19. Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen

"How's that working out for you?"

W hen Cooper came through the door instead of Gage, Sydney knew something was wrong. She got up from the desk as he walked over to her.

"What's wrong?"

"There was an accident."

"On the road? Is he okay? What happened?"

"Not a car accident. I found him behind his house."

"Found him?"

Cooper held up a hand. "He's alive."

Sydney felt lightheaded and Cooper took her arm. "Come sit down."

"Just tell me."

He led her to the couch, and they both sat down. "A tree fell on him. I don't know how. But Cabe and I got him out and into the house. Then Booker and his deputy came and hauled him down the road to the ambulance."

"A tree?"

"Yeah. But I don't think it seriously hurt him. It was the cold. I don't know how long he was out there before I found him."

"I should've called you sooner."

"You called me as soon as you knew he wasn't at work. This isn't on you."

Sydney blew out a breath. "Oh, my gosh. How bad is it?"

"He's at the clinic. Corbyn is taking care of him. Warming him up. Giving him fluids."

"Is he conscious?"

"Not as of fifteen minutes ago."

Sydney stood and walked around the room. "He's going to be okay, right?"

Cooper shrugged. "I think. I hope. Corbyn thinks we got to him in time."

"I need to go see him."

"Yeah. You and everybody else."

"Will I be interfering?"

"No. Come on."

"Are you sure?"

He stood and went to her, then took her hand. "I'm sure. He'll want to see you when he wakes up."

"I don't know about that."

Cooper smiled. "I do."

Sydney shut down the computer and turned off the lights before putting on her coat. When they went outside, she locked the door behind her. Cooper's truck was out front, and they both got in and drove to the clinic.

When they went inside, they found Delaney, Lincoln, Cabe, and Clementine in the waiting room. Paxton was home with Elaina and the baby. Remington and Rand were at the restaurant and couldn't be there. And the weather was too bad for Lillian and Greer to be driving in.

Delaney stood when she saw Sydney and gave her a hug. "Sweetheart."

"Any word?"

"Corbyn is with him. They've got his temperature up close to where it should be. Which is good."

Corbyn came out a few minutes later. "He's doing okay. I'm just a little concerned that he hasn't come to yet. If he doesn't come out of it soon, I'll need to transfer him to the hospital in Richfield. I've been consulting with a doctor there. At this point, I'm able to do everything for him that they would."

Delaney looked at him. "Can we go see him?"

"Yeah. I think that will be good. Talk to him. Tell him we need him to come back to us."

Delaney wiped away a tear as Lincoln stood. He took her hand, and they went down the hall to Gage's room.

Sydney sat next to Clementine and took her hand. Cooper looked at them. "Anyone else want a cup of coffee?"

Cabe nodded, and Clementine said, "I'll take some tea."

"Tea?"

"I'm trying not to drink caffeine."

Cooper raised an eyebrow. "How's that working out for you?"

"Not so good. Especially at times like this."

"Sydney?"

"Um. No, I had several cups while I was waiting to hear from you."

Cooper went to the reception desk and asked Journee for two cups of coffee and a cup of hot water and a tea bag.

She handed him the coffee, then brought the tea to Clementine. "Is anyone hungry? I could order some food." Everyone declined, and she added. "Just let me know if you need anything."

Cooper gave her a smile. "Thanks, Journee."

While Lincoln and Delaney were in with Gage, he had woken up. They spent some time with him, then came back to the waiting room when he got tired again.

Delaney looked somewhat relieved, but she was concerned as well. "He's pretty disoriented. Which Corbyn said is to be expected. But still very hard to see."

Lincoln hugged her. "We're going to go pick up Mom and Dad. Then go see the baby." He shook his head. "Very mixed emotions today." He sighed. "I'm afraid if we don't go get them, Dad will try to drive. And he's a bit of a menace on the road these days. Can't tell the man to stop though."

Clementine looked up at him. "I can go get them and bring there here if you want to spend time with Paxton and Elaina."

"Honey, I don't want you driving in this weather any more than I want them to. Besides. Booker gave me strict orders to not let you leave until he came to get you. We'll spend some time with the baby, then come back here."

"You all worry too much."

"You're carrying precious cargo."

Clementine rubbed her stomach. "This precious cargo needs to stop kicking me in the ribs." She stood. "I'm going to go sit with Gage." She looked at Sydney. "Do you want to come with me?"

"If you don't mind."

"Of course not. Come on."

Cooper stretched. "I'm going to head home and have supper with Lyric and the kids. Will you tell Corbyn to call me if anything changes?"

Clementine nodded. "Yes." She looked at Cabe. "You should go, too. You guys had quite a morning."

