Only You (33 page)

Camden started to cry, and Shane stepped closer to her.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. I should have been stronger. I shouldn’t have listened to her.”

“Shhh,” he comforted her, rubbing her back, savoring the feeling of Camden in his arms once more.

“Shane?” Camden pulled her head back, looking into his beautiful blue eyes. “I choose you, too. Forever. I’ll never let you go again.”

Shane leaned forward and kissed her. He kissed her as if it was the first time and as if it was the last time. It was a kiss filled with passion and love. It was a kiss of contradictions. It was soft and hard, heated and gentle, aggressive and mild. Shivers ran down Camden’s spine and she felt tingles all over. Shane’s hand moved to her belly, and he rubbed it gently, eliciting excited kicks from their daughter.

When Shane finally broke the kiss, he stepped back.

“Camden?”

She looked at him curiously.

“We still need to talk.”

“Okay,” she whispered warily, but her guard fell away as she watched in awe as Shane Hunt dropped to one knee in front of her. He reached into the pocket of his jeans, retrieving a little black box – a box that held a ring he had purchased months ago on a day he became stranded on a road in the middle of nowhere.

“Camden Elisabeth Shepherd, I have loved you since I was fifteen years old, and I will love you until the day I die. Whether I can call you my wife for one day or fifty years, nothing would give me greater honor. You are the center of my universe, Sunshine – the light around which I revolve. I am asking you tonight to take me, imperfect man that I am, and allow me to love you, to care for you – hell, to just plain follow you around – for the rest of my life. I want to have babies with you and grow old with you. Camden, will you be my wife?”

Tears streaming down her face, it was a moment before she could answer.

“Say yes!!!” Brody yelled.

“Leave her alone, you nitwit!” Melia scolded him.

“Stop flirting with Brody,” Javi grumbled.

Camden could only laugh at the trio.

“Camden?” Shane asked. “You’re killing me here.”

She giggled again, tears racing down her cheeks.

“Yes!” she cried. “Yes, I will marry you, Shane Hunt!”

Cheers erupted in the open field, in the middle of an obstacle course in the woods. With twinkling lights overhead, Shane slid a beautiful princess-cut diamond solitaire onto Camden’s ring finger before standing and pulling her into another epic kiss.

***

Chapter 40

“Shane.”

Shane felt someone shake him, but he was comfortable in his cozy bed snuggled next to Camden. He didn’t plan to move for quite some time.

“Shane, wake up. My back hurts,” Camden whined.

Shane yawned and rolled to his side.

“What, baby?” he muttered.

“My back, it woke me up. It really hurts.”

"Want me to get your pain meds?” He stretched his arms groggily.

“Would you? I can hardly move,” she murmured.

Shane leaned forward and kissed Camden’s cheek. “Sure thing, Sunshine. I’ll be right back.”

Shane stumbled out the bedroom door and headed to the kitchen. Why the hell didn’t they keep her medications in their en-suite bathroom? Oh yeah. That would be Eric’s great idea, since Camden spent most of her “awake time” in the living room. As Shane shuffled around the corner of the hallway, he saw the flashing light of the television in the living room.

“What are you doing awake?" he mumbled.

“Shh!” Eric hissed. “Gray’s Anatomy marathon. Can’t talk. Meredith just figured out ‘bus guy’ is George!”

Shane shook his head. “You are so gay, man.”

Eric grinned. “Why yes. Yes, I am. And if you ever come to my side, I’ll show you a good time.” He winked at Shane. Shane laughed and continued his journey to the kitchen. He’d just made it back to the living room when Camden’s worried voice sent his heart into overdrive.

“Shane?!?!” she yelled.  Her voice sounded terrified, and Shane immediately stiffened. “I don’t think I need the medicine anymore!” she continued.

“Did your back stop hurting, baby?” he called, hoping that was all she wanted to tell him. Eric dramatically shushed him and gestured towards the television.

“No,” Camden called. “My water broke!”

