84

ASA'S POV

I'm rushing down the hall to the ER waiting room after being directed that way by the receptionist at the check-in desk. It's a fairly small area for family members which is why I'm caught off guard when I round the corner to the waiting room to find that Zac is here, pacing back and forth. Immediately, I slow my strides and make my way over to him. Maybe they called him too?

Honestly I have no idea. The nurse that called me had called for some information regarding Cassandra's insurance, and I immediately came down to the hospital even though she said I shouldn't worry. But I was worried. Because Cassandra was rushed in by emergency services and I had no fucking clue what the hell happened. She couldn't give me much information over the phone either, which only added to my fears.

I want nothing more than for Cassandra to be okay, but her being in the hospital is the furthest away from okay, and I don't even have a clue as to what happened.

As soon as Zac spots me walking over, he stops in his tracks and narrows his eyes at me, as if he's wondering what I'm doing here. But I'm not really all that surprised considering he's not the greatest fan of mine at the moment. He's not happy about my relationship with Cassandra, which I still don't really understand, but honestly, I don't even care right now. I just want to know how she is and if she's okay, and then to be able to see her of course.

"Did you call him?" Zac scoffs as he looks past my shoulder, and I cock at brow at him in confusion as I come to a stop about two feet away from him. I look over my shoulder to see Lauren standing there, holding a cup of coffee in each of her hands.

"No?" Lauren pauses in confusion, before her face falls slightly. "You didn't call him?"

"I'm sorry?" I ask as I realize that they are talking about me, and now I'm totally lost as to why the hell they're talking as if they've been here for a while now. "Wait. Why didn't you call me if you knew that Cassandra was brought in here?"

I feel like it's a redundant question because even I can answer that. Zac didn't want me near his sister, as usual. That's nothing new, but still, I would expect that at least in this type of situation, that he would suck it up and call me for her sake.

"Whatever. That's besides the point. Is she okay? What happened?" I ask him, wondering if maybe the nurse had already spoken to him about what happened or how she is doing. I'm angry that Zac didn't call, but I'm here now, and the pressing issue is that Cassandra is okay. I can deal with Zac and his attitude towards me, and his lack of action on his sister's part, later. Cassandra was my main focus right now.

"Hm," Zac sighs annoyedly as he glances between Lauren and I before finally answering me. "Cassandra freaked out a bit."

"She had a panic attack and her BP dropped really fast, and she passed out. I thought bringing her in would be the best thing to do, so we called 911. But she's fine, really, I'm sure. The docs will update us in a bit," Lauren says at the same time, and immediately I'm on edge again.

Panic attack? I knew Cassandra had dealt with anxiety and did have a few panic attacks in the past, but it had been years and never once when I was around, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

"What? Are you sure?" I ask her, ignoring Zac now, because he's practically useless when it comes to all this medical stuff, much like myself, and I trust Lauren more than I trust him. "She's been doing really well. No need for the Xanax or anything recently," I tell Lauren, recalling that she hasn't been taking them since she found out she was pregnant, and even before then, she was only taking them occasionally.

I feel nervous all of a sudden, because even if Cassandra is okay, what about the baby? I'm trying my best not to think of the worst case scenarios, but they're coming to my mind freely and unwanted. I don't even realize how deep in thought I am until I feel Lauren's hand on my arm, and my eyes flicker down to meet hers.

"Relax. I know what you're thinking, but seriously, Asa, she's fine. I know it. I only suggested to Zac that we bring her to make sure that the drop in blood pressure wasn't something to be concerned about, and I'm sure it isn't," she remarks matter-of-factly, narrowing her eyes at me in a way that makes me understand that she's referring to the baby. My throat goes dry, and I shake my head at her, slightly pained at the thought that something could possibly be wrong.

"I don't understand. Why did she have a panic attack? And why'd she pass out? Were you there?" I ask the questions as they come to my mind, turning my head again to face Zac. "Please tell me you know something, Zac. I'm losing my mind here."

I hate that I have to ask him, but if anyone knows something, it has to be him. He was there, right? Zac looks at me nervously at first, but rolls his shoulders back and finally goes to speak.

"She found out. She knows everything," he says with a soft sigh, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. I frown a bit at his choice of words, trying to recollect if maybe I'm not making the right connections or what I'm missing, but I have no clue as to what the hell he could be referring to.

"Found out what?" I ask, puzzled. My eyes flicker between him and the single set of double doors on the wall behind him, wondering where the hell the doctors are and why someone hasn't given me any answers. I tried speaking with them on the phone and again when I checked in, but they had said that only Cassandra's doctor would be able to give me any answers. "Zac, what the hell are you talking about? Cut the crap and give me actual answers. I need to know so I can figure out how to help her."

If whatever she found out was the reason that she had a panic attack after all this time — years from her last one, the same one that had lead to her breakdown — then I needed to know everything so I could make sure that none of it happened again. I had no way of knowing how to comfort her or make things okay for her if I didn't know the situation at hand, and I wasn't about to walk into this blind.

"About our mom, and her affair. About Blake not being her father. Honestly, I don't know how much of the truth she really knows because after Ethan freaked her out, she didn't give me much chance to explain. All I did was confirm that it was the truth, and it set her off. I've never seen her like that before, even though I've witnessed her previous breakdowns, it was so different this time," Zac rips off the band-aid for once, and fuck, it stings. I can't imagine how much it would have hurt Cassandra, but I'm feeling a bit of the sting myself.

Cassandra wasn't Blake's daughter? How could I have not known that? How did she find out? I have so many questions all of a sudden, but there's one thing that sticks out the most to me.

"Ethan?" I don't know why it feels so wrong to say his name, but it does. Cassandra hasn't talked to me much about her past relationship apart from how shitty of a person Ethan is, but from what Zac told me when I had that conversation with him months ago in my office? I know for a fact that Ethan is a douche, asshole, and likely the stupidest guy to have walked this planet, and that I don't like him. Everything that he put Cassandra through makes me want to wrap my hands around his neck and strangle him in one go.

"What about him?" Zac asks, and I suddenly want to strangle him too. Is he just as stupid? How the hell is he the acting CEO of Rhodes Enterprises.

"You said that Ethan freaked Cassandra out?"

"Oh right. Yeah, he was at the office as we were finalizing the buy out of the remaining Australian branches. I guess he stopped by her office or something? I don't know. But he told her everything about our mom and dad, and I don't know...it was so weird. She confronted me, accused me of letting Ethan get to her, and started hyperventilating. I've never seen her like that before. Ethan's always gotten under her skin, but it was different this time," Zac says in a peculiar way that has my head spinning.

I want to ask him to continue to tell me more, but the two doors finally open and our steps a young woman in some light blue scrubs, and I don't even hesitate to side step Zac and stride towards her. I can hear Zac and Lauren follow me immediately, but my focus is now on the petite woman standing in front of me.

"Are you here for Cassandra Rivers?" the lady asks, and I swallow hard as I nod. "I'm the nurse working for Dr. Matthews."

"Rhodes. Cassandra Rhodes, but yes, we are. Is she okay?" Zac speaks up from where he's standing besides me. My eyes glance over to him and Lauren, standing side by side besides me with their own focus on the woman in front of us.

"Oh, my apologizes. I didn't realize. I thought I saw a change on her insurance and I just assumed—"

"No, it's alright," I cut her off before she can continue. "You assumed correctly. It's Rivers. I'm Asa Rivers, her husband, we spoke on the phone earlier. How is she?"

I shouldn't have said it in the way that I did, but I couldn't help myself. Zac needed to get it in his head that I was here as a permanent part of Cassandra's life, and if this is how he found out that we already got married, then he can deal with it.