TENACITY

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Sunday, June 26, 2016
Highgate Hospital
20 weeks...

Alexandra hurried into the reception with Samantha, Samuel trailing them with the bag into which they'd packed spare clothes. It might have been unnecessary, but they hadn't stopped to think of that.

Better safe than sorry.

But Trey definitely needed them. There was no way she was going to let him put the dusty clothes back on. That had been her first thought as Billy had tried to tell them as calmly as possible that Trey had had an asthma attack.

She went straight to the reception desk, trying to catch her breath. "Hello," she greeted breathlessly. She closed her eyes briefly.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Repeat.

"Mrs. Robinson." She opened her eyes to find a young woman looking up at her with a beautiful smile. "How are you?"

She looked at the woman as if she'd grown a second head. "I'm stressed out, so, if you would be kind enough to tell me what room he's in, I would appreciate it."

The young nurse smiled again, looking back down at her computer. "You need not stress. He's stable now and everything's under control." She keyed in a few things on her computer, then rattled off the room number to her.

"Thank you very much," she whispered, giving a small but thankful smile. The receptionist inclined her head in response, her smile still in place. Lexi turned to Samantha, who had taken the bag from Samuel, and told her what she'd found out.

They got into the elevator together, pressed the button for the second floor, and rode it in silence.

*

Trey lay in bed with eyes closed, wondering if the oxygen placed on him was necessary. In his opinion, it wasn't. The only purpose it would serve would be to scare Lexi into thinking the situation was worse off than it was.

He wasn't complaining though. It felt good to not struggle to take in air and breathe it out; to have a machine take care of it for him. His lungs still burned with the effort it had taken earlier to stay alive.

His eyes still closed, he heard the door open, and much as he wished to open his eyes, he kept them closed, hoping it was Alexandra.

"How is he?" he heard her ask, making him happy. It took all his effort to not smile like an idiot and blow his cover. She sounded so worried, and much as he wanted to ease them, he wanted to know how it would play out.

"The doctor says he's fine," Mitchell replied from the direction of the doorway. "It's good you brought spare clothes because the doctor threw his other one away. And, for his sake, I have to change too."

He heard her relieved sigh. "I thought it was unnecessary and that I was overreacting."

"No." Trey heard the smile in Mitch's voice. "It's good you brought them. Thank you."

"Go on in. Samantha and I will stay out here waiting. Let us know if you need help," Mitchell said and Trey was glad he was finally leaving.

"Thank you for bringing him here and having me informed." The sincere appreciation and worry in his voice made him feel terrible. He had refused to have her told, forgetting she was his wife; that his problems were hers and vice versa.

"No worries. Though, I do have to warn you," Mitch said in a humor-laced voice, leaving Trey to wonder what he was about to say. "He walked in here bare chested, so you now have tons of females—both patients and nurses—to fight off."