“Baby,” I say, getting up while she runs to me and buries her face into my chest. Her body shakes with the sobs that are coming out of her while her hands claw into my back as she bunches the shirt in her fingers. “It’s okay.”
“I’m so sorry it took so long,” she says in between sobs. “I forgot about the video.”
I bring her so close to me I want it to be like she is in my skin. “Baby, I didn’t want you to drag yourself into this mess.”
“Drag me into this mess?” she says, letting me go, leaning back. “What the fuck did you think I would do, Matthew?”
“Obviously nothing is what I thought you would do.” I shake my head. “You think I wanted your name to be linked to this garbage? Never.”
“You know, I don’t know how it is that I can go from loving you to hating you in a split second.”
“You love me?” I ask her. I’ve told her a bunch of times. Okay, yes, she’s been asleep, but…
“She loves you so much she went toe-to-toe with me and told me that if I didn’t choose you to basically fuck off.”
I look at the door where Doug stands with Noah.
“Did she now?”
She rolls her eyes at me.
“He’s exaggerating a bit,” she says while she relaxes in my arms.
“I love you,” I tell her quietly. “I love you so much that my heart hurts when you’re not there. I love you so much that every breath I take is for you.” I kiss her lips. “Thank you for saving me and loving me enough to want to stand by and hold my hand. And especially thank you for taping me while I snored.” I grab her while Jackson comes in.
“Okay, you are free to go.” He nods at me. “We fixed it up that you can leave out the back since the front has now become a media nightmare. They are saying that the mayor has to come down and make a statement.” He shakes his head. “This is one time I’ll be glad to rub it in Martinez’s and Mabie’s faces.”
I thank him and walk toward the door where we make a quick getaway, the press oblivious to anything that’s going on. We go straight to the airfield where a private plane is waiting.
“Your parents will be coming with us,” Doug says from the front seat.
I nod to him, looking out the window while Karrie sleeps on my shoulder. When we get to the tarmac I wake her up so she can get out of the car. When I hold out my hand to her, she takes it, coming down from the SUV.
“I don’t feel so well,” she says while her father closes his door. “I think—” It’s the last thing she says before her legs give out on her and she collapses in my arms.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Karrie
“I don’t give a shit who you call. I want her to be checked by someone as soon as we get home.” I open my eyes slowly, taking in Matthew’s face almost turning red. I’m lying down on the plane.
“Matthew, you need to calm down.” Parker is beside him, trying to calm him down. Cooper stands behind Parker on his phone.
“What is going on?” I say, my throat dry. Matthew rushes to the couch that I’m lying on, getting on his knees in front of me. My father, who is sitting in a chair beside it, comes to me also.
“You fainted,” Matthew says while the team doctor pushes him out of his way. Matthew just glares at him while he takes my arm to check my pulse.
“She is probably just tired and hungry. Today was a big emotional day. She just needs rest and a good meal.” Parker tries to say from behind Matthew now that he is hovering.
“I want an ambulance waiting for us in New York when we land.” He looks at my father, who only nods and feeds into his craziness.
I try to sit up, but my head spins, so I lie back down. “That’s crazy. Your mother is right. I’m exhausted and hungry. How long till we leave?”
“We are ten minutes from taking off. We should be home in about forty-five minutes,” my father says from his chair, his face also pale. I reach my hand for him and he takes it, so I squeeze his, offering him a little bit of I’m okay. “Patrick, the team doctor, is going to travel with us.”
The flight attendant comes to tell us we are cleared for takeoff so to buckle in. I try to sit up in order to buckle up, but Matthew’s voice stops me. “Don’t you dare move a muscle.” He comes to the couch, picking up my feet and buckling himself in, holding on to my feet. “You aren’t going anywhere,” he says, looking at my father, who gives him another nod.