Cory sat on the ground beside him. “What’s wrong, Mitch?”
“Nauseated. And dizzy.”
“I mean, why did you have this reaction?”
“It was to the water.”
“You’re allergic to water?”
He shook his head. “To cold.” His eyes met hers. “I need to get to the hospital. I don’t have another EpiPen.”
Fear trembled up Cory’s spine. When Roberta and Gordon arrived with more towels, she made them help Mitch to his car. Evan walked with them but didn’t look steady enough to support Mitch. “I’m taking him to the emergency room,” she told them.
“I can do it,” Vikki responded.
Cory shook her head. “You don’t know where it is.”
“Neither do you.” Gordon bent to fasten his sandals. “I’ll go with you. Besides, you might need help with him during the drive.” He smiled at his wife. “The rest of you stay here and try not to worry. We’ll be back.”
Roberta shook her head. “I’ll follow in a few minutes with the truck. We don’t know how long he’ll have to stay, and you’ll need a ride back here if Cory can’t bring you.”
“Right, I didn’t think of that.” Gordon kissed his wife on the cheek. “Why don’t I call you, instead? You have your phone, right?” She nodded.
Cory strapped EmJay into her car seat. “Here’s Mitch’s backpack,” Vikki said. “You might need something from it. And don’t forget your purse and sandals.”
“Do you want me to go with Gordon?” Evan said to Cory. “You could stay here.”
Cory felt a surge of anger at him for his part in the whole fiasco. “I’m the reason he’s here. I insisted on bringing EmJay.”
“I know, but—”
“I’ll be back.”
“All right, then.” Evan leaned in for a kiss as Mitch watched from the passenger seat, his head thrown back between the door and the seat. What was it in his eyes? Anger? Sadness? Indifference? Cory wondered if she would ever know. She started the Mustang’s engine.
“I think the closest hospital is in Heber,” Gordon said.
By the time they reached Heber, Mitch was having trouble breathing again. He huddled under the blanket and towels, shivering. Cory reached over and put her hand on his arm. She could feel the tenseness of his muscles even through the blanket.
“There’s a hospital sign,” she said, pointing.
Gordon nodded. “Yeah. Turn here.”
Gordon helped Cory get Mitch out of the car and inside, where the hospital personnel took over, whisking him out of sight.
“Do you have the auto-injector you used?” the emergency receptionist asked when they went to check him in with the medical card Cory found in Mitch’s wallet.
Cory switched EmJay to the other hip. “I didn’t think to bring it.”
“We like to dispose of them properly.”
“I’ll call my wife and have her find it,” Gordon promised. “She was going to pick me up anyway if this takes long.”
“He’ll be here for a good while,” the receptionist said.
Gordon looked at Cory. “You should call his family. They’ll probably want to give him a blessing. Or I could do it.”
Cory had no idea what he was talking about. “I’ll call his family,” she said. “I’m sure the numbers are on his cell.” She turned back to the receptionist. “He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”
“Would you like me to ask if you can go back with him?”
Cory nodded. While the woman was gone, she searched through Mitch’s backpack. There was no cell phone, but she found a PDA in one of the small pockets.
“Ah, a Palm,” Gordon said. “I hope he hasn’t locked it with a password.” He hadn’t, and after some experimentation, Cory was able to find his phone list.
The receptionist returned to the desk. “The doctor says he’s going to be fine. They’re getting him out of his wet clothes and administering some heat and an IV. Apparently the patient said . . . well, he’d rather you wait out here for a while.”
“Then he’s all right?”
The woman smiled. “Yes. He’s uncomfortable, but his condition is stable.”
Cory breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. I—I guess I’ll call his family now.”
“Why don’t you sit down?” Gordon suggested. “You’re looking a little pale. I’ll wait by the doors for Roberta.”
Taking his advice, Cory pulled the backpack straps over the shoulder where her purse hung and carried EmJay to the seats in the waiting room. The backpack slid down her arm, making the load seem heavy and unwieldy. Her legs felt wobbly. Dropping into a chair, she set the backpack on the floor. EmJay kicked to get down. “Okay, darling, but stay close.”
