She turned around and stumbled backward, losing her balance. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head. I caught her a split second before her head hit the sharp corner of a shelf and helped to keep her upright. I quickly said, “I got you.”
She met my gaze, worry filling her deep blue eyes. She shuddered and whispered, “I think I need a hospital now.”
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she went limp in my arms. I picked her up and cradled her close. I wasn’t positive what to do about the store, and most of me didn’t care. Cadence needed help. The store was the last of my concern.
I carried her out of the store and to the passenger’s side of my truck. Carefully, I opened the door and gently set her on the seat. Once I had the seat belt secured around her, I closed the door and rushed to the driver’s side.
Within seconds, the truck was started, and I floored the gas pedal, spinning my tires out of the parking lot, heading in the direction of the closest hospital. Or my best guess at the closest one.
“Hang on, Cadence,” I said. “We’re going to get you figured out.”
“Slow down,” she mumbled. “Or we’ll both be in the hospital.”
I did a double take. She curled herself into a ball on the seat and rested her head on the window.
“I thought you were passed out,” I said.
She sighed. “Almost. I sort of wish I was.”
“Okay,” I said. “Well, before you pass out, do you want to tell me where I’m going?”
“Glenwood Springs,” she said and kept her eyes closed.
I nodded and sped off, hoping that we could arrive before she got much worse. I just hoped she was okay. I didn’t want to live in a world where she didn’t exist.
23
CADENCE
From the time where I almost fainted to the moment we crossed the city limits of Glenwood Springs, all I cared about was figuring out what was going on with me. I decided I could worry about everything else once I was better. Because what health I had left was slipping away, and I was worried I had pushed myself too hard being stubborn.
I was massively dizzy and lightheaded, and I struggled to stay awake throughout the whole trip. That was another thing that plagued me. Exhaustion. It covered my body like a soft wool blanket. All I wanted was to curl into the sensation and sleep forever.
Once Guy turned onto the main street in town, I forced myself to fully sit up in the seat.
“You’re awake,” Guy said.
“As awake as I can be,” I said, stretching in what space I was able to move in. The movement made my stomach clench and another wave of dizziness came over me. “Still breathing too.”
“Maybe you could direct me to the hospital then?” he asked, staring out the windshield, searching for something I couldn’t see. “I tried looking for signs, but I haven’t seen any.”
“That’s because they’re all overgrown,” I said. “Most people around here know where to go, so the city doesn’t bother to clear up the brush and limbs covering them up.”
“That makes zero sense,” he muttered.
I shrugged. “Maybe, but it is what it is.”
I directed him as to where to go. Within minutes, we had arrived, and once he parked, he stared at the building. “I don’t believe it. This is a hospital?”
I looked out of the windshield at the building wondering what struck him as unusual. It was the same building I had seen for most of my life. I didn’t understand what made him think it wasn’t a hospital.
I nodded. “Yeah, why?”
“It looks more like a resort than a hospital,” he said.
I chuckled a little. It wasn’t much since I didn’t have the energy to spare. “I have never seen a resort with an emergency room, before.”
He shrugged and then settled his gaze on me. “Whatever you say. Are you ready?”