Chapter Seventeen
Out of the corner of his eye, Ian watched Cameron as she checked Baby Hunte’s vitals. When she’d arrived at the clinic earlier, he’d been out running. Since then, he’d only observed her from afar, but something seemed amiss with her this morning. Even when she’d been clear she didn’t want him on her island, she’d still had a genuine smile for everyone else. Today, even the smiles she bothered to fake only barely stretched her lips. Not one had reached her eyes.
“Good morning, Cameron,” he greeted as he entered the room.
Placing the baby back into the warmed bassinet, she turned his way. Worry slammed into him. He thought Cameron was just having a bad day, but her eyes held misery.
Rushing to her side, he forgot they hadn’t spoken more than a few private words since they’d awoken together the previous morning. “Baby, what is it?” He wanted to reach out to her, but he got the impression she didn’t want the islanders to know about them. Whatever “them” was. Instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets.
Fidgeting with the baby’s blanket and avoiding his gaze, she asked, “Did you… uh… Did you come to the cottage last night?”
That’s what had her so upset? The fact he may have come by her house. “No.” Though he’d wanted to, he’d stayed at the clinic in case Brodie or Esme needed him.
Twisting her lips, she blinked rapidly. “I told Keso it wasn’t you, but…”
At the mention of the other man, jealousy knotted his stomach. “Keso stayed again last night?” While she did her best to distance herself from Ian, her former lover seemed to inch ever closer.
Distracted by her own thoughts, she only nodded.
“Cam, what’s going on between you—”
“Has anyone come in with a dog bite?”
Confused by the sudden change of topic, it took a moment for her question to sink in. “A dog bite? No. Why?”
“Wh… Where… Where’s Esmeralda?” Brodie whispered.
Ian’s gaze jumped to the man lying on the bed. Like several times over the past hours, Brodie’s eyes were opened, but he didn’t see the room around him.
“Esme,” he called again.
The woman burst into the room. Ian didn’t know where she’d been, but she never failed to appear during her husband’s bouts of consciousness. Their connection amazed Ian.
“Brodie.”
Before Esme could rush to her spouse, Cameron grabbed her friend’s hand. “Remember,” she warned the other woman.
Esme nodded, then inched forward with hope in her eyes. “Brodie, I’m here.”
“Water,” he whispered. “Get in the water.”
Cam’s worried gaze lifted to Ian’s. This was the same as every other time when they’d hoped Brodie was coming back to them. Cameron squeezed her friend’s shoulder. “Come on,” she whispered. “Let’s give Ian space to examine him.”
Reluctantly, Esme nodded and, taking the baby from his bassinet, allowed Cameron to lead her from the room.
* * *
Cameron left Esme sitting in a weatherworn chair in the sunshine outside the clinic. The stress of her friend’s situation was wearing on the woman’s incredible resolve, leaving her usually laughing eyes dull and her tall stature slumped. How much longer could Esme and her family hold out hope Brodie would come back to them? Though they were happy that he was alive, the girls couldn’t understand why he hadn’t yet been awake when they went to see him. Not that understanding made the waiting any easier. Esme understood her husband had a long recovery ahead of him, but waiting still weighed on her.
By the time Cameron returned to Brodie’s room, Ian had managed to “wake” Brodie enough that he at least saw the reality around him and not the water he’d been mumbling about for days now.
As she entered the room, her friend’s gaze landed on her, and his body relaxed. He sighed. “Doc.”
Relief washed over her. This was a good sign. Not only was he awake, but he remembered her. Had he not, he wouldn’t have been the first patient to wake up and not recognize the people he’d once seen every day.
She offered what she hoped was an encouraging smile. “Hello Brodie. Welcome back.”
Slowly, he lifted a hand and pointed to Ian. “Who is this? He says he’s a doctor, but this is your clinic. Right?” His voice faltered with uncertainty.
She walked closer, coming to a stop by his bed. “Yes, this is my clinic. You’re still home. Dr. Gauthier’s my friend. He and his team came in to help you and the others.”
“The others?” His eyes widened. “Esmeralda? Vea?”
Shaking her head, she grasped his strong hand in hers. “They’re both fine. Esme’s just outside. Vea and the other girls are at Aimee’s. I’m sure they’ll be by later if you’re up for a visit.”
He studied her as she spoke. She got the feeling he weighed her words, testing them for sincerity.
“I threw her in the water.” Cam could barely decipher his words through his tears.
“You what? Who?” Ian shifted closer to the bed.
Brodie covered his face. “Vea.” He spoke through his hands. “The plane was coming. So, I… I threw my baby in the water.”
Tears stung Cameron’s eyes. What an impossible decision he’d been forced to make. Luckily, he’d made the right one.
“Brodie.” She clasped both his hands, gently prying them away from his face, so she could look into his eyes. “Vea didn’t even have a scratch. Not one. You did the right thing. You saved your baby.” Because if she’d been on the boat like Brodie, even near Brodie, she likely wouldn’t have survived.
Suddenly, Brodie shifted, reaching for the blanket that covered his mangled lower half. “I have to see her. I have to—” He froze. His dark eyes rounded. He reached toward his legs, only to jerk his hand back. “My… my legs,” he whispered.
For a moment, Cameron’s head swam. Although she’d prayed for Brodie to awaken, she’d dreaded this moment. “The… uh… the plane. It… uh…”
Ian squeezed her hand. “Debris from the plane struck your boat and penned your legs, keeping you underwater. Dr. Crawford did what was necessary to get your legs free so she could get you out of the water as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the damage to both legs was too extensive.”
“You got me out of the water?” Brodie’s attention focused completely on her.
She nodded. “Vea was calling for you. She led me to you, and then Edmund and Pauler helped me pull you out.”
His body jerked with the sobs he tried to contain. He clamped a hand over his mouth. Tears streamed unbidden.
“I’m so sorry, Brodie. I did everything I could to save them. I—”
“You went into the water? You stayed in the water and brought me out?”
Swallowing, she nodded.
“Then you did more than enough, Doc. I know what that’s like for you.”
She wouldn’t tell him how terrified she’d been. Truth be told she’d dive into the water another hundred times to have him here with his family.
“I’ll never walk again.” The words were statement, not question. The quiet acceptance may not last, but for now, it helped.
* * *
Ian stepped forward. “That’s not necessarily true.”
Cameron had taken the brunt of the explaining. Ian could take over from here. “I work with many amputees that, with prosthetics and therapy, have been able to walk.”
Brodie eyed him. “You’ve worked with men without legs?”
“In the Army. Soldiers often make it home without all their limbs. That doesn’t mean they don’t live perfectly normal, fulfilling lives.”
Brodie’s gaze dropped to his legs. “I’m a fisherman. I have to work. I have to—”
“These men compete in triathlons. They swim, bike, run. They don’t go back in the Army, but something tells me you weren’t planning on that anyway.”
The corner of Brodie’s mouth turned up. “I’m not riding a damn bike either.”
That pulled a laugh from Cameron, making Brodie’s smile grow.
“It’s expensive though, right? I don’t have a boat now. How will I—”
“Hey.” Cameron squeezed the man’s shoulder. “No one here goes without. You’ll borrow a boat. We’ll help you fish. We’ll find a way to get you the prosthetics.”
“The company I work with can handle that,” Ian offered. “We help people. Let us help you.”
Brodie sank back against the pillows. He had a lot to take in. Maybe too much. They’d probably have to repeat some things, but today he was alive, and things were good.
From down the hall, the baby let out a wail. Brodie sat up. “My girls?”