I closed my eyes and stood beside the ambulance for a few moments.
“Once we get her to the LZ—landing zone—and loaded, we’ll come back for the mother.”
I wanted to say, “Fuck the mother” but managed to hold my tongue.
Instead, I got up into the ambulance, sat down on the bench next to the medic, and bowed my head over Alex’s body.
Then I prayed.
I prayed that she’d be okay.
I prayed that she wouldn’t have any lasting damage due to this wreck.
I also made a promise to God that I’d make more of an effort to get to know this little girl.
“Ready, Freddy?”
The medic nodded at his partner, and she shut the doors before rounding the ambulance, hopping in the front seat, and driving off.
I looked out the window to see Travis watching, tears coursing down his cheeks, as we sped away toward the LZ.
I held his gaze until I couldn’t see him any longer.
***
Travis
I wanted to rewind to yesterday when I last saw Alex, and take her. I wanted to bring her to my house, tell her that she was never leaving again, and that would be the end of it.
But life didn’t work like that.
Allegra really had been drinking with my daughter in her care, and then she’d driven.
She had then gotten into a wreck by driving off the side of the road and hitting a parked car.
She’d done a lot of things wrong in this situation. She’d drank with my child under her protection. She’d gotten into the car when she had no business doing so. She hadn’t restrained or made sure that Alex had restrained herself. She hadn’t seen the parked car due to her inebriated state. Then, she’d wrecked and my daughter had been thrown free of the car.
No father wanted to hear that his kid was hurt.
No father especially didn’t want to get a call that not only had she been hurt, but the mother—the woman that you thought you could trust to take care of your baby—had been irresponsible.
“Travis, what are you doing here?”
I tore my eyes away from the retreating ambulance, and turned dead eyes on the woman that was supposed to take care of our baby when I wasn’t there to do it.
“Do you know what happened, Allegra?”
I didn’t care that she was bleeding from her head, a constant torrent of blood filtering through her hair and down her hairline to curl around her chin.
“I…we got in a wreck.” She sounded confused.
That, and she also smelled like a brewery.
“Yes, you did,” I confirmed, somehow keeping myself calm. “When did you start drinking?”
I’d half-assed listened to one of the cops trying to get Allegra to talk, but with the state she was in, they didn’t know how to handle her.
They were terse with her. Too abrupt, and they didn’t sound like they were caring about her state of being, but somebody else’s.
I gave her my complete attention, and was acting like she hadn’t done anything wrong, when in actuality she’d done a whole lot more than that.
“I didn’t,” she lied, seeing the trap. “What are you talking about?”
My gaze moved to the officer. “What’s her alcohol level?”
“Point two one,” he answered. “Almost triple the legal limit.”
I turned my attention back to Allegra. “Your daddy won’t get you out of this one.”
She pursed up her lips and tried to stand, but the officer refused to let her do that.
“Move again and I’ll cuff you.”
“You can’t cuff me!” she declared loudly.
I wanted to yell at her. Scream that she’d fucked up so royally that she’d never see her child again—if our child made it.
However, I held my composure, and looked away. It was one of the hardest things I’d ever done.
I wanted to yell. I wanted to scream. I wanted to tell her she was the worst parent in the world.
The sound of a helicopter brought my attention away from the woman looking like I’d hurt her feelings, and I gazed up to see the Life Flight helicopter coming closer and closer to the ground.
It circled at one point about a half mile away, and slowly started to descend.
I watched, even when it disappeared into the trees.
“Come on, brother.” Baylor was suddenly at my side. “They’re taking Alex to Children’s an hour and a half away.”
An hour and a half.
That was going to be the longest drive in the history of drives.
I started to walk to the car, but stopped when something white caught my eye.
A bear.
Alex’s bear.
The one I’d bought her years ago that she took everywhere with her. The one thing that had given me hope that maybe she didn’t hate me as much as she said she did.
“Travis?”
That was Michael.
He’d fallen in step beside me, but when I stopped, he did, too.
“One second,” I said, jogging over to the patch of grass where the bear lay haphazardly.
The moment I had it in my hand, I jogged back to the truck where Baylor was already waiting and slid inside.
Luckily, we were in my actual truck, which had a backseat.
That way, Michael was able to go, too.
Thankfully, Nikki had stayed with the kids.
“Let’s go,” I ordered. “I want to be there in less than an hour.”
Baylor opened his mouth to protest, but Michael beat him to it.
“We’ll get there at a respectable time, but if you want to speed, I have a feeling they wouldn’t ticket you.”
I laughed humorlessly.
“Don’t think this day could get any worse.”
How wrong I was.
Chapter 16
Sometimes I question my sanity, but the voices in my head tell me I’m fine.
-Coffee Cup
Hannah
Riding in the helicopter wasn’t anywhere near as bad as I thought it’d be. In all actuality, had the circumstances been different, I would’ve definitely gotten a lot more out of it—enjoyed it even.
