I met his gaze and sucked in a deep breath. My anxieties spiked a little. I suddenly didn’t want to go in, but it was too late to turn around. I blew out a raspberry. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
Guy instantly hopped out of the truck as I unbuckled my seat belt. The second I placed my hand on the handle, he was there, beating me to opening the door. He helped me out and kept me steady as my feet touched the icy ground.
“You don’t have to do all of this, you do realize that right?” I asked.
He smirked. “Sure. But, I want to.”
“Why?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Let’s worry about getting you inside and checked out before we deep dive into my motivations, okay?”
I narrowed my gaze at him. I wanted to push the issue, but a wave of dizziness came over me and my knees nearly buckled. “Okay.”
A few minutes later, we stepped through the automatic sliding doors into the foyer of the emergency room department. A line of wheelchairs was stacked against the wall to the right and Guy grabbed one of them.
“Sit,” he said.
I didn’t have it in me to argue, so I plopped my ass into the leather-like plastic seat. Once I was settled, he wheeled me to the front desk where he got me checked in.
Minutes later, I was taken back to an exam room. Guy helped me out of the wheelchair and onto the hospital bed. The nurse that worked the triage spent a considerable amount of time taking my vitals and asking extensive and personal questions. I wasn’t entirely comfortable with answering most of them, especially in front of Guy who had planted his ass into a chair. He got comfortable, kicking his feet up onto the counter where the sink was, and I got the impression he wasn’t moving from that spot. Even if I asked him to.
It was with the more uncomfortable questions that I gave a short, “I don’t know.”
Once she was finished, she dug through some of the cabinets. Having found what she searched for, she turned faced me and handed me a gown.
“Put that on and the doctor will be in to see you shortly,” she said and then left the room.
I stared at the gown for a brief moment then turned my attention to Guy. I really didn’t want to change in front of him. Not with me feeling like shit.
“Want me to leave so you can get changed?” he asked.
I nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind, please and thank you.”
“Do you think you have everything covered okay?” he asked.
I stared at him. “I’ve been dressing on my own for quite some time now. I think I’m good.”
“It wasn’t that I thought you were incapable, Cadence. You nearly passed out earlier, and you haven’t exactly been steady.”
I frowned. He had a point. “I appreciate your concern. Thank you, but I think I’ll be okay.”
He sighed and nodded. Seconds later he left the room. The door clicked closed and I carefully took off my regular clothes, being careful not to move too quickly. The air within the room chilled my skin. My teeth clattered, and I wondered if I had a fever. If I did, the nurse didn’t mention it. Of course, she was busy trying to keep all the information I was throwing at her together. It couldn’t be easy trying to figure out what was going on with me when nothing seemed to quite exactly fit.
I also felt weak and dizzy. It was almost as if my body was going numb and I was sort of floating. At the same point in time, I felt heavy and glued to the hospital bed. Needless to say, it made changing more difficult than I initially gave it credit for.
After I was dressed in the gown, I looked toward the door. Why was Guy even still here? He didn’t have to stay. He got me here. That was all I needed. He had no reason to stay with me.
But it was nice to have him around. It felt good to not have to go through any of it alone. Whatever it was.
I cleared my throat. “You can come back in now.”
Seconds later, the door clicked open, and Guy stepped back into the room. He took one of the chairs that sat near the window covered with a dark tint.
“You realize this could be a while,” I said. “You don’t have to stay here the entire time.”
“I’m fine,” he said. “I’m more worried about your comfort. Not mine.”
“I’m just saying you don’t have to—”