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Chapter 15

She watches as the paramedics load him into the back of the ambulance, Abigail climbing in behind him.

"I'll text you when we arrive," she calls.

Cassie nods, taking in a few, unsteady breaths. George, Grace and Nick are all still rooted in the garage with her, and Derek is standing in the driveway. She's not sure exactly when they all got there.

"Cassie, Brandon asked me to come by," Derek explains. "What do you need me to do?"

The words are out of her mouth before she can give it any thought. "I want a restraining order against Linda Wallace."

Derek nods. "I'll see to it myself."

Turning to George, she runs a hand through her hair. "Can you call Eve at Sam's office and tell her he won't be in today?"

"Do you want me to tell her what happened?" George asks.

"No...I want to protect Sam's privacy as long as possible."

The older man nods, heading inside.

Grace has her arm around Nick who looks shell shocked. "Grace, can you go grab my purse and keys please?"

Her daughter nods, heading quickly inside.

"He's going to be ok, isn't he?" He questions. "What happened to him? Did he have a heart attack? I should have went with him! I didn't even get to talk to him, tell him that I love him!"

Reaching for him, she pulls Nick into her arms, holding him tightly. "We're going to meet him at the hospital where you're going to see him and tell him yourself how much you love him. The doctors there are going to take good care of him."

Nick nods into her shoulder.

...

Abigail follows as fast as she can in her heals behind the paramedics and Sam, weaving in and out of the busy emergency room. It doesn't take long for him to be placed in a room and for nurses and two doctors to begin working on him.

She attempts to stay out of the way as best she can until a nurse spots her standing in the doorway.

"Are you next of kin?" They question.

"Uh, no, I'm his neighbour."

"Then you can't be in here, sorry." The nurse promptly closes the door in her face.

She stands there for a few minutes, shocked, before turning towards the nurses station. "Excuse me, I was wondering if you could get me the emergency contact of a patient?"

"Are you next of kin?" the nurse questions.

"No, see, that's what I'm trying to figure out!"

"If you're not next of kin, I can't tell you that information, sorry."

"Look! He's currently in there all alone while his person is trying to get here with his son!" She snaps. "This is Middleton for crying out loud! He needs me in there until she can get here!"

"What's the patients name?"

"Sam Radford."

The nurses demeanour immediately changes. "Dr. Radford was the patient just brought in?"

"Yes! And Cassie is on her way and I promised I would stay with him until she got here!"

The nurse rises from their chair circling the counter. "Let's get you in that room."

...

Nurse Jesse is waiting for them in the lobby when they arrive, and they escort her, Nick and Grace through the emergency room.

"He's right in here," they let themselves into Sam's room where Abigail is sitting in a chair off to the side, two doctors and a nurse working in tandem around him.

"Is he ok?" Nick questions. "I'm ok, pal," Sam answers.

One of the doctors steps out the way, revealing him awake and alert.

Nicks rushes to his side and Abigail rises from her seat. "Grace and I will be in the waiting room."

She gives her a daughter a kiss and her cousin a grateful hug. "Thank you."

"Everything looks good, Sam," Dr. Samir continues. "Your vitals are strong and your breathing has regulated itself. Given your health and current PTSD diagnosis, my assessment is that you experienced a major panic attack. Have you ever experienced an episode like this before?"

Sam nods. "Only once before, only not as severe."

Dr. Samir returns his charts to the foot of the bed. "I'll have Dr. Hawkins come up when he's free. We'll keep you for observation for a few hours before sending you home. You're likely to feel lethargic, muscle pain and fatigue, possibly for a few days. I want you to take it easy."

Sam nods again.

"You'll make sure he takes it easy?" Dr. Samir directs to Nick.

"You got it," Nick assures.

"Perfect. I'll check in later."

Both doctors and the nurse leave, closing the door behind them.

"You scared me, Dad."

Sam reaches for his son, and Nick moves to embrace him tightly. "I scared me too, pal."

"You have PTSD?" Nick questions.

Sam holds him for a minute before pulling him back to sit on the edge of the bed. "Yeah, I do. Everything that happened with Weld kind of stuck with me."

"Are you going to be ok?"

Sam nods. "I'm getting better every day. I've been seeing someone who's been helping me work through a lot of difficult emotions."

Nick wipes at his eyes. "You could have told me."

"I didn't want to worry you. I'm going to be ok, Nick."

"Are you?... I mean, Linda's definitely going to take you back to court and I need to know that you're going to be able to handle it, Dad."

"I'm going to be able to handle it," he reassures. "And she's your mother, not Linda," he corrects.

Nick shakes his head. "You can't make me call her that."

Cassie comes to sit on the bed behind Nick, and she rests a supportive hand on Sam's shin, and another on Nick's shoulder. "I think there will be plenty of time to discuss this; I think we should focus our energy on being together, right here, right now."

Nick nods. "I'm really grateful you were there, Cassie. You saved my Dad's life."

She gives his shoulder a squeeze. "Just returning the favour."

Looking between the two of them, Nick rises from the bed. "I'm going to go give Grace and Abigail an update in the waiting room."

They both nod and Nick makes sure to close the door behind him. "Are you ok?" He questions her softly.

She wipes her eyes, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Don't you think I should be asking you that?"

He reaches across the bed for her hand and she grasps it tightly.

"I'll be ok...I'm just a little shaken."

"Come here," he tugs on her hand, and she scoots across the bed into his arms.

