The first thing Owen noticed was how pale her face was. How could he have failed to notice that before now? Was he so wrapped up in his own issues that he hadn’t noticed such an important thing?

She held out her hand to him. “Did your mother call you?”

He moved to the side of the bed and took her hand. “She might’ve, but I left my phone in the van. She called Evan. He came to find me.”

“I didn’t want to interrupt your surfing time. I know how much you enjoy it.”

“Don’t be silly. I don’t want to be anywhere as much as I want to be wherever you are.”

She blinked furiously but couldn’t contain a flood of tears. “Damn it! Every freaking thing makes me cry, especially you when you’re so sweet.”

Leaning over the bed, he kissed away her tears. “I’ll try to be mean and nasty going forward, then.”

Laura reached up to try to bring some order to his hair. “You don’t have it in you, and you’re all sandy.”

“Sorry.” He tried to pull back from her, but she stopped him. “I came right from the beach.”

“I don’t care. I’m glad you’re here.”

“What’re they saying?”

She gestured to the IV that was releasing a steady drip to a needle in her hand. “They’re rehydrating me, and she’s going to give me something for the nausea.”

“That’s exactly right,” Victoria said as she joined them. “We’re going to get her all fixed up for the trip.”

“Are you sure it’s safe for her to go?”

“As long as she takes it as easy as possible, she’ll be just fine,” Victoria said. “Once we get the nausea under control, she should start to feel a lot better.”

“I thought you didn’t want to take anything,” Owen said.

“I didn’t,” Laura said, “until it got worse.”

“I’d be recommending it at this juncture even if she wasn’t asking for it,” Victoria said. “The complications from dehydration can be far more dangerous for mom and babies than the meds will ever be. You have two options when it comes to meds. One is pretty reasonable. The other will run you about five hundred bucks.”

“Which is better?” Laura asked.

“The more expensive one, of course.”

“Then we’ll take that one,” Owen said. “Whatever she needs.”

“Owen—”

“It’s fine, honey. Don’t worry about it.” To Victoria, he said, “How soon can we get her on that?”

“The pharmacy would probably have to special order it, so we’ll give her a shot before she leaves today and write her a script to fill when you get to the mainland tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Vic,” Laura said.

“No problem. We’ll get you feeling much better soon. I’ll be back to check on you soon.”