“Dr. Cooper is over at the hospital making rounds. I’ll call him and let him know you want to talk to him. I’m sure there’s been some mistake,” Hannah said as she took her phone out of her pocket and dialed the building’s security number.
The phone was answered on the second ring. “Hey Dr. Cooper, Jeannine Jones’s husband is here in the office and wants to talk to you.” She listened as a man told her she had the wrong number. “I understand you’re busy, Dr. Cooper, but Mr. Jones is very upset about his wife refusing to go home with him. Thank you, I’ll let him know you’ll be right here.”
She hit the end call button and prayed that the security officer she’d talked to had understood that she needed help.
“The doctor will be here in just a few minutes. I’ll show you to a room where you can wait for him,” Hannah said. She needed to get Mr. Jones out of the hall and away from Marion.
“I’m not going anywhere till I see that doctor. He had no business talking to my wife when I wasn’t there. Thinks just because he’s got some degree that he knows what’s best for everyone. I’ll make sure he keeps his nose out of our business from now on,” Jones said. “And you! You’re that nurse who wouldn’t let me into the room to see my wife that day in the ER. You called those guards on me. You’re just as bad as he is.”
Calvin Jones pushed past Marion and headed for Hannah. He thought he could intimidate her just as he had his poor wife. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She was tired of dealing with this bully. He’d beaten his wife until she was scared to tell the truth about the horror of her marriage. He preyed on the weak, but that wasn’t who Hannah was anymore. She would stand up to this man just as she had stood up to her parents the day she had refused to leave the hospital without her daughter.
“Mr. Jones, I was only doing my job. Just like Dr. Cooper is doing his job to protect his patient. It would be best if you left right now before you do something that’s going to cause more trouble for you. It’s my understanding that there is a restraining order that states you aren’t allowed to see your wife,” Hannah said calmly as the man approached her.
She yelled as he grabbed hold of her hair and pulled her up to her toes. “Lady, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from my wife. And I’m not going anywhere until I see the doctor.”
“Let her go. Now!” Hannah heard William give the order from behind her. “If you have a problem with me, we can discuss it like men.”
Hannah’s head slammed into the wall as Calvin Jones pushed her away and stalked toward William. Marion reached her before she hit the floor then held her back as she fought to go after him.
She saw the ice-cold determination in William’s eyes. “I’m going to give you one opportunity to walk out of the office,” he said calmly, as if talking to someone about the weather. “I’m not a violent man, but I’m twenty years younger than you and I’m willing to take my chances.”
The man snarled a comment that Hannah couldn’t hear before two officers pushed through into the office. Hannah tried to yell out as she saw Jeannine’s husband lunge at William. And then it all disappeared into black.
* * *
Hannah opened her eyes slowly and realized someone was holding her down. Staring up at the white-tiled ceiling of an exam room, she tried to recall how she had gotten there. The pounding of her head brought back the memory of hitting something. The wall. She’d hit the wall before Jeannine’s husband had attacked William. “William,” she said as she tried to sit up before falling back to the table as the room began to spin.
“It’s okay. I’m right here,” William said from beside her.
Turning her head slowly, Hannah reached out for him. “You’re okay,” she said as he took her hand. She put her other hand on his face and turned it side to side. There was no damage.
“I thought I saw him hit you,” she said, closing her eyes again. The lights were too bright.
“I’m fine. The man is all brute and no style,” he said. “How are you feeling?”
“My head is killing me, but besides that, I think I’m okay.” Her roiling stomach felt as if she had just gotten off a carnival ride, but she knew it was because of the pain in her head.
“The cops are talking to Marion and there’s an ambulance on its way to take you to the ER,” William said.
“I just need something for this headache,” she said, turning toward him. The room spun once more.
“You know as well as I do that you need to get checked out. They’ll get a CT just to make sure you’re okay.” The door opened and two emergency medical technicians came in with a stretcher. “Now, be nice and don’t give these young men any trouble,” William told.
* * *
William stood beside the CT technician and watched as the screens changed from one view to the next. He’d confirm his findings with the radiologist, but it appeared that Hannah had not received any type of brain or cranial injury.
When he’d seen Jeannine’s husband throw her against that wall, he had experienced an anger that he had never known before. Part of him even wished he’d had a chance to punch the man. He’d given his statement to the police officers who had arrived with the ambulance crew and had promised to call them when Hannah was up to talking, but it wasn’t enough.
William wanted to know that Calvin Jones was going to spend some time in a cell for what he’d done to Hannah today. He wanted to know the man wouldn’t be able to come after Hannah—or his wife—again. Unfortunately, the officers hadn’t been able to reassure him.
Marion had given her report to the police before she’d been sent off to get her arm x-rayed. From what his office nurse had said, it seemed that Hannah had been trying to keep Calvin Jones from knowing that he was in the office. She’d tried to protect him; something he couldn’t remember anyone else ever doing in his life. She’d taken on a man as strong as an ox for him. He would never forget that and he’d never forget the fear he’d felt when she’d lost consciousness.
