by M. S. Parker
Hawthorne told me, and I gave him my thanks.
“You can thank me by never trying to drag one of my people out onto the mountain with you. If you want to be involved with a search, be a volunteer.”
“I had somebody on that plane, sir,” I told him with a shake of my head. “I couldn’t just sit around. But I don’t plan on forcing my way into anything like last night any time soon.”
“Good.” Hawthorne turned to Lexi as the paramedics went to transfer her out of the basket.
I could have easily left at that point but found myself lingering for reasons I didn’t entirely understand.
“Lexi, I’ll drive your car back to your place and have Anders follow me, so he can get me back out here. It will probably be a little later in the day, but I expect you’ll be at the hospital for a while.” Hawthorne stood close to Lexi, but I could still hear them as I hovered there, waiting for what, I didn’t really know.
“Thank you,” she said.
He narrowed his eyes at her and added, “We’ll discuss your actions once you’re back on your feet, got it?”
I heard the warning in his words and eyed Lexi as she swallowed, then offered a nod. “Yes, sir.”
She was loaded into the ambulance, and I overheard the paramedic mention the name of the hospital. It was the same one they’d taken Cass to.
I was coming up on Estes Park when my phone started vibrating, letting me know I had messages. Hitting the play button on my car, I listened to them via the Bluetooth link.
Several were from Cass, two were from her mother. I deleted them after I finished listening. I sent Cass a quick message.
On my way to see you at the hospital.
Then I checked the screen to see if I’d missed any calls.
I most definitely had – like seven of them. I glanced once more at the screen then redirected my attention to the road. It had been a while since I’d been to Estes Park, but I knew where the hospital was and made my way there, mostly on autopilot, my thoughts returning to the events of the past fifteen hours.
How much had I screwed things up for Lexi?
I had no idea, and it was possible I wouldn’t ever know, but I knew I’d caused her problems, even aside from her injuries.
Shit.
I hoped that bastard Stilwell didn’t make things any worse for her. Briefly, I thought about calling the park and seeing if I could talk to Hawthorne, but I decided against it. I couldn’t tell him much more than he’d already heard, and I had no doubt he’d be talking to Lexi soon. Maybe once he realized it hadn’t been carelessness that caused her to get hurt, but the snare, it would help Lexi out.
I got to the hospital in record time and was directed to where I could find Cass.
I found her lying in a bed, her eyes closed. There was a dark bruise forming on her cheek and a small bandage at her temple. Her right arm was in a sling. Her wrist protruded in a cast.
I didn’t make a sound, but she heard me anyway, opening a pair of beautiful blue-green eyes. They filled with relief at the sight of me, and she held a hand out to me.
I went to her immediately, some of the tension I’d been carrying finally starting to fade away. Moving toward her, I caught her hand in mine and summoned up a reassuring smile. “Hey, sweetheart.”
Thirteen
Lexi
I had a minor ankle sprain and a broken wrist that was going to require surgery to set. That was just my luck. The doctor advised me that my ankle would likely heal within one to two weeks, but the recovery time for my wrist would be easier to determine after they’d set the bone.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t get me into the operating room until the next morning, which meant I had to stay overnight.
This was just my luck, and I put in a call to update Hawthorne after the nurses told me I’d be transported to my room as soon as they had one ready.
I felt like an invalid laying in the bed, and there was nothing to do to distract myself. I didn’t have any of my stuff, save for my phone, and it was rather difficult to do much with it since I only had the use of one hand.
An IV bag hung on a pole next to me, some sort of steroidal medication being fed into my body via the tube. They’d also given me some pain medication, and I could feel the heavy weight of it affecting each of my muscles. My head was spinning more than a little, so I closed my eyes.
I woke up to find myself being wheeled down a hallway. I rubbed at my tired eyes and looked around as we passed by several closed doors.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” a cheerful voice said.
I craned my head around and saw a grinning man in scrubs. He slowed the gurney to a halt outside one of the open doors. He said something, but a familiar voice caught my attention, and I looked across the hall into the other room. My heart lurched at the sight of Roman sitting on a bed with a woman. Neither of them saw me. The woman, a cute brunette, leaned against him, and he wrapped his arm around her as he told her he’d take care of it – whatever it was.
I averted my eyes as the uniformed hospital worker started to turn the gurney and ease me into the room right across the hall from where I’d seen Roman.
Great. Just great.
I wondered who the woman was, although it wasn’t likely I’d ever ask.
For all I knew, I wouldn’t see Roman again after this. Ever.
The thought caused my heart to pang.
The effects of the painkillers were still clouding my mind, and not long after I’d been transferred out of the gurney and into the bed, I fell asleep.
I came awake at the sound of a knock on the door.
At first, I could only make out a fuzzy shape, and I rubbed at my eyes in an attempt to clear them. It had to be the medication.
“Hey, Alex! How are you feeling?”
This time when I looked at the visitor, I could see him much more clearly. Why in the hell did I have to wake up?
