Love in the Falls (8 page)

“If you don’t have some kind of feelings for Sam, then why have you stayed here? I mean, obviously you have quite a life back in Atlanta. Sounds like you have money and options. You don’t really know Sam, so why stay by his side?” he asked as he sat down beside her.

Camden sat for a moment, looking down at her hands fidgeting in her lap. She didn’t really know how to respond. She wasn’t even sure of her own feelings at the moment, and the explosive conversation with her mother certainly hadn’t helped matters any.

“I don’t know how to answer that question. I just know that I’ve spent my whole life wanting to help people, but I was trapped by money and overbearing parents. I love my family, but I am so tired of them choosing what I do with my life. When I wanted to become a doctor, they thought they had finally won. Then I informed them that I wanted to help people in other parts of the country or even overseas, and they saw it as a slap in the face. I guess when I saw Sam and realized that I have the capacity to help him, I just wanted to stay…”

“Sure. I understand… Please don’t take this the wrong way because I realize I don’t know you from Adam’s house cat, but I think you are lying to yourself,” he said.

“Excuse me? With all due respect, Drake, you don’t know me at all,” she said sharply.

Drake chuckled at her discomfort with the conversation. “No, I surely don’t, Camden. But I do know when I see a woman who has feelings for a man.”

“I don’t have feelings for Sam. I can’t. I don’t know him. Plus, I am engaged to be married in less than three months.” As she rattled off the reasons why she couldn’t have feelings for Sam, she felt like she might be trying to convince herself and not Drake.

“Let me just tell you one more thing, okay?”

“What?” she asked rolling her eyes.

“Four years ago, I was dating this young lady named Deena. She was a pretty thing with blond hair and bright blue eyes. But, see I was a young buck and wanted to play the field even though she was perfect for me. Everybody said so, and I knew it. One night, she told me she loved me, but I didn’t say it back. I just couldn’t do it. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. Well, a damn drunk driver hit her car on the way home. She was killed instantly. I remember sitting at her funeral a few days later wondering if she had been so upset after I didn’t say it that maybe she wasn’t watching the road. Maybe she would have seen him coming if her eyes hadn’t been stained with tears that I caused,” his voice began to crack a little.

“Drake, I am so sorry…”

“I don’t want your pity, Camden. I want you to understand that I know love when I see it. I pay attention now. I don’t ever want to miss out on someone loving me again. You can’t take things for granted. Sam could have died out there. You helped save him, and maybe he is here to save you now. Just think about it,” he said as he stood up and left the courtyard.

Camden couldn’t think about anything else for the rest of the day. What if Drake was right? All of this time she thought she had done this wonderful thing and saved Sam, but maybe being with him - helping him - would somehow save her in the end.

Camden went back to Sam’s room that afternoon with a head full of questions. She no longer knew anything about her life anymore. She didn’t know if she loved Preston. She didn’t know if she had feelings for Sam. She didn’t know if her parents had disowned her, or if she would soon be poor.

“Hi there,” Sam said quietly as she entered the room.

“Hi, Sam. How are you feeling today?” she asked as she sat down in the chair beside him.

“Bored,” he said with a slight smile.

“Bored? Well, what would you like to do? Skydive? Roller skate? Maybe do some break dancing?” she asked with a giggle.

“Go outside,” he said looking toward the window.

“You want to go outside?”

“Yes. Break me out of here…” he said with a laugh.

“Let me see what I can do, okay?” she said smiling at him. He was still a very handsome guy, even if he looked a bit disheveled in the hospital bed.

Camden went out into the hall to find his nurse. Today, it was Lily Godfried, a middle aged woman who was as big around as she was tall and had fire engine red hair.

“Lily? Do you think it’s possible for me to take Sam outside? He really wants to get out of his room,” she said.

“That Sam. He is a character, isn’t he? He is bouncing back really well, especially since the stroke specialist and speech therapist were here this morning. Alright, I guess it’d be okay for him to go out for just a few minutes. I’ll get you a wheelchair…” she said as she walked across the room.

Minutes later, Camden wheeled into the room.

“Ta da!” she said as if she was some magician.

“Woohoo!” he said with a smile.

“Now, let’s see how to get you into this thing…” Camden said. She decided to attempt it herself instead of asking for help. It was more about proving to herself that she was capable of helping Sam without nurses coming in. “Okay, I am going to roll this up by the bed. Let me put the brake on…”

Sam was smiling the whole time as he watched her try to figure out the best way to maneuver the wheelchair. Using his right hand and arm, Sam pushed up onto his rear end for the first time in days.

“Wait, Sam. Have you even tried to stand up yet?”

“This morning. Only my right side,” he said with a sad look on his face.

“Are you right handed?”

“Yep.”

