The water was like a solid wall of ice knocking the wind out of him and cutting at his skin and muscles. It thrust him back and forth in the current and all he could see were shades of light and dark green as the ocean swallowed him. He saw a glimpse of his boat as it sank beneath him and vanished into the black void of the sea. He struggled to keep near the surface of the water, gasping for air when he could get it and trying to stay afloat without using too much energy. Waves washed over his face and salt water filled his eyes, nose and mouth, time and again.
His body grew stiff and cold and he began to feel heavier and heavier, and it became too difficult to try to stay afloat. His life jacket kept him near the surface, but not always immediately above water. He thought he saw a light in the distance and he called out, yelling as loudly as he could and moving his arms, but his muscles were so cold and so tight that he wasn't able to move them much at all, and his voice seemed lost in the wind and waves.
Light began to fade around him, and he felt as though the easiest thing to do would be to close his eyes and slip away from it all, and a few moments later, that's just what he did.
Chapter Five
Cami was laying on her bed, holding Emma in her arms, watching her daughter as she slept peacefully. She touched the soft dark curls at the top of her baby's head and ran her fingertip over her cheek, tracing the curve of her tiny face to the soft round bottom of her chin. She was such a beautiful baby.
Her phone rang and she reached for it, a little surprised. She wasn't expecting a call at all. She looked at the number and saw that it was Janine. She furrowed her brow and answered the call.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Cami? It's Janine." She heard something strange in the woman's voice and sat up in bed.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" Cami felt a little knot begin to form in her stomach.
Janine was quiet a moment, muffling a sniff and a little cry. Then she spoke softly.
"Roman was in a boat accident," she said through tears. "His boat sank, but there was another boat that was able to rescue him. They just brought him in and he's in the emergency room right now. There isn't any news. We don't know if he's going to make it. I can send a car for you right away if you want to come."
Cami leaped from the bed, reached for her shoes, and then picked up her daughter. "Yes, I'll be waiting downstairs by the door. Please send it right away!"
She hung up and put Emma in her car seat, packed her diaper bag, and rushed to the front door to wait for the car. It came in record time and she buckled her daughter in and looked at the city flying past her window, as the car zipped through the streets toward the hospital.
Her heart was in her chest and her whole body was tensed with anxiety as she tried to keep visions of what must have happened, or what could have happened, out of her mind. She chewed silently on the end of her finger and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. Emma was still sound asleep when they reached the hospital.
Janine was in the waiting room looking haggard and rough as if she had been through the ringer. Cami went right to her and embraced her tightly. She didn't know Janine that well, but tragedy has a way of tearing away inhibitors, and there was nothing between them but grief and worry, and in their hug, the comfort of a familiar person who cared.
The nurse came out to them and told them that the doctor had taken Roman to a private room. She led them down the hall and into an elevator that glided slowly up to the third floor.
She took them to a room at the end of the hall, just past a waiting room and refreshment corner. They entered Roman's room and saw him lying still, with his eyes closed, in the bed. He was pale and almost lifeless, and both women gasped and reached for each other when they saw him.
The doctor turned toward them and lowered the chart in his hand. "Hello, I'm Doctor Andrews." He looked at Cami. "Are you his wife?" he asked.
The question jolted her heart and she shook her head. "No, I'm a..."
Janine answered quickly for her. "She's family. I'm his private secretary."
The doctor looked at them both and nodded. "We're only allowing family in at this time," he said apologetically, but Janine stood her ground.
"I'm the only other family you're going to find in this city." She frowned at him slightly.
He looked at Cami. "Do you give her permission to be here?" he asked, sure of the answer.
Cami nodded. "Yes, of course. What's going on with him? How is he doing?" She looked at the doctor with pleading eyes.
The doctor looked back at Roman lying there and placed his hand on the foot of the bed. "He's in an induced coma. The water he was in was about fifty-seven degrees, and he was in it long enough that he went into hypothermia and sustained some serious damage from the cold. We were able to revive him when he came in, but we didn't think we were going to be able to bring him back.
“He was also in shock and his blood pressure skyrocketed. We're running tests to determine the extent of the damage he suffered internally. He has three broken ribs and a sprained ankle, but otherwise his injuries are the result of suffering a trauma, and he will heal. It's just going to take some time. We want him kept in the coma to relax him and allow his body to heal, but I expect we will be able to revive him in a few days." He looked at each of the ladies.
"I'm so sorry. I hope as you do, that he will be alright. Please let me know if you have any questions." He walked out of the room with the nurse and Cami and Janine both went to Roman's side and held his hands, looking down at him and weeping. They stood there beside him for a while, silently hoping and wishing for him to be alright, when Emma woke up and began to fuss.
Janine turned and looked at Cami. "May I?" she asked.
Cami nodded, and Janine picked Emma up, looked at her soft brown eyes and was somewhere between crying and smiling. "There, there, little Pip. You're Auntie Janine has got you now. You're going to be alright. Your daddy is going to be alright too. See him there? He's getting better even as we speak, and in no time at all you'll be playing with him again and things will be alright."
A voice sounded from the corner of the room and both ladies looked up to see the tall, curvy red head walking toward them with a dangerous expression on her face.
"Her daddy?" she asked, looking from Janine to Emma to Cami.
Janine drew her breath in and Cami looked at the woman curiously. She was stunning, though scantily dressed, whoever she was, and she didn't look well at all. Suddenly it dawned on Cami who this woman might be and she felt panic rising up from deep within her stomach.
The woman looked hard at Cami and Janine moved to stand in the way of Denise getting around the bed.
"Denise, this is no time for drama. Roman is in critical condition and he needs to be our main focus right now. We'll explain later, but this is Cami, and this," she said, holding the baby close to her, "is Emma, Cami and Roman's daughter."
Denise's mouth fell full open and she gawked at them for a long minute, blinking in surprise and trying to get a grasp on it.
"That can't be!" she finally whispered.
"Well it is," Janine said quietly. "Now, the most important thing you need to worry about is Roman, Denise."
Denise narrowed her eyes and glared daggers at Cami. "You? You screwed my husband and had a kid with him?" She moved to walk around the bed and Janine stopped her in her tracks. "Not in here, Denise!" she whispered sharply. "You either focus on Roman or get out!”
Denise looked at Cami with sheer hatred. "He had a child and he never told me? He had an affair with you?" She raised her voice sharply and Janine turned and handed Emma to Cami, and then looked back at Denise.
"I warned you,” she said in a low tight voice through thin lips. She grabbed Denise's arm and dragged her out of the room. Cami could hear them arguing in the hall and she looked down at Emma and Roman, wishing it had happened differently. Roman's wife was a gorgeous woman, although obviously medically enhanced, she looked as if she could have stepped out of a magazine. She wondered that such a woman could have such a cold relationship with someone like Roman. She couldn't understand why any woman wouldn't give everything to be with a man like Roman.
Their arguing grew louder for a moment and then there were other voices, nurses, from the sound of it, and then it was quiet again. Denise and Janine came back into the room and Denise was pouting ferociously. Janine reached for Emma and looked at Cami.
"She wants to talk with you, and I've told her that if you want to talk with her, you're welcome to do it out in the waiting room. No negative talk in here, and no fighting. Whatever you two feel like you need to say to each other can be said out there. The only thing anyone is talking about in here is Roman."
She leaned her head closer to Cami. "If you don't want to talk with her, you don't have to."
Cami looked from Janine to Denise and drew a long deep breath, and then sighed. She felt as if she owed it to the woman. After all, she'd just had a double impact; her husband had nearly perished in a boating accident and she found out that he had a child out of wedlock at the same time. It would be enough to shake anyone up.