“Please let them be alive.”
Finding no one else in the vehicle, she focused her attention on locating Kevin. Following the trail of twisted metal and debris down the road, she found Kevin’s bike laying on its side in a drainage ditch. Further on, Scarlet saw him, facedown a few feet away from the pile of twisted metal that was once a beautiful machine, she found his totaled motorcycle. A blonde woman, hunched over his lifeless body and as Scarlet approached, she could hear her tortured pleas. “Sir, please wake up. I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you. I didn’t mean for this to happen. Oh God, please wake up!”
Frozen in fear, yet refusing to accept how awful the situation was, Scarlet forced herself to move towards the man she’d loved for so very long. The man she knew she was meant to be with and she’d sent him away! Please let him be alive. I’ll fix this. Somehow, I’ll fix this. Her feet felt like were stuck in mud, each step was slow, though steadily carrying her to his side. She knelt beside Kevin, who seemed as broken as both of their hearts were, she spoke to the woman. “Are you all right? There was blood. Are you injured?” The woman turned to face Scarlet and she experienced a moment of happiness, “You!” She threw her arms around the woman, not caring about the blood that now soaked the shoulder of her dress. “But, how?”
“I’m fine. Just a scratch. It’s him I’m worried about. I tried to call an ambulance, but I was so disoriented when I climbed out of the car, I dropped my phone into the river.” With tearful eyes, she sobbed, “Please, please just help him. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I only took my eyes off the road for a second. He came out of nowhere.”
Scarlet knew the woman was in pain and in shock, but she needed to remain calm. “It’ll be okay. Don’t worry about anything right now. Hear me?” She assessed the severity of the gash on the woman’s forehead and ripped the sleeve off of her dress, before handing it to the woman. “Press this to your wound. It seems to be superficial, but you’re losing a lot of blood. I don’t think you’ll need stitches. Just stay calm. We’ll be at the hospital soon.”
Leaning down, Scarlet pressed two fingers against Kevin’s neck just under the edge of his helmet. His pulse was slow but steady. She couldn’t see any injuries on his back and knew she couldn’t roll him over to check his front. Wasn’t that the first people were taught about accidents? Don’t move the body unless there’s a fuel leak and there’s a danger of explosion. There was a small amount of blood on the ground to his right but she was only capable of healing hearts, not bodies. Remaining as calm as possible, she knew that getting them both to the state of the art hospital at the resort was the only thing she had control over.
“Hold on, Kevin. Please hold on.” Pressing her lips to his cheek, she turned to the woman. “Grab my hand. Close your eyes and don’t question anything. Okay?” The woman, though visibly apprehensive, nodded, slipping her hand into Scarlet’s.
****
Once the doctors and nurses had examined Kevin and settled into his own room, one of the doctors pulled Scarlet aside.
“He’s lucky. He’ll be fine. After a battery of x-rays and tests, we found only one injury in need stitches. The deep cut on his hand was likely from the glass he slid through during the crash. No broken bones and luckily, he was wearing a helmet. He does have a slight concussion, however, we’re optimistic that there are no other problems. To be honest, if he hadn’t, no amount of science or magic would’ve been able to save him.”
Scarlet nodded, silently thanking the gods above for Kevin being spared. “How long will he be here?”
“We’ll be keeping him overnight for observation and to make sure he doesn’t have any complications from his concussion. He’s a very lucky man, Scarlet. I’ve seen many crashes like this and others didn’t have such a positive outcome. Someone up above saved him for a reason. If all goes well, he can be on his way the day after tomorrow.”
The day after tomorrow. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for him.” Knowing there was no time to waste, she asked “May I see him now?”
“No need to thank me. I’m happy to be part of your team. Yes, you can see him. He’s sedated, but you can sit with him.”
“And the woman who hit him? Is she all right?”
“She’ll recover. A few bumps and bruises along with the small cut on her forehead will heal. Her recovery will be more mental than physical. She’s over in her room,” he pointed towards the suite where the lady was speaking with police officers. “We’ll be keeping her overnight also. Hopefully, we can find her family to come and get her. She keeps saying there’s no one to tell. But I get the feeling she’s keeping a secret of some kind.”
“Thank God she’s okay. I’ll take care of locating her family. In fact, they’re already close to the hospital.”
“Scarlet, I must be going. If there’s nothing else…”
“No. By all means, I’ve taken up enough of your time. Thank you again.” Shaking his hand, she turned away, eager to get to Kevin’s room.