The men stared at each other, frozen for a good ten seconds before chaos erupted. Shane began running down the hall, Eric close behind him. Still clutching Camden’s medications tightly to his chest, Shane barreled into the room, his feet sliding across the smooth floor. Sitting uncomfortably on the bed, Camden stared wide-eyed and frightened at him.

“It’s too soon,” she whimpered, as Eric hurried through the doorway, tumbling over Shane and landing on his ass. “I’m only thirty-three weeks. She can’t come this early.” Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.

“Are you sure your water broke? Maybe you just...”

“I didn’t lose control of my bladder, Eric!” Camden growled. “My water broke!”

Eric raised his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay.” He slowly stood, wiping his pants and checking himself for the bruise he would soon have on his hip.

Camden looked exasperated for a moment, her gaze traveling between the two clueless men. “Could you help me into some dry clothes? And maybe someone could call the doctor?!”

Shane dropped the bottles of medication on the ground, and ran to the dresser to grab his cell phone. He frantically searched his contacts and pressed send. When he reached the answering service, he left a hysterical message about Camden going into labor. After he hung up the phone, he turned toward the bed, where Eric was awkwardly helping Camden into a new pair of yoga pants.

“Okay, I called Dr. Stevens. What next?”

“You called Dr. Stevens?” She shook her head. “You were supposed to call my gynecologist!” She held out her hand for Shane’s phone. “Men,” she mumbled as she dialed.

“Yes, I’d like to leave a message for Dr. Tran. Could you tell her that Camden Shepherd’s water broke? We’re heading to the hospital now, but she’ll want to know, because I’m seven weeks early.”

Shane was amazed at Camden’s calm voice. He was freaking out. Lauren was early…so early that they weren’t prepared for her. Camden didn’t even have a bag packed for the hospital. At that thought, Shane’s head snapped to Eric. He finally had a lucid thought of something useful they could do.

“Eric, put together an overnight bag of toiletries and comfy clothes for Camden. I’ll grab her bag for chemo days. That has her books and blanket and stuff.”

Eric nodded and headed straight to the closet. When Camden disconnected her call, she looked at Shane in surprise.

“Welcome back,” she smirked.

“I’m still freaking out, but you’re so calm, I figured I needed to man up.” He walked deliberat
ely to Camden and leaned down, his mouth centimeters from hers. “Ready to go to the hospital?” he whispered. Camden nodded, and Shane pulled her face to his, kissing her softly. He reached under her knees with one arm and wrapped his other around her waist, lifting her off the bed.

“Let’s get you to the hospital,” he murmured.

***

“What do you mean, ‘it’s time to push’?!?!” Shane screeched.

So much for calming down. Shane's face was pale with fear. Camden would have giggled if she weren’t in so much pain. Lauren was coming fast, and they’d missed the window for an epidural.

“Mr. Hunt, you need to calm down,” warned Dr. Tran. The petite, middle aged woman looked at him with knowing brown eyes. “Lauren may be early, but she’s going to be a fighter. I can tell. This delivery has been a dream, so you need to relax and focus on helping Camden.”

“Okay,” Shane whispered. He began focusing on his breathing, trying to bring his heart rate down. Sudden pain attacked his hand, and he realized Camden was having another contraction. With his free hand, he wiped the sweat from her forehead with a soft cloth.

“You’re doing great, baby,” he murmured. “That’s my girl.” She gritted her teeth and glared at him.

“Don’t patronize me, Shane.” He ignored her comment, just smiling lovingly at her in return. When her grip on his numbed hand loosened, Shane stretched his palm. Of course she’d grab the hand he had damaged on his truck a couple of months ago. He couldn’t help but wince at the memory. He looked at Camden. It had only been seven hours, but she looked so exhausted.

“Want some ice chips, honey?” Camden looked at Molly and nodded her head.

“Thanks, mom.” Molly grinned at her only daughter and handed her a cup of crushed ice.

“Okay, this next contraction, we’re going to push, okay?” Dr. Tran smiled encouragingly at Camden, and Camden nodded. She was worried for Lauren, but she couldn’t wait to see her baby girl.