Four other people were in the waiting room, two women on the opposite side of the room, a man sitting near Cory, and another woman pacing. They all stared at Cory’s wet bathing suit, and her face flushed with embarrassment. At least she was wearing her cover-up, though most of it was wet now as well. She shivered with cold in the air-conditioned room. Remembering Mitch’s jacket, she fished it from the backpack, along with EmJay’s white-and-pink cover-up and matching sandals. After making sure EmJay was warm, Cory slid her arms into Mitch’s black jacket, pushing up the long sleeves. Then she dug out her cell phone from her purse.
His Palm had listings for his family, as well as his job and a few friends. Some of the names were female, and Cory felt a surge of unreasoning jealousy. Was he dating any of them seriously? She hadn’t heard him mention anyone, but then she really hadn’t talked about Evan, either.
The jerk! she thought. This outing had completely changed her opinion of Evan. How could he have thought it amusing to pull such a dangerous joke? She’d been too stunned at the lake to say anything, but when she saw him again, she was going to let him have it.
She passed over the names of Mitch’s parents and his sisters, opting instead to call Tyler’s cell phone.
Tyler picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Tyler, I’m glad you answered.”
“Who is this?”
“Cory.”
“Is something wrong? Aren’t you supposed to be jet skiing?”
“I was, but there was an accident. Mitch got into the water and—”
“Is he all right?” Tyler’s voice was anxious.
“They say he’s going to be fine, but he went into some kind of shock.”
“Anaphylactic shock.”
“That’s it.”
“Did you use the EpiPen?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” Tyler let out a breath. “So you took him to the emergency?”
“That was what I was supposed to do, right?”
“Exactly. Thank you.”
“No problem. I’m just glad he’s okay. Would you call your parents?”
“Yeah. I’ll call the family. I’m at Savvy’s apartment in Orem right now, but I was headed over to my parents’ for a barbeque. I’ll call instead and have them meet me there. Which hospital is it?”
“Heber. It seemed to be the closest. EmJay and I will wait till you get here.”
“I forgot about the baby. How’s she taking this?”
“She cried a bit, but she’s all right now. She’s too little to understand.”
“Good. Thanks, Cory. I really appreciate all you’ve done.”
“It was nothing,” she said, though that wasn’t quite true. She’d been scared half out of her mind.
“We’ll get there as soon as we can,” Tyler added.
Feeling relieved, Cory hung up the phone.
When Roberta arrived at the hospital, she came over to Cory. “Are you sure you don’t want us to wait with you?”
Cory shook her head. “No, you two go on. Enjoy yourselves. I’ll go back later after his family gets here.”
“Okay, then. Good luck.”
Cory watched them leave, feeling suddenly lost and alone. She spent the next forty minutes following EmJ
ay up and down the halls. Mitch’s parents were the first to arrive.
“Cory.” Jessica Huntington said in greeting. As in their first meeting, the woman was stylishly dressed, this time in silky navy pants and a festive, red-white-and-blue, short-sleeved sweater, and her elegant blonde hair was in place. Cory felt scraggly and windblown by comparison. “I’m so sorry this had to happen,” Jessica added, eyeing her swimsuit. “I hope it didn’t ruin your whole day.”
Not expecting the sympathy, Cory blinked. “Things were pretty much winding down.”
“Tyler told us you administered the epinephrine.” Cameron Huntington’s round face was smiling. He looked so ordinary in worn jeans and what must be a double extra-large T-shirt that Cory immediately felt less out of place.
“I just got it and took off the cap,” Cory admitted. “He’s the one who actually jabbed it in. No one else knew how.”
“Well, thank you for helping.” Cameron pushed up his glasses and held out his arms to EmJay who was in Cory’s arms. “Hi, sweetie. Come to Grandpa? Huh? Come on.”
EmJay grinned. “Hi, hi.” To Cory’s surprise, she leaned toward Cameron.
“Watch this,” Cameron said, winking.
Jessica touched her husband’s arm. “I’m going to ask about Mitch at the desk.”
