"Cam has a dog, someone needs to go check on her," I said. The nurse assured me that she'd let the firefighters down in the waiting area know.
When they released me the next day, the first thing I did was go down to the ICU and ask to see him. They agreed to a short visit but told me that I couldn't stay. Cam looked very pale under the fluorescent lights. I held his hand and spoke quietly, telling him that everything would be all right but that he had to wake up. When my time was up, the nurse kindly told me that I could come back the next day, but that visiting hours would be limited to short periods until he regained consciousness.
I went down to the lobby and found Newsome sitting in a chair in the corner staring at the television set mounted to the wall.
"How's he doing?" Danny asked.
"He's still out, but they said that's normal considering the amount of damage and the length of surgery," I said. Danny looked like he hadn't slept, and I suggested that perhaps he go back to Cam's house and take care of Tesla.
"Already taken care of," he said as he ran a hand through his hair and then rubbed his eyes. "The chief drove over and brought her back to the station. We'll take care of her until Cam's up and about again. I gotta get back to the station."
"Thanks, Danny," I said, giving him a hug and then watching him head out the door. There were a number of things I needed to take care of, not the least of which was finding out whether Liz and I had been cleared of the cheating charges.
Chapter Forty-One
Cam
It took a few days, but I finally came out of the drug-induced sleep to find Alex sitting next to my bed holding my hand.
"Hey, you're here." I smiled as she stood up and leaned over me.
"Of course, I've been waiting for you to wake up so we could talk." She smiled back.
"Where's Tesla?" I asked, suddenly worried that no one had checked on her and unsure of exactly how long I'd been out.
"Don't worry. Chief went and got her, she's at the station with the guys," Alex said as she brushed a stray piece of hair off of my forehead. "Everything's under control."
"What about Leo? He's probably seriously pissed at me," I said, furrowing my brow.
"No, actually I'm grateful that you created a ton of positive publicity, Cam," Leo said. I turned my head and saw him standing in the doorway smiling. "There's no way we could have generated this much interest in the business had you not played the hero."
"I didn't do it to generate business," I said, rolling my eyes. "And I'm not a hero."
"Of course, you are," Alex said as she took my hand and squeezed it. "You saved Liz and I, and you kept Victor from burning down that building."
"And now everyone thinks that kind of security comes standard with CSC services." Leo grinned.
"That's insane," I said, shaking my head.
"Nope, that's good publicity!" Leo replied. "I was able to play it up at Metzler's announcement that he's running for office, and the phone's been ringing off the hook ever since."
"You're an opportunist, Leo." I laughed.
"I'm pragmatic and a damn good businessman, if I do say so myself," Leo replied. "Look, I just wanted to stop in and see if you needed anything. They said you're probably going to be out of here in a few days, but that it's going to be a long slow recovery. Take it easy, will ya? I'll take care of business, and then when you're feeling up to it, you can come in and we'll talk about how we're going to handle this expansion."
"I'm not quite out of the clutches of death and you're talking business," I laughed and then winced.
"Hey, like I said, pragmatic." Leo grinned as he leaned over and gripped my shoulder. The look in his eyes was serious as he said, "I'm glad you're okay, Cam. Don't ever scare me like that again, you hear me?"
I nodded and smiled up at him as I bent my arm and gripped his hand.
"I gotta run; I have a date with a girl I met at the Metzler shindig," Leo said smiling at Alex and I. "Maybe I'll get as lucky as you two seem to have gotten."
After Leo left, Alex busied herself with straightening my blankets and getting me propped up so that I could watch television. She'd brought her books with her and sat studying while I flipped through channels. Occasionally, she'd look up and smile at me, b
ut neither of us said much. I wasn't entirely sure what to say, and I wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about what had happened.
Around dinnertime, Alex left to go check on Liz. They'd moved her to the detox unit so that she could get the drugs out of her system, but it was a slow painful process of withdrawing given the fact that Liz had been using incredibly potent drugs for quite awhile. When Alex returned, she looked pale and worried.