Chapter Nine
“Mom!” Maria, tears streaming down her face, blew into the hospital room, throwing her arms around Scarlet. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, sweetie. Don’t cry.”
“I was so scared. The doctors wouldn’t tell me anything and I had to threaten to bludgeon that nasty nurse at the front desk just to find out where you were.”
Scarlet held her daughter, enveloping her with calming energy. When she felt Maria relax a bit, she whispered “It’s okay.”
With a sigh, she backed out of her mother’s embrace. “But the blood. You’re covered in blood.”
“It isn’t mine. I wasn’t involved in the accident.” She nodded towards Kevin.
“Oh no! What happened?”
“He’ll heal quickly. He and I had a fight before he left.”
“About? Did you tell him?”
“I couldn’t.” She looked away, unable to meet her daughter’s questioning eyes.
“Then, what happened? Why did he leave? This was your chance. All you had to do was tell him. Tell him how much you love him and that you were sorry. How could you let this happen?”
“Maria, it isn’t that simple.”
“Bullshit,” she whispered. “It’s exactly that simple. You’ve, we’ve waited for this moment for so long. Do you know how hard it was for me to keep my mouth shut when I spoke with him? I babbled on like some moron because I was afraid I’d tell him everything. He probably thought I was an incompetent twit!”
“I meant to tell him. But when I told him why I didn’t return and why I left, he took it so very badly. He was angry and I don’t blame him one bit. He has every right to hate me. Telling him the rest would’ve been too much for him to bear.”
“Stop. Just stop. You’re not God. You can’t choose who what people can or cannot handle. The universe handed him to you on a silver platter. He was here because he was destined to be here. To be with us. I’ll never understand why you can see happiness for everyone else. Everyone but yourself.”
Scarlet found herself crying again. Her daughter was right. Mark had been right. Kevin had been right. “I’ll fix it. I promise.”
“You’d better. When he wakes, you’d better tell him everything. Or I will. He has the right to know he has a daughter. I have the right to know my own father. I love you, Mom. But so help me God, you need to see this is your last chance to get this right. Embrace this. Allow yourself, allow us to be a family. It’s our turn to be happy.”
“I promise. Now, let’s go get some coffee. We’ll talk more about this downstairs while we wait for Kevin to wake up.”
With a final glance at the man she loved, she led her daughter from the room.
****
Kevin waited until he heard the tell-tale ‘click’ of the door closing before he opened his eyes. His pent up breath came out in a huff. “Fuck. This woman will be the death of me.”
As he looked around the large room, he found himself surprised at how comfortable
his surroundings were. The king-sized bed he laid upon was an ornate, handcrafted pine, complete with a mattress fit for royalty. The rest of the room was decorated like some of the high-class, expensive mountain retreats in Aspen. If he hadn’t been awake for the crash, the x-rays, test upon test and the many needle pokes, he’d have believed he was at a five-star resort.
“Oh. I bet she owns the hospital too.”
With that realization, he found himself focused on the matter at hand. Maria was his daughter? His daughter. How could he have missed that? Surely there should’ve been some kind of sign; a connection when he’d met her. Why hadn’t he felt anything more than annoyance with the young woman? If he weren’t so sore, he’d get out of bed and kick his own ass for being so consumed with everything involving Scarlet that he’d missed the first moment to connect with his own child. Sure, Maria was far past the age of being a little girl, but now that he knew about her, he’d never be able to think of her as anything but his child. Just the thought of being a parent sent shivers down his spine. Was he even father material? Considering the way he traveled around, would he be the best role model?
“Good God, man. Get your shit together. You act like she’s a baby.”
“Knock, knock. How ya’ doin’, Kevin? I’m Dr. Thompson. I’d like to go over a few things with you and then, I’ll let you get some rest.”
Kevin nodded, wincing as the boulder that was lodged in his head, rolled with the slightest movement. After listening to Dr. Thompson, Kevin was relieved that he’d only need to stay in the hospital a short time.
“Thanks for everything, Doc. I can’t wait to get outta’ here. I have a lot of time to make up for.”
“Might I offer a bit of advice? Slow down. This accident, as freak as it was, could be seen as a sign. Considering who was involved before and after, I’d say you’re meant to be here until your situation is resolved. You’re a very lucky man. It could’ve been much worse.”
Shaking his hand, Kevin took the doctor’s words to heart. They’d sounded like something his grandfather would’ve said and there was no way he could ignore that.
