Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Jameson
I arrived at the hospital around five a.m., after the guys and I had secured the scene at Dustin’s. I couldn’t bring myself to go home, not when I knew Arizona was alone in Rockwood. Nothing or no one could have dragged me away from being close by. I felt a deep pull from within to be there for her in any way she’d allow.
To respect their privacy as best as I could, I paced the hospital corridors, sat on the floor outside Dustin’s room, and tried watching television in the waiting room until the urge to check on Arizona became too strong to resist or ignore. Seeing her, nearly despondent with worry as she kept vigil over her dad, was heart-stopping.
I recalled the exact second when time ground to a halt as Cruz drove the fire engine up Dustin’s driveway. If it hadn’t been for the adrenaline and sheer determination surging deep in my marrow to rescue him at any cost, my actions might have been less risky. Instead, I defied orders and tossed protocol aside by rushing into the greenhouse before securing the scene.
The second I saw where the fire was located on the property, I felt like a freight train on a mission. Every instinct in me screamed that Dustin was inside, trying to douse the flames and salvage what remained.
While I knew I was in for the fight of my life, I was unprepared for the onslaught of fear that slammed into my chest when I discovered his lifeless body inside. How I managed to get him outside remained a fog. The chaos that ensued was a mix of anxiety unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. The only thing I remember after collapsing to my knees as the ambulance sped away with sirens blaring was twofold: first, I was thankful Ari wasn’t on shift, and second, I desperately hoped Dustin’s number wasn’t being called.
I didn’t usually rely on faith, yet the desire to embrace it was strong.
While Ari’s strength was unmatched, if anything were to happen to her dad, it would undoubtedly put that statement to the test.
I sat at his bedside, shifting my eyes between him and the outside view of the mountains, and felt a dramatic shift in my chest. I couldn’t narrow it into focus other than the awareness we only had one life was the kick in the butt I needed to no longer sit back in the shadows.
Life was too short not to take chances, even if it meant putting everything on the line.
“Excuse me.”
I turned to see an older gentleman in a lab coat, accompanied by a nurse who seemed oddly familiar, yet I couldn’t quite place her, standing in the doorway.
“Did Arizona go home to rest?” she inquired, surprise evident on her face.
“No, she just stepped out for a short break,” I answered before shifting my focus back to the doctor. “Do you need me to?—”
“Yes, I would like you to do the same while we perform a quick exam.”
“I promised Arizona that I wouldn’t leave his side.”
“It will only take a few minutes, and you can wait just outside the door.”
“Okay. Before I go, may I ask how much longer you intend to keep him sedated?”
“Are you a family member?” the doctor asked.
“No, just a close family friend.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t share the patient’s treatment plan with you without the family’s consent.”
I nodded in understanding.
“Jameson.” The nurse called for my attention as I rounded the corner and stepped out into the hallway.
She placed her hand on my arm, and when I lifted my chin and looked into her eyes, I suddenly found myself standing in front of someone I hadn’t seen in a hell of a long time. I could hardly believe who my eyes were seeing.
No. Fucking. Way.
“Lily?” I questioned.
She nodded timidly.
“It’s been forever, does my?—”
“Jameson,” she interrupted, raising her hand, “can we hold off on this for now? Arizona is struggling. She hasn’t slept since her dad was admitted, and I’m really worried because she was at—” She stopped herself from finishing her sentence. “Anyway, what I’m getting at is the doctor won’t wake him from sedation until late tomorrow morning.” Her body language shifted, becoming more closed off as if she questioned whether she was overstepping her bounds. “I realize you’re not exactly?—”
“What is it? There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for her,” I snapped.
“Do you think you could get Ari out of here? Even if it’s only for a few hours.”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I can do that.”
“Here’s my number.” She quickly scribbled her number in pen on my forearm. “Text me when you can so I can call if anything changes here.”
I stood in shock momentarily as she quietly slipped back into Dustin’s room. Once I regained my composure, I hurried to the nurses’ station, hoping someone might have caught a glimpse of where Ari went. Knowing her, I guessed she wouldn’t have gone far, and I was right when the nurse at the nearest desk pointed toward the supply closet.
I pushed the door open, and my breath caught in my throat. Ari was sitting on the floor, her head resting against a stack of sealed bed linens, fast asleep. I fished my phone out of my pocket and stepped back into the hallway. Once I booked a room at the hotel next to the hospital, I gently lifted the sleeping angel into my arms, all the while silently pleading for her not to be angry with what I was about to do.
After carefully maneuvering her, I exited the hospital and walked to the hotel. With the manager’s help, I made it to the room without waking Ari, the girl I’d walk through hell for, peacefully asleep in my arms. While we were forty-five minutes from Sutton River in the closest city, Rockwood, I was thankful for the familiar face from high school at check-in; otherwise, I would have undoubtedly faced an unpleasant line of questioning when I walked into the lobby with a sleeping woman in my arms.