William’s mind had immediately imagined the worst, fearing that Hannah had sustained the same type of injury his mother had. What would he have done had she been critically injured? He’d been the neuro trauma doctor on call, but he would never have trusted himself to operate on her. Because no matter how much he could compartmentalize his emotions while he was in the operating room, there was no way he could have done that if Hannah had been his patient.
He took one more look at the CT before leaving the room. Thank goodness, it wasn’t anything he had to worry about now. He was going to find the ER doctor and get the paperwork started to take Hannah home.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“SIT DOWN, MOMMA,” Lindsey said for the hundredth time as Hannah stood then quickly sank back down on the couch. It had been two days since she’d been attacked and still her daughter and William wouldn’t let her do anything.
William had canceled his office visits today and had arranged for a colleague to make the rounds on his surgical patients. He didn’t know it yet, but Hannah was going to assist him in the scheduled surgeries tomorrow. The ER doctor had cleared her to return to work and she wasn’t about to miss a chance to be inside the OR.
With her headache now gone, there really wasn’t any reason she couldn’t get back to normal. Not that she was protesting their protectiveness. It felt nice to know that she had someone to take care of her for a change. With her down for the count, William had been glad to take over care of Lindsey. He’d even taken care of her carpool duties for the day.
“Will, what temperature does it say that the oven needs to be on?” Lindsey asked, pulling out a large round pan.
“Four fifty,” he said as Avery’s hands stretched out to touch the dough he had been meticulously rolling.
Reaching into a bowl, he picked out a slice of a sweet bell pepper and gave it to her to chew on. After one taste, Avery threw it to the floor. “A
pparently she’s not a fan of peppers.”
“Try the pepperoni,” Hannah said as she took in the mess the kitchen was becoming. For a man who was meticulous in the operating room, he was a disaster in the kitchen.
William put Avery in the high chair and handed her a slice of pepperoni. “Sit here for just a minute while I get the pizza in the oven.”
“Ill, Ill,” the little girl called when he crossed to the other side of the island.
“Ill?” he asked as he carefully took the dough from a wooden board and placed it on a round baking tray. “That’s a new one.”
“She’s trying to say ‘Will,’ you dork,” Lindsey said.
“Lindsey, don’t call William a dork. It’s not polite.” Hannah had a hard time keeping the smile off her face.
“Forget about it, Lindsey. I can’t have my sister going around calling me ‘Ill.’ What kind of name is that for a doctor?” William joked.
“It’s better than Billy,” Lindsey quipped as they began layering the meat and veggies they’d managed to agree on.
“Not by much,” William said. “We’ll have to work on that vocabulary of yours, little sister.”
“Ill,” Avery said, reaching for him again.
“Let me get the pie in the oven, then you can get down,” he said to Avery then turned to Hannah. “Isn’t it time for her to start walking? She’s been pulling up on things for a while now. Maybe I should check with the pediatrician...”
The doorbell rang and Lindsey bolted for it. “I’ll get it,” she called back to them.
“It’s a little late for a delivery driver,” William said, putting the pizza in the oven and setting the timer. “Maybe I should go see who it is.”
“I’ll go,” Hannah said as she started to stand. She was starting to feel a little guilty. She really did feel better.
She looked over at the kitchen counter covered in flour. Perhaps one more day of rest won’t hurt.
* * *
An odd feeling settled in his stomach. “Stay with Avery. I’ll be right back,” William said to Hannah.
There was no good reason for someone to be at the door at this time of night. There was only one person he had been expecting at his home. The text he had received from his father’s lawyer earlier in the week had been sent to prepare him, but he had chosen to ignore it. With Hannah injured, he hadn’t wanted to deal with anything that would upset her. And, he had to admit—even if it was just to himself—this was likely going to upset them all.
“Will, this woman says she’s here to see Avery,” Lindsey said when he entered the hallway, her arms crossed at her chest. He had seen that look on her mother’s face often enough to know it always meant trouble. “Is she that aunt I heard you and Momma talking about—the one who thinks you can’t take care of Avery?”
“Ms. Crane?” he asked the woman standing in the open doorway. His heart rate sped up as the woman nodded. Why was she here?
“Lindsey,” Will said as he placed his arm around her shoulders, “this is Avery’s great-aunt.”
“I’m sorry it’s so late, but I only just managed to make it to town and I couldn’t wait to see Alison’s little girl,” the woman said as Lindsey slipped from under his arm and bolted to the great room.
She was dressed in tasteful but sensible clothes, reminding William of Avery’s former nanny, Mrs. Adams. Though much older than his stepmother, he could see the resemblance.
“Please come in.” William stepped back, welcoming her into his home.
He looked to the high chair where Avery had been just minutes before and found it empty.
“This is Hannah, Lindsey’s mother.” He introduced her as she joined them. “Hannah, this is Avery’s great-aunt—” The oven timer went off. “Let me get that.”
