“Of course. I hope the vice president is okay.”
“So do I.”
Sam ran out of the house without a coat and bolted down the ramp to the back of the ambulance. The sight of Nick, unmoving and strapped to a gurney, his face ghostly pale, made Sam stagger under the weight of her fear. Thankfully, Brant took hold of her arm and helped her into the ambulance before she tripped and fell.
“Why won’t he wake up?” she asked the paramedics when they were on their way to GW.
“We think he’s severely dehydrated. We’re pumping fluid into him, which ought to help.”
Dehydrated. She could work with that.
“But he’s going to be okay, right?”
“He should be.”
Sam clung to those three little words on the rapid trip to the hospital, where he was taken straight into an exam room. One of the nurses put an arm around Sam’s shoulders and guided her out of the room. “Let me find a place for you to wait where you won’t be bothered, Mrs. Cappuano.”
“I want to be with him.”
“Give us a chance to get him stable, and we’ll get you right in with him.”
“He’s not stable now?”
“We’re still assessing his condition. It’ll be a few minutes.”
Harry came rushing in, and Sam had never been so happy to see anyone in her life.
“They’re telling me I can’t stay with him.”
“I’ll get you in there as soon as I can.” He gave her a quick hug. “Go with Nancy. She’ll get you settled somewhere to wait.”
“Harry, please... Please.”
“He’s going to be fine. I promise.”
Those were, without any doubt, among the best words she’d ever heard. While Brant and another member of Nick’s detail stood watch outside the exam room, Sam let Nancy lead her to a private waiting room. She wanted to ask why the agents could stay but she couldn’t, but she already knew the answer to that.
“Is there someone you could call to come sit with you?” Nancy asked.
The only person Sam wanted was Nick. “I, um, I could call my sister.”
“Would you like me to do it for you?”
Angela would freak out if she got a call from a nurse at the GW Emergency Room. “Thank you, but I’ll do it.”
“Is there anything I can get you? Water, coffee?”
“A stiff drink?” Sam said with a small smile.
“Wish that was on the menu.”
“I’m fine, thank you. Please let me know the second you hear anything.”
“We will. I just want to say... All of us here, we think you and the vice president make for a beautiful couple, and we admire you both so much.”
Sam blinked rapidly, overcome with emotion. “Thank you. That’s very nice of you.”
“He’s young and strong and healthy. Have faith in all those things.”
Sam nodded because she didn’t trust herself to speak.
Nancy left her alone, and Sam took a moment to get herself together before she called Ang.
“Hey, what’s up? I was going to call you later.”
“Ang.”
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Can you come to the GW ER? Please? Nick is here, and he’s really sick. I don’t know what’s wrong with him—”
“I’ll be there. Hang tight.”
“Thank you.” Thank God for her sisters, Sam thought. They always came running when she needed them. Her phone dinged with a text from Tracy saying she was at Sam’s house, and Scotty was still sleeping.
Let me know when you hear anything about Nick.
I will. Harry is with him now.
He’s in very good hands.
Sam tried to take comfort in that, in knowing Harry cared about him as much as anyone did, anyone other than her, that is. No one cared more about Nick than she did. She couldn’t sit still. She paced from one end of the small room to the other, worried about Nick, worried about Scotty waking up to Tracy rather than her. If anything happened to Nick...
That thought had her dropping into a chair because her legs were too wobbly to support her. If this was what he went through every time she walked out the door to go to work or got herself into a jam on the job, it was a wonder he could function.
Her phone rang and she took a call from Nick’s dad. “Hi, Leo.”
“Hey, Sam, I tried to reach Nick, but his phone goes right to voicemail. I know how busy he is, so I figured I’d call you about coming up for dinner this weekend.”
“Oh, um, he’s sick, Leo. He’s got the flu. In fact, I’m at the GW ER with him right now. They think he’s severely dehydrated.”
“Oh no! I just talked to him yesterday.”
“It came on him and Scotty out of nowhere.”
“Should I come down?”
“I don’t think you need to,” she said with more confidence than she felt. “They said he’s going to be fine, and I can keep you posted. No sense exposing you or Stacy and the kids to what they’ve got.”
“If you’re sure...”
“I’ll tell him you called, and I’ll text you.”
“Tell him...” Leo hesitated, but only for a second. “Tell him I love him.”
“I’ll do that.” She wiped tears from her eyes. Under normal circumstances, tears pissed her off. Today she couldn’t care less about them.
Angela arrived twenty minutes after Sam called her. Wearing yoga pants and a sweatshirt without a coat, she rushed into Sam’s outstretched arms.
“Thank you so much for coming.”
“How is he?”
“I haven’t heard anything since I talked to you. I’m losing my mind.”
“So what happened?”
Sam relayed the story of how Nick and Scotty had come home sick the day before, and while Scotty seemed a tad bit better
