Yours Truly(57)

The next thirty seconds were the longest he could remember in his life.

“Please, wake up, Kat,” he whispered, cradling her head in his lap. He brushed the hair from her pale face and swallowed down the lump growing in his throat. He needed to stay strong to take care of her.

“What happened?” Chris asked, as the security guard dropped to his knees next to AJ.

“I don’t know,” AJ replied. He moved slightly to the side to give Chris better access to Kat. “She was talking one moment and then she just fell to the floor. I can’t get her to wake up.”

Chris checked her pulse. “We need to get her to a hospital.”

AJ didn’t wait for Chris to say more. He just picked her up and stood. She felt so light in his arms, as if she could just float away on a puff of air and disappear out of his life forever.

Chris lead the way outside to a security van. “Set her in the back. Dave will drive while I start an IV.”

AJ carefully set her down on the backseat, the leather squeaking slightly as he released her.

“Mr. Jacobson, you need to sit in the passenger seat,” Chris informed him. AJ realized he was blocking the door and just staring at her in the backseat.

“Of course,” he murmured before running to the front of the van. He didn’t want to take his eyes off of her for a second.

In the back seat, Chris set up his medical kit while Dave started the engine. AJ watched, wishing that he didn’t feel so damn helpless as Chris cleaned her arm and inserted a needle.

“Damn,” Chris cursed as he searched for a vein. “She’s got nothing...”

AJ tried not to think about what his words meant. She had to be fine. She had to be.

“Can you go faster?” AJ hissed at Dave. The man was driving far too slow. He wasn’t paying the man to go the speed limit after all.

Dave ignored him and reached for the dispatch radio. Without taking his eyes from the road, Dave contacted the hospital. It only took a moment before Dave was repeating the vital signs Chris shouted from the backseat into the radio for the hospital to prep for their arrival.

AJ watched as Chris finally got the IV started and hung a bag of clear fluid from the roof of the car. She was still out cold and he was doing his best not to imagine life without her. She’d only been in his life for a short time, but he knew that he needed her to be there for the rest. No one had ever made him feel like she did. He wished there was something more he could do.

Kat whimpered and her eyes fluttered. It was a good thing he was wearing a seat belt, or he would have jumped into the backseat to be with her. He was grateful and jealous as Chris smoothed her hair and made gentle calming noises.

The red and white sign of the hospital finally came into view and Dave thankfully sped up. The tires squealed as he peeled into the ambulance bay where three people in official-looking blue scrubs stood waiting for them.

He jumped out of the van, anxious to help in anyway he could. The faster he got her into that hospital, the faster she could be all right. AJ helped Chris pick up Kat and put her on the gurney, nearly cursing the man out for not being gentle enough.

“She just passed out,” he said to the closest person in scrubs. “She’s had a stomach bug this past week, but she was getting better.”

“We’ll take good care of her,” the doctor promised, putting his hand on AJ’s shoulder before whisking her through the hospital doors.

AJ followed, anxious and heart heavy.

She had to be okay, or he never would be.





28





Kat



An annoying, rhythmic beeping woke Kat from a dreamless sleep. She wished she could just go back to sleep. In sleep she had been comfortable. Now that she was awake, her arm ached and it felt like it was part of an ice-cold river, not to mention she had a wicked headache. But, on the upside, she wasn’t nauseous.

Cautiously, Kat opened her eyes to see gray ceiling tiles and florescent lights. The bed was incredibly hard and as she looked around, she realized it was actually a gurney and not a bed at all.

She was in a hospital.

She closed her eyes and her hand went to her belly. A cold wave of fear washed over her. Was her child okay? What was happening? How did she get here? What if the doctors had given her something that was bad for the baby?

She took a breath and tried to remember how she had gotten here. She could remember arriving at AJ’s house, but it was fuzzy.

AJ. Her hand tightened on her stomach and she swallowed hard. She was in a hospital with AJ. What if the doctors had told him?

Kat sat up quickly and immediately regretted the decision. The headache became blinding and waves of nausea rolled over her.

“Shhh,” a soft voice comforted her. A strong hand smoothed her hair back away from her forehead and guided her back down to the bed. She knew that touch. It was AJ’s, cool and soothing. “Lay back and relax. You’re okay. Just relax.”