However, I hadn’t enjoyed it even a little bit.
Not with Alex moaning every time the helicopter jolted.
She nearly slept through the whole flight, and probably would have the entire flight, but the man in the front seat who was controlling the big bird we were in had a very deep voice like her father’s.
Hearing that, Alex had opened her eyes and said, “Daddy?”
My stomach felt like it was tied in knots.
“Just me for now, honey bun.” I leaned forward and smiled when Alex’s eyes met mine. “You in any pain?”
She shook her head.
That was good. The moment we’d gotten in here, the paramedic and registered nurse, a man in his late twenties or early thirties, had assessed that she needed more meds to make this flight as comfortable as possible.
Wanting her not to be in any pain, I didn’t say a word as I watched the man administer the meds, and then monitor her vitals.
Nobody spoke, and I found that I was okay with that. I had a lot of shit swirling around in my brain, and I wanted time to unravel it before we got to the hospital and I had to put the mask back on—the one that reflected cool, calm, and collected.
But staring into Travis’ little girl’s eyes, the eyes that looked so much like her father, I found it hard to do anything.
“No. Where am I?”
I sat back and pointed to the window. “We’re in a helicopter. You were in an accident.”
Her brows raised. “Really?”
Her voice was faint, but I could hear what was being said. Barely.
“Yeah, sweetheart. Really.” I grinned, even though the smile didn’t meet my eyes. “Have you ever broken your arm before?”
She shook her head—
or tried to—and shot me a startled look when she realized that she couldn’t.
“That’s a little thing that goes around your neck to keep you from moving it. They want to make sure your neck and head don’t have any damage that they can’t see. If you move, and you do have something wrong, it could take you longer to heal. And we want you up and running as fast as possible. You have field day coming up!”
The girl smiled, and my heart ripped wide open.
“Will you come to my field day?”
I’d quit my job to make sure that I could make it if I had to.
“Yeah, honey.” I smiled. “I think I can do that. Do you want me to bring you lunch?”
She nodded. “But don’t forget to bring Reggie something.”
I felt tears clog my throat, happy to hear that she didn’t want me to forget my daughter.
Progress, if even a little, was a huge stride for us.
“I can do that. We can have a lunch date. Do you like turkey or peanut butter and jelly?”
I knew what she liked, but I wanted to keep her talking. We were very close to the hospital, and I knew they’d want to make sure she was awake and responsive.
“Turkey with white cheese and mustard,” she declared.
I grinned. “Your daddy likes the same kinds of sandwiches.”
“I like mustard and turkey, too.”
I looked up at the pilot, smiling slightly when he entered the conversation.
I wasn’t sure how he heard us with all of the noise, but the flight nurse next to me pointed to his microphone that was on his helmet.
I nodded in understanding.
“Who is that?”
Alex tried to look up, but she couldn’t look much further than a few inches above her due to the way she was being held down.
“That’s Cleo, my brother.” The man at my side said to the little girl. “He’s got a few kiddos just like you. He’s flying really fast, though. He’ll beat your daddy to where we’re going, but I’m sure he won’t be that far behind.”
Gratitude coursed through me.
I beamed at him. He looked similar to the pilot, but that was a fleeting thought as Alex caught my attention once again.
“Are TJ and Reggie with you?”
I turned back to the little girl in front of me, and smoothed a few stray hairs out of her face very gently. “No, baby. They’re at home with my brother’s wife. You remember her, right?”
She nodded. “Your brother’s colorful.”
I grinned. “Michael is that. He likes his tattoos. Do you like tattoos?”
She smiled. “Daddy has some.”
I knew that, too. The one she was most likely thinking of, though, was a single letter on the inside curve of his pectoral, right next to his ribcage. It was the letter A, for Alex.
“Yes, your daddy has some,” I confirmed. “Alex,” I hesitated. “Do you remember what happened?”
Alex licked the side of her mouth and tasted the blood that was drying on one of the lacerations that marred those cute little puckered lips. “Mommy was mad.”
I heard the man at my side growl.
Then the entire helicopter shook.
I gasped and turned, seeing what looked like a bolt of lightning shoot straight down from the sky.
I was in awe.
I’d never, not once in my life, felt like I could reach out and touch a bolt of lightning, but apparently, there was a first for everything.
Alex gasped beside me, and the pilot cursed a blue streak.
Then the almighty thunder started to shake the world around us.
“Goddammit.”
I bit my lip and looked back down at Alex. “Did you know that Santa will be here in a little less than seven months?”
Her eyes lit.
Then dimmed.
“What, baby?”
“I’ll be with my mommy.”
That would be true, normally.
However, Allegra had made a very large mistake today by driving with her daughter while she was drunk.
It hadn’t escaped me, hearing those words and whispers of those around the accident scene. And the words that the county coroner had spoken to me…well, I’d never forget those. Not ever.
