by Jill Sanders
He was pushed aside as the emergency medical crew started working on her.
Just as they were loading her into the back of the ambulance, Robin came running up the street. She hadn’t even put on a coat or boots and was only wearing a sweater, jeans, and tennis shoes.
When she noticed the blood all over the snow and him, she cried out, and Conner had to catch her to stop her from running after the ambulance.
“Aiden’s going to drive us to the hospital,” he told her. “He can speed.” He followed Aiden to the waiting cop car, pulling Robin along with him.
He didn’t care that he was, himself, soaked in blood. Conner’s eyes were glued to the back door of the ambulance, watching the shadows of the crew working on Kara in the back. He counted his heartbeats as the patrol car sped behind the ambulance.
Robin asked him questions, demanding answers, and he was thankful that Aiden answered them. It was impossible for Conner to even speak at this point. If anything happened to Kara, he doubted he would ever be able to put a sentence together again. His entire body ached; his heart felt like it was going to burst out of his chest.
Robin reached over and took his hand in hers, and he looked down at them. His hand, sticky with drying blood, and hers, pale and so much like Kara’s that he felt tears sting his eyes.
“She’s going to be okay,” Robin kept saying.
He turned his eyes towards hers and noticed that she was crying as well.
Pulling her into his arms, he closed his eyes and sent up a silent prayer.
The three of them stormed the emergency room shortly after they wheeled Kara inside and disappeared through double doors.
“You guys wait here. I’ll see if Aaron is around,” Aiden said quickly.
Doctor Aaron Stevens, Conner’s uncle, could be found some of the time at Edgeview hospital. Every surgery his uncle did was held at the newer facility they were now standing in.
“Who would do this?” Robin asked as they stood just inside the outer doors. “Why? Why shoot Kara?”
His mind snapped to what Suzie had told Aiden about seeing the blue truck speed away after they’d heard the shots and noticed Kara lying in the snow.
“It’s all my fault,” he whispered. “My family’s.” He closed his eyes and swayed slightly.
Robin’s arm reached up to steady him.
“Aaron’s not here,” Aiden said as he approached them. “But Dr. Karen Logan is. She’s a friend,” he told Robin. “She’s assured me that she’s working on Kara now and will let us know as soon as she can.”
Aiden motioned to the chairs. “We’d better sit down.” His eyes ran over Conner, and he nodded towards a bathroom. “Why don’t we go clean up first?”
Conner glanced down at his dark blue uniform and noticed the deep blood stains and the caked-on blood that covered his hands.
He followed Aiden to the men’s restroom and scrubbed up as best he could.
When they stepped out, the small waiting room was filled with Kara’s family and his own.
He was wrapped in his mother’s arms, followed by his father’s. Only then did he allow himself to lose it.
He felt even more arms wrap around them and heard others crying around him.
While they waited, speculation ran wild. Aiden was in constant contact as they hunted for the same blue truck that had sprayed them with dirt and rocks.
“It’s got to be Thomas Carson’s goons. I just can’t figure out why they’d go after Kara,” someone said.
“He came to the barn and talked to Kara a few months back. He said he was a lawyer and had an offer on our property,” Robin said. “Then he stopped by and talked to me a few times.” Her eyes moved to his. “I told him we weren’t going to sell. He seemed to grow more agitated each time he stopped by. He kept claiming to be a lawyer and when I told him I knew who he was, he dropped the facade and offered me double what we paid for the property.”
“What did you say to him?” someone asked.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Aiden asked at the same time.
Robin avoided Aiden’s question and instead answered the other.
“I told him that there was no amount of money that would make us sell,” she said softly. “My god, do you think he did this to force me to sell?”
No one answered her until his uncle Todd jumped in. “That wouldn’t make sense. The man is an egomaniac and a narcissist. I doubt he’s a murderer.”
“Still, it’s worth looking into. If you see him around again, call me directly,” Aiden said to Robin.
“Trust me, after this, I’m not going to let that man step foot on my property again,” Robin replied.
What seemed like days later, a small dark-haired doctor walked out looking for them. He jumped up when he noticed her walking towards them.
“How is she?” several people asked as they all rushed the doctor.
The woman raised her hands. “She’s resting,” she said with a smile and looked around. “Where is the family?”
“Here.” Kara’s parents waved their hands. Robin was by their side as his family surrounded them.
The doctor turned to them. “Is it alright to share the update with the Jordan clan?”
Kara’s parents nodded. “Yes, they’re family,” Alice said quickly.
“Kara was very lucky. The first bullet just grazed her temple, here.” The doctor held up her hand to the spot on her temple that matched where he’d tried to stop the bleeding on Kara earlier. “This wound caused some bleeding even though it’s only a mild abrasion. Head wounds tend to bleed more.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve just come out of surgery for the penetrating gunshot wound on her arm. We’ve removed the bullet and stopped the bleeding. There appears to be some slight muscle damage. We won’t know the full extent until after she wakes up. She should be able to make a full recovery after some physical therapy. But for now, she’s in stable condition. They’ll move her to her own room once she’s out of recovery.”