Sitting in an armchair across the room from the bed, I scrolled through my phone after updating my parents, Jaxon, and Ford on the situation. I was restless and weary like a fish out of water, fearful of the venom that would probably be directed at me when the beautiful spitfire tucked beneath the covers stirred awake.
I had lost all sense of time since I’d closed the blackout curtains, but one thing was sure, my ass was numb. I stood and stretched before moving into the bathroom, where I splashed some water on my face. Just then, my attention jerked back to the room when the sound of Ari whimpering in her sleep had me on high alert.
I moved toward the bed and weighed my options. No matter how I approached the situation, things wouldn’t be pretty once she realized where she was. The last thing I wanted to do was wake her, and yet I also wasn’t sure I could stomach witnessing her in distress either. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she seemed to settle.
The weight of the situation had finally caught up to me as I struggled to resist the urge to close my eyes. Night had fallen, and watching the city below no longer served as a distraction. Instead, I stared up at the ceiling because if I watched Ari—no, I couldn’t go there because I’d just be spinning in circles, much like the oscillating ceiling fan above on an endless loop of indecision.
I was completely consumed by my thoughts, desperately yearning for Ari to see me and recognize that I wasn’t the person she believed me to be. It was all just a front to hide her persistent dismissal. Then, without warning, she jumped out of bed next to me, her eyes wide and brimming with an intense anger directed straight at me.
The calm before the storm felt like a distant memory.
“What in the actual hell?”
I pushed up from my chair and prepared for the verbal lashing I would undoubtedly receive.
“Ari—”
“Arizona,” she snapped with a clenched jaw. “Why? You know what, it doesn’t even matter.” She waved me off, pushed past me, and prepared to dart for the door.
I reacted by wrapping my arm around her waist and drawing her back flush to my chest. The delicate scent of fresh peonies, albeit soft and barely there, drew me in as I lowered my chin to her shoulder and breathed her in.
“Seriously, Jameson.”
I dropped my arm like she was a Hot Pocket and scolded myself internally.
“I will deal with you another time, I need to get back to the hospital.”
“Ari—Arizona,” I corrected myself, “they aren’t waking your dad until late in the morning.”
That caught her attention and brought us toe to toe.
“So, you just thought you’d bring me here without my permission?” Her brows pinched in abhorrence.
“Would you have left on your own volition?”
“No.” She sneered.
“Exactly. You were dead on your feet.”
“That still doesn’t give you the right.”
“No, it doesn’t, but then, what you needed was solidified when I found you sleeping propped up against a storage rack in a goddamn linen closet.” I knew my tone was harsh, but I wanted her to understand that my intentions were genuine, even if my words carried an edge.
“And you didn’t think to simply just let me be, or gosh, I don’t know, maybe mind your own damn business?”
“Well, excuse me for caring about your well-being.”
“Oh, that’s rich coming from you.” She scoffed. “As if you’ve ever once cared about my ‘well-being,’” she said, making air quotes.
“That’s not true. I?—”
“Stop with the lies, Jameson. I don’t have time for this.”
“I only did what I thought was best.”
“Best for whom?”
“You, of course.”
“And what about my dad? I’m all he has and vice versa.” She stifled a sob yet remained steadfast, with irritation pulsating off her in unforgiving waves. “You had no right to bring me here.”
“Lily was worried about you, and I just wanted to help. The hospital has my number should anything change.”
“You don’t understand. It doesn’t matter how long they keep him sedated. I know it’s to help him heal, but I need to be there for him. I have to be. He needs to know I’m there by his side. He’s my everything, Jameson; he’s all I have.” Her voice cracked with each word; her emotions were raw and unfiltered, spilling out in disjointed fragments.
I pulled her into my arms, one hand gently cradling the back of her head while the other swept over her back, and her fingers clutched my T-shirt in a desperate grip.
“You’re not alone,” I whispered, swallowing the lump in my throat. “You’ve got me.”
Her shift in stance wasn’t immediate; however, once my words fully registered, she leaned back and looked at me curiously before she loosened her grip on my T-shirt. For a brief minute, I allowed myself to think her feelings for me were beginning to thaw. Yet, like most storms, they were often unpredictable and chartered off course in the blink of an eye because the next time her hazel-hued eyes met mine, I knew the wedge between us had grown significantly.
“Go to hell!” she whisper-shouted.
I looked down and caught sight of Lily’s number smudged on my arm.
“Shit,” I cursed under my breath to an otherwise empty space as Ari blew through the door faster than I could react, and if I were being honest with myself, I knew better than to follow.