“I’ll be right there,” he answered.
Once in Cameron’s arms, EmJay reached into the pocket of his T-shirt and pulled out a fistful of mini Tootsie Rolls. Then she grinned and reached for Cory.
Cameron let her go. “They learn fast. I started keeping these in my pockets when Amanda married Blake. Had to entice little Mara to come to me. Now she’ll come to me over either of them in a heartbeat. The other grandkids too.” He laughed. “I’m working the same magic with this cute little grandbaby.”
Cory admired his persistence and the love he apparently had for EmJay, but it troubled her to see him taking on the role that should have belonged to Cory’s father. “This might seem like a weird question,” she began, “but doesn’t it bother—worry you . . . I mean, do you feel differently about your natural grandchildren than your adopted ones?” Even as she asked the question, she felt herself cringing inside as she pictured the rage it would have elicited from her own father.
“They’re none of them adopted—yet. Though we hope to have it happen some day. For now it’s enough that Kevin and Mara’s mother has given up custody.” His eyes fell to EmJay. “Children are so precious. It doesn’t matter to me how they came to us, just that we do our best to teach them and love them. Isn’t that what it’s all about?”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“Well, I’d better get back to my wife.” With a smile, he walked to the desk where Jessica was talking to the receptionist.
“Moncree. Uh!” EmJay shoved a soggy Tootsie Roll into her hand. Cory unwrapped the candy, which EmJay popped in her mouth. She reached for the wrapper as well.
“No, no, darling. I know you like papers, but you can’t eat this.”
Unfazed, EmJay examined her fistful of candies.
“Cory!”
She looked up to see Tyler coming through the door. “Hi, hi,” EmJay said around a mouthful of sweets.
“Hi, sweetie.” Tyler kissed her proffered fist, and she responded by handing him a Tootsie Roll to open. “How is he?” Tyler asked.
“I don’t have any more news, but your parents are at the desk. Or were.” Jessica had disappeared, and Cameron was headed their way.
“Well?” Tyler handed EmJay an unwrapped candy, pocketing the wrapper.
Cameron hugged his son, who was taller than he was. “Apparently he hasn’t been taking his daily medication, so the episode was worse than it might have been.”
“Daily medication?” Cory asked.
Cameron looked her way. “A simple allergy medicine. But he often doesn’t take it during the summer because he doesn’t run into many cold situations. Anyway, he’s fine now, and the rash will be gone soon, but it was severe enough that they want to keep him overnight for observation. Just a precaution.”
“He’ll miss your fireworks,” Cory said.
Tyler shrugged. “Well, it serves him right. He knows better than to go into the water without his drysuit. Well, I’d better call Amanda and Kerrianne to tell them not to come.”
“They should be at our place already with the kids,” Cameron said. “We told them we’d call if they were needed. Amanda was about to come up here with guns blazing—you know how she gets when he does something like this—but I made her stay put. She doesn’t need the stress while she’s pregnant. And neither does Mitch.”
Tyler laughed. “You can say that again. Well, I’d like to see him for a minute, and then I’ll head back.”
“Your mother is with him now, but they said they’d let two people inside. Go ahead. I’ll go after you’re finished.”
With a parting tickle in the stomach for EmJay, Tyler went in to see his brother. Cory waited a moment before asking Cameron, “Does Mitch have a lot of these episodes?”
“Oh, no. I mean, not too many. The first was when we went waterskiing when he was fifteen. He’s always loved water sports and was the best swimmer in the family. He’d never had any problems before. But that day he had a severe reaction. We were all shocked and didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, we were with some people who had some medication with them. Later he was diagnosed with cold urticaria. From that time on, he’s carried an EpiPen. He’s had a reaction with about every member of our family since, except his mom, but nothing that has seriously scared us. This was probably about the worst.”
“I didn’t even know he had an allergy. And I’ve never heard of being allergic to cold.”
Cameron chuckled. “Neither had we, but we’ve met several people with it since. I’m not surprised you didn’t know. He’s pretty closemouthed about it. It’s taken a toll on him. Sometimes I wonder—” He stopped speaking, his face growing wistful.
