38. Caden
CHAPTER 38
Caden
I can’t believe I just got cock blocked by a fucking grizzly bear. This world really does have it in for me.
Millie has pulled on an oversized tee, leaving her legs exposed against the seat. I rest my hand on the spot where the cotton meets her skin, running my pinky finger across the soft skin on her inner thigh.
“I’m going to have to call in the Parks Ranger.” Some dumb fuck left open garbage by the dumpster, which is now strewn over the main parking lot and is probably attracting wildlife down into the public spaces. “I’ll probably have to come back to show him the spot we were at. Once I’m done, we’re finishing what we just started.”
Her cheeks flare as we pull up onto the grass in front of the staff house. Doug follows me out the driver's side door, running off in the direction of the main house – clearly unphased by how close he just came to certain death.
Millie tries to slide out of the truck, but I block her exit with my knee, stealing another searing kiss from her before I let her jump down.
“Caden!” She gasps. “We’re not at the lake anymore. Someone might see us.”
“The fuck do I care?” I press her against the side of the truck as I take one last kiss for good measure. “I’m more than happy to make it known that you’re mine.”
“I don’t remember the part where I agreed to that.”
“Don’t you agree?” I ask, slapping my hand down on her ass as she walks off towards the staff house.
“We’ll see.” She winks, twirling round to face me as she goes.
By the time I made it back to the parking lot, more trash had been piled up by the dumpster, ravens diving and squawking all around it.
I directed the ranger back to the spot where we’d run into the grizzly, shuddering at the thought of what might have happened if Doug had gotten any closer. That big beast had nothing but rage in its eyes for a second.
This is why I hate people.
No matter how many signs there are, or how many bear bins Parks scatter through the outdoors, there’s always one person who thinks they’re above the rules. They leave shit at their ass, thinking someone else will clean it up, but all that ends up happening is a bear spends too much time in the same places tourists frequent and ends up getting moved on far away from its original territory or worse, being killed for the safety of humans.
You can’t blame a bear for being a bear. But you can blame humans for being dumb as fuck.
The ranger said they’d be on the lookout and take care of things. I can only hope that by ‘taking care of it’ another bear doesn’t end up dead.
I could barely get my words out when I was recounting a more appropriate version of events to the ranger. All I could think about was how good it felt to have Millie in my arms, her legs splayed over my hips, and my hands wherever I wanted them.
There’s still a few miles of asphalt between here and the lodge, and I’m already hard again thinking about her sinking down on my cock.
My fantasy has no sooner started playing out when I’m interrupted by my phone buzzing on the passenger seat. UNKNOWN flashes across the screen. I reach over, keeping my eyes on the road as I try to grab it.
The next vibration sends it flying off the seat onto the foot well before I can catch it.
“Fuck it.” I keep driving, hoping it's just spam or if it’s important that whoever it is will leave a voicemail. I’m not interested in having to stop this truck once more. I want to make it back to Millie.
The vibrations start up again, louder this time as the phone rattles against the door frame. Someone really is fucking with me today, trying to keep me from the one thing I want.
I pull up on the shoulder, throwing my door open and rounding the truck in a blind rage .
“What do you want?!” I seethe.
“Hello, I’m looking for Mr Caden Thompson.”
“Speaking.” I’m already back in the cab, attempting to hook my phone up to the Bluetooth setup I’ve never used so I can keep on with the drive.
“My name is Ella, I’m one of the Nurses at St James Hospital in Aspen Ridge. We have you noted as an emergency contact for Josephine Thompson.”
My world stops.
I’m only able to catch the words I don’t want to hear.
Accident… emergency… head injury… alone.
My phone drops with a thud, shock rooting me in place and stealing precious seconds I can’t afford to lose. Forcing my hands back to the wheel, I switch to autopilot, turning off the backroads and onto the highway towards Aspen Ridge.
I try to think rationally, but all of the worst-case scenarios start running through my head. I bite back tears as my mind starts throwing up images of Josie lying limp and lifeless at the side of the road, or crushed under the weight of warped metal.
I can barely breathe as zaps of hot electricity pierce through my skull at my temples.
I make it to the hospital in twenty minutes, jumping more red lights than I could ever come up with enough excuses for and yet, it still feels like the longest drive of my life.
I burst out of my truck, paying no mind to where I’ve left it. No Parking zones are none of my business right now. Forcing the automatic doors to part much faster than they were ever designed to, I barge past anyone in my way. I don’t have it in me to care for the rest of the world when I don’t know what’s going on with Josie right now.
I slam my palms down on the reception desk. “Josie Thompson.” I don’t know what else to say, I don’t have any more information, my brain shut down the minute I heard her name in the same sentence as ‘hospital.’ “I need to see Josie Thompson.”
“Okay, sir.” A plump, grey-haired woman in floral scrubs shakes her mouse, prompting a computer screen to bring up the wheel of death. “Which ward is Josie in?”
“I don’t know.”
“What brings her in here?” she asks, raising a concerned brow.
“I don’t know .” I feel my anger unfolding into fear as tears sting the corners of my eyes. I drop to my knees by the counter, holding my head in my hands as deep sobs threaten to rack through my hollow chest.
“I can’t lose her,” I cry out. “I can’t lose her too.”
A group of onlookers gather round me before an older man shoos them away, crouching in a squat beside me.
“Hello, I’m Dr Barnett.” He rests his hand on my back as he continues. “I can see you're having a hard time—” understatement of the year, “—let’s get you a glass of water. What’s your name?”
“Caden. Don’t need water. Need to see Josie.”
It takes Dr Barnett far too long to extract Josie’s details out of Floral Scrubs, but once he does, I follow his lead towards the Emergency ward.
I hold my breath as I walk alongside him, his steps a little too leisurely for my liking. The hallway walls continue to spin around me, as I prop myself up against them with each step. The smell of bleach coats my lungs until I feel like I’m drowning in it, unable to make my way up for air.
Dr Barnett places his hands beneath the sanitiser dispenser, nodding for me to follow suit as he punches a code into the keypad beside a set of heavy double doors.
“Evening, Gladys.” Barnett nods to an older nurse as we move towards the nurses’ station. “This is Caden, Josephine’s brother.”
“Oh lovely, let me just grab her chart.” She waddles towards a filing cabinet, flicking through files one by one.
Everyone around here seems to be so calm, so unbothered by everything, not a single ounce of urgency as if the whole world isn’t seconds from falling apart.