Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96513 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 386(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
“I brought medical staff,” I told him as I sank down next to Katherine.
Penn moved out of the way as the the EMTs got in close and began checking her vitals. “She’s breathing.”
“Blood pressure is low,” the second one said and then rattled off the numbers.
I blinked. That was low. Really low.
They went back and forth as they checked her over.
Then Katherine’s eyes fluttered open. “Wha—” she began.
“Katherine, can you hear me?” I asked, dropping down to her side.
“Camden?” she whispered. Her brown eyes searched me out. She looked incoherent.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
“Dress,” she whispered. “Dress is too tight.” She blinked and looked up at the medical staff in confusion. “Where am I?”
“You’re still at the Fashion Week gala.”
The EMT stepped in. “Ma’am, your blood pressure is dangerously low, and you appear to have fainted. How are you feeling now?”
“Fine,” she said, but her speech came out disjointed. She pushed herself up onto her elbows, but the team tried to stop her. “I’m fine. I just… I think the dress is too tight. I think maybe I… I don’t know. What’s going on?”
“Katherine, lie back,” I instructed. “You’re sick. You fainted. Tell them the truth.”
She looked back at me in confusion and shook her head. “What do you mean?”
The EMT looked at me expectantly.
“I’m her husband. She has anorexia. She needs to be taken to the hospital right away for recovery.”
“Camden,” she whispered in horror. “I don’t… I’m fine. It’s the dress. I swear.”
“She has a history of the condition. She’s been hospitalized in the past,” I said to the EMTs. “You can see all the signs.”
“I’m not going to a hospital,” she said sluggishly. “Camden, you know… you know how I feel.”
Then she tried to shove away from the EMTs and sit upright. But her breath hitched, and suddenly, her eyes rolled back into her head. She fainted a second time. If I hadn’t been there, she would have smacked her head on the carpet.
I did know how she felt about hospitals. She hated them. She would hate me for making her go there, but I’d do it anyway to save her.
The EMTs nodded at each other. “Let’s get her into an ambulance.”
And then everything was a rush. It all happened in such a blur that all I knew was, one minute, we had been in the gala, and the next, I was in an ambulance, zipping uptown to the hospital, while my wife was being hooked up to an IV and her dress was being cut off of her frail body.
Part V
History
33
Katherine
I awoke in a hospital bed. Machines beeped all around me. An IV ran into my vein. I was in a scratchy hospital gown. I was also freezing. My head felt fuzzy, and I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten here.
Just that I’d been rushing after Camden because of Candice’s pregnancy and then… oh. Oh, right. Camden had ordered me to go to a hospital. Camden had sent me here. Camden had gone against my wishes. He’d known my darkest fear, and still, he hadn’t listened to a word I’d said. He’d just rushed forward, taking charge, as if my feelings about the matter were inconsequential.
My husband was seated in a hospital chair to the side of my bed.
“You’re awake,” he said gently.
“How long was I out?”
“Not that long. You… came to in the ambulance and started thrashing around and screaming.” He kept his face blank, neutral, but I could see through him. I knew he dreaded what I was going to say. “They had to give you a sedative.”
I closed my eyes again. A sedative. Well, didn’t that just feel familiar?
“Katherine…”
I held up my hand to keep him silent. I needed another minute to process all of this. Maybe if I processed it, I could hold back the panic attack clawing at my throat. The feeling of overwhelming, oppressive bullshit that raked fingers down my back. The one that said I was here again, I was never going to get out, and this was my new life.
And I’d just felt like I was getting better. Seeing Jem in the hospital and being around her sunshine had made it bearable to even be in a hospital setting. But this? This?
Camden had done this to me. This was… horrific.
This was my worst nightmare all over again.
My breathing turned erratic. I balled my hands into fists. I was going to hyperventilate. I couldn’t get enough oxygen in. That was how this had all started. That damn dress had been too tight. It had been so goddamn tight that I couldn’t breathe. Then I’d fainted, and everyone had thought the worst. Camden had assumed I was sick again. He’d fucking told everyone about my past illness with anorexia. Who’d heard? Who knew now what I’d tried to keep secret for a decade?