“Fine.” She handed him the statement. “Have at it. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you when the party tries to run you out of town on a rail.”

“Unfortunately for them, I’m all they’ve got.” Turning to Trevor, he said, “Let the media know I’ll be making a brief statement in the hospital lobby at ten.”

“Will do, Senator.”

“Relax, Christina,” Nick said. “It’ll be fine.”

Her expression rife with trepidation, she said, “Sure it will.”

From her bed, Sam heard the whir of her father’s chair coming down the hallway. Pushing herself up, she winced when pain bounced off every corner of her skull. She had a whole new respect for concussions.

Celia held the door open for Skip. “Morning, honey,” Celia said. “How are you today?”

“Fine as long as I don’t blink.”

“You need to stay very still, which of course will be a challenge for you,” Skip said, his sharp eyes assessing his daughter’s condition.

“Did you have any trouble with the media?” Sam asked.

“Nope,” Skip said. “We came in through the Emergency Room.”

Sam’s stomach tightened with the familiar pain, although she had to admit it wasn’t as sharp since she gave up soda. Then again, she wasn’t quite as sharp, either. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

“Why don’t I wait for you outside, Skip?” Celia said.

“No,” Sam said to her future stepmother. “Stay. Please.”

“All right.” Celia moved to the bedside and rested her hand over Sam’s. “Are your injuries worse than they thought?”

Sam tuned into the worry on both their faces and hated that she’d caused it. “No, nothing like that. It’s about something that happened years ago, something shameful. The media has caught wind of it.”

“Whatever it is, Sam, we love you,” Skip said, but she could see the trepidation on his face. “You know that.”

Sam cleared the emotion from her throat. “Yes, I do, and that’s why I never wanted to disappoint you.”

“And you never have. What’s wrong, honey?”

“Do you remember the French guy I dated in college? Jean Paul?”

“Vaguely. As I recall, there was no shortage of young men interested in my little girl.”

Sam wouldn’t have believed it possible to smile just then. Taking a deep breath, she told them about the terrible decision she’d been forced to make, the miscarriage she’d suffered and the consequences she had lived with every day since. “I didn’t know what to do, Dad,” she said softly. “I felt like I had no choice.”

Both Skip and Celia seemed stunned.

Nick stepped into the room, came over to the bed and slipped an arm around Sam. Kissing her temple, he whispered, “You okay?”

She closed her eyes for a moment, absorbing the tender comfort only he could provide. “Yeah.”