“Good.” Camden smiled to let him know it would be okay. She stood beside the bed and he put his right arm around her waist. Her insides fluttered like they never had before.

She pulled sideways until he was standing beside her on his right leg. For a moment, she was looking up at his amazing eyes. It struck her that, in the moment, she felt safer with him as a stroke patient than she felt with Preston at any time.

“Hi,” he said winking at her.

“Hi,” she whispered back. His arm was now draped over her shoulder, and time seemed to stand still for a moment.

“Need some help?” asked Drake who had appeared from behind. Camden was a bit irritated that he had interrupted their one word date.

“Sure,” Camden said pursing her lips.

Drake pulled Sam around and positioned him in the chair.

“Where are you going?” Drake asked.

“Sam wanted to go outside. I told him I would take him for a ride,” she said smiling. Drake smiled back with a knowing look.

“Have fun, Sam,” Drake said winking at him. “I will be here when you get back. We can watch the football game later.”

“Cool,” Sam said waving at his friend.

Camden looked back at Drake as she left the room. “Shut up,” she mouthed at him as he pretended to be Cupid shooting an arrow at them. She rolled her eyes, shook her head and pushed Sam down the hallway.

As they went outside, the crisp air hit them both like a ton of bricks. She turned around and went back inside to ask for a blanket, which a kind nurse gave her.

“Beautiful,” Sam said pointing with his right hand at the mountain leaves.

“Yes, it is. I never get to see the leaves change colors in Atlanta. It is nice to be up here during this time of the year,” she said.

She rolled him around the hospital grounds until they found a place to see an unobscured view of the mountains. She sat down on the ground next to his wheelchair.

“Thank you,” Sam said as he closed his eyes and breathed in the fall air.

“You’re welcome. I know you must be an outdoor guy owning a farm and all. Being cooped up isn’t your thing, is it?”

“No. I love to be outside,” he said softly. “I miss home.”

“I’m sorry, Sam. You are way too young for this.”

“We all have problems,” he said smiling as he looked off in the distance.

“That’s true. We all do…” Camden was back in her mind thinking of her problems. Preston. Her parents. Her career.

“Can I help?” Sam asked.

“With what?”

“Your problems. I give great advice,” he said. She was so happy that his speech was improving. It seemed that the stroke had done little damage to his speaking abilities. He wasn’t slurring his words, just talking a bit slower than he probably did normally.

“Oh, do you now?” she asked laughing.

“I am the country Doctor Phil,” he said with a big belly laugh that she had never heard before. It was like music to her ears to hear his laughter.

“I bet you are!” Camden joined in his laughter.

“Your fiance? Is he mad?”

“I don’t know. I guess so…”

“Go home, Camden. Don’t let me ruin your life,” he said with a serious look on his face. She turned to face him on her knees.

“Sam, you aren’t ruining my life. It was already running off the rails before I met you,” she said smiling as she reached up and patted his knee.

“Tell me about yourself,” he said looking down at her.

“What do you want to know?” she asked with a grin.

“What’s your story?” His question cut through her like a knife. She didn’t know why the question bothered her so much, as it was a valid one. She just didn’t know how to answer it.

“Hmmm… my story? Well, as you know, my name is Camden Lane. I am twenty nine years old, and I went through medical school,” she started.

“Are you a doctor?”

“Technically, yes, I am. But, I don’t practice right now. I decided to take a year off to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.”

“And?”

“Well, I still haven’t quite figured that out yet. My parents want me to marry Preston and become the wife of an up and coming doctor,” she said looking off in the distance.

“What do you want?”

“Sam, we don’t need to waste your nice time outside with my problems. Let’s talk about the weather or the scenery or the upcoming holidays…”

“Camden, don’t treat me like I am disabled.” His words cut through her again. Was that what she was doing?

“I didn’t mean to imply that…”

“I am just a normal man. I can still be your friend,” he said with a slight smile.

For the next fifteen minutes, Camden recounted a lot of her life. The more she talked to Sam, the more she felt a connection to him. She could get lost in his deep blue eyes which were fixed on her face as she talked. She couldn’t recall any man listening to her as intently as he did. He seemed to hang on every word, of course she also knew he couldn’t exactly escape even if he wanted to.

She explained her strange relationship with her parents, her confusion about Preston and her close bond with her best friend, Natalie. She talked about the hike and finding him at the bottom of the mountain with Jenny. They laughed a few times, and she held back tears at other times. She couldn’t figure out why it was so easy to talk to this stranger.

“Thanks for letting me ramble on like that,” Camden said as she stood to unlock the brake on his wheelchair.

“Thanks for letting me be the one,” he said. Her heart skipped a beat.
“The One”? What did that mean?

“The one what?” she asked.

“That you confided in. I like that,” he said with a smile. With that, she started pushing him back into the hospital.