21. Wolf
21
WOLF
A n hour later, Wolf paced the waiting area of the Tarker County emergency room, his pulse still pounding as he tried desperately to calm the anguish in his heart.
The sound of his boots hitting the cold tiles and the harsh light bouncing off the metal frame of the ticking wall clock were slowly driving him out of his mind.
If it weren’t for the familiar warmth of Ezra sleeping in his carrier against his chest, Wolf wasn’t sure if he would have been able to keep it together.
He’d parked and unpacked the boy and diaper bag as quickly as he could before sprinting back here to the desk.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the nurse on duty had said to him then, and about ten more times since. “If you want to have a seat I’ll make sure you know the minute I have news I’m allowed to share.”
At least there was compassion in her eyes.
But compassion was getting him nowhere, because unless they were family, he and Ezra weren’t allowed back to see Amelia.
And hanging over the whole thing like a dark cloud was the conversation they had been having when Amelia’s seizure began. Every time he made another lap around the waiting room, he heard his own cowardly words in his head over again.
I don’t know what I was thinking. I can’t be serious about anything but Ezra right now.
Wolf had been many things in his day—a wild young boy, a driven teenager, a military pilot, and a full-grown man, who maybe was a little bit of a control freak, and maybe pissed off his guys and his superiors on a semi-regular basis.
But he had never been a coward.
Until today.
What he hadn’t been able to admit, even to himself, was that he was already serious about Samantha and Amelia. It had happened without him realizing it. And now they needed him and he wasn’t there.
“You okay, man?” a familiar voice asked.
“Cal,” Wolf said, hearing the relief in his own voice. “Thanks for getting the way cleared for us.”
“No problem,” Cal told him, clapping a hand on his shoulder.
“I messed up,” Wolf said out of nowhere, clenching his fists to stop himself from shouting. “I told her I had feelings for her, and she said she could only be in a serious relationship.”
“And?” Cal asked, frowning and nodding to Ezra. “Seems to me you’re in the same boat there.”
“I know,” Wolf said tightly. “But I don’t have a job down here. And I don’t have any other skills that would be enough to support a family. If I can’t fly, I’m just about useless.”
“I don’t know about that,” Cal put in.
“I told her no,” Wolf groaned. “And then Amelia…”
“She’s going to be okay,” Cal said.
“How do you know?” Wolf asked.
“Instinct,” Cal said, shrugging.
“Look,” Wolf said. “Can you get me back there? They’re saying it’s family only.”
“I can try,” Cal told him.
“Hey, Marie,” he said, striding up to the desk. “Any chance we can get these two back there?”
“Sorry, but it’s family only, Sheriff Cassidy,” the nurse at the desk said, shaking her head. “You know that.”
“They’re the most important people in the world to me,” Wolf told her. “And if I have my way, they will be family. If they’ll have me.”
That won him a closed-lip smile.
“I’ll vouch for him, Marie,” Cal added quickly. “He’ll be no trouble, and if the young ladies don’t want him back there, I’ll bring him back out here myself.”
“If that’s the case, Sheriff, then I think it’ll be all right,” she replied, nodding once to Wolf, and then naming a room number.
“Thank you,” Cal said politely.
“Thanks,” Wolf echoed.
The two of them jogged down the hallway and got into the elevator.
Wolf thought his blood would boil out of his body with impatience as it climbed at a leisurely pace, letting off a ding before the doors slid open in slow motion.
“To the right,” Cal murmured.
Wolf followed him down the hallway until Cal stopped at last and knocked on a door.
“Come in,” a voice said softly.
Cal opened the door and stepped back to let Wolf enter.
Wolf wasn’t sure what he expected to see, but it took him a moment to adjust to the scene in front of him.
Samantha sat by her sister’s bed, holding her hand. And Amelia was awake and smiling, a cup of ice chips on the bedside table.
She’s okay. She’s really okay.
“Wolf,” Amelia said happily. “Ezra.”
At the sound of her sweet little voice, the surge of adrenaline that had been fueling Wolf for so long left him so quickly that his knees almost gave out. He had to place a hand on the doorframe just to steady himself.
He wanted to run to them, to sweep them both up in his arms and never let them go again. But there was something he needed to say first.
“I was wrong,” Wolf blurted. “I was so wrong, Samantha. This is as serious as it gets. The two of us can’t go on without the two of you…maybe we can… I don’t know… but we really, really don’t want to.”
Samantha’s brows lifted slightly.
“I can picture my life without going to the city,” Wolf told her, his voice rough with emotion. “I can picture my life without flying. I just can’t picture it without you.”
“Tell him,” Amelia squeaked excitedly. “Tell him, tell him, tell him, Sam.”
“I think we know what you should do if you really want to stay,” Samantha said, her voice a little shaky, but her beautiful hazel eyes as steady and encouraging as ever. “Come and sit, and we’ll tell you all about it.”