“Can we see her?” Alice asked.
“Not right now. Once they move her, she can have two visitors at a time.”
His mind kept going over the fact that she was okay. That Kara was going to make it. That he’d be able to see her again. To hold her in his arms, to tell her that he loved her. Soon. He wanted to see her now.
“Doctor.” He stepped forward after everyone started to go sit down again. “Is there any chance I could go back and see her now?”
The doctor ran her eyes over him. “Conner, you know what—”
“Please,” he asked, his voice cracking slightly.
He’d known Doctor Karen Logan most of his life. Hell, the woman had not only set more than one of his broken bones, she’d been there for most of his childhood ailments, just as much as his uncle Aaron had been.
“You’re involved with Kara?” she asked, her dark eyes running over him.
“I love her,” he said clearly, which caused the doctor to smile.
“In that case.” She glanced over to Kara’s parents. “Is it okay if I take him back for just a moment?”
“Yes.” Eric stepped forward with his arm still wrapped around his wife and daughter. Then he turned towards him. “Tell her we’re here and we’ll see her soon,” Kara’s father said to him.
He nodded before following the doctor through the double doors.
He didn’t know what he had been expecting, but seeing Kara hooked up to so many machines with tubes coming out of her nose, her mouth, and her arms, he almost broke down again.
She wasn’t as pale as she’d been lying in the snow, and her hair was pushed away from her face as if someone had combed it aside. The blood that had covered her face had been washed away and a large white bandage covered most of her forehead.
Her left arm was wrapped tight and held up by a contraption above her body.
“Try not to disturb anything,” the doctor told him. “I’ll give you a few moments alone.” She turned to talk to a nurse across the room.
He moved closer and ran his eyes over Kara. He knew she was in a drug-induced sleep and probably couldn’t hear him, but he knelt beside her bed and took her right hand in his.
“I shouldn’t have let you talk me out of buying you a car,” he said softly. Then he leaned down and placed a soft kiss over her lips. “I love you. Come back to me.” He felt a tear slip from his eyes. “I promise that I will spend the rest of my life making sure you are happy and giving you everything you could ever ask for.”
He heard a sigh and knew that the doctor and nurse standing behind him had listened in.
“I love you,” he said again before placing another soft kiss on Kara’s lips.
Chapter Twenty-Five
When Kara finally opened her eyes, she was so confused as to what had happened and where she was that it took almost half an hour for everything to register. Even then, she found it hard to focus and remember the details that her family had given her.
From the moment she opened her eyes, Conner was by her side. Even though he didn’t say much to her, he was there, holding her hand. Of course, they hadn’t been left alone since the moment she’d fought to get out of the drug-induced haze.
She didn’t know what time it was or even if it was daytime or nighttime. The windows in her hospital room were covered and dark.
Every time she thought to ask, she would lose her train of thought. She fell back asleep to the sound of the machines working beside her and her family talking in hushed tones.
The next time she woke, the room was completely quiet and dark. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn’t just imagining the darkness. Seeing a few flashing lights and the bright exit sign over the door, she relaxed back and thought of falling asleep again when she heard someone shuffle beside her and glanced over to see Conner stretched out in a chair, his arms crossed over his chest. His head was at an angle, resting on the corner of the chair as if he’d fallen asleep in the oddest position possible.
She could tell instantly that it couldn’t be comfortable.
“Conner?” she said after she’d cleared her throat. It felt raw, as if she’d been to a concert the night before and had screamed and sang until her vocal cords were abused.
He sprung up and rushed to her side.
“Are you hurting?” he asked her, taking her right hand in his.
She hadn’t thought about it. Honestly, she’d been numb until he’d asked the question. After quickly assessing her entire body, she shook her head and winced.
“No,” she said, mentally kicking herself for moving fast. “I’m okay. You shouldn’t be sleeping there.” She glanced over to the chair he’d been sitting in.
“I drew the short straw and got to stay with you tonight,” he joked as he leaned on the edge of her bed.
“You can go home, get some rest,” she offered.
His smile slipped. “I’m not leaving your side. Don’t ask me to,” he added softly. Then he lifted her right hand up to his lips. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired and hungry.”
“I can see about getting you something to eat?” he offered.
“That would be okay,” she said with a sigh. “What time is it?”
He pulled out his phone and glanced at it. “It’s a quarter to one.”
She blinked a few times. “In the morning?”
“Yes. Do you remember what happened?”
She thought back to what her family had told her the last time she’d been awake.
“I was shot,” she said, still having a difficult time letting that sink in. “Do we know who?”
“Not yet. There is a statewide manhunt for the blue truck. Suzie’s new cameras at the store caught the truck’s plates. It is registered to a Kurt Collins. The man has several outstanding warrants.”
She ran the name over in her head, trying to remember if she’d heard it before.
