Chapter 44
forty-four
Cameron
Rosalie is already rushing back to the bedroom to get clothes on as I move to put on my shoes and grab my keys.
“Beck, it’s going to be fine. Rosalie and I are on our way and will meet you at the hospital. Accidents happen, I don’t blame you. I know you’d protect Addie with your life, and things like this happen.”
I hear a deep, shaky breath on the other end of the line.
“Are you okay with getting her to the ER?”
“Yeah, man, I got it. I’ll meet you there.”
“Great, can you hand the phone to Addie?”
I hear rustling, and then Addie’s little voice is in my ears.
“Daddy, my arm hurts.” The words are paired with a whimper and my heart breaks at not being with her right now.
“I know, sweetie. I’m so sorry your arm hurts, but Uncle Beck is taking you to the doctor so they can fix it, okay. And Rosalie and I will be right there. We’re leaving the house now.”
“O-o-okay.” The word bursts out of her in a wail, and it’s almost more than I can take.
“Can you give the phone back to Uncle Beck?”
“Hey, we’re almost there. I have a few contacts and called ahead. They won’t put us in before any major emergencies but have us at the top of the triage list. I’ll check in and text you a room number if we get moved back before you arrive.”
“All right, thanks, Beck.”
I hang up the phone as Rosalie comes hauling into the living room.
“Hey, you need me to drive?”
I run my shaky hands over my face. This is the first time I’ve ever been away from Addison when something serious has happened, and I’m not too proud to say I’m not handling it well at all. My heart is racing, and it feels like I’m crawling out of my skin with the need to get to her.
“Yeah, actually, I think I do,” I say, handing her my keys.
Taking my hand in hers and giving it a tight squeeze, Rosalie leads me out to the car, and we head to the hospital.
Luckily, with Winhaven being such a small town, the drive only takes fifteen minutes before we’re pulling into the emergency entrance of the hospital.
We’re lucky enough to find a spot right out front, parking quickly and jogging for the doors.
Not once has Rosalie let go of my hand, and I’m so grateful for her grounding presence.
My phone dings just as we enter, and I look down to see a text from Beck.
Best BIL Ever
Room 104
Quickly looking at the signs, I drag Rosalie to the right, and we make our way toward room 104.
It’s at the end of a long hallway and feels like it takes forever to get there.
When I push open the door, I feel immediate relief wash over me as I lay eyes on Addie, who is sitting next to Paige on the hospital bed.
Paige immediately gets up and runs to her mom for a hug, while I take her place next to Addison.
Her cheeks are tear-stained, and she’s cradling her arm to her chest with the most agonized expression on her face. I gingerly wrap my arms around her and drop a kiss to her head.
“Hey, sweetie, I’m here. You’re going to be okay.”
“It-it-it hurts so b-b-bad.”
“I know, Addie, but the doctor is going to be in really soon to fix it, okay?”
“O-o-okay.”
Keeping an arm around her, I look at Beck, whose worried expression matches the way his hair is pulled in every direction atop his head. If he didn’t feel so bad about what happened, and Addie wasn’t sitting next to me in extreme pain, I’d be making all kinds of remarks about his appearance.
“Has the doctor been in yet?”
“No, we just got in here, and the nurse took her vitals. They’re sending someone from imaging to come get her so they can get X-rays of her wrist.”
Addie’s grip tightens on my arm.
“Can you come with me, Daddy?” Her tone is laced with panic, as if I could be separated from her now that I’m here.
“Of course, I’m staying with you until they say it’s okay for you to go home.”
Just then, there’s a knock on the door, and a tall gentleman with a huge smile and matching smiley face scrubs comes into our room.
“Is this Miss Addison?”
“It is,” I say, knowing Addie is too traumatized to be her typically chatty self.
“Great! I’m Nurse Willis. Why don’t you come with me so we can take some pictures of your arm?”
Nurse Willis takes a quick look around the room after he says this, stopping briefly on Rosalie, who has Paige wrapped in a hug, before returning to me.
“You can only take one person with you to the picture machine, so do you want your mommy or daddy to come with you?”
“Oh, I’m not her—”
“I’ll be going with her,” I cut off Rosalie before she feels the need to finish her statement or before Addie responds that Rosalie isn’t her mom.
I know Addie has become attached to Rosalie, and the same can be said for Rosalie toward Addie, but now’s not the time to broach the conversation. There have been enough complexities today, and I’m just trying to avoid one more.
“All right,” he says, pulling up a little wheelchair next to the bed.
I help Addie get into the wheelchair, my heart cracking open every time she cries out from the pain, and I follow nurse Willis through the door and down the hall.
When we return from imaging, only Beck is in the room.
My face must read how panicked I am because he immediately mouths, gift shop, and I relax a fraction.
Leaving didn’t seem like something Rosalie would do at a time like this, but I honestly have no clue how Paige is handling things, so I wouldn’t blame her if she needed to take her home.
After I help Addie back onto the bed, I turn to Beck. “Thanks for getting her here so quickly. I really appreciate it.”
A cloudy expression falls over his face, and he looks down at his feet.
“She wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for me,” he murmurs low enough Addison can’t hear him.
I get closer and place a hand on his shoulder. “I need you to listen to me. This. Was. An. Accident.” I punctuate every word to make my point. “Do you understand me? No one is at fault here.”
Beck nods, but it’s half-hearted.
Just then, the door swings open, and Rosalie and Paige come in with a giant stuffed unicorn.
It has a rainbow mane and tail with strands of glitter woven through it.
