A Doctor's Promise (Lifeline Air Rescue Book 1)

by Scott, Laura

  “He does?” Jared couldn’t prevent a broad smile from creasing his face. “He’s a good kid, but of course, you already know that. I liked spending time with him. Having a masculine influence in his life can’t hurt, right?”

  “Really?” Green flames sparked from her eyes, and she jumped up from her seat beside him, planting her hands on her hips. It was a sign of his total and complete madness that he wanted to pull her close and kiss her senseless. “And I suppose you’re offering to take on that role? Thanks, but no thanks. I think I know what’s best for my son. For your information, I recently enrolled him in a big brother, big sister program. He’ll have a male role model. One that I don’t need to be personally involved with.”

  “I wasn’t expecting that . . .” But he was talking to the wind. Shelly had already spun around and walked away. Jared stared after her for a moment, letting her go. He hadn’t meant to offer to be Ty’s father figure, but the more he’d thought about it, the more he warmed to the idea. Of course, he should have known Wonder Woman had already taken matters into her own hands.

  At the end of their shift, Jared stayed in his office for a while to get caught up on some paperwork. The private investigator he’d hired to do the background check was due to report in at nine. Elbows propped on his desk, Jared held his head in his hands, fighting exhaustion.

  When the phone rang, he jerked awake. Groggy and half-asleep, he picked up the phone. “Dr. O’Connor.”

  “This is Brandon Rafter. I have some interesting news about Shelly Bennett’s background check.”

  “You do?” Guilt warred with keen interest, and his exhaustion vanished. He hesitated, knowing he was about to cross a line. Shelly would never forgive him if she ever found out he’d pried into her personal life. Just as he was about to tell Brandon to keep the information to himself, the PI continued.

  “Shelly Bennett didn’t exist until six years ago when she moved to Milwaukee and formally changed her name. Her original name was Sharon Leigh Wilson.” The PI let out a bark of laughter. “Can you believe it? Shelly Bennett is the woman you hired me to find.”

  9

  Stunned speechless, Jared blinked. It took several moments for the words to penetrate his brain.

  “Are you absolutely certain?” He must have heard it wrong. Or misunderstood.

  “I’m sure. Shelly’s birth name is Sharon Leigh Wilson,” Brandon repeated. “Trust me, I couldn’t make something like this up.”

  Shelly was Leigh? Ty was his nephew? “I don’t understand. Shelly is a nurse. How could she have a different name?”

  “Sharon legally changed her name six years ago to Shelly Bennett. Bennett is her mother’s maiden name. I have to be honest, I’m not sure I would have found her so easily if you hadn’t asked for a background check on Shelly Bennett. That’s when the red flags started going off.”

  “Does it say how long she’s been a nurse?” he asked, still grappling with the news. Ty was Mark’s son. His nephew.

  Shelly had once loved his younger brother.

  “Looks like four and a half years. It appears she legally changed her name while in her last year of nursing. It’s not illegal to change your name, and she went through the proper channels. If you had told me that Leigh Wilson was in a nursing program, we could have found her sooner through the state licensing board.”

  He hadn’t known Leigh was working her way through school. Mark had never mentioned that. All they’d known was that she worked as a cocktail waitress in Boston. Maybe if his father had hired a decent private investigator, they would have known about Shelly a long time ago.

  His father. Jared ran his fingers over his hair. He needed to call his parents, let them know he found Leigh, AKA Shelly.

  “Thanks, Brandon,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “I’ll send the balance of your fee today. You’ve more than earned it.”

  “Let me know if you need anything else,” Brandon Rafter said.

  “I will.” Jared disconnected from the line, then stared at the phone for a long moment before dialing his parents. It wasn’t too early, considering their eastern time zone, but he didn’t think they’d mind.

  His mother answered on the first ring.

  “Mom, are you sitting down?”

  “Why, do you have bad news for me?” Her voice sounded uncertain.

  “Good news for you. But I still think you’d better sit down.”

