them and give them water, and the cage, it has to be cleaned every other night.”
“Baby,” Cameron said, pulling me closer. He framed my face with his hands, running his right thumb along my jaw line. “It’s handled. I got it all covered, okay?”
My throat was thick with emotion, and all I could do was nod. It was more than Cameron had said to me in the two weeks since I’d been home from the conference, and every word out of his mouth was as comforting as his hug. He’d handled everything, because that’s what Cameron did — it was who he was.
“Now, the one who needs you most right now is your brother. He’s had one hell of a night, and I remember what that felt like,” he said, swallowing. “Being a father-to-be for the first time is already scary as hell, and to have something like this happen, it’s hell on Earth. So, go freshen up in the restroom, take a few breaths, and I’ll meet you at the room with a coffee. Okay?”
Best Kept Secrets: The Complete Series Page 40
