“I don’t either, but I’m worried.”

When he felt her grinning at him, he looked over. “It’s sweet how much you care for all of them.”

“They’re my family, and they all love you, for some reason.”

“I’m amazing… Shit, pull over—” But before he could, she was rolling the window down and puking out the side of the car. Laughing inside, he stopped the car as she lost her cookies out the window.

“You okay?”

“Dying.”

Looking at her ass, he smiled. “So if I put my finger in your butt, you’d kick me?”

“Vaughn,” she warned and he laughed.

“Fine, you’re boring.”

But she wasn’t, and as she held up her middle finger while she puked her soul out, he couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.

She kept him on his toes.

And he was loving every moment of it.

When Brie’s phone rang, she let out a loud groan.

She had spent most of the night throwing up, but when it finally subsided, she was dead to the world and fell asleep quickly. She wasn’t even sure when Vaughn had left, but she was tucked into the bed, a trash can by her head and a bottle of water on the nightstand with her phone. She didn’t take him for the kind of guy who held back a girl’s hair. But then, she didn’t take him for much, and he continually blew her away.

Reaching for her phone, she groaned some more. That was, until she saw who it was.

Sitting up, her heart dropped to her stomach as she hit accept. “Dawn?”

“Brie, okay, I’m sorry, so sorry, but this is the first time I could call you. I just jumped into action.”

Her heart slammed into her chest as she tried to stay calm, “What’s wrong?”

“We’re in the ambulance. I went to check on Rodney, and he was white and clammy, breathing, just not conscious.”

“Oh, fuck.”

She kicked the blankets off and fell face first off the bed as Dawn went on. “He’s breathing, but they aren’t sure what is wrong.”

When the door opened, she looked up to see Vaughn, his eyes full of panic as he came to her, pulling her up off the floor and into his arms. “Can I talk to him?”

“He’s weak, sweetheart. They are working on him.”

“Okay,” she gasped, her eyes filling with tears. “What are they saying?”

“What do you think is wrong?” she heard Dawn ask. Burying her face in Vaughn’s chest, Brie couldn’t hear very well, but then Dawn was back on the phone. “They think either a malfunction with the pacemaker or a clot is throwing it off. They are rushing now.”

Brie crumpled in Vaughn’s arms, but he had her, sitting her on the edge of the bed before he rushed to her suitcase, throwing clothes at her before tossing everything else in her bag. “Get dressed.”

She scrambled to put them on as she cried, “Okay, I’m coming.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you here.”

Throwing the phone down, she pulled her shirt on and covered her face, but then she was in Vaughn’s arms, his lips at her head. “Come on, let’s get to the airport.”

They didn’t talk to the whole time. She sensed he knew what was going on because he had come so quickly. She was grateful he had a key to her room. He’d probably heard from Trish, but all she could do was think the worst as they made the short trip to the airport from the hotel. Vaughn made calls while she held her phone, waiting for a call from anyone after she had sent a text to Russell that she wouldn’t be there, that her brother had been rushed to the hospital. He’d wished her well, but she couldn’t even appreciate that. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but as always, the guilt was overwhelming. Very overpowering, and as she tried to regulate her breathing, Vaughn held her hand, tightly.

Hanging up the phone as he pulled into the airport, he said, “I got you a ticket, but it doesn’t leave for another hour. Sorry, it was the soonest. I called Jensen, told him what was going on. He’s going to cover for me until I know you’re good.”

“But don’t you have to be at the rink in two hours?”

“An hour and half, but it’s fine. I’ll miss warm-ups and that’s okay. I’ll deal with it.”

She let her head fall back, and her tears ran down her face as he parked. “What if I get there and he’s dead?”

“Stop it right fucking now, Brie. Right now,” he demanded as he threw open his door, but she couldn’t move. Why was this so hard? She had been through it twice before, Rodney’s heart acting up. But this, combined the fact that she hadn’t spoken to him last night, had her in knots. Her tears were quickly rolling down her face as her door opened and Vaughn pulled her out of the car. Wrapping his arms around her, he tipped her face up and looked deep in her eyes. “You’ll get there, and he’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Dawn jumped into action, Trish was there, and Marl met the ambulance at the end of the road to let them in. This isn’t like before. I promise you, Brie, it’s not. He will be okay.”

She could only nod. Her gut was a mess, and she knew it wasn’t from throwing up but from the dread that was circling in it. She felt like she was suffocating, but she could breathe. It was the oddest feeling. Taking her hand, he held her suitcase in the other as they rushed inside to get her ticket. But of course, the line was out of this world.

“Fuck, I should have had it sent to my phone,” he groaned as they moved up in the line. She was shaking as she stood by him, checking her phone every second for even a bit of news. When it suddenly started to ring, she answered it without looking who it was.

“Brie.”

“Dawn?”

“His pacemaker is malfunctioning, badly. They are admitting him to the hospital.”

Brie’s face scrunched up, her lip wobbling as she slowly inhaled. “Can he talk?”

“Honey, pull the phone away from your ear, we’re on FaceTime.”

“Oh!” she hollered out, and when she pulled her phone back, Rodney was there, looking at her with Dawn beside him. A sob left Brie’s lips as her own heart stopped in her chest. “Rodney.”

“Hey, B. I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be. It’s not your fault.”