  “Oh dear.” Her voice grew faint, and he imagined her sinking bonelessly into a kitchen chair. “Are you telling me what I think you’re telling me?”

  Jared had to smile. “Yes. I found her. Leigh Wilson has changed her name to Shelly Bennett, and she has a five-year-old son, Tyler. I found Mark’s son.”

  His mother burst into tears. Jared expected the reaction, but hearing her heartfelt sobs a thousand miles away while unable to comfort her shook him anyway.

  “Really? Have you seen him? Does he look like Mark?”

  “Yes, I’ve seen him, and he’s a miniature version of Mark.” Jared remembered the similar facial expressions on Ty’s face and how they’d reminded him of his brother. Why hadn’t he known on some instinctive level that Ty shared his blood? On the heels of that thought came the jarring truth.

  His vision had been clouded by Tyler’s beautiful mother. The signs were so obvious now that he looked back, but how was he to know Leigh Wilson had become a flight nurse?

  “When can we see him?” his mother demanded. “How soon can you bring him to Boston?”

  Whoa, things were moving quicker than he’d anticipated. Although, he should have figured this would be his parents next request. “Soon, Mom, I promise. I’ve seen Tyler for myself, but he doesn’t know about you and Dad yet. In fact, Shelly doesn’t know I figured out she’s really Leigh Wilson.”

  “I don’t care what it takes, Jared, we want to see our grandson. As soon as humanly possible. That woman has kept him from us long enough.”

  Jared was taken aback by the hard edge to his mother’s tone but understood that she was worried because of his dad’s poor health. “Give me time to work things out,” he said. “I promise you and Dad will be able to see Tyler very soon. I need a few days to talk to Shelly, but I’m sure she’ll be reasonable. Now take care and I’ll be in touch.”

  “Okay, Jared. But your father needs this. Don’t make us wait too long.”

  “I won’t.” He disconnected from the phone, then sat back in his chair. His previous exhaustion returned with a vengeance, and he struggled to think clearly. Shelly was a reasonable person; she didn’t seem like the type to isolate Ty from his family. Yet that was exactly what she’d done. Six years ago, pregnant with his brother’s child, she’d run from Boston to hide out in Milwaukee. She’d gone a step further, legally changing her name making it nearly impossible to find her. Why had such drastic steps been necessary? Had Shelly been so freaked out by the unplanned pregnancy that she’d panicked? Had she been ashamed about being pregnant outside of marriage?

  That had to be it; nothing else made sense.

  He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to corral his wild thoughts. There was only one way to know for sure what had gone through her mind all those years ago and that was to ask Shelly herself. But that wasn’t an option at the moment. She was home sleeping, the same way he should be.

  Jared went online to pay the rest of Brandon’s fee, then pushed back from his desk. Rather than risk getting behind the wheel, he went into the small on-call room, barely larger than a cardboard box, containing a narrow bed and bedside table.

  He only needed a few hours of sleep, then he’d go see Shelly. His timing was awful, springing this on her when Ty was scheduled for testing the following morning, but this couldn’t wait. His parents had dreamed about seeing their lost grandchild for six years, and his father’s heart condition was tenuous at best.

  His mother was right. They’d waited long enough.

  JARED SLEPT for four hours before the ringing phone wok
e him up. He grabbed it a nanosecond too late. Whoever was on the other end of the line had hung up. It was an unknown number, so he didn’t try calling back. Muttering under his breath, he considered putting the phone on silent but then changed his mind. Shelly may need him, and he wouldn’t want to miss her call.

  He flopped back down on the bed, trying to fall back asleep. But the night of Mark’s death played over and over in his mind. What if he’d handled that night differently? He knew deep in his gut that if they hadn’t argued, Mark wouldn’t have stormed off in anger. And maybe his brother wouldn’t have died. Jared hadn’t found out until reading the autopsy report that Mark had been drinking. He should have figured it out from his brother’s lack of logic, but he had been blinded by his own anger. Mark had interrupted him while he’d been studying for his pediatric boards, the ones he was scheduled to take the following morning. He’d been annoyed at Mark for interrupting him, ranting once again about how narrow-minded their parents were.

