place to go and someone to take care of her. Thank you for all that you’ve done for her.”
Cameron looked back at the doctor and tried unsuccessfully to conceal some of the emotion on his face, and it was then that the doctor was finally able to see past the image of the football star and realize he was looking at a fellow person who was struggling with trauma.
The doctor nodded his head and clapped him on the shoulder.
“She’s going to be alright. Just take good care of her. That’s the best thing you can do. I’ll draw up some instructions and see if I can arrange for a home nurse for her, if you like.”
Cameron nodded and thanked him again, and the doctor left. He looked down at Delilah again, unable to look away from her. Her face was bruised and the bandages around her didn’t hide it. It made him sick to his stomach.
He pulled out his cell phone and in moments there was a voice at the other end.
“What’s up, Cam?”
“I’m at the hospital, Jim. Delilah was in a car wreck and she’s in bad shape.”
“Oh no! Is she alright? Is the baby alright?”
“The baby is fine, but she’s going to need some regular care. She’s pretty banged up.”
“How did you know she was at the hospital? Why didn’t they call me?”
“Never mind about that. Right now we need to take care of her. I want her set up at my place. Get her out of her apartment and move her into my house. She can stay in the guest room there. We need nurses to come by the house to help her out.” Cameron’s voice cracked and Jim knew he shouldn’t try to argue with him.
Jim sighed heavily.
“Alright. I’ll get it all sorted out. How long do you expect her to stay with you?”
Cameron blinked and thought about her healing time and her due date, which was just a couple of weeks from when she’d have her cast removed and when her ribs should be healed.
“You know what, let’s keep her there until she has the baby, and then she can go.”
Jim paused for a moment and said, “Cam… I don’t think…”
“That’s what we’re doing for her. I owe her at least that much. Besides, I don’t want anything to happen to my son. I’ve spent a lot of time, money and energy on this, and I don’t want to take any chances that anything else can happen.
“This was a close call, much too close, and it’s not going to happen again. She moves in with me when she’s released from the hospital, and she stays until my son is born.”
“Alright. I guess that’s what we’ll do. I’ll arrange for the nurses.”
“Hey, Jim?”
“Yeah, Cam?”
“I want that drunken son of a bitch arrested and put in prison.”
“I’ll make sure it happens.”
“Thanks, Jim. I appreciate it.”
“No problem, Cam. Take it easy.”
Word got around the hospital very quickly that the city’s star quarterback was in one of the rooms, and staff foot traffic increased along the corridor outside of Delilah’s room. It really got busy later that evening when three other big name players from the team walked out of the elevator and crowded their enormous bodies into Delilah’s room.
Mikey, Aaron and Josh stood huddled together near the doorway, staring at the woman they had heard about but not seen. Cameron hugged each of them and thanked them for coming.
Mikey sniffed and wiped a tear from his eye.
“That’s your son… right there in her stomach. Is he going to be okay?”
“Yeah,” Cameron said, walking back over to the side of Delilah’s bed.
“He’s going to be alright. They both are. They’re coming back to my place with me after she’s out of here.”
Josh held out an enormous bouquet of flowers that he’d brought, and Cameron smiled at him and set the arrangement on her window sill.
“That’s really nice, Josh. Thanks, brother.”
Cameron told them about her wreck and her injuries, and