Love On Anchor Island: An Anchor Island Novel

the nurse at the ER station. “Is Dr. Meyers on duty?”
“He doesn’t come in until three, but Dr. Reyes is here.”
The double doors leading to the ambulance bay shot open, and Alex expected to see Callie wheeled through. Instead, Bernie Matheson charged in.
“Olaf fell off the roof. I can’t get him out of the car.”
The nurse picked up the phone and called Dr. Reyes over the intercom before rushing to a wheelchair on her left.
“What are the injuries?” she asked Bernie.
“His head is bleeding, and he can’t walk.”
There went Alex’s assistance for the delivery. Even if he called Stephen to come in now, the other doctor wouldn’t arrive in time.
The doors shot open again, and this time it was the right patient. Roxie jogged alongside the gurney as a paramedic updated Alex on Callie’s condition. The blood pressure was way too high.
“Take her straight to the delivery surgical unit. We need to get those babies out now.”
“Yes, sir,” said the EMT before pressing the large metal button that opened the doors leading to the main wing of the facility. “I’m sorry, but you can’t go any farther, ma’am.”
Roxie looked to Alex, her eyes so wide he wondered if she’d blinked since calling him. “She asked me not to leave her. I promised I wouldn’t leave her again.”
He pulled her away so the paramedics could move on. “It’s okay. I’ll take it from here.”
“It’s my fault,” she said, shaking her head.
Unsure what she meant, Alex gave her a job to focus on. “Sam is being contacted, but call Beth and let her know what’s going on. Then call Henri, okay?” There wasn’t much Callie’s cousin could do from wherever she was, but he knew Roxie considered her a friend, and she looked like she could use one right now.
“I didn’t hear her,” Roxie replied.
“Honey, I have to go. Call Beth.” Turning to his father, Alex said, “Get ready to scrub in.”
“Excuse me?” he said. “I’m no OB.”
Jaw tight, Alex growled, “You’re a doctor and one of the best surgeons in the country. You can damn well help me get these babies out.”
His father nodded. “Lead the way.”
Alex cast one last glance to Roxie, who looked shell-shocked, but he had bigger issues to deal with right now. “Call Beth!” he ordered as the double doors closed behind him.
Roxie had to leave.
Beth wanted to stay at the hospital, so she drove herself home. There was no way she could stay and face Sam. She’d screwed up once again, and this time that screwup could cost a woman and her babies their lives.
Callie’s voice kept playing over and over in her head.
I called but you didn’t answer. I called but you didn’t answer.
Maybe this wasn’t her fault. Maybe this would have happened whether Roxie had been there or not. And maybe the earth was flat and politicians were honest.
Facing the inevitable, she tossed clothes into the open suitcase on her bed, emptying the dresser drawers as she went. When the third drawer stuck, she tugged too hard, and everything flew to the floor.
“Damn it.”
Collecting the scattered socks, she found the last one near the window that overlooked Alex’s house. She’d come so close to having something good for once. Roxie shook the thought away. There was no point in being dramatic. As he’d said the night before, they’d barely known each other for a month. No one fell in love in a month.
I did.
Roxie dropped onto the bed beside the half-empty suitcase. When the hell had she fallen in love with Alex Fielding? Several possibilities came to mind. The day he’d driven her home and she learned that they weren’t so different. The night he’d made her dinner and let her have all the cheesecake.
The umbrella. When he’d protected her from the rain even though it meant getting drenched himself. He’d been doing that since they met. Protecting her. Saving her.
“No,” she said aloud. “I am not in love with anyone.”
After throwing the socks into the suitcase, she reached for the last drawer when someone called her name from downstairs.
“Roxie, the babies are here, and they’re beautiful!”
Relief washed over her, and she sank onto the bed once more. Tears slipped from her eyes, both happy ones for Callie, and sad ones for herself. She glanced out over the bay. Roxie was going to miss that view.
“You have to come see them,” Beth said as she burst into the room. Spotting the suitcase, her smile faded. “What are you doing? Why are you packing?”
Swiping the tears away, she said, “I have to go.”
“But why?”
“I messed up. Callie could have lost the twins because of me. No one is going to want me around after that.” She crossed to the closet and lifted out an armful of clothes.
Beth closed the suitcase. “What are you talking about? Callie went into labor. How is that your fault? If anything, you’ve helped us get her this far.”
Roxie shook her head. “I was the one with her today. I was supposed to take care of her, and I didn’t.”
“You called Alex. You stayed with her all the way to the hospital.” When Roxie threw the clothes on the bed and tried to open the suitcase, Beth held it shut. “She’s lucky that you were there, Rox. If anything, you saved her.”
“I wouldn’t have had to save her if I hadn’t messed up in the first place.” They fought over the suitcase again, and Roxie snapped. “Don’t you get it? She said she called for me, but I didn’t come. I didn’t come because I didn’t hear her because I had stupid headphones in. It’s because of me that Callie fell and almost lost the babies.”
“Callie didn’t fall,” Beth argued.
If only that were true. “I was there. I found her on the bathroom floor.”
Taking Roxie’s hands, Beth tugged her onto the bed. “Callie said she didn’t realize that her water broke until she got to the bathroom. That’s when the contraction hit, and she sat down because it hurt