Sutton and the CEO Forever (Bedding the Billionaire #5) - S. Cinders Page 0,52

a way of coming in ebbs and flows. Just when one thinks that everything is going right, it seems that God or maybe fate sticks a hand in to stir things up a little. What happened the next morning in Otterville Falls did more than shake up their tiny little town.

“Brian, what is it?” Katie asked sleepily as she wiped her eyes and trudged down the hallway from his bedroom. They had been asleep when the sound of sirens had awakened them.

Considering it was only four or five hours from the last time they had woken up with her bushes on fire, they were both a little worse for wear.

“Something is going on next door,” Brian was putting on his shoes as he spoke. “There is an ambulance at Alice and Reena’s.”

Fear struck Katie’s heart. When she was little, an ambulance was at her house, taking her daddy, and he never did come back. Katie scrambled over to where her shoes were and hastily put them on.

Brian could see that she was intent on coming over with him. Without tying the laces, she hopped up and was out the door. Knox had just arrived on the scene, so Katie and Brian veered toward him.

“What happened?” Katie hated how frightened her voice sounded.

Knox’s lips looked pinched, “It’s Reena. Alice said she heard a loud thud, and when she got up to check what it was, she found Reena unconscious in the hallway. They have her stabilized and are getting ready to transport her to the hospital.”

“Was it a stroke? Or a heart attack?” Katie whispered.

Brian wrapped his arms around her, “It’s likely that they don’t know yet. They will need to run some tests.”

The front door opened, and an EMT helped guide the stretcher with Reena’s limp body strapped to it. The woman was full-figured; she was at least three hundred pounds and proud of every one of them. It was an effort to make sure she was safe getting her down the steps and into the vehicle. Then they were speeding away, and a very small and scared Alice was standing in the doorway.

She looked like a child that had been left behind. Reena and Alice had always been a bit of the odd couple. As plump as Reena was, Alice was thin. But the lost vacant expression in her eyes nearly ripped Katie’s heart out of her chest.

She didn’t think about her actions, breaking out of Brian’s arms and going over to the older woman.

Yelling over her shoulder, she called out to Knox, “We will bring Alice to the hospital.”

Knox turned to Brian and nodded. “I am going to head back and pick up Candice. She’ll want to be there.”

“Do Mark and Sutton know?” Brian asked quietly.

Knox nodded. “Sent a text a few minutes ago. They will meet at the hospital as well.”

Otterville Falls Hospital didn’t have a large waiting room, but that really didn’t matter. People made room where they could, spilling a bit into the ER, which was empty other than Billy Sutherland’s boy, who had swallowed $5.72 in change.

The mood was somber as the sun began to rise. The smell of rich coffee filled the air, and Styrofoam cups were passed around as they all waited to hear the news.

Shortly after ten in the morning, Dr. Young came out of the operating room. There was an air of sadness that clung to him despite the smile he had pasted on his face.

“We did everything that we could,” he patted Alice’s hand. “There is a possibility that she will make it through this, but she suffered a pretty severe stroke at home and another on the way here. Honestly, Alice, if she lives, I don’t know what her quality of life will be like.”

Alice nodded as if she was understanding, but does one really ever understand when the rug has been pulled out from under them? Does one comprehend that the person they loved and laughed with might be there in body, but you may never speak with them again?

Sutton wrapped an arm around Alice’s slender waist, “We will stay here with you as long as you want. And I already talked it over with Mark; we will pay for whatever is necessary to help Reena. Don’t you be fretting about bills or care.”

Alice nodded again, but this time her lip trembled.

“I just,” she tried to clear the emotion from her throat, “I just don’t understand. Reena was fine all day. She wasn’t complaining of anything. I