by Stacy Eaton
“How did you find me?” I asked as we headed toward the bridge that would take us back to the mainland.
Rye turned to look back at me. “Roan works in security. He likes to find people. He thinks he’s top-notch.”
“Actually,” Roan laughed, “when he asked me to find out if an Amy Black left the island, it made me think of you, and then when I found an Amy Clandestino heading to Maryland, I put two and two together.”
“Wait, you had your brother find out if I was on the island.”
“Yes, you were gone when I woke up. I had no idea where you were, and some hotel employee made mention of the fact that you might have gone to a resort inland to wait out the storm.”
Roan looked at me in the rearview mirror. “You know this moron wasn’t going to get on the plane unless he knew you were safe.”
“You weren’t?”
Rye reached between the seats, and I took his hand. “Amy, I couldn’t bear the thought of you being trapped on that island alone. What kind of a man would I be if I left you there?”
“My ex-husband kind,” I spat out without thinking, and Rye and Roan glanced at one another.
“Is he going to be at the hospital?” Roan asked.
I snorted. “No. When Cammie got sick, Andre couldn’t deal. That’s one of the many reasons we got divorced. He loves perfection, his daughter was sick, he didn’t know how to deal with her having a bad heart and not being able to play like other kids or go to school regularly.”
“So the ass doesn’t have anything to do with his daughter?” Roan asked hotly, and I shook my head as he peered in the mirror again.
“No, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with her. I called him and told him that she was really sick, but he didn’t answer.” I pulled out my phone, “Maybe I should tell him she’s having surgery.”
“Why don’t you wait until it’s over?” Rye suggested.
“That’s a good idea.” I dropped my phone into my laptop bag. “I still can’t believe you are here, both of you.”
“There is nowhere else I would want to be, Amy. I told you that on the island. Just because your daughter is sick does not change the way I feel about you.”
“I’m sorry about that. I sort of had it set in my mind that every man would be like Andre, and even if they weren’t, why would they want to deal with all the stress that I have to deal with.”
“If you really care about someone, her pain is your pain,” Rye replied.
I saw the sincerity in his eyes. I wanted to jump in his lap, kiss him again, and tell him that I loved him, but his brother was here, and we were getting close to the hospital.
Once we arrived at the hospital, I was ready to sprint up the stairs, instead, I kept my composure and took the elevator like a civilized person. Rye held my hand on the right, Roan walked beside me on the left, and we got a lot of curious looks and a few dropped jaws along the way.
“You two should probably stay in the waiting room for right now. I’m sorry, but only family is allowed in her room, and I need to find out what is going to happen now.”
“Absolutely,” Rye gave me a kiss, “go do what you need to do.” I started to turn when he stopped me, “Wait.” He dug around in his laptop bag before pulling out the dolphin. “I think this belongs to Cammie.”
“You found it!”
“It was under the table in my room.”
I gave him another hug. “How did I ever find you?”
“I think a better question is if you ever want to live without me.”
I began to laugh, “That is a very intense question, and one we will have to discuss later.”
He winked at me, and then I was gone. I raced down the hallway and when I got to Pediatric ICU, one of the nurses stopped me. “You need to wear a gown now, Mrs. Clandestino.”
“Oh, right!”
She led me to a small area where I washed my hands really well and put on a gown to protect Cammie from any outside germs. “Do you think it would be alright to give her this?”
The nurse took the small stuffed animal and put it into a chamber and pushed a button. “It’s blue light that kills bacteria. We use it for cellphones and other items that can’t be washed.”
“Great.” Once it was done, she handed it back to me and gave me a mask and gloves to wear. I hated that I couldn’t be skin to skin with her, but if this protected her, then I would be willing to do anything.
I stole into her room as she lay watching the television, and as I approached her bed, she turned, “Mom?”
“Hey, sweetie.”
“They are making you wear all that stuff, too? Joanne and the nurses are all wearing the alien stuff. Are they worried I might get sick again?”
Joanne sat in the corner, and I could see the smile in her eyes as I leaned forward, “Baby, we need to be really careful for the next few hours and make sure that you don’t get any germs.”
“Why? Am I getting worse?”
“No, sweetie, you’re getting a heart.”
She blinked, and then blinked again. “I have a donor heart?”
“Yes, sweetie, you do.”
“Who died?”
“I don’t know his name, but he was a young boy who got hurt in a car accident.”
“I’m sorry for his family,” she said.
“Yes, sweetheart, I am, too, but I’m happy for us. His death can make you better.”
“That’s good, but I’m still a little sad.”
“Well, then you make sure you take good care of that heart, so you can keep it beating for him.”
“Do you think I might be able to meet his parents? They could listen to it beat inside of me.”
“We will ask, sweetie. Not all people want to know where the organs are donated, but we can ask.” I brushed my hand down the side of her face. “So I have another surprise for you.”
“What?”
I pulled the dolphin out from behind my back. “I found it.”
She smiled, her eyes lighting up slightly. “Where did you find it?”
