“I don’t have his fucking number.”
“Uh, well, see… I do?” She cleared her throat, her voice shaking a little toward the end. If I wasn’t freaking the hell out about Laney, I’d want to dive into that, but it was not the time.
She tossed me her phone and I scrolled for Matt, then dialed his number. He answered on the second ring.
“Petra?”
“Is Laney okay? What’s wrong? Where is she?”
I heard a beeping sound. Was that from a machine? Was he at the hospital? I loosened my tie since each breath took effort.
“She’s okay, yeah.” Matt sighed before a muffled voice neared him. “I’m gonna step out for a minute.”
“Are you speaking to Laney? Put my wife on the phone.”
“Connor.” Matt spoke softly but firmly. “That was the nurse. Laney is doing fine. She passed out due to dehydration, so they have her hooked up to some IVs and are monitoring her. They want to check… make sure she is good.” He cleared his throat and hesitated. “Are—are you en route?”
“Yes. I’m en route. Now can I speak to her?”
“She’s sleeping. She’s safe. We’re on the second floor of the hospital. They’ll buzz you up.”
There was something about his tone that had me on edge. He was hiding something. I could smell the lie through thephone, and I gripped the car’s grab handles so hard that my knuckles whitened.
“Why aren’t you letting me talk to her?” I barked out.
“Because she’s resting. Because you’re really emotional right now and won’t help her. Let her feel better before you barge in here. She needs you calm.”
“Are you Laney’s husband?” A kind, authoritative voice spoke to Matt, which carried through the phone.
My vision blurred. I saw red.
“Connor, I’m going to try to see if the doctor will give me any information. Her parents are on their way. Just take some deep breaths and get here. You acting frantic won’t help her at all.”
Then he hung up.
My pulse skipped a beat, the pressure in my chest tightening and doubling with each breath. Placing a hand on my chest, I pushed into it, hoping that would ease the pain.
“Breathe in slowly, Connor. Count to seven, then exhale. We’ll get there, okay? It sounds like she’s okay.”
“They asked if Matt was her husband.”
She sucked in a breath. “You should be thankful he helped her. He’s not the issue.”
“I know he’s not the fucking issue. If I wasn’t obsessed with the board meeting, I could’ve answered the first call.” My eyes stung, and my throat closed. “I don’t know what to do.”
“You breathe. You calm the hell down. Call her mom or dad, talk to them.”
“Yeah, okay.” I dialed her dad. No answer.
Forty-seven minutes until we arrived at the hospital.
Forty-six.
Forty-five.
Each minute passed excruciatingly slowly, and each second, I vowed to never let this happen again. Whatever it took, I’d put Laney first.
If she’d still have me after this.
