Fidelity (Infidelity #5)(27)

“Why—”

“Please,” he implored, “let me speak.”

I nodded.

“Our doctors couldn’t examine her until we had her safely out of there. They scanned her records. They made their assessments, but their assumptions were based on the information we could obtain. Unfortunately that isn’t as accurate as having the patient in their grasp.”

The dread that had filled me at his text message was back. “What happened?”

“Your mother went into shock after we were in the air.”

I bolted to my feet. “I need to see her.”

Oren stood too, blocking my way. “She’s fine, as fine as she can be, but she wasn’t. I take full responsibility for forcing her removal. Another twenty-four hours. Hell…” His volume rose. “…another two hours… that fucking excuse for a nurse.” His lips shut tight. “Pardon my language.”

“What happened?”

“We got her out of Magnolia Woods. We got her to the plane. She was mumbling when we first got to her, but then her vitals began to weaken.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Her heart stopped.”

I gasped as my knees loss tension and stomach fell. Giving way to gravity, I slid back to the sofa. “Stopped?”

“There was a doctor, Dr. Eva Rossi, on board. She’s the one who’s still here. She was monitoring her. She must have anticipated… there was an AED.”

“AED?”

“Defibrillator.”

“My mother’s heart was shocked?”

He nodded. “It didn’t work at first. We had to perform CPR. She has multiple broken ribs. I’m sorry.”

“She’s alive.”

He nodded again.

“Her ribs will heal. They wouldn’t if she weren’t alive.”

“Dr. Rossi has numerous concerns, her greatest being your mother’s brain.”

“Why?”

“The medication they used can affect the oxygen level to the brain. For some reason, despite the constant use, they didn’t have her on additional oxygen.”

“She is now?” I asked.

“Yes. But that isn’t all. Her heart stopped. I can’t tell you for how long. It seemed like hours, but it wasn’t. Nevertheless, during that time, before the CPR, her brain and organs were deprived of oxygen.”

“No. This isn’t happening.” I stood again. “Take me to her.”

Oren stepped in front of me. “Alexandria, I don’t believe in sugarcoating things. I never have. Dr. Rossi is concerned that she may never wake, and if she does, there could be irreparable damage.”

His words squeezed the muscles of my throat, making any response difficult. “W-when will we know?”

“Time will tell us.”

The warm, welcoming feeling I’d enjoyed upon my arrival disappeared into the cloud of fear his news delivered. I didn’t speak as he led me up the stairs. My only thought was of my momma. I didn’t think about Nox or our past as we passed the door to the room Nox and I had shared. I ran Oren’s words and phrases over again in my mind. With each step they sank deeper and deeper into my psyche. We didn’t stop until we reached a set of double doors.

As Oren reached for the doorknob, I reached for his arm. Something he’d said stood out. “Why do you take responsibility?”

“What?” His voice sounded dazed as if he too had been lost in thought.

“By getting my mother, you were doing what Lennox asked, what I wanted. It was my doing, not yours.”

He stood taller, his chest inflating. “Absolutely not.”

Before I could respond he went on, “Adelaide will wake. She will be the vivacious, beautiful woman she always was. I believe that with everything in me. However, if I’m wrong, which you should take comfort in knowing is rarely the case, but if I am, her fate is not your doing. You did the best you could. You were willing to sacrifice your own soul for her. She didn’t want that, and neither do I. If things don’t go as planned, it is on me.”

“How do you know about what I was willing to do?”

“The responsibility is mine.”

There was a tone of finality in his speech that I recognized, the authority that left little room for argument. He was Nox, or Nox was he. If it weren’t for the thicker accent, I could close my eyes and believe that Oren Demetri was his son.

In that second, I wanted to do what Nox continually asked of me. I wanted to trust. This time it wasn’t Nox I was trusting. It was Oren. It felt wrong, but at the same time it felt right.

Was this what it was like to have someone who shielded me from life’s tragedies and responsibilities? Was this what it was like to have a father? Though I knew he and Nox had their difficulties, I wanted to believe that Oren was sincere.

We’d both been right about the night. It’d been incredibly long, and my emotions were on overdrive. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around Oren’s waist. “Thank you.”

His reaction was delayed, so much so that for a moment I regretted my show of emotion. And then, his arms surrounded my shoulders as my cheek fell against his chest. I didn’t understand the connection. I didn’t try, but for a moment, I was a little girl finding comfort and security in the arms of a man who somehow understood my difficulties, who shared my fears.