Page 89 of Dr. Brandt

“Cam?” I said with a laugh and a smile. I was more nervous than excited at the thoughts running through my head. I wasn’t sure I was ready to take this step. This careless lifestyle had agreed with me so far, but I wasn’t sure I should jump right back into an engagement. “Umm, what are you doing?”

I smiled bashfully, knowing precisely what he was doing. This was Cameron, and spontaneous was his middle name.

But his expression didn’t change with my smile, and it confused me. Something wasn’t right; I could sense that now.

“I’ve arranged for the jet to be prepared to take off within the hour. The captain assured me that he would be at the airport in thirty minutes and the plane would be ready. We can’t waste any time.”

“Oh my God! Is it Jackson?” I screeched. It felt like a building had landed on top of me. I couldn’t feel anything but pain, stabbing my heart and taking the oxygen from my lungs.

I should’ve known something bad would happen while I was off living in some euphoric fantasyland with Cameron. God help me! What have I done?

Calm the fuck down, and get ahold of yourself, Jessa!

“Tell me what happened,” I demanded, my voice grave but controlled.

I stood up, still bracing myself for the worst.

Cameron was as solemn as I was. “We need to get to the hospital. I need you to sit down. I need to tell you about our son’s condition.”

“Holy shit,” I cried, starting to crack.

No, no, no!

I sat down, and Cam knelt in front of me. My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty, and my legs trembled as a numbing sensation fell over me.

“No,” I shot up again, practically knocking Cameron back on his ass, feeling like I had to run to get to my son but had no clue which way to go. Where was he? Was he okay? Did…did the worst happen?

“Goddammit! What happened to my son? Is he dead? Tell me right fucking now! Is Jackson dead, Cameron?” I screamed at him like a lunatic and felt completely disconnected from my body. “Where is he?”

“He’s not dead, Jessica.” Cameron’s voice was deep, smooth, stern, and precisely what I needed to stop hyperventilating and take a deep breath.

He put his arms around me as I stood shaking and lightheaded, feeling I might faint at any second from the loud ringing in my ears.

Cameron pulled me back, steadying me and holding tightly onto me. “He is in a coma. It is not deadly,” he continued before I could utter a word, “but I need more answers than the vitals Jake relayed. I need more information, and I need to help our son.”

My brain must’ve confused what Cam had told me. There was no way Jacks was in a fucking coma. No way.

I stepped back into my body with a vengeance and took control. I couldn’t listen to this nonsense. I needed to hear something that made sense, and this wasn’t it.

“No, he’s not. He’s with Jake and Ash,” I said. This could’ve easily been some crazy nightmare I’d conjured out of guilt for leaving Jacks in the first place.

“Jessa, listen to me,” Cameron’s voice was authoritative. “The housemaids are packing our things,” he pulled his phone out of his front pocket and stared at it, “and the car is here to pick us up. We need to leave now.”

“This isn’t a nightmare?” I asked, feeling the weight of the truth from underneath my cloak of instant denial.

“No,” he said, his voice calm and steady. “But we need to get to Jacks immediately so I can assess his condition and decide my next steps to save him.”

You can’t help Jacks if you are freaking out, Jessa! Help or get out of the way! My internal demands felt like they came from another person. Maybe it was my fucking guardian angel; who knows? But I do know that something washed over me, abating my panic and turning it into laser focus.

“Do the doctors know what happened?”

“I’m waiting on a call back from Dr. Fremont. He’s the physician caring for Jackson until I return. They’re running scans on him, and we’ll have those results within the hour. I’ve already called ahead to my medical team, and they are calling in the ones I specifically requested for surgery if that is my decision. Unfortunately, I won’t know more until we arrive at the hospital, so we desperately need to leave.” He took my elbow in his hand, “Are you able to walk? Your legs seem a bit shaky.”

“Yes, I’m fine,” I said. “We need to go.”

“Please, have the luggage transported to the airport. I’ll ensure the next commercial flight brings them to LAX, where they will be received,” Cam said to one of the housemaids frantically running around, gathering our items that were strewn all over the place.

Ring! Ring!

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