“OLIVIA!” he shouted, running back to the front door, desperately trying the lock again. When it wouldn’t give, he took a deep breath and kicked the door jam, forcing the door open.
He ran to her, grabbed her in his arms, and carried her to the bathroom, frantically trying to find a pulse. Sticking his hand down her throat, he tried to force her to vomit, hoping that he wasn’t too late. Finally, he felt her shudder and gag before she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Cam breathed a sigh of relief when he saw four blue pills fall out of her mouth, hoping that was all she took.
He rubbed her back while she came around, dry heaving. “Let it go, Libby. Just let it go,” he comforted her as she collapsed on the bathroom floor, curling up in a ball.
“It hurts too fucking much, Cam,” she wailed out, convulsing on the cold tile.
Fuck. He had never heard pain as intense as the hurt in Olivia’s voice. He wouldn’t wish that on even his worst enemies. It was excruciating watching her shake, clutching her knees as her body continued to spasm.
“You need help, Libby. You just fucking overdosed. If I didn’t find you when I did…” His voice trailed off, not wanting to think about what would have greeted him if he left his house a minute later.
“I’m not suicidal, Cam. I felt a panic attack coming on so I took a few pills.”
“How many did you take?”
“Four. I just wanted to be numb for a little bit.”
Cam wrapped his arms around Olivia, thankful that she expelled all the pills she took. “You’re only supposed to take one, and not with alcohol, Libby. Jesus…” A tear fell down his face, the adrenaline pumping through his body finally subsiding.
The aftershocks of violently ridding her stomach of its contents continued to consume Olivia’s body as she shook in Cam's arms. “He’s engaged. He’s really gone now, and it hurts,” she sobbed.
“Come on, Libby. I know there’s a fighter in there somewhere. Are you really going to give up? I saw the pictures. If you ask me, that’s not a guy who’s too sure about anything. He doesn’t look happy, and I’m not just saying that to make you feel better. You need to go talk to him, at least. Get closure.” He gently rubbed her back, leaning down to kiss her head. “Make him tell you to your face that he’s happy with that redheaded bimbo.”
Olivia laughed through her tears. “She does look a little bit like a bimbo.”
“There’s my girl,” Cam crooned as he continued rocking her in his arms. “How do you feel?”
“A little light-headed,” she responded, her voice raspy.
“Probably because you have no food in your system.” He squeezed Olivia tight, relieved that she was coming around. “Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to order a ton of pizza, and we’re going to stay in and watch stupid movies all night long. Sound good?”
Olivia looked through her tear-soaked eyes into Cam's vibrant silver ones brimming with hope. She nodded. “Yes.”
He leaned down and kissed her forehead before lifting her in his arms and carrying her over to the couch. As he ordered pizza, Olivia grabbed her laptop, finding the photo that sent her over the edge less than an hour ago. Cam eyed her suspiciously as he placed the rather large order with a local pizza house. She gave him a reassuring nod before returning her eyes to the screen in front of her.
Cam was right. There was something very off about Alexander’s expression in the photos. And it wasn’t just in one photo. It was in all of them. He looked like a shell of his former self, as if he was simply going through the motions, desperate to overcome something…to overcome her. At that moment, Olivia knew that he hadn’t moved on. She had to act fast.
“So what are you going to do?” Cam asked, plopping down on the couch next to her after putting on a Blu-Ray of Old School.
She shrugged. “What I have to do. I need to see him, beg him to take me back, even after everything I’ve put him through, and hope that there’s part of him that still cares enough to forgive me.”
Cam put his arm around Olivia and pulled her close. “Good,” he said quietly, trying to hide the lump that had formed in his throat at the thought of her no longer being in his life. It was bittersweet, but he knew Olivia needed to go for her own survival. And as much as Cam wished she would be able to forget about Alexander Burnham, he knew that would never happen. He was still concerned about her, particularly after what had happened that evening, but he knew that once she was back where she belonged, she would get the closure she needed and begin to move on.
That night, Cam savored his time with Olivia, knowing that she would leave the island in the next few days. They sat on her couch most of the night, gorging themselves on pizza, mozzarella sticks, and fried zucchini as they watched movie after movie, laughing. Every time Cam thought how he could get used to doing that with her, he had to remind himself that she needed to leave. His heart ached, but he refused to be the one to keep her in pain and hurting.
As Olivia slept with her head on his lap, he decided it was time to go. He tried to re-adjust her body so he didn’t wake her, but had no such luck.
“Where are you going?” she asked drowsily, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
“It’s late. I should go home.”
“Wait. No. Stay. Please.”
Cam looked at her, the hesitation clear on his face.
“It’s just, I’m going to miss you when I leave, and I want to spend as much time with you as I can before then.”
“When are you planning on heading back?” Cam asked.
“Day after tomorrow, I think. I have to pack so I’ll need a day to do that. Please. Stay with me until I go.”
Cam sighed, dropping back down on the couch next to her. “Do you have any idea how impossible it is to say no to you?”
Olivia giggled as she nuzzled into Cam's arms, savoring the warmth and his smell.
“God, I’m going to miss that sound.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
BELONG
“SO LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE all set then,” Cam said a few days later after he finished loading up Olivia’s car with all her things. He closed the trunk and turned to look at the girl that had arrived out of nowhere back in October.
“Yup. Looks that way,” Olivia answered sadly. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was definitely going to miss Cam. Over the past few months, he had been her rock, the only person who understood her. A tear fell down her cheek, thinking how she would no longer see his smiling face every morning as she enjoyed her coffee. She wished she hadn’t avoided him those last few weeks.