Page 82 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 2
That was a no. James wasn't going to be okay. He was dying. James was dying. Tears streamed down my face. I quickly climbed into the back of the ambulance as soon as they had lifted James into it. I watched them press down on James' body with electrical paddles. James' body jolted.
"James," I whispered and squeezed his shin. "James, you can't leave me." I cringed when his body jolted again beneath my hand. "James, please, wake up."
"Turn it up," one of the paramedics said as the ambulance came to a stop outside of the hospital. His body jolted again as the doors flew open. His gurney was lifted out of the ambulance and he was rolled into the hospital.
I ran after the paramedics. A doctor leapt onto the gurney and started performing CPR as they disappeared behind swinging doors that stated hospital personnel only. I was left alone in the empty hallway, watching the doors swing until suddenly they stopped.
I fell to my knees and let myself cry. I had sensed that something was wrong earlier. If I had told James that, maybe he would have let us leave. Maybe we would have stayed inside for the rest of the evening. My thoughts flooded with maybes. I could sensethat she was there somewhere. Isabella. And she was still out there. She'd rather James be dead than with me.
Someone needed to come back through the doors. Someone needed to tell me what was happening. Tears cascaded down my cheeks and I didn't bother to wipe them away. Someone needed to tell me he was okay.
"Penny."
I shook my head.
"Penny." Rob lifted my face so that I would look at him.
"Rob," I sobbed and I started crying even harder.
He put his arms around me and held me. He didn't bother telling me everything was going to be okay. We both knew that it wasn't. He ran his hand up and down my back. It didn't calm me down at all.
I wasn't sure how long he held me, but eventually he pulled back. "Come with me," he said and stood up. "Maybe someone will have an update for us." His eyes were red too. I had never seen Rob cry before. And it made me even more unsettled. He was crying because he thought James was gone too. He was crying because he thought he had lost his brother.
I grabbed his hand and he pulled me to my feet. I turned back toward the doors James had disappeared through.Please, James. Please don't leave me.
Rob put his arm around my shoulders and walked me toward the front desk. I stood there listening to the commotion of the emergency room as Rob was handed forms to fill out.
"No," Rob said. "I asked how he was doing. Not this," he said and slammed the clipboard down on the counter.
"Sir," the woman said. "We will have someone come talk to you as soon as we know."
"Can't you just check?"
"That's not my job."
"How about you get off your ass and..."
"Rob," Mason said and put his hand on his shoulder. "How about you sit down and let me talk to them?"
Rob ran his hand through his hair. "They won't tell us anything."
"Penny." I turned around to see Bee. She was crying almost as hard as I had been. "He's going to be okay. He has to be."
I shook my head. She was trying. But her tears gave her away.
She immediately put her arms around me. "He's strong. He'll pull through." She was one of the few people that knew just how strong James was. But her words didn't calm me down. Nothing could make it feel like I wasn't sinking.
I glanced at Rob in the waiting room. His elbows were on his knees and both his hands were in his hair. When he was distraught he looked even more like James.
I just felt numb. What if I never got to see James upset again? What if I never got to see him happy again? I pulled away from Bee's hug. Nothing would console me right now. I needed to see him. I just needed to see him.
Mason was now arguing with the same woman that Rob had been.
"You encouraged her!" Rob yelled.
I looked back over at the waiting room. Rob had just shoved his father in the chest. "This is on you. James is dying because of you!" He shoved his dad again.
A security guard started toward them.