...

"When you didn't make your appointment this morning, I didn't expect to be meeting you here, Sam," Adam jokes.

"Not how I envisioned my morning going either," Sam admits.

Adam takes the chair by his bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I've been hit by a bus."

Adam nods. "That's pretty common after a severe panic attack. Do you have any idea what might have triggered it?"

"Do we have to talk about it?"

Adam shakes his head. "Not today, no."

Sam sits with his ultimatum for a few minutes, before sighing. "My ex-wife wants to change our custody agreement and my son, rightfully, didn't take it well. There was an argument and she questioned my ability as a competent father...she found the anti-depressants and the sleeping pills..."

Adam is silent for several minutes, letting his words settle. "That sent you into a spiral." "Yeah."

"How did it make you feel, knowing that she knew about your prescriptions?"

He shakes his head, staring at the wall. "...as a doctor, logically I know that millions of people live with mental health issues and that's nothing to be ashamed of but when she threw it in my face like that...it knocked the air out of my lungs."

"Literally," Adam adds. "How would you describe your relationship with your ex-wife?" "A dictatorship."

Adam types for a few minutes on his iPad. "That's an interesting choice of words. Can you explain that to me?"

"She uses our son to manipulate me...she says jump, I ask how high." "That hardly seems like a healthy co-parenting relationship."

"It's not."

"Why do you tolerate it then?"

"For my son."

Adam nods. "From what you've told me, your son seems like a well adjusted, capable, young adult. He's voiced to you both on several occasions how he feels about this manipulation, going so far as to even stand up to his own mother."

"You're asking my why can't I do the same?"

"Your words, Sam, not mine."

"Because at one point, I loved her, and I can't let that be a mistake...it gave me my son."

Adam sits silently for a few more minutes, letting his words settle again. "You know, when a frog is put into a pot of water, it doesn't know that it's in danger. The temperature will keep rising, and the frog will adjust until it's too late; the water is boiling."

"Are you saying I'm the frog?" "Your words, Sam, not mine."

He lets it all settle for a few minutes, and there's a quick knock on the hospital room door. From the window he can see Derek outside and he gestures him inside.

"Is this a bad time? I can come back?" He offers, closing the door behind him.

Adam shakes his head. "I'll come back-"

"-you might want to stay." Derek exhales. "Where's Cassie?"

"She's out in the waiting room with Nick and Grace," Sam answers. "What's going on, Derek?"

Derek shifts uncomfortably on his feet. "I've got a court order granting temporary custody of Nick to Linda Wallace."

His heart climbs into his throat and he's pulling the heart monitor from his finger, swinging his legs out of the bed. "She's not taking him-"

"-Sam, I have to do my job-"

"-where is she? Is she here?" He's heading for the door and Adam stops him. "Let me go, Adam!"

"Not until you're thinking clearly."

The tears prick the back of his eyes and he slams his hand against the door several times in frustration. "Where is she going to take him? Surely not back to New York?"

Derek pulls the court order from his breast pocket, looking it over again. "She's not allowed to leave the state without revision to your current custody agreement."

He exhales, wiping at his eyes. "Who signed it?"

"No judge from around here," Derek admits. "Sam, I'm sorry."

It feels as if his heart is being ripped from his chest and he takes a minute to just breath. As much as it's near killing him to acclimate to this really happening, he knows this is going to completely obliterate his son. "Can I talk to him first, before you take him?"

Derek nods.

...

Grace's gaze is first to connect with his and her face pales immediately. She reaches for her mother, who's sitting next to her and Cassie's gaze lifts to his his. Nick is the first out of his seat and the confusion seeing Derek and Adam with him is clear across his face.

"Are we good to go home now?" He questions.

Swallowing hard, he attempts to dislodge the lump that his settled in his throat. "There's a change of plans, pal."

Nick nods, folding his arms against his chest. "Are you ok? Are they keeping you in?"

He shakes his head. "...You're going to go stay with your mother."

Nick laughs. "You're joking." When he doesn't reciprocate his humour, Nick's brows furrow together. "Dad, you're joking, right?!"

"It's not a joke, Nick...you have to go stay with your Mother-"
"-This doesn't make any sense! Why are you doing this?! Is she making you do this?!"

He clears his throat, wiping at his eyes. "Derek has a court order granting temporary custody to your mom-"

Nick reels, tears filling his eyes immediately. "-SHE CAN'T DO THIS!" He yells. "WHAT ABOUT WHAT I WANT?!"

Sam frames his hands around his sons face in attempt to reel him back in. "It's not what either of us want, Nick-" Nick pulls away, shoving his hands from his face.

"- I won't do it!" He announces. "I won't go with her! You can't make me!"

He stands there in silence, the words lost in his throat.

The tears spill from Nicks eyes. "Dad, please."

"His hands are tied, Nick," Derek says, holding up the court order. "I need to escort you from the premises."

In that moment he bares witness to the moment his son's heart shatters. The pain in his eyes lands heavily in his own chest. He reaches for him and Nick clings to him tightly. "Derek is going to take you back to the house to get your things."

"Am I going back to New York?"

He cradles the back of his son's head. "She can't take you out of the state...she only has temporary custody, Nick; she can't keep me from you. I'm going to fix this." He tries to hold onto him a little longer only Nick pulls away, wiping his eyes.

"She's never going to let me go," he responds sombrely.

TBC