Chapter 32

thirty-two

. . .

Henley

River rafting grade IV rapids had clearly been a bit more extreme than I’d expected, but it wasn’t like I’d never been out on the river before. Accidents happened all the time, and thankfully, I was okay.

I was fine, actually. I didn’t think I needed to be at the hospital, but there was always a risk of taking water into your lungs and having issues, even after you thought you were okay.

Easton was adamant about me getting checked out.

He’d shut down in the ambulance. I’d watched it happen right in front of me as he held my hand and stared down at me. All the life had left his eyes.

He hadn’t spoken one word.

When we’d arrived, Ellie had come back into the room with me, as Easton had suddenly stopped walking inside the hospital and let go of my hand as if he couldn’t go any further.

The paramedics had hustled me in back, and Ellie had followed.

They’d given me a pair of dry scrubs to put on, and the doctor listened to my lungs.

“You’re going to be just fine,” he said. “You probably took in a lot of water, but vomiting the way you did helped you expel it.”

“All right.” I shrugged. I was exhausted. Concerned about Easton. I’d heard him shouting after we’d made it to the bottom of the river. I’d seen the look on his face when I’d been lying in his arms after I couldn’t catch my breath.

“You’ve got a lot of bruises on you, but they’ll heal up soon. I guess you just got your Rosewood River initiation,” Dr. Spindle said.

I nodded, and Ellie didn’t hide her irritation when he left the room, telling us that we’d be discharged soon. She left briefly to let everyone know that I was fine, and Dr. Spindle was just going to watch me for a little while before I’d be discharged. She returned to the room a few minutes later.

Easton did not come with her.

I swiped at the tears running down my face. “He’s not coming back here?”

“Oh, sweetheart. He has a thing with hospitals. Jilly died shortly after she arrived at this hospital. And I don’t know that Easton has ever stepped foot in a hospital since.” Ellie sat down beside me on the bed and reached for my hand.

“I wish he’d talk to me about it.”

“Me, too. But I’ve seen him make so much progress with you. Don’t give up on him, Henley. He’s trying.”

“I would never give up on him,” I croaked. “I made things worse. I shouldn’t have insisted on going out with them today. I thought I could show him that his fears were irrational. And I managed to make everything worse.”

She wrapped an arm around me. “You can’t stop living because my son is afraid of losing you. That won’t help him. You did the right thing. And yes, it was scary seeing your body come down that rapid the way that it did, but you are okay. That same thing has happened at least once to each of my boys. And guess what?”

“What?” I asked, leaning my head against her shoulder.

“They all went out there again. Easton has been through it himself. But he just loves you so damn much, sweetheart. And that terrifies him. Because the thought of losing you is just too much.”

I nodded and sniffed a few times. “What if this pushes him away forever?”

That little voice in the back of my head was questioning everything.

Have I messed everything up?

Am I enough?

Am I worth the risk?

“Not a chance. He loves you. You need to have faith in that, Henley. He just got scared. Give him time.”

I closed my eyes, trying to process everything that had happened today. And that’s exactly where I stayed for the next hour. In the arms of the mother of the man that I loved.

“Hey, bestie.” Lulu came rushing into the room, her eyes puffy, so it was obvious that she’d been crying.

“Oh, my gosh. What are you doing here?” I sat forward and moved to my feet, wrapping my arms around her before introducing her to Ellie.

“Easton called me and told me what happened. He had your phone,” she said, holding it up with a chuckle, but then a tear escaped, and she swiped it away.

I nodded. “Where is he now? Did you see him?”

“I guess his brother Rafe took him to his car once they knew that I was only a few minutes out. He made me text him when I pulled up at the hospital. That man can be very overbearing.” She shrugged, trying hard to make light of it.

“He left?” The words left my lips on a cry.

He’d left me because I’d gotten hurt?

Lulu and Ellie both wrapped their arms around me. Probably because they didn’t know what to say.

Because the simple truth was—he’d left me.

There was no other way around it.

And I couldn’t believe that he would do that.

Sure, I’d expected him to be distant, maybe even pull away from me over the next few days after we returned home from the hospital.

But leave me here without saying goodbye?

The betrayal hurt more than all the rocks I’d slammed into as I’d flown down the rapid on my back.

Easton Chadwick had managed to break my heart.

Just as I’d feared he would.