Page 116 of Somehow You Knew

He’s breathing, but it’s shallow. His skin is pale and clammy, and as I pick up his hand and bring it to my lips, I feel his pulse in his wrists, but it’s weak.

Parker and Cashlynn come running over, stopping short at the sight of Gage lying on the ground.

“Oh my God, Hazel. What happened?” Cashlynn asks.

“I—I don’t know.”

“The ambulance is five minutes away,” Willow announces.

“They need to hurry! I don’t know what to do.” I shake Gage again, desperation clawing at my throat. “Gage…Gage! You have to wake up!”

“Was he feeling off today?” Astrid asks. “Like dizzy, or…”

Realization dawns on me. “No, but he has had dizzy spells before…”

“Fuck,” Dallas mutters, raking his hands through his hair.

My head snaps up. “What did you do, Dallas?” My voice shakes with anger.

“I pushed him…”“Why?” I shove at his legs, making him stumble back. “Why were you trying to start a fight?” Sirens echo in the background, signaling that help is almost here.

Dallas doesn’t say anything as he stares at my husband lying unconscious on the ground.

“Gage,” I choke out through a sob, tears spilling down my cheeks. “Please, baby, wake up.”

And that’s the last thing I remember before the paramedics arrive and take my husband to the closest hospital as I hope and pray with everything in me.

***

“Any updates?” Parker asks as he and Cashlynn enter the waiting area, still in their wedding attire.

I feel horrible that their wedding was cut short, but that’s an apology I can worry about later. The only thing I care about right now is knowing if my husband is dead or alive.

“No, not yet,” Mom says, rubbing my back as she has been since we arrived. She drove right behind the ambulance and has stayed by my side, telling me over and over again that everything is going to be okay.

I want to believe her. Hell, I always want to trust anything that comes out of my mother’s mouth. But I’m not a child anymore. I’ve loved and lost enough to know that life doesn’t always play fair, dreams don’t always come true, and some goodbyes are forever.

I just hope that isn’t the case for Gage.

A nurse approaches us. “Mrs. Kingston?” she asks.

My mother taps my leg. “Hazel, that’s you, honey.”

Launching myself from the chair, I rush over to her. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Come this way, please.”

I don’t bother looking back at my family as I follow the nurse down the hall. “Your husband is stable, but his heart is experiencing irregular rhythms. That’s expected, given his condition.”

My heart lurches. “What condition?”

She stops outside a room, placing a reassuring hand on my forearm. “You weren’t aware of your husband’s HCM?”

“No.” I shake my head, my entire body trembling. “We haven’t been married long, and didn’t know each other well before that, and—”

“Mrs. Kingston, breathe.”

That’s when I realize I’m borderline hyperventilating.

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