Its body is neon pink and quite possibly glows in the dark with how bright it is, but the squeal that comes from Addie’s mouth when she sees it has me wanting to run down to the gift shop to buy every single one.
Rosalie helps Paige back up on the bed next to Addison with a gentle reminder to be careful with Addie’s arm before coming over to stand next to Beck and me.
She picks up my arm and pulls it around her shoulder so she’s tucked against my side. She then wraps her arms around my waist, giving me a tight hug, and I’ve never been more grateful for this woman. The way she anticipates exactly what I need is something I’ll never take for granted.
I place a kiss on the top of her head before turning back to Beck.
“The radiology technician wasn’t supposed to tell us anything, but she confirmed your earlier prediction, and Addie’s going to need a cast. You want to stick around and be the first to sign it?”
I was hoping the humorous remark would lighten his mood, but it appears to have the opposite effect when Beck shakes his head.
“Nah, man, I think I’m going to head out. I’ll make sure to sign it at your parents’ barbecue in a couple of weeks, so make sure there’s still room.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m just going to say bye to Addie and head home.”
He walks over to Addie and whispers something in her ear before kissing the top of her head.
“See you later, munchkin.”
“Bye, Uncle Beck, I love you.”
Beck appears to swallow hard before returning, “I love you, too.”
He then fist-bumps Paige.
“Thanks for being my rock today, Paige. I couldn’t have gotten Addie here without you.”
“You’re welcome,” Paige says with pride.
“Hey, let me walk you out.”
Just then, the doctor comes in the door.
Beck pats me on the shoulder. “Let me know how things turn out, will you?”
“Of course, but I know she’s going to be okay.”
“Thanks, Cam. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Beck. Thanks again for everything.”
I hear him mutter something under his breath, but I don’t dwell on it, turning my attention to the doctor.
“Hello there, Miss Addie. I’m Dr. Chase, and it looks like you’ve done a little something to your arm.”
“I fell.”
“I can tell. And you know what? I can see it on the pictures they took of your arm, too. Do you want to see them?”
Addie’s eyes widen with interest. She’s never broken a bone before, and I can tell she’s curious to see what Dr. Chase has to show her.
“Yes!”
“All right, then let me just slide these right up over here, flip on this light right here, and voila,” he says with a flourish of his arm.
“Is that my arm?”
“It sure is. And you see this part right here?” He circles the part of a bone down by her wrist that’s clearly fractured. “This is where you broke your arm.”
“Is it going to stay broken forever?” Addie asks with a bit of panic.
“Oh, no, ma’am. We’re going to get you a pretty cast you’re going to wear for a little bit, and then it’ll be good as new.”
“Okay,” Addie says, her voice uncertain.
Dr. Chase can tell this could go either way and skillfully redirects Addie back to the fun part of this visit. “Why don’t you and…”
“Paige,” I say.
“Why don’t you and Paige look through this fun book of cast colors and pick out the one you want to wear while I talk to your parents.”
I turn to block the girls from the doctor to, once again, head off any awkward conversations about the dynamic of the people in this room before Dr. Chase starts to explain what’s going on with Addie.
“Addison has what is called a greenstick fracture right here along the distal radius.”
He points to an area along the side of her bone that looks more splintered than clean cut.
“It’s rather common in children under ten and happens a lot when kids fall on their outstretched hand in an attempt to catch themselves. Luckily, Addison’s is clean enough surgery’s not required, but she’ll need to be in a cast for at least six weeks or longer, depending on how it heals.”
Rosalie places her hand on my back, and I wasn’t aware of how much I needed her grounding as I take in all of the information.
Addie’s going to be so disappointed. She has a little less than a month left of summer before school starts, and she won’t be able to swim or ride, and she’ll have to start her first few weeks of school in a cast.
I blow out a deep breath. “Okay, so what are the next steps?”
“I’ll get someone in here to cast her arm. Luckily, this fracture is down by her wrist, so we won’t need to immobilize her elbow. Kids usually find this type of cast pretty noninvasive to daily life.”
“Thank you so much for the information and your care.”
“Not a problem, Mr. Brown. I’ll send someone in to wrap her cast and put in a script for pain meds in case she needs them.”
Dr. Chase leaves the room, and Rosalie immediately wraps me in a hug, her arms going around my waist and mine over her shoulders. She squeezes me tight as I exhale and whisper in her ear, “What a damn day.”
Her answering laughter, though muted, makes me smile.
“Yeah, I’m definitely ready for a new one.”
I kiss her temple, leaving my lips there for a moment and soaking up the feeling of her in my arms, so grateful she’s here for me.
“Thanks for being here for me today. This is my first time in the ER with Addie, and I know I wouldn’t have handled it as well alone.”
Rosalie laughs, dropping her head onto my chest.
“I think you stole my line. Do you not remember where we were before getting Beck’s call?”
“Oh, I remember quite well,” I say in a playfully seductive tone. “It’s hard to forget how you felt straddling my lap.”
She pushes me away. “Cam!”
I chuckle, grabbing her hand and lacing our fingers.
“I’m trying to be serious!” she exclaims.
“I know, I know. Sorry. Sometimes after a day like today, I just have to throw in some humor or I’m taken down by the weight of it.”
Her eyes soften with understanding.
“Well, let me get this out, and then you humor yourself all you want, okay?”
“Okay, go ahead.”
“I know I’ve said it, what feels like one hundred times, and will say it one hundred more, but thank you for being there for me this morning. I love you.”
“Anytime and every time, Rosie. I’ve got you, and you’ve got me,” I say, punctuating it with a kiss. “I love you.”