A Missing Heart(80)

A nurse hands me a cup of water. “Here you go, sweetie.”

After a couple of minutes, I’m able to form sounds in my raw throat. “Where’s my family?” is the first thing I say, realizing it may be a bit confusing since I have no legal rights regarding Ever, and Cammy and I were hardly dating. Gavin, though, is legally my baby.

The doctor smiles gently. “Give me a moment, okay?” He walks out of the room.

I can’t figure out how long it is between the moment he left and returned, but it feels like an eternity while I’m hanging by a loose thread, dreading a response he could have easily given me.

“Andrew,” the doctor says. “You need to wear your seatbelt from now on.” He points to me, highlighting his point. “And this is why—”

At that moment, Cammy, Gavin, and Ever enter the room, interrupting the doctor, and running to my side. Cammy has Gavin tucked safely under her arm, and Ever is climbing on top of me, squeezing her arms around my neck. My heart shatters once again. “I—I’ve been worried sick, AJ,” Cammy stutters in my ear. “Your parents and Hunter are out in the waiting room. Everyone has been worried out of their minds. We were scared you weren’t going to wake up.”

“What happened?” I ask, reaching for Gavin.

“Your muscles are likely to be quite weak at this moment,” a nurse pipes in. I just want to hold him.

Cammy places Gavin next to me and he curls up, resting his head on my chest. “Daddy, I missssssed you.”

“You hit your head against the windshield. You hit it so hard the glass broke from you, not even the impact,” she explains.

“Am I okay?” I ask, even though it’s the least of my worries, still feeling the immense relief of seeing the three of them all in one piece.

“You had some bleeding in your brain, but they were able to stop it. It just didn’t bring you out of the coma right away like they hoped. We weren’t sure…” She runs her hand against the side of my face. “You have some lacerations from the glass, and bruising, but they said if you woke up, you’d be okay.”

Hunter. What did this do to him? After what his accident caused Ellie. “Is Hunter okay?”

Cammy shakes her head silently. “He’s been a mess. He’s not okay.”

“Can I see him?”

Cammy looks at the nurse with question.

“He can come in too,” the nurse says with a smile.

“I’ll go get Hunter,” Ever says, taking Gavin with her. “I love you, Dad.” Ever leans over and kisses my cheek before running out the door for Hunter.

“Dad?” I question. “When did that happen?”

Cammy’s bottom lip quivers. “Our hearing, the one that was supposed to declare me Ever’s legal mother, it wasn’t just for me—”

“I don’t understand,” I say, cutting her off, feeling more pain in my throat from the dryness.

“I was going to surprise you,” she says quietly, with a small huff of a laugh. I find myself looking between her wide gaze, noticing the stain of pink surrounding the golden hue of her chestnut eyes. She bites down on her bottom lip, I assume to stop the quiver, and she sits down on the small space left beside me on the bed. “I was able to prove your biological rights to Ever, and they were granting you the same legal rights as they were giving me. We’re both legally her parents again. We never made the hearing, but I was notified by the judge.”

“That’s why you needed my DNA sample. I had hoped, but I figured you would have told me.” My face heats, and all of the feeling in my body rushes back at once. My heart fills with so much love and gratitude it feels like it may explode. My chest aches with the most beautiful type of pain, and I don’t know why life has to drag me through dizzying circles of disaster before I find the light I’m supposed to be following, but I’m here now.

Cammy places her hands on the sides of my face and presses her forehead to mine. “Full circle. We’re so lucky, AJ,” she mutters, as her tears fall over my nose.

I lift my heavy arms and place them around her, wanting so badly to pull her down on the bed with me, but I stop myself and behave, as I remember that I better be careful, considering all that happened to me over the past week. “I love you, Cam,” I tell her.

“AJ,” she sputters. “I prayed every day that you were going to wake up and be okay. I couldn’t understand how the best thing in the world could have happened at almost the exact moment I thought my life was crashing down in front of me. I can’t lose you again.”

“It’s all going to be okay,” I tell her softly.

“AJ,” Hunter exhales, rushing across the room. “My God. You scared us to death, bro.” Cammy stands up to let Hunter in, and he wraps his arm around her neck, pulling her in and kissing her on the forehead. “This girl…she is your goddamn angel. You need to know that.”

I feel confused or like I’m missing something. I don’t want to question him, but the look on my face might be doing that without words. “She stopped your bleeding. She kept you together until the ambulance showed up, all while taking care of both kids. I don’t know if I could have reacted so quickly and handled it all the way she did. She saved your life, AJ.”

Cammy’s hand folds over Hunter’s shoulder, easing him back. “Hunter,” Cammy says quietly, squirming out from beneath his arm. “I’ll be right back.”