CADE
The four of us are exhausted as we pull into the nearest hotel we could find to the hospital. Parker and Jolie rode with Danica and me. I don’t even know how my eyes are open at this point. I’m probably just running on adrenaline at this point. The drive felt like it took forever, probably because it was mostly silent. Nobody really wanted to talk about Toni or what was happening. While Danica and Jolie went instead to reserve some rooms, I pulled out my phone and gave Damon a call.
“Hey man,” he answered after the second ring, sounding just as tired as the rest of us.
“Hi Damon, did you guys get to the hospital?”
“Yeah, give me just a second.” I can hear him rustling around and then the sound of a slight breeze, indicating that he must have stepped outside. “Sorry, just wanted to step away from her for a moment.” I’m assuming the her he was referring to is Eve.
“Eve knows we’re all here for her, right?”
“Yeah, she does. She’s just super overwhelmed. It wasn’t that long ago she lost her mom and now she’s worried about losing Toni. She hasn’t even known her for that long, ya know?”
“Shit, I keep forgetting about that.”
“Yeah, it is weird to think that Toni’s been my sister longer than she’s been Eve’s. Not that it makes it any easier or harder on either of us. God this is so fucked up, man. I don’t even know what to do.”
“I think we all feel the same way. Have you talked to anybody at the hospital yet?”
“The head cardiologist came out for about two minutes, and said they got her successfully transferred, but they need to run a shit ton of tests to see if they can find the cause.”
“Well, we’re getting a couple of hotel rooms, we’re literally right across the street at the hospital. We’ll be over once we get checked in. Maybe bring some food.”
“Not sure Eve is going to feel like eating.”
“Maybe not, but at least food will be there just in case.”
“Thanks, Cade. I just...fuck,” he struggles with his words. “This is hard.”
“You just be there for Eve and we’ll all take care of the rest. The girls are coming out now. We’ll talk to you guys in a bit.”
“Thanks, Cade. See you soon.’
I hung up right as the car doors opened, “Hey, what did Damon say?” Danca asked as she slid back into the front seat.
“Not that much more information, but I told them we’d bring over some food just in case she wanted to eat.”
“That’s a good idea. We got two rooms, they have a door in between the two that we can keep open. I figured two rooms would be enough since I’m sure some of us will always be at the hospital.”
“Good call, Dans.” Danica gives me directions on where to park to get to our rooms. We don’t have anything to leave in the rooms, but we check them out before getting back in the car. There is a gas station right next to the hotel where we stop to get a variety of foods and drinks.
After checking in at the front desk, they send us to the cardiovascular unit where we find Damon and Eve, as well as Fletch, Eden, and our mom. As suspected, Eve said she wasn’t hungry, but I did notice that she was picking at a slice of pizza that we got for her.
I can’t help but pace back and forth. I’m not used to standing still. I’m not used to feeling like I’m trapped in a room. Every once in a while a nurse comes out and says they’re still running tests, but we don’t get anything specific.
“Hey...come for a walk with me.” Danica slides her hands around my waist and I want nothing more than to lean down and kiss her, but I don’t know how everybody would feel about seeing that right now. We ask Eve and Damon if they need anything, but when they say no we take a walk and find ourselves in an outdoor area that I bet Damon was standing in when we talked earlier.
I pull Danica into a hug and let out a long exhale, “I just wish that we could get some actual information.”
“Yeah, me too. I just keep thinking at least every time they come out it is about another test and not to say something worse.”
“That’s a good point.” I sit down on one of the chairs and pull Danica down onto my lap. She hesitates at first but then lets herself relax onto my body, resting her head on my shoulder.
“I know it probably seems like bad timing, but I want to talk to you about something.”
My arm snakes around her waist and I give her a hug, “What’s going on in your mind, pumpkin?”
“Do you know how I’ve been saying for a really long time that we were just temporary until I worked up the nerve to move back home?”
My body tenses, “Please don’t tell me that you want to leave. Not right now, Danica.”
“That’s not it at all, Cade,” she reassures me. “I thought when I first came to you that night that I was running away from family and running away from home. You were this neutral place where I figured they’d never look for me and I could just calm down.”
“That’s what I tried so hard to be for you, do you mean I failed?”
“You didn’t fail at all, Cade,” she rests her head against my shoulder and I hold her tighter. “I’ve been trying to figure out for a really long time how to tell you this without freaking you out, but I don’t feel like I need to run away from home anymore. I feel like I am home.”
“Pumpkin, what are you saying right now?”
Danica sits up straighter and I do the same thing, “I know that you have said that you’re never going to be the man that is tied down to one woman so maybe I’m asking a whole fucking lot from you right now, but I don’t think I’m alone in telling you that I like you. If I’m being totally honest, I’m falling in love with you, Cade.”
I’m not entirely sure what to say, so she continues on instead, “I tried to hide it and pretend it wasn’t true. I wasn’t going to say anything, but today I watched them bring my 30-year-old friend back to life and use words like, “heart doesn’t work,” and I know that tomorrow and the day after and the day after are not promised and I can’t go a day further without telling you how I feel.”
I hold her a little tighter and place a kiss on her temple, “I used to think my biggest nightmare was a girl telling me that she wanted something long-term. Turns out, my biggest nightmare is finding the girl I want to be with and her telling me she wants to move on.”
“Do you mean that, Cade? I don’t want to pressure you.”
“You’re not pressuring me, Pumpkin. Never in all my years have I urged even just a little to settle down and be with one person, but the first night you told me that you trusted me, I knew I was screwed because I trusted you too.”
“So where do we go from here?” She probably asks the most important question and I’m not too sure I know the right answer.
“I don’t know exactly what to do, but I’m sure a lot of people will be saying ‘I told you so’,” I smirk.
“You get that too?”
“Yeah, baby, I get that too. Those jerks were right this entire time. I guess we were the only ones who didn’t see it.”
She lets out a little giggle and cuddles into my lap a little more. We sit out in the evening fresh air in silence, I run my hand through her hair and she plays with the collar on my t-shirt. The door to the patio opens and Eden gets out attention.
“Hurry up back inside, the doctor has news!”
YOU ARE READING
When We Run (Mason Brothers Book #4)
RomanceCade Mason was the last of the Mason Brothers to not fall for the fairytale of a happily-ever-after. Not that he didn't believe in love, he saw it every day in his parents and brothers. When he is at work at the family-run Mason Jar, he's all busine...