“Wonder what?”
“Well, as a parent who wants the safety of his son, I’m glad he works at a computer here instead of in the wild with animals, but I also want him to be happy. I worry that he has allowed his allergy to get in the way of what he really wants to do.” Cameron sighed. “No, what I really worry about is that my fear for him, and his mother’s, has prevented him from following his dreams.”
His comment transported Cory back to the time when she had first told her father she wanted to go to the Amazon. He was sick then, and she wouldn’t have left him, even if he hadn’t been so violently opposed. “You have a duty to me,” he’d insisted. She knew that and she’d stayed, but she didn’t lie to herself about her relief when he had died.
Died with a broken heart because AshDee had the courage to do what I didn’t. Or had she? What took more courage, staying or leaving? Maybe both took equal courage. Cory had never thought of it that way before.
“He could work around his allergy,” she said, aware that Cameron was waiting for her to respond. “If he wanted to enough.”
Cameron smiled. “You’re right. And maybe I should remind him of that. I guess I’m still reluctant to let him go. Oh, look, Tyler’s coming this way. I think I’ll slip in and scold my son a bit. You know, show my fatherly love.”
Cory wondered if Mitch had any idea how lucky he was to have such a father.
In less than fifteen minutes, Mitch’s parents came to the waiting room where she sat with EmJay, who was starting to act sleepy. “Oh, there you are,” Jessica said. “He’d like to see you and Emily Jane. We’ll wait out here for you.”
“You don’t have to,” she said. “You should go to your party.”
Jessica looked embarrassed, but Cameron said firmly, “We’re supposed to take Emily Jane home with us.”
“I see.” Cory felt heat boil in her heart. She hadn’t considered what Mitch would do with EmJay, but it wasn’t fair giving her to his parents when she was willing to take her.
“We’d love for you to come
to the house for the barbecue and fireworks,” Jessica said.
“I have to go back up to the reservoir to pick up my friend and my things. I’ll have to use Mitch’s car since he’s the one who drove.”
“I’m sure that’s fine.” Jessica shrugged, and Cory thought how odd it was that they didn’t seem to give a second thought to the fact that she had Mitch’s car, his house keys, and his wallet with his credit cards. All they were worried about—all he worried about—was EmJay.
“At least come to the fireworks after.” Cameron pulled out a business card from his wallet and jotted down the address before handing it to her. “We put on quite a show on our street. Bring your friend.”
Jessica nodded. “Please come. We’d all be happy to have you. Especially Emily Jane.”
There the reminder was again. Her niece was part of this family, and Cory was only an invited guest. She wanted to hate these people, but they were just so stinking nice. “I’ll see how it goes,” she said.
“We’ll wait for you, then.” Jessica smiled and sat in a chair.
Cory left them, hoping Mitch was fit enough to endure a good scolding. He was lying in a bed with an IV hooked to his right wrist. Several blankets were tucked around his body except on the upper half of his chest where she could see a thin white wire disappearing into the top of his hospital gown. A heart monitor, she thought. An automatic blood pressure cuff circled his left arm. The white swollen welts on his face were all but gone, though much of the redness remained.
“Much! Much!” EmJay bounced in Cory’s arms.
“How’re you feeling?” Cory asked.
“It’s not as bad as it looks,” he said, lifting both arms slightly. “I feel perfectly fine. I told them that, but they don’t want to let me go. Something about my blood pressure, I guess.”
“You feel perfectly fine?”
“Well, considering.” He didn’t meet her gaze but looked at EmJay. “Come here, sweetie. Has your Aunt Cory been treating you well?”
EmJay launched herself at Mitch, and Cory had no choice but to settle her carefully between his left arm and his body. EmJay babbled a jumble of incomprehensible words between drools of chocolate candy. Mitch reached to the wheeled tray by his bedside and got a tissue to wipe her mouth. The baby promptly tried to eat it. Cory took the tissue, wiped her mouth, and threw it away.
Huntington Family Series Page 51