“Robin has assured us that you don’t know any Kurt Collins,” he said, as if reading her mind.
She relaxed slightly. “Now what?” She felt her head growing groggy again.
He leaned closer and placed a kiss on her lips. “Now, you get better and I take you home. Then, the first day you feel up to it, we go car shopping.”
She smiled. “Sounds good so far.”
He kissed her again. “Then we take that new car, drive into the city, and buy an engagement ring, the kind of ring you’ve always dreamed of.” He kissed her slowly. “And when we’re done with that, we plan our dream wedding.”
She was smiling at this point. “And after that?”
He chuckled. “Well, then you’ll be Mrs. Kara…”
“Marie,” she supplied her middle name.
He nodded with a grin. “Mrs. Kara Marie Jordan. We’ll move into our dream home.” He kissed her again. “And have…” He frowned. “How many kids do you want?”
She thought about it. “Three.”
He tilted his head slightly. “I can deal with three.” He nodded. “Just as long as you like just as many dogs.”
She laughed and then winced. “I love dogs.”
“Okay, then we get started on our family. And live happily ever after.”
“Oh?” She shifted slightly, this time realizing it hadn’t hurt as much.
“Of course, this fantasy world is all contingent on you getting better,” he warned. “We can’t start our perfect life until you get some rest.”
“And food,” she reminded him.
“Right.” He leaned over and hit the button on the side of the bed. When the nurse’s voice came over the speaker, he asked for something to eat for her. “There. With food on the way, is there anything else I can do for you?”
She smiled and let out a relaxed sigh. “Tell me that you love me.”
His smile grew. “I do,” he said. “I love you.” He kissed her again.
“I love you,” she replied. “I want to have the happy life you’ve described. I want it all.”
It took an entire week before she was finally released from the hospital. The days dragged on.
She was sore and didn’t like to move her arm much. Her head didn’t hurt as bad as her arm did and, within a few days, she’d removed the large bandage, which blocked some of her vision, and replaced it with a smaller bandage.
Conner had tried to entertain her by reading to her or watching movies with her. He had barely left her side. He’d only left her to go into work twice and had taken the rest of the days off.
Her family visited her as often as they could, even though she knew they were in the middle of moving into the rental home in Pride.
Robin kept her filled in on their work and had said that Emma Auston, a recent high school graduate, had filled in for her while she was out. Robin had hinted that they could afford to keep the girl on even after Kara returned to work.
She had also been visited by every member of the Jordan clan. Each family had brought her flowers or gifts, wishing her a speedy recover.
Her mother, it was determined, would be her physical therapist once she was released from the hospital. She hadn’t moved her left arm a lot since waking up.
Her mother kept trying to get her to move her fingers and each time she’d asked her to do something, she was easily able to obey.
As they drove home in the new snow, Conner filled her in on the progress of their new home.
“They’re pouring the foundation as soon as the snow stops,” he told her. “The framing should only take a day or two.”
“That fast?” she asked, resting her head back. It had been almost a full week since she’d been outside in such bright lights, and her head was beginning to ache. She was also so exhausted from taking her first shower and getting dressed all by herself that she thought she could sleep for days.
“Yeah, framing is the fastest part. I thought we’d swing by there and have a look tomorrow.”
“That would be nice.” She stifled a yawn.
“You need to rest,” he warned.
He set her gently on the sofa, and she felt relieved to be home. To be there, with him, knowing that they had so much to do in their future.
“We have enough frozen meals to last us two months. I think everyone in Pride delivered something for us to eat.” He sat down beside her. “So, we won’t have to worry about cooking.” He wrapped his arm around her. “We even have half a dozen pies in the freezer,” he added with a smile.
“That sounds… wonderful.” She thought about the prospects of not needing to cook for a while.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Tired.” She rested her head on his chest. “And relieved to be home.”
“There is one more thing I forgot to mention.” He chuckled when she groaned.
“I think I’m done with surprises.” She sighed and rested back.
“This one is a good one. I’ll be right back.” He got up and disappeared into the bedroom.
She tucked her legs up on the sofa and pulled the blanket over herself while she watched the snow falling outside.
She had just closed her eyes and felt herself drifting off when something cold touched her face.
Jumping slightly, she opened her eyes and laughed when a small black puppy licked her face.
Conner was holding the little thing over her, laughing.
“His name is Ralph,” he said with a grin.
“That is a terrible name.” She laughed and took the small thing from him, careful to only use her right arm since her left one was tucked against her body in a cast. The puppy nibbled on her chin, making her laugh.
“Carrie and Josh claims it’s because he has a knack for barfing up everything he eats.” Conner laughed and sat beside her, getting the puppy’s attention.
“How about you leave the naming to me?” She looked into the puppy’s dark eyes. The little thing wiggled out of her hold and moved over to Conner. She watched the two play for a moment. When Conner stood up and moved over to put one of the meals someone from town had cooked for them into the oven, the little dog followed him around as if eager to see what he was doing and where he was going.