“Actually, it found me. Someone that I met on the island brought it back to me.”
“You met someone down there? A friend or someone you work with?”
“A new friend. Actually, the brother of an old friend.”
“Oh, okay.” She stared at the dolphin. “When am I having the surgery?”
The door slid open behind us, and Dr. August entered. “In about two hours. I just got word that the heart has left the hospital in Pennsylvania.”
“Pennsylvania?”
“Yes, and it takes just under two hours of flight time to arrive here, so before it even arrives, we will get you down and ready to go. We want it to arrive and get right into your chest.”
“And the match is good?” I asked.
“The match is perfect. We couldn’t have asked for a better one. I’m confident that this will be a success and that Camelia is going to be living a normal life in a few years.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
“You’re welcome. Is her father going to be here for the operation?”
“No,” I shook my head, “but I have a couple of friends who are in the waiting room to wait with me.”
He nodded and said he’d be back soon. When I turned to face Cammie, Joanne was standing on the other side of the bed, her arms crossed. “What?”
“Who is in the waiting room?”
“Just two friends.”
“From work?” Cammie asked, and I shook my head.
“From some remote island?” Joanne queried with a raised brow.
“Maybe,” I responded and looked away guiltily.
She giggled. “Oh, I can’t wait for the details.”
“What details?” Cammie asked as she ping-ponged between Joanne and me.
“Nothing, honey. You should try to rest. Your body is going to need it.”
Cammie sighed, but she rolled over and closed her eyes as Joanne shuffled quickly around the bed and backed
me into the corner.
“Spill!” she hissed quietly, her blue eyes excited over the mask.
“I was taking a walk on the beach, and he showed up.”
“You’re kidding me. He just showed up?”
“Yes. It was so weird, I dropped the souvenir bottle that he had given me, and it smashed on the rocks. When I turned around, there he was. Roan, the guy I modeled with works in security, he located me, and they came here to see me. They also know all about Cammie.”
I could see the grin in her eyes and the lines around them as she crossed her arms over her chest and mused, “I guess that blew your concept of ‘all men would run if they had to deal with a sick child and the mother of one,’ didn’t it?”
Chapter 19
Rye
“You don’t know that it’s the same kid,” Roan said after I told him about the phone call.
“You’re right, I don’t, but come on, the officer tells me they are pulling him off life support and then Amy gets a phone call at the very same moment saying a boy in a car accident is being taken off life support. What are the odds?”
As Amy approached, Roan said, “This world just gets smaller by the minute.”
While we were on the way to the hospital, we told her more about how we knew where to find her, and I wondered if she would be upset—maybe I’d caught her at just the right moment. I mean, how could she be angry today when her daughter was getting a new lease on life?
The longer we were in the car together, the stronger my feelings for her became. I could never thank Roan enough for finding her, especially as I learned Cammie’s father was a total ass whom I’d love to meet—just once—in a dark alley.
When we arrived at the hospital, we escorted Amy to Pediatric ICU and then took up residence in the waiting room. There was a good chance we’d be there for hours, and as much as I hated keeping Roan from his work, I knew he wasn’t going anywhere either. He had known Amy, and it was obvious as the two looked at one another that the friendship they had shared so many years ago was just as strong today, if not stronger.
“Do you really think it could be Maggie’s child who is the donor? Would that be incredible or what?” Roan asked me.
“Jesus, Roan, I don’t want to think about it. I mean, my car was struck by theirs and basically I feel like I killed the boy.”
“But it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong, maybe you were meant to be in that car, just like you were meant to be here when she learned about the heart, and you’ll be here as it’s put into her chest.”
“Since when do you believe in fate?”
“Since it’s kind of hard not to with everything happening.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Roan laughed. “There is no maybe about this. Here, let me prove it to you.” He took his phone out and began to call someone.
“What are you doing?”
“Hold on,” he held his finger out. “Hey, Thad, you got a second?” He listened for a moment and smiled. “Things are good. How is Casey feeling?”
I could hear Thad telling Roan that she was sick as a dog but happy as a clam. “Hey, I was wondering if you could ask that beautiful wife of yours for a favor.” He waited a moment. “Yeah, so, there was a young boy, thirteen, his name was Chad Borrows, he was on life support, but his family took him off it today, and he donated a few organs. I’m wondering if you might be able to find out where the heart went.”
He listened for a second. “No, I don’t need to know the person’s name. I was just hoping you could just tell me the hospital it went to, or the city. I think I know who is getting the heart, and I just want to be sure.”
I heard him exclaim, “Really?” over the phone, and my brother told him he’d explain everything later.
After he hung up he said to me, “He’s going to see what he can learn and call me back.”
“You’ve got good connections,” I laughed. Before he could reply, a woman stepped through the door looking unsure as she glanced between the two of us.
“Um, who is who?”
Roan and I glanced at one another, and he responded, “We’d be happy to tell you if you introduce yourself and tell us why you want to know.”
“I’m sorry,” she winced nervously. “I’m Amy’s friend and Cammie’s babysitter, Joanne.”