Cooper put a hand on Cabe's shoulder. "Come have some dinner with us."

Cabe nodded. "Okay. Maybe we can come back later."

"Definitely."

The two men left, followed by Lincoln and Delaney. Clementine smiled at Sydney. "Just us girls."

"Let's go see him."

They went to Gage's room and found Corbyn checking his vitals. "He's coming along. Temp is almost back to normal."

Clementine went to Gage's bedside. "That's good, right?"

"Yes. That's very good. And he's just sleeping now. So that's good, too."

Sydney sighed. "Thank goodness."

Corbyn left and Sydney looked at Gage. He looked pale and a bit frail lying in the hospital bed. He had several layers of blankets over him. There was an IV going into the back of his left hand. She hated seeing him like that. And she was sure once he was aware of his surroundings, he'd hate being there. She'd only seen him sick once, and he wasn't very good at it.

Clementine sat next to him and took his hand. "Gage I'm here. So is Sydney. We love you and need you to get better."

There was a chair on the other side of the bed, and Sydney went to sit on it. "It's pretty handy having a deputy who's a paramedic."

"Yeah. I'm afraid Booker is going to end up enjoying working with him more than me."

Sydney laughed. "That's never going to happen. No matter how multi-talented he is."

"Have you seen him?"

"Not yet, no."

Clementine smiled. "He's cute, too."

"Men in uniform."

"I'm pretty sure he'd be cute out of his uniform as well."

Sydney shook her head. "Clementine. You're a married woman. A pregnant married woman."

She put a hand over her mouth. "I totally didn't mean it that way. I meant with regular clothes on."

"Right."

Clementine laughed. "Don't tell my husband."

"Your observation of the new deputy is safe with me. But now I need to check him out."

Gage groaned. "Can you two quit crushing on the new deputy, please?" He opened his eyes. "I'm trying to sleep."

Clementine stood and hugged him. Gage groaned again, and she let go. "I'm sorry."

"I had a tree land on me this morning."

"I'm so sorry."

He looked at Sydney. "Did the paper get out?"

"Of course."

Clementine sat back down. "And he's back."

Gage rubbed his forehead. "Not completely. I feel like…I've been awake for a week."

"Your body went through a lot."

"Fortunately, I don't remember any of it. The last thing I remember is starting the coffeemaker."

Sydney patted his arm. "It's probably good that you don't remember."

"I guess. But I don't like having a hole in my memory."

Clementine smiled. "Sometimes that can be a good thing."

Gage closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. "I can't seem to stay awake."

"You don't need to stay awake for us. We'll just sit here and watch you sleep."

"That's very comforting." He took a breath and winced. "Corbyn says I have several bruised ribs. I think that tree did a number on me." He shook his head. "How did I not see a tree falling? I must be an idiot."

Sydney shook her head. "You're not an idiot. You were distracted by whatever you were photographing."

"Photographing. Dammit, my camera. I must've had a camera on me."

Clementine took his hand again. "Cabe has it."

"Don't let him open it. I need to see what I was taking a picture of. Even if the camera is trashed, the film should still be okay."

"I'm sure he knows. But I'll remind him."

Gage sighed, then winced again. "Damn breathing."

"Pain or not. You need to keep doing it."

When the door opened and Booker came through it, Gage raised his hand a few inches off the bed in a muted wave.

Booker gave him a smile. "How are you doing?"

"Thanks to my brothers, I'm here."

Booker went to the end of the bed. "You look a hell of a lot better than you did when we showed up at your house."

"You and the cute deputy?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your wife thinks the new deputy is cute."

Clementine scowled. "Good thing you're injured." She looked at Booker. "I was merely asking if Sydney had seen him."

Booker laughed. "Hmm. Competition."

Clementine got to her feet. "Never."

He put a hand on her stomach. "I hope not. We have a lot invested in this relationship. Too much to throw away over a cute deputy."

"Oh, my gosh. Both of you. Stop. That's not what I meant."

Booker kissed her. "I believe you, sweetheart."

"Are you done for the day?"

"Yes."

Clementine looked at Gage. "I just need a little more time with my brother."

"Take all the time you need."

Gage raised his hand again. "I'm fine, sis. You can go."

"But you just woke up."

"And I'll probably be back asleep soon. Go home and relax. Everything is fine."

She looked at Sydney. "Will you stay with him until my parents get back with Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Of course."

Clementine kissed Gage on the cheek. "I love you. You scared the crap out of me."

"I love you too."

They left, and Gage looked at Sydney. "You can leave if you want."

"I don't want to leave. Unless you want me to."

"I don't want you to."

"Good. Because I'd probably stay either way."