Page 48 of Second Chance Fate

A few days. No. She couldnotstay here for a few days. Taylor bit her bottom lip and looked away as fear flooded her system. The fluorescent lighting buzzed above, casting a harsh glare on everything it touched. The all too familiar soundtrack of the hospital—the whirring and whooshing of ventilators and respirators, beeping and buzzing of monitors and alerts, constant hum of HVAC and air conditioning, squeaking wheels of carts and gurneys, announcements over the intercom system, staff, patients, and visitors talking, TVs, and sliding doors—all quieted in her head. The only thing she could hear was a high-pitched ringing as her eyes scanned the room, landing on the clock on the wall, mocking her as the seconds ticked by, marking her worst nightmare.

She felt trapped and helpless. The walls were closing in on her. She stared up at the ceiling, and her eyes blurred with unshed tears. Silently, she bargained with the universe, God, or whoever was listening to give her the energy to get out of this bed and walk out. She couldn’t stay here. This couldn’t be happening.

“I have to go. I’ll sign whatever I have to sign.”

Dr. Dreamy squeezed her hand.

“You are very ill. We’ll know more when we get the blood work back, but I believe the infection has turned into sepsis.”

She watched his mouth moving, but nothing he was saying made any sense to her. The only thing sheknewwas that she needed to go home.

“I have to go home?—”

“We need to monitor you?—”

“I can’t. I have Owen.”

“He can stay with me.” Caleb’s deep voice filled the small, cavernous room, and Taylor felt goosebumps raise on her arms.

She turned her head and saw Owen and Caleb in the doorway.

Taylor forced a smile she didn’t feel and hoped her outsides didn’t look as horrible as her insides felt. “Hey.”

Owen walked inside the room. “The nurse, Sally, said you were awake and asking for me.”

“I was, yeah.”

Taylor’s eyes met Caleb’s. He remained in the doorway, a disposable coffee cup in one hand and Owen’s backpack in the other. He looked…serious. He also looked really sexy and hot. His five o’clock shadow was shadowing, and his eyes—there was something about the way he was looking at her that made her feel tingly from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Either that or the drugs she was on. If she was even on drugs, she wasn’t sure what she was on exactly.

“You’re the pastor over in Hope Falls, right?” Dr. Davies asked.

“I am.” Caleb’s shoulders were back, and he didn’t look…friendly.

Even though she was completely out of it, Taylor did not miss that there was a strange vibe between the two men. She wasn’t sure what the problem was between the two of them. Maybe Dr. Davies didn’t like religion because he was a man of science. Or maybe he’d heard some of the nurses talking about the ‘hot pastor’ thing. They certainly liked to bring it up to her in the pasteight months, every time one of them saw where she and Owen lived.

Dr. Davies looked at Owen, then Caleb, then Owen, then Caleb again. “Are you family?” his question came out sounding more like an accusation.

Panic rose in Taylor, and she blurted out, “What do I need to sign to leave?”

“You’re staying,” Caleb stated with an authoritative tone Taylor had never heard before and a look in his eyes she’d never seen, both of which left no room for argument.

If it were up to her hormones, they were Team Caleb, but it wasn’t up to them. She didn’t care that her lady parts appreciated his alpha assertive thing he had going on; all she cared about was getting out of here and going home. But she wouldn’t mind revising the alpha assertive thing at a later date and time.

Dr. Davies cleared his throat. Caleb could feel the doctor’s eyes bounce between himself and Taylor. He ignored him completely; he had blinders on. He needed to communicate to Taylor the severity of the situation telepathically so he didn’t upset Owen. Even though he was pretty sure that the kid did not missanything. He would bet a year’s salary he could go toe-to-toe with half the doctors in this place and keep up. And it wasn’t just book smarts; he knew people. It was obvious in how he related to all the residents at Golden Years and how quickly he’d made friends at school. And out of all the people in the world, he knew his mom better than anyone. They had a bond unlike any he’d ever seen.

No matter what, there was no way Caleb was going to allow her to check herself out. He’d overheard some of the nurses talking. She’d been unresponsive when she was brought in and had a high fever. He didn’t want to say anything that might upset Owen, but he needed Taylor to understand just how serious this situation was.

“What is your relationshi—?” Before Dr. Davies could finish his question, the shrill beep of his pager went off. He looked at it, cursed under his breath, and squeezed Taylor’s hand. “I have to…go. I’ll be back.”

His parting remark was directed at Caleb. As Dr. Davies exited the room, Caleb turned to the side. Even at six foot four, the two men were nose to nose, just inches apart. He held his stare until he turned and went down the hall. Caleb didn’t love walking in and finding Dr. Davies holding Taylor’s hand. There was no medical reason he needed to touch her.

Once Dr. Davies was gone, Caleb walked into the room and sat in the orange chair in the corner. He dropped the backpack at his feet. When he looked back up at her, he saw that she tried to swallow and licked her lips.

“Can I get you anything? Water?”

Taylor shook her head as her lips pursed. Caleb read the stubborn set of her jaw and saw the iron resolve in her eyes. Even in her critically ill state—especially in her critically ill state—she was unyielding in her decision to go home. She wasn’t thinking straight. He recognized the signs because he’d seen the same wild-eyed determination at dozens of hospital bedsides he’d visited in his pastoral capacity but never when he had this kind of personal stake.

His stomach was in knots, trying to come up with what to say to convince her to stay. Owen, however, didn’t seem to have the same issue. He was the epitome of calm, cool, and collected. He sat on the edge of the hospital bed, not disturbing any of thelines and tubes his mom was hooked up to. He let out a long sigh and looked at her with an expression that appeared far older than his eleven years.

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