Weight

The wheels of the gurney rattled against the hospital floor as the trauma team rushed Naomi toward the ER. She was back—barely. Her pulse was weak, her breathing shallow, but she was alive. The monitors beeped frantically as the team called out vitals, working desperately to stabilize her as they moved her toward the operating room.

Just as they pushed through the double doors, Camden burst into the ER, his chest rising and falling with panicked breaths. His eyes darted around the room, searching for any sign of her. He ran to the front desk, gripping the counter.

"Naomi Fuller—where is she?" he demanded, his voice sharp with desperation.

Before the receptionist could respond, a broken sob caught his attention. He turned to see Alexis on the floor, knees tucked under her, shaking with grief. Her face was streaked with tears, her hands clenched into fists.

Seeing Camden sent a fresh wave of emotions crashing over her. She sprang to her feet, storming toward him, her sorrow morphing into rage. She shoved him hard against the chest. "Where the hell have you been?!"

Camden barely stumbled but didn’t fight back. He let her hit him again, taking each shove as if it was deserved.

"Alexis—"

"No! You don’t get to say my name like that!" she snapped, her voice raw and unsteady. "She needed you! Where were you? What took you so long?!"

Camden swallowed hard, his hands balling into fists at his sides. "I—"

"If you would’ve just gotten your shit together—if you never left—this wouldn’t have happened!" she screamed, her hands shaking. "She wouldn’t be in there fighting for her damn life!"

The words hit Camden like a sledgehammer, cutting through his guilt, through his grief. He closed his eyes, exhaling shakily. When he opened them again, his voice was quiet but firm. "You're right. I should have stayed. I should have fought for her instead of running. I love her, Alexis. I never stopped."

The fire in Alexis' eyes flickered, her anger dimming just slightly, replaced with exhaustion and sorrow. She wiped at her face with trembling hands before taking a slow breath.

"She’s in the OR," she finally said, her voice barely above a whisper. "She coded in the field. We fought to bring her back. She’s critical."

Camden felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs. His chest tightened as if the walls were closing in on him. His worst nightmare was playing out before him, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Alexis reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded, slightly crumpled piece of paper. Her fingers hesitated before extending it toward him. "I think this belongs to you."

Camden's brow furrowed as he took the letter from her hands. His heart pounded as his fingers traced the worn edges. He recognized it immediately.

The letter he had written to Naomi—the one he had never meant for her to find.

His breath hitched as the weight of everything crashed down on him. Naomi was fighting for her life, and in his hands, he held the very words he had been too much of a coward to say before it was too late.