Page 49 of You Are Cordially Invited

Determination set my jaw. “You wouldn’t da—”

“Don’t push me, Cam,” he snapped, then his expression and voice softened. “Come on, sweetheart. Just let me do my job.”

My knees almost buckled at the endearment from someone affectionately known as the iceman. “Okay. Okay.” I nodded and stepped back. Because Willwasgood. He was one of the best.

“He’s too still,” I said, watching them work. “That can’t just be a simple concussion.”

Will sighed, then answered as he worked, “He woke on the field, and then in the ambulance, and a few times since, but he’s stayed drowsy, in and out. And no, it’s not the usual, but we won’t know more until the imaging.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Cam.” Michael’s voice fell softly in my ear and a hand guided me back. “Take this.” He handed me Reuben’s ring, the one I’d given him six months after we’d moved in together as a family. “It’s safer with you.”

I stared at it, tears welling as my hand started to shake. I swallowed them down as Michael closed my fingers over the cool metal. There’d be time for falling apart later. “Thanks.” I slipped it on my hand and Michael pulled me against him.

I drew on his strength for a minute as my heart threatened to break apart. Then I forced my lungs to accept a few deep breaths and watched Reuben’s chest rise and fall. Monitors beeped, alarms sounded on and off, and in the middle of it all, the man who’d carved a place in the centre of my universe and around which everything else moved.

Nothing worked without him and no one was taking him from me without a fucking fight.

I took a couple more breaths until I felt the blood begin to sing in my veins, and the nurse in me kicked back in.

There were things I couldn’t do, I’d give Will that, but there was a whole fucking lot I could. I wriggled free and shot Michael a look just as the X-ray technician wheeled in the portable machine, finally.

“Tell me everything,” I demanded.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then sighed and opened them again. “We won’t know anything until the X-rays are done—”

“Don’t screw with me, Michael,” I spat the words. “I’m not some naïve relative.Tellme, honestly.”

He fell back against the wall. “I’ll always be honest with you.” He looked almost upset. “But the truth is, we simply don’t know. From the video replay, we can see he landed awkwardly on his head and shoulder, his neck hyper-extending, but because of the concussion, he hasn’t really been able to talk to us fully about what happened or what he’s feeling. He’s come around but he keeps drifting. All we can do is be cautious and assume a spinal injury until proved otherwise—”

I drew a sharp breath.

“Assume,Cam, nothing proven. Breathe.”

I gulped in a breath.

“Good.” He patted my arm. “Now, what Icansay is that when he roused a little in the ambulance, he was trying to move his head and he jerked as they tried to put an intravenous in his arm, so he feltsomething.” His gaze drilled into me.

“What about reflexes and pulses?” I asked.

“All intact except for some deep tendon ones, and he still seems sensitive to pain although not everywhere. His shoulders and biceps are better than his hands, and his legs are patchy.”

“So.” I blew out a slow breath. “X-ray, MRI, ultrasound, CT scan, right?”

Michael nodded. “The mobile set of X-rays are simply to check for any obvious or critical instability before we take him upstairs for more extensive imaging. It’s gonna be hours until we know anything, and if they find a problem, it could even mean surgery tonight, and more waiting.”

I turned to face him. “You’re looking for a spinal fracture, right?”

He nodded. “But also herniated disc or subluxation. They’re all things we need to rule out before we can go any further. If there’s anything that needs stabilising to reduce the risk of further damage, they’ll want to get in there straight away. I’ve just been on the phone with Leyton Robertson, the neurosurgical spine specialist. He’s coming to take a look.”

Thank God. The air whooshed from my lungs and my knees wobbled just a little as the potential severity of what we were facing hit me. “Fuck, Michael...” I tunnelled my fingers through my hair. “What if... Jesus, I can hardly breathe. What if—”

“Come here.” He enfolded me in his arms. “One step at a time. It’s gonna be a long night.”

“No.” I pushed him away. “Don’t. I... I can’t afford to lose my shit, not now. I have to be here forhim.” I glanced at Reuben’s too still body on the gurney as the technician positioned the X-ray plates.

Michael raised a brow. “You mean you have to triple check everything that’s being done.”

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