Stilwell approached me and leaned over the bed, looking me over. “You look rough,” he said in a tone that oozed false sympathy.
“Gee, and here I was thinking I was about ready to win a beauty pageant,” I said sarcastically. My filter was pretty much disengaged at that point, but I didn’t know if it was because of the medication, the pain, or just my general exhaustion.
Stilwell’s brows shot up. “Ouch.”
I stared at him, and I had no doubt my eyes conveyed my displeasure at seeing him there.
He smoothed a hand down the front of his shirt and said, “I need to get a report from the people involved in the plane crash, but I wanted to come by and say hi while I was here.”
I bared my teeth at him in a sharp smile. “How considerate of you.”
“Have you talked to your new buddy any since you got here?”
“My new buddy?”
“Aw, come on. Don’t tell me you forgot his name already. Roman, right?” He tugged something from his breast pocket and displayed it for me. “They make a cute couple, don’t they?”
I stared at the picture, hard, not quite believing what I was seeing.
It was Roman…and the woman he’d been sitting with when I’d seen him earlier. They both looked young and happy as they smiled at each other. She all but glowed, which I guess was fitting since she was wearing a wedding dress.
A wedding dress.
The son of a bitch was married.
I didn’t let my reaction show, just shifted my gaze back up to Stilwell’s face. “Maybe he’s your buddy, seeing as how you’ve got a picture of him.”
“Oh, no. I found this back at the cabin,” he said easily. “When I was locking everything down, I caught sight of it on the floor, all but hidden under the bed. I guess he dropped it. I was hoping to return it to him.”
“How kind of you.” I closed my eyes and averted my face. “I’m tired now, Stilwell. Why don’t you get to work on collecting your reports?”
He lingered a moment longer, but then I heard the soles of his clunky uniform shoes striking the floor as
he left the room.
I couldn’t even be relieved that he was gone, though.
I was too busy thinking about that picture.
Roman and the nameless woman, smiling on their wedding day.
Men really, really sucked.
I was once again awoken by a knock on the door. The pain meds must have been wearing off because I was starting to hurt again – and I was forced to squint for the next thirty seconds as I waited for my vision to clear.
A tall man with graying hair and glasses came in, clad in scrubs. He had an engaging grin on his face as he came to a stop by my bed. “Sorry to wake you, Ms. Evers. I’m the orthopedic surgeon who’ll be taking care of you in the morning.”
“Hello,” I said. My mouth was incredibly dry, and I reached for the cup of water on the wheeled, over-the-bed table without thinking about my hand.
“Here,” the doctor said. “Let me get that.”
He circled around the bed and passed me the water, and as I took a sip, he brought the table around so that it was on the right side of the bed. “Thank you.”
“Of course. I’m Dr. York, by the way. I came by to see if you had any questions for me.”
I glanced at my splinted wrist, then shot him a look. “Is there any chance of permanent damage?”
“Not likely.” He shook his head, his blue eyes bright with intelligence behind the shield of his glasses. “This is a relatively simple procedure, and you’re young. We’re lucky that it’s a closed fracture. Had it been an open fracture where bone protruded through the skin, there’s always the risk of infection. Especially since you weren’t able to get in the night it happened. Once we get the bones set, the pain will go away, and you can go home after you spend a few hours in recovery.”
“Okay.” I frowned, trying to think if there was anything else I should ask.
A knock at the door interrupted my thought process.
Everything inside me chilled at the sight of Roman.
He stood there, just inside the door, eyes roaming over me, cataloging every feature, from my head to the splint on my wrist down to my legs, although they were hidden from view by the blanket. Once his gaze returned to mine, I said coolly, “Go away, Roman.”
Then I focused back on the doctor. “Once my ankle heals up, I should be able to go back to work, even with the cast, right?”
Fourteen
Roman
The cold look in Lexi’s eyes as she dismissed me stuck with me as I stood in the room across the hall. Cass was listening to the nurse as she went over discharge instructions, and I tried my best to focus on that conversation, but my mind kept returning to Lexi.
Why was she so pissed at me?
But even as I asked myself that question, I had to swallow back a humorless laugh. I’d all but dragged her out into the snow where she got hurt by a trapping snare. She was likely facing disciplinary action from her boss, and she was in the hospital.
Why wouldn’t she be pissed at me?
“…Roman?”
I jerked my head up and focused on Cass. She looked tired, but she was still a beautiful woman. I shook my head. “I’m sorry, my thoughts were wandering. I didn’t hear the question?”
Cass rolled her eyes and gave me an affectionate smile. “I was asking if you had any questions for the nurse.”
“No. I’m good.” Glancing at the nurse, I asked, “Should I go ahead and bring my truck around, so I can take her home?”
“Absolutely.” The nurse smiled at me. “One of the volunteers is already on their way with a wheelchair.”
Cass wrinkled her nose. “Can’t I just walk?”
“Sorry.” The nurse shook her head. “Hospital policy. If you don’t have any more questions, I’ll be on my way.”