“Now, get some sleep.” Opening the door to leave, he continued, “I hear there are two women in your life now and you’re gonna’ need plenty of energy to keep up with them. They’re a handful.” He gave Kevin a quick wink before shutting the door behind him.
Pushing himself up onto his elbows was a herculean effort, he knew moving would help heal him faster. Rest was great. It simply wasn’t something he enjoyed.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Even his fingernails hurt. “Maybe the good doctor was right.” He’d never been in any kind of accident before and it gave him a new appreciation for things; life, health and the ability to simply breathe without pain.
It occurred to him that he hadn’t even asked the doctor about the person who’d hit him. He’d seen her face a split second before swerving to the right. The car, also swerving to the right, clipped his bike, sending Kevin crashing to the pavement. The sleeve of his leather coat had become hung up on his brake grip. As his bike tipped sideways, it dragged him through mud and chunks of glass on the side of the road, before propelling him head first into the ditch. The last thing he’d seen before passing out had been the woman’s face, bloody and covered in tears as she’d stumbled to his side.
It wasn’t her fault. He’d taken the curve too fast; something he knew better than to do. But his mind had been a wreck. Being out on the road was a mistake and that solid, yellow on the road hadn’t been the only line he’d crossed. Kevin had not only put his own life in danger, but also an innocent woman’s. Luckily, there hadn’t been any other vehicles involved and thankfully, the woman would also recover quickly.
“I hope she can forgive me.” He stared out the large picture window and thought about all of the things in his life that had changed in less than twenty-four hours.
****
“How did you know he was your father?”
“Mom, c’mon. You’re not the only one who’s gifted. I knew from the moment he walked through the doors.” Sipping the creamy coffee, she stared back at her mother.
“Yet, you said nothing. Seems like I’m not the only one who’s been playing ‘God’. You didn’t tell me he was here until he’d requested to speak to the manager. Why didn’t you tell me the moment he’d checked in? I’d already seen him by the time you called me.”
“I didn’t say anything sooner because I didn’t want to give you the chance to hide from him. I knew you’d come up with some stupid excuse to take off. I saw him kiss you.”
“But, how?”
“You seem to forget that I’m just like you. I’ve been with you since the first night you spent with him all of those years ago. Your little escapes into the beach fantasies involve me, too. I know you go out there almost every night. Last night, I saw everything.”
“Again, you said nothing.” Scarlet tried to hide her disbelief, but she knew her daughter was right. She was ready to bolt as soon as she’d seen Kevin on that beach.
Maria presented her case like a well-trained attorney. “No, I didn’t. He was here for you. He just didn’t know it. Kevin believed he’d kissed some stranger. You needed to face reality and do the right thing on your own. Because you wanted to. When you tried to get out of it, I refused to sit by and allow you to hide. I gave Kevin the runaround and told him that Mark was too hungover to deal with him this morning. Sure, he was hungover, but Mark has been functioning like that since the day after Sydney left him. I knew he’d be fine after some coffee and aspirin. Thanks to my unique perception, I also figured Kevin wouldn’t want to deal with Mark’s attitude. So, I did what I had to do to get you downstairs to that restaurant.”
“You were quite convincing.” Though she’d been tricked, Scarlet felt herself beaming with pride over the brilliant young woman her daughter had become.
“I’ve learned from the best.” With a wink, she clinked her mug to her mother’s.
After a moment of silence between them, Scarlet whispered, “I can’t believe he didn’t know who you were.”
“I know. It was…a bit awkward. Okay, it was a lot awkward. On the inside, I was torn. Part of me was overjoyed that he’d finally come to us. The other part was terrified he’d leave never knowing or that he wouldn’t care if he did find out. My own father stood across from me and I couldn’t say a word. Seems I was right, though. He did leave.”
“I’m really sorry, sweetheart. I let all of the awful things we’d said to each other get in the way. You have no idea how badly I wanted to kiss him into silence. But I was so afraid. And then, I was pissed off. All I could think about was protecting you from his words, his anger.”
Taking a moment to clear her throat, Scarlet pulled a tissue out of her purse and dabbed at her eyes. “It’s my fault. I told him to leave. And he was almost killed because of it. He’s lying in there because of me and my selfish stupidity.”
“No. Mom, it’s not your fault. Stop shouldering the blame and guilt for everything. You know how the universe works. The accident happened because he wasn’t meant to leave yet. You know and I know it.”
She wiped at