Page 25 of Cass

He swallows hard. “I don’t know, Trevor. It’s pretty bad. These kinds of complications can be fatal, but I think every surgeon in this entire hospital is in that O.R. right now. Hopefully they can save her.”

I nod in understanding. I look over to Darian, Dad, and Cassandra.

Cassandra lifts her head. Her eyes are completely bloodshot. Her face is puffy, and covered in tears. I immediately go to her. I fall to my knees in front of her, and put my arms around her waist. She returns the embrace, putting her head on my shoulder. She begins sobbing.

We stay like that for a long time. Eventually I stand, and pull Cassandra up with me. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk. You need to get some air and stretch your legs.”

She shakes her head. “No. I can’t leave Darian and the girls.”

Dad lifts his eyes. “Go take a breather, Cassandra. You need it. We’ll find you if there’s any news.” She nods as she slowly stands.

I take her out into the stairwell. I lean my back against the wall, and pull her head into my chest. I let her cry, while I kiss her face and head. I’m rubbing her back in comfort. “Cassandra, she’s going to be okay. I know she is.”

She looks up at me with such pain in her eyes. “I can’t lose her Trevor. You have no idea what Harley means to me. She’s my everything.”

“I know she is. You won’t lose her. Harley is one of the strongest people I have ever met in my entire life. She’s a fighter. She has so much to live for. She knows it.”

She squeezes her eyes shut. Her voice is trembling. “Darian will never recover if she loses Harley. The universe can’t be so cruel to do this to her all over again. It’s not fair.”

She tries to pull away, but I won’t let her go. “Trevor, stop. I need to get back to Darian. I need to be there for her.”

“No, Cassandra. She has support. She has my dad. She’s not the only one hurting here. You’re in pain too. You’re allowed to grieve right now. This isn’t just happening to Darian. It’s happening to you too. You don’t always have to be the caregiver. I want to take care of you. Let me take care of you.” I pull her as close as humanly possible.

She relaxes into my arms, and sobs. Really sobs. I say nothing as I squeeze her tight and let her do what she needs to do in this moment.

I don’t know how much time goes by, but I simply continue to hold her, kiss her, and reassure her. It’s been so long since I’ve had her in my arms like this. I miss her. I miss her smell. I miss the way she feels. I know I’m here to comfort her, but having her in my arms again comforts me.

At some point the stairwell door opens. Reagan’s bloodshot, glassy eyes widen at the sight before her. We look up at her, but neither of us bother to attempt to move out of our embrace. “The nurse just came by. She said the doctors will be out in a few minutes to talk to us. You guys should come back in.”

I nod. “Okay, we’ll be right there. Just give us another minute.” I look down and rub her cheeks with my thumb. I try to wipe away her tears, but there are too many of them. “Cassandra, are you ready to go back?”

She nods and I grab her hand, but as soon as we reach the door back into the waiting room, she releases my hand.

We walk through the door. Brody and Darian are embracing, waiting right by the door the doctors will enter through. Dad’s standing behind her with his hands rubbing her shoulders, whispering into her ear. Reagan and Skylar are on the other side of her. Cassandra moves to hold both of them.

Brody looks like he’s gone through a fifteen-round boxing match. Everyone in the room pretty much looks the same. We’re all on pins and needles waiting for the doctors.

A few minutes later, an enormous team of doctors walk through the doors. Hayden wasn’t kidding. Every doctor in this hospital must have been working on her.

They all pull down their masks. There’s a female doctor, that looks about Brody’s age, with tears in her eyes.

Brody looks at the older man in the middle. “Phil? How is she? Just tell me. Please.”

Phil puts his hand on Brody’s shoulder. “I’m not going to lie. It was touch and go, Brody. She had a pulmonary embolism. It was really lodged in there. We had trouble getting to it. We nearly lost her. But we got in.” He smiles. “We broke it up. She’s going to be on blood thinners for a while, but she made it through surgery. You know we need to monitor her for more clots, but she should be okay and make a full recovery.”

Oh, thank God. A mix of cheers and deep sobs permeate the waiting room. Darian nearly collapses out of Brody’s arms, but Dad catches her. He pulls her up into an embrace. She sobs into his chest in relief.

Brody’s in tears as he thanks each doctor, and they all shake his hand and pat his back. He and the female doctor that had tears in her eyes are now hugging, both fully sobbing. She must be close to Harley.

Cassandra is still holding Reagan and Skylar. They’re all happy crying as they embrace one another. It’s actually touching to watch them together. They’re so close. They love each other so much.

Jess comes out the door from behind the doctors. She takes off her mask. Clearly, she was crying too. She runs over to Hayden, and they embrace. I hear her tell him that it was the most intense surgery she’s ever witnessed. She’s never experienced anything like it. He holds her to keep her calm.

I lean over to Payton. “Where’s Scotty?”

“Kylie came to get him hours ago. We didn’t want Brody to have to worry about him. He’s at my house playing with Paisley. She keeps texting me asking for updates.”

“That was really nice of Kylie.” He nods. “How’s the baby? Do we know anything?”

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