  Jared had brushed him off, told him to grow up and get a life. Mark had stormed off, driving away in anger, and had ultimately slammed his car against a concrete highway divider, killing him on impact.

  The last words he’d said to his brother wouldn’t leave him alone.

  Closing his eyes on a groan, Jared tried not to dwell on the past, but it was a useless effort. In his dreams, he replayed the events with a different ending. One where Mark didn’t leave but calmed down enough to stay overnight, sleeping on the sofa.

  But wishing didn’t change the past. There was so much he needed to atone for. He hadn’t just lost a brother that night, his parents had lost a son, Shelly had lost her fiancé, and Tyler had lost his father.

  So much loss from one argument.

  Shelly and Mark. Mark and Shelly. She must have loved his brother very much to have vowed to raise Tyler on her own . . .

  The phone rang again, jarring him from his doze. This time he managed to answer it in time.

  “Yeah?” He didn’t care if he sounded rude. If he heard a telemarketer’s voice on the other end of the connection, rude wouldn’t begin to cover his response.

  “Dr. O’Connor? This is Dr. Jacoby, your father’s cardiologist. I need your help.”

  Jared frowned and sat upon the edge of the bed. He’d spoken to the cardiologist several times over the past few weeks about his father’s condition. With his father’s permission, of course.

  “My help? With what?”

  “Your father is making arrangements to fly to Milwaukee against my advice. At the very least, I’d like him to undergo another echocardiogram before traveling so far. But he’s refusing treatment at this time.”

  Refusing treatment? Flying to Milwaukee? Jared dropped his head into the palm of his hand, unable to believe how things were spiraling out of control. “I’ll talk to him.”

  “You’d better hurry,” Jacoby advised. “From what I could tell, he and his wife are trying to book the first available flight out of Boston.”

  SHELLY TOSSED and turned the entire night before Ty’s tests. Partially, she was sure, because her sleep cycle was all messed up. But deep down, worry gnawed at her over what the tests might reveal. In a few hours, she’d know if Ty was okay or if he needed more testing because his kidney function remained abnormal.

  Twice she’d picked up her journal, only to set it aside without writing a word. The words simply wouldn’t come, and she realized she was tired of her one-sided conversations with Mark. As much as she’d once loved the freedom of spilling her thoughts on paper, it wasn’t enough. Instead, she battled the ridiculous urge to call Jared. He, more than anyone, would understand her concern. Her inability to sleep.

  He’d offered to come with her to the testing, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why she’d turned him down.

  Staring blankly up at the ceiling, her thoughts continued spinning through her mind. Jared was a great guy. She respected his expertise as a physician, yet he didn’t carry the sense of arrogance or entitlement that so many of his colleagues did. He listened to her and had the uncanny ability to gauge her moods. He’d dropped everything to help her out when she’d been sick.

  And the man definitely knew how to kiss.

  The minute she was close to him, every sense went on red-alert. She couldn’t remember ever being so in tune to another person. Intimacy had been easy to avoid since losing Mark. She hadn’t been interested in other men. Being close to them. Sharing her life with them.

  Until Jared.

  And wasn’t that the biggest problem of all? Her feelings for Jared went deeper than simple attraction. She didn’t know if it was his internal strength, his innate sense of honesty, his ability to read her so clearly, or a combination of all three that had sucked her in.

  She was definitely hooked.

  Telling him about Ty’s illness had been liberating. He’d held her hand, caressed the back of it with his thumb. And she’d felt so connected to him on a deeper, subliminal level that scared her into pulling away.

  Now she regretted her actions. At the time, everything had been so confusing, her emotions a tangled wreck.

  Yet, she longed to see him. To talk to him. To share her fears over Ty’s tests with him. To hear his deep reassuring voice.

  Was it too early to call? To ask him to come along to the testing?

  Her alarm jangled, and she flew upright, slamming her palm on top of the clock to silence it. Maybe after she showered and dressed, just before she left for the hospital she’d call him. Maybe just hearing his voice would be enough to calm her nerves.