I stood and held my hand out. “I think you’re a little bit more than a babysitter to Amy. I’m Rye, I met Amy a few days ago on the island.”
Her smile grew ten times as she took my hand and then let it go to hug me. “I’m sorry, but you have no idea what it means to see a light in her eyes.”
I hugged Joanne tightly. “I’m glad to hear that. This is my brother, Roan.”
He stood, and she gave him a hug, too, saying, “Amy has a picture of the two of you on her wall in her condo.”
“She does?” Roan asked.
“Yeah, she does. She’s told me quite a bit about you.”
“Oh, man, believe everything she said, but switch the names, if she said I did it, she did it,” he joked.
We all laughed, and then I asked Joanne, “How are Amy and Cammie doing?”
“Excited, nervous. Cammie is resting right now. They are going to take her down and start preparing her soon. Amy will come in here when they take her. You have no idea how much it means to have you two here for your support. It’s going to be a long few hours.”
“If there is anything that we can do, you let us know.”
“I will. Well, I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know what was happening. Thank you two for being here with us again.”
She waved and was gone, and a few minutes later, Roan’s phone rang, and he grinned at it as he answered, “What’s the word, Thad?”
“Uh-huh,” he nodded and stared at the wall opposite me. “Yeah, okay, uh-huh, yep.” Those were the only words that he uttered as he listened to Thad. “Thanks, I owe you one, and yes, I’ll explain a bit later.” He grew quiet. “Okay, I mean another one.”
Once he hung up, he set his phone on the seat beside him and leaned over his knees, clasping his hands together. “Maggie’s son’s heart is in transit to Atlantic General Hospital in Maryland. The recipient is a little girl.”
Tears welled in my eyes immediately. Poor Maggie, my heart broke for her, but at the same time, I was thrilled that the heart that was coming to Amy’s daughter was from a good family and from my hometown. Fate was truly at work here.
“Are you going to tell Amy?”
“I will, later. I think we need to get through today first.”
“Yeah, you know Maggie didn’t just lose one son today, she’s losing two,” Roan added. “Her oldest is being charged with vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He’s nineteen now, an adult.”
My heart really ached for Maggie, and I hoped that I could one day share some good news with her, maybe even introduce her to Cammie, but first, Cammie needed to survive the transplant, and her body needed to accept it.
I took out my computer.
“You’re going to work?” Roan asked me incredulously.
“No, I want to do some research on heart transplants and what to expect for recovery.”
My brother didn’t respond and when I lifted my gaze to him, I saw a mixture of happiness and sadness in his eyes. “What?”
“You finally found it.”
I wasn’t going to pretend I didn’t know what he meant. “I did.”
“Are you going to leave Cricklewood Cove?”
“I think there are a few other things to deal with before I think about moving, but if that’s what it takes to have her in my life, then yeah, I’ll leave Cricklewood Cove.”
“Damn,” he said softly, “my brother really is in love.”
“Yeah, I understand just a tiny bit about what you went through with Sherry. Not being able to do something for someone you love tears you up inside.”
“Yes, it does, but I hope you never have to deal with the gut-wrenching pain of
losing the woman you love.”
“I almost did.”
“And she almost lost you,” he said. “If that accident hadn’t happened just as it did, you could have been killed.”
“True, but she would have never known.”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
For about an hour, the two of us worked quietly, Roan doing real work, and me researching. I wanted to know all the signs for rejection and how long the recovery process was. The odds were relatively good that she would not reject the heart if she took the meds. She would be in the hospital anywhere from one to three weeks, then most likely have another six months of recovery.
I was just finishing up the seventh article that I’d read when I heard voices in the hallway. I clicked my computer closed and stood as Amy and Joanne stepped into the room. Amy’s eyes were swollen and bloodshot. I rushed over to her. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” she tried to smile. “They took her down, and as soon as the door closed, I lost it.”
“Aw, come here, sweetheart.” I pulled her into my arms, and she began to cry again. Joanne rubbed my arm as she stepped around me.
“She’s gonna pull through this, Amy.”
“I know. I have to believe it.” She swiped at her eyes. “Do you mind coming with me to the chapel? I want to pray before they begin, and I just need a moment of quiet.”
“Absolutely.” I turned to Roan. “We’ll be right back.”
Amy and I walked hand in hand to the chapel, and we took seats about midway up. She held my hand as she bent her head and grew still and quiet. I wasn’t normally a praying man, but it sure couldn’t hurt right now.
I bowed my head. God, you know I don’t ask for much. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I asked you for something, but I’m asking now, and I hope you are willing to listen. I pray that you watch over that little girl in the operating room, and that Chad’s heart fits perfectly in her chest and saves her life. I also pray that you give Amy the strength she needs to get through this and the wisdom to know that she needs me in her life, they both do. I don’t even know what that little girl looks like, but I already have love in my heart for her because of who her mom is. So, yeah, God, if you could be there for them, for me, too, I would appreciate that.