“I need dad and grandma to each help hold her legs, okay?” The two moved into position, showing they understood. Immediately, Camden felt her stomach begin to tighten.

“Push!” Dr. Tran yelled. Camden felt the unbearable pressure and began to push as hard as she could. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Good job!”

Camden panted from the effort. Shane patted her brow with a clean cloth. “Good job, Sunshine. I’m so proud of you,” he cooed in her ear.

After several minutes, it was time to push again. For thirty five minutes, Camden pushed with each contraction. She felt like her daughter would never come, and she didn’t know how much longer she could do this. Between the cancer and the pregnancy, she didn’t have much energy on a normal day, and she was feeling very fatigued. With one last contraction and the support of her mom’s and Shane’s words of encouragement, Camden delivered Lauren Elisabeth Hunt into the world.

While the nurses whisked the baby away to weigh her and check her vitals, Shane leaned forward with tears in his eyes. “Thank you, Sunshine. I am so proud of you.” He grinned. “I love you so much!”

Staring at each other, lost in their own little world, Camden and Shane cried tears of joy. He leaned forward to kiss Camden, but was interrupted by a nurse carrying their tiny little girl.

“We’ve got to get her to the NICU to get her better ventilated, mom and dad, but she’s the healthiest looking preemie I’ve ever seen,” the nurse remarked. “She’s not struggling as much with breathing as they usually are at this age. She’ll still get some steroids to help strengthen her lungs, and she may be on oxygen for a little bit, but since she’s doing so well, we wanted to give you a chance to say hello.”

She gingerly lifted Lauren for them to see her, and Camden thought she was the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. Shane felt his heart expand because it was so full with love for his daughter. He smirked when he saw she had Camden’s nose and her perfect pink lips.

Given Lauren’s unstable condition, they were able to look at her for only moments before the nurse carefully placed her in an incubator and pushed it from the room. Camden looked into Shane’s eyes and her tears started to fall once more.

“She’s going to make it,” she whispered.

Shane kissed her forehead. “I told you she was a fighter like her mommy,” he murmured.

“I love you, Shane Hunt.”

***

Dr. Stevens and Dr. Hyler looked at Shane and Camden, each with hope and fierce determination in their eyes. It was odd that the two were in Camden’s hospital room mere hours after she delivered Lauren, but Dr. Stevens had explained that he had received Shane’s panicky message, and he wanted to talk to them immediately.

Shane sat on the bed, an arm around Camden in support and looked at Dr. Stevens in question, but it was Dr. Hyler who spoke first.

“Your daughter may have saved your life, Camden.”

She looked at him, a puzzled expression on her face. “What do you mean?”

Dr. Hyler cleared his throat and continued. “By coming early, she’s given you a chance at better results from the high dose chemo. It’s a little unusual, but we’d like to perform surgery to remove as many of the large tumors as we can.”

“We knew that already,” Shane interrupted.

“Yes, but we’d like to do it today,” Dr. Hyler announced.

Camden and Shane sat frozen for a moment.

“Today?” Shane choked the word.

“Yes, we’d like to do it as soon as possible. Once we remove the largest tumors, we would give Camden a few days for her body to begin recovering, and then we’d like to start the first cycle of high-dose chemo on Monday, which would have been her next round of chemo anyway.”

Shane felt Camden’s hand find his free one, and she squeezed. He looked into her piercing green eyes and saw a mixture of hope and fear.

“What do you want to do, Sunshine?” he whispered.

“I want to live,” she answered succinctly. Her gaze traveled to the two doctors standing at the foot of her hospital bed.

“I’ll do it.”

Dr. Hyler grinned, and Dr. Stevens smiled in approval. “We’ll schedule surgery for three o’clock this afternoon.”

Shane nodded and smiled weakly. He couldn’t help but feel that his time with Camden was coming to an end. Growing angry at himself for his doubt, Shane shoved down the rogue emotion and met the doctor’s eyes.