Alex would be with us this Christmas. I didn’t care if I had to hire a fucking hitman to take her out. Allegra was through. She. Was. Through.
Not only would Travis make sure that Allegra never saw Alex again, but she was going to learn what a protective mama bear should be like.
Chapter 17
Keep rolling your eyes, maybe you’ll find your brain back there.
-T-shirt
Travis
“You’re a fucking madman.”
I didn’t bother to wait to hear the rest of the argument that my brother and Michael were having.
For once I was happy that my brother, who’d taken defensive driving fifteen times, and lost his license twice, was a fast driver with a lead foot. It got us to the hospital in forty-nine minutes instead of the usual hour and fifteen.
My boots pounded the white tiled floor as I bolted for the reception desk I could see just inside the doors.
In our haste to leave the house earlier, not one of us had taken our phones with us, so there was no way for me to get into contact with Hannah to make sure everything was all right.
Though, I had a feeling that it was bad, but not that bad.
Alex was lucky.
At least that was what I kept telling myself the entire drive to the hospital.
“No running!”
I didn’t listen to the old woman behind the desk as I ran up to her.
“My daughter…”
She lifted a single finger. It was obvious that she was used to being obeyed.
I didn’t obey anyone, however. I was always a rebel, and right now, I was a rebel who wanted to know how his fucking daughter was…forty-nine minutes ago.
“Young man, you’re going to have to go back and walk.”
Surely, she was joking.
I was not a child. I was a fucking concerned parent.
“Alex Hail. She’s eight. Came here by Life Flight likely about half an hour ago. She was in a car…”
“Young man.”
“I’ve got this,” came a terse reply. “Sir, my name is Tru. Your daughter came in a little over twenty-five minutes ago. They’ve taken her to CAT scan to assess any damage that was dealt to her by her expulsion from the car. She’s on the second floor right now. Your wife is with her, in the room. I can take you to where the room is, but you won’t be able to enter until they’re finished with the tests, okay?”
I nodded mutely.
She led the way, not saying another word.
We took the stairs, thank God, and arrived at the closed door that said, “CAUTION RADIATION” on it.
“Here’s where you’ll stand. They’ll come out in about five to ten minutes. Please, don’t get in their way. I don’t want to get into trouble with my supervisor for leaving you here, okay?”
I nodded.
She patted me on the shoulder. “I’ll just be down here if you need anything. Her room number is room twenty twenty-three. Very back corner, last door on your right, at the end of this hall, okay?”
I looked where she was pointing, and nodded. “Yeah, Got it.”
She nodded and left, leaving me to lean against the white wall and look down at the white tiled floor.
There were a lot of things that I’d thought about when my eyes opened today.
One of those thoughts was that I wished Alex were there to see Michael, Nikki, and their kids. They’d seemed to hit it off the last time they were around—even if Michael and I hadn’t.
The second thought was that I hoped that Michael didn’t kill me for what I’d put Hannah through.
He hadn’t done it yet, but I knew the threat was always there.
The third was that I wished Hann
ah, Alex, Reggie, and our son got along better than they did.
I wanted my entire family together when we were having a family dinner. Everyone was there but Alex, and the bad feeling had continued to grow all damn day long.
I wondered if it was a sense of foreboding. A sense of unease that was crawling down my throat and making my stomach buzz with nerves.
For the next five minutes, I tried to think of anything but murdering my ex-wife, and didn’t succeed. I was working on the perfect plan that involved shoving her into traffic when the door opened, and Hannah came out.
“Travis!”
I hugged her to me close, and buried my face into her neck.
“How is she?”
She patted me on the back just as a little voice said, “Daddy?”
I dropped Hannah to her feet, let her go, and moved around her to rush to my little girl’s side.
She was bruised, no longer had the thing on her neck to keep her immobile, and had her arm wrapped to her chest so she couldn’t move it.
Most of the blood was gone, wiped away likely by Hannah, and she was staring at me with wide, fearful eyes.
“Hey, baby.”
She smiled a wobbly smile, and threw her arm up at me.
I took the hint and leaned down, pressing my face against the pillow next to her head.
She wrapped that tiny arm around me, and it felt like she tightened a fist around my heart.
***
Four hours later, I walked out of my daughter’s room, my jaw stiff.
I just spent the last hour holding her down while the nurses started an IV on her. I also held her still while the nurses wrapped her arm in plaster, plain ol’ white because they were out of all the pretty colors.
I listened to her cry and tell the ‘nice policeman’ about what happened with her mom. It wasn’t very clear. From a child’s point of view, who was intimidated by all the people in the room, she wasn’t very informative.
She did happen to say that her mother ‘drank a lot at a party while she sat in an empty room and watched TV.’
That hadn’t been the worst part, though.
Allegra had called me, asking how Alex was.
Apparently, she’d sobered up, and now she was concerned.
Go to Hail (The Hail Raisers Book 2) Page 12