Hannah led the woman into the great room. “Please, have a seat,” she said, surprising him with the control she seemed to have of her emotions. If the woman’s arrival had upset her, Hannah sure wasn’t showing it. “You must be tired. William says you raised Avery’s mother. This must be so hard for you.”
“Yes. I’m still in a bit of a shock, I’m afraid. Alison was so young. I didn’t find out till the ship I was on made port, and by then I had missed the funeral. Of course, I wish I had been there for Avery. It’s like history repeating itself. Though, Alison was much older when we lost her parents.”
Ms. Crane looked around the room where toys covered the rug and a basket of clean clothes sat in a corner waiting to be folded and put away. By the look in her eyes, she was not impressed. What did the woman expect when she showed up unannounced?
William pushed a bowl to the side and set the hot pizza pan on the counter. Yes, the kitchen was a mess, too, but he wasn’t going to apologize for it. “We’re having homemade pizza for dinner if you would like to join us.”
“That sounds nice, but I’m afraid I can’t. Spicy food before bed just doesn’t agree with me.” She stood. “And as you said, it is getting late. I just wanted to spend a minute or two with the child.”
“When was the last time you saw Avery?” Hannah asked, walking around to the side of the kitchen where he stood. She poked him in the side. He ignored her. He knew Alison’s aunt was there to check him out, to judge how well he was caring for Avery. It wasn’t like he could throw her out. He needed to show her that Avery was well and happy.
“The last time I visited Dallas was right after she was born. She was such a cute little thing. Alison was so proud of her,” Ms. Crane said.
“She’s a beautiful little girl and she’s just crazy about her big brother,” Hannah said.
“I’m sure she is, dear, but I’m also sure you can understand my concern for my Alison’s only child. My niece would expect me to make sure that her daughter was being taken care of properly,” she said. “There’s only the two of us left in the family now that Alison is gone.”
William looked at the woman and realized that, like him, she was all alone, except for Avery. He didn’t have to imagine how lonely she might feel. He knew. He’d felt that way himself, though he’d convinced himself that he liked his life that way.
“Avery has already been put down for the night, but we’d love to have you over for dinner tomorrow night, if that would work for you?” Hannah said, turning on her Texas charm. She was up to something, but William wasn’t sure exactly what.
The woman hesitated for a moment then nodded. “Tomorrow night would be lovely. It will give us a chance to talk about our plans for Avery.”
After agreeing on a time for dinner the next night, William showed her out then waited until the car turned out of the driveway.
When he returned to the kitchen, he found Hannah surveying the room.
“You need to rest,” he said, though he knew he was wasting his breath.
“We don’t have time to rest. It would have been best if I’d invited her the night after, but I don’t think we could have put her off that long,” Hannah said as she started loading the dishwasher.
“She seems like a nice woman,” he said.
“A nice woman that wants to talk about plans to take your sister away,” Hannah retorted.
“You make it sound like we’re going to war.”
“What is more important than fighting for your child?” Hannah asked. “Go upstairs and get Lindsey and Avery. We have a dinner to prepare for. By the time she leaves tomorrow night, you’ll have Avery’s great-aunt singing your praises and putting your name in for father of the year.”
“How about we just settle on convincing her that Avery is being properly taken care of?” William suggested as he left the room. Because if Avery’s great-aunt really cared about her, it wouldn’t matter if the floor was cluttered with toys or what the state of his kitchen was. The only thing that would really matter was that Avery was healthy and happy. Hopefully, the woman was smart enough to underst
and that.
“Lindsey, please open the door,” William said as he knocked for the second time.
“Is that woman gone?” she asked, unlocking the door to let him in.
Avery was sitting on the floor playing with a stuffed unicorn he recognized as one of Lindsey’s. Chewing on the stuffed animal’s horn, his sister giggled up at him.
“She’s not really going to try to take Avery away, is she?” Lindsey asked as she joined Avery on the floor.
He sat next to her and crossed his long legs. “No one is going to take Avery anywhere,” he said and prayed that it was true. His lawyer had assured him that he had a strong case for keeping custody of his sister, unless Avery’s great-aunt could show that the child was in danger or neglected, which certainly wasn’t the case.
“Look, your momma has invited Ms. Crane over for supper tomorrow night. She’ll come and see how great Avery is doing and then she’ll leave,” William said. “But in the meantime, we need to go help your mother get things together for tomorrow night. Okay?”
“Okay. Let’s go, Avery,” Lindsey said to the little girl as William rose with her in his arms. “We’ll show that great-aunt of yours just how great a dad William is, even though it’s kind of weird that he’s your brother, too.”
William looked down at the young girl and laughed. Like daughter, like mother. The two of them had fought together since the day Lindsey was born. First to stay together and then just for Lindsey to stay alive. He couldn’t think of any two people he’d rather have on his side.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE TABLE WAS SET. The kids were bathed and dressed appropriately. There was not one piece of laundry in sight. The battlefield was ready for whatever Ms. Crane threw at them and still Hannah felt she wasn’t ready. This was so important. They couldn’t mess this up.
The Neurosurgeon's Unexpected Family Page 13