  An hour later, after feeding Tyler his breakfast and getting them both ready to go, she gathered her courage and called his cell. But the call went through to his voice mail. She left a message, and then set her phone aside.

  But by the time she and Ty were on their way to the hospital, Jared hadn’t returned her call.

  WAITING WAS A KILLER. How did families put up with this every single day? She worked in the medical field and still couldn’t tolerate watching the seconds tick by into yet still longer minutes.

  Finally, Tyler was finished with his tests. Dread warred with anticipation as she waited for the doctor to come and see her.

  “Ms. Bennett? I’m Dr. Orlando, the nephrologist who ordered and reviewed your son’s tests. So far, Tyler’s preliminary results look good, but the radiologist still needs to do the final reading on the renal ultrasound. I’m afraid he won’t get to that until later today.”

  “Like how much later?” She couldn’t hide her dismay. To have waited all week only to be forced to wait longer seemed unreasonably cruel.

  “Well.” He shrugged. “For sure by the end of the day.”

  She glanced up at the clock. It was already past eleven in the morning, and she was sure the end of the day meant as late as five in the evening. “But that’s almost six hours from now.”

  “It may not take that long,” he assured her. “That’s the worst-case scenario.”

  She stared at him. Did he really expect her to wait another six interminable, potentially life-altering hours?

  “Can’t you put a rush on this? Please?” She clutched his arm in a desperate grip. “We’ve been waiting so long. I really need to know the results.”

  “I’ll see what we can do.” He patted her hand as if she were a small child, then stepped away.

  Shelly curled her fingers into fists as she watched him go. Six more hours? How on earth would she stand it?

  Rather than head home, Shelly stopped at Ty’s favorite fast-food joint to pick up lunch, then headed to the park for an impromptu picnic. Ty seemed oblivious to her lack of enthusiasm, enjoying himself on the playground equipment. When she’d looked at her watch for the tenth time in as many minutes, she ripped it off her wrist and stuffed it in the pocket of her jeans.

  Don’t think the worst, she told herself sternly. The preliminary tests looked good. Why not take that as a really good sign? She tipped her face to the sun, enjoyi
ng the warmth against her skin.

  If the tests were normal, they could celebrate tonight. She’d call Jared and invite him over. Maybe pick up Ty’s favorite ice cream for dessert.

  She pushed Ty on the swings, grinning as he squealed in delight. Then she purposefully took her time heading home, stopping at the grocery store to pick up a few things. That was when she noticed her cell phone had a missed call on the screen. It had been set on silent while she was in the hospital, and she’d forgotten to put it back on sound alert.

  What if Dr. Orlando had called? She quickly scanned the missed calls, but there were none from the hospital.

  Jared had left a message, though, so she listened to that.

  “Shelly? It’s Jared. I’d really like to talk to you. Please call me when you get in.”

  She blushed at the wave of pleasure that washed over her. He’d called her back! He hadn’t mentioned her message, but he’d called her back.

  Deciding against calling him from the grocery store, she decided to wait until she got home. And even then, she thought it might be smart to wait until they’d gotten the final test results.

  She made tacos for dinner, keeping an eye on the clock. At quarter to six, just as they were finishing their meal, her cell rang. She pounced on it. “Hello?”

  “Ms. Bennett? Tyler’s kidney function test results are perfectly normal.”

  “Normal?” Her heart swelled with relief. “You’re sure?”

  “Of course.” He sounded surprised she’d asked.

  “Thank you!” With a war-whoop, she dropped her phone on the counter and let loose with a wild dance around the kitchen.

  Ty was fine! Healthy and fine! Whoo-hoo, Ty was going to be just fine!

  “Mom?” Her son slanted her a perplexed look. “Are you going crazy?”

  She dropped her head back and let out a true, heartfelt laugh of relief. “Yep. I’m crazy, Ty. Giddy with happiness.”

  He scrunched up his face. “What’s giddy?”