“I think we’re good,” Cass said.
After the nurse left, I went to grab the folder the nurse had given Cass. “They give you anything for pain?”
“Yes. The prescription is in there.” She nodded at the folder I held. “We can get it filled on the way back to my house. I can’t drive for the next twenty-four hours because of the painkillers they’ve given me.”
“If you’re too tired, I can take you home and go back out for it.”
“No. I want it filled so that if I start hurting, I have something to take.” She offered a faint smile. “You know how much of a baby I am.”
“You were in a plane crash less than a day ago, and you’re sitting there smiling. I don’t think you qualify for baby status anymore, honey.”
I helped Cass out of the truck. I was parked in the street right in front of the house where she lived with her parents. She’d moved back in with them as their health started to decline so she could help them out.
“You sure you don’t want me coming back out here to stay the night in case you need help?” I asked as we walked to the front door.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, voice chiding. “You should go home and get some rest. You look worn out.”
The front door opened, and Cass’s mother came out, moving with more speed than normal, her cane tapping the floor as she moved across the porch. “Cass,” she said, her voice breaking.
Cass moved to her mother and caught the frail older woman in a one-armed hug. “I’m fine, Mama,” she said softly. “I’m fine.”
I stood there uncomfortably as the two women spoke, ready to get out of here and get back to my place. I had too much restless energy and the self-directed anger I’d been shoving down ever since Lexi had gotten hurt wasn’t helping.
I felt like I was going to explode.
But I kept my hands in my pockets and nodded politely at Mrs. Debion when she finally pulled back from Cass and faced me.
“Thank you so much, Roman,” she said, voice steadier now and oddly strong considering how frail she’d become over the past few years.
I followed them inside and did a walk through the house, trying to think if there was anything I should take care of before I left. Cass tried to convince me that they were all fine, but I didn’t like leaving her here with only her aging parents to help if she needed anything.
Cass had followed me into the kitchen, and she got a glass down out of the cabinet and filled it with water. She gave me a sidelong look as she sipped from it. “It’s going to be fun trying to be a leftie for the next few weeks, huh?”
“I just bet.”
She narrowed her eyes shrewdly as she took another sip. After lowering the glass, she asked, “So, are you going to tell me about it?”
“About what?” I gave her a puzzled look.
“What has you so…” she scrunched up her face, then finished, “pissy.”
“Pissy?” I echoed, slightly amused despite the ever-darkening direction of my thoughts.
“Yeah. You’ve got something going on, and it’s bothering you.”
“You were just in a plane crash that could have killed you,” I pointed out.
“Don’t remind me,” she muttered. “But that’s not what’s bothering you. I can tell.”
I had no doubt she could, but I wasn’t discussing Lexi with her.
Fifteen
Lexi
Breanna Parillo drove like a bat out of hell.
I loved almost everything about my cousin, but I hated riding in a car with her. Unfortunately, unless I called one of the rangers I worked with, she was the only one I could think of to take me home after I was discharged. I was stuck with the insane driving for another fifteen minutes, then I could try to get over the trauma inflicted by her need for speed.
I clenched my teeth as she took the next corner a good fifteen miles faster than the posted speed limit.
“I’ve already got one broken bone, Bree. I don’t need you to wreck and send me back to the hospital with even more broken bones.”
She laughed, unperturbed. “Almost there.” She shot me a look. “You look like you’re hurting again. Glad we stopped and got your painkillers.”
“I’m not hurting – I’m terri
fied,” I told her dryly.
That just made her laugh again.
The rest of the drive passed in silence, and I blew out a breath of relief as we finally pulled into the driveway of my cute little A-frame log house. I went to work on swinging my legs out while Breanna got the odd contraption I’d been given to help me walk as I couldn’t use crutches with my broken hand.
She came around the car, awkwardly fumbling with the hands-free crutch. I thought I could probably manage without the device, but the more I rested my ankle, the quicker it would heal.
Using my good hand, I gripped the side of the car and hauled myself out.
Breanna scowled. “I could have helped you.”
I shrugged. “I’ve got to figure out how to do these things by myself.”
“You’re so stubborn,” she said, shaking her head.
I hopped a few more inches from the car so I could put the crutch on. With my knee on the platform, my ankle was off the ground. I’d used a similar one at the hospital to see if I thought it would work and the physical therapist had instructed me on how to put it on and secure it. The bands went across the back of my thigh and around my lower leg, keeping the device snugly in place.
Blowing out a breath, I looked up at the house. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s do this.”
Breanna shut the door then moved to my bad side, ready to help me if I stumbled. I was scared to death I would.
But after a couple of steps, I found it easier to walk, and the tension in my shoulders eased. Of course, once my gaze landed on the steps, the nerves returned. I eyed them with trepidation. There were only two of them, but they looked a lot higher than I suspected they were.
Breanna stopped next to me and slid me a look. “You’re going to have to figure something out. I can’t carry you.”
