Page 48 of Lose You to Find Me

Suddenly, Caleb is by my side, grabbing my wrist carefully and pulling the cloth toward him like the mother hen he’s always been. He peels back the cloth to check the injury and curses under his breath when he sees whatever I’m too scared to look at.

“This is going to need stitches or glue,” he tells me gently. He points to Elena. “Get a new cloth for her. I’m taking her to the hospital.”

“Caleb, I’m—”

“Don’t say you’re fine. You aren’t. We both know this is going to need to get checked out or you could get an infection. Let’s just set things between us aside for right now and get you taken care of.”

Set things aside.As if it’s that easy.

Elena jogs over with a fresh cloth, this one definitely clean, and gives me another apologetic look. “I’m sorry again, Raine. I’ll tell Grandma Bea to take money out of my paycheck to make sure you get the rest of your pay.”

It’s a sweet thought, but I don’t have time to tell her not to worry about it before I’m being pulled around the counter and toward the front door where people are starting to walk in.

“Caleb, Lena can’t be here by herself.”

He doesn’t seem to care as he takes his jacket off and starts putting it on me before the cold air hits us. “How much help are you going to be when you’re bleeding half to death?”

It’s a logical question, albeit a tad bit dramatic. “I’m not bleeding to death. Can you at least call Bea? Or let me call her to make sure Lena will be okay?”

I don’t have to look at him to know the sigh is one of exasperation. “I’ll call Bea when we get you to the hospital. Lena has run things on her own before. She’ll be fine. Anddon’t”—he pins me with a serious expression—“argue with me right now.”

Pressing my lips together, I nod once and let him help me into the truck. He’s being excessive, careful not to touch me but there in case I lose my balance. People always joked that he was the parental figure in every situation—the DD when the boys went out drinking, the person who collected keys at house parties, and the go-to to call on whenever somebody needed help. I don’t know whether to believe he’s being helpful now because he still cares for me or because this is just who he is as a person.

The ride to the hospital is short since it’s only a few blocks from here. We could have walked if Caleb didn’t think I would keel over at any second from blood loss.

It isn’t until we’re inside the emergency room at the check-in desk that I trust myself to face him and say, “You don’t have to stay.”

One of his brows pops up as he accepts the clipboard with paperwork on it. “How are you going to get back?”

It’s hard not to smile. “It’s not even a ten-minute walk back to Bea’s. Less than that if I cross over on Pine from Maple Avenue.”

“First of all, it’s November and cold. You’re freezing even in the summertime. You’d be half-frozen by the time you made it back to the bakery. Second, do you honestly think Bea is going to let you work the rest of your shift after you get back?”

I’d most likely get double-teamed by Bea and Caleb and told to go home and rest.

“It’s a little cut,” I argue, my good hand gripping the jacket that’s too big for me.

He grumbles, “We’ll see about that.”

And we do.

Because despite me telling him, on three different occasions, that he can go home instead of staying with me, he helps me fill out the paperwork and comes back to the room with me. His eyes are trained on me from where he sits in the corner—on my hand and on every little movement that the nurse, Salvatore, makes as he examines what’s under the saturated cloth.

“All right, I’m going to have you keep this wrapped up. One of the doctors will come check it out too, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to need some glue. The nick isn’t too deep, but it’s in a sensitive spot, which is why it’s bleeding so much. The doctor on call tonight will confirm when he’s done with his other patient.” Salvatore grabs a plastic cup with an orange cap on it, passing it to me. “I’ll need you to try giving me a urine sample too, to rule out pregnancy. If stitches are necessary, we’ll give you medication to help with the pain.”

My stomach drops at the P-word. “I’m not,” I tell him quickly, too afraid to even look in my ex-boyfriend’s direction. What would he see on my face if we locked eyes?

Too much.

The nurse gives me an empty smile, as if he delivers this speech all the time to the frantic women who have to provide samples before treatment. “It’s hospital policy.”

From the corner of my eye, I see Caleb shift as he stares down at the sample cup. He remains silent, his hands tucked into the crooks of his arms from how they’re draped tensely over his chest.

Shoulders dropping, I accept the cup and head to the bathroom across the hall.

I wish I could have told the nurse that this was pointless, and it only irritates the anger that I’ve had to bury deep, deep inside me since I was told by my gynecologist that I had a future of struggles ahead of me.

“It’ll be a very hard journey, and you may need to make some tough decisions,” Dr. Fields says, giving me the sympathetic smile I’m sure she gives all the patients she tells bad news to. “This isn’t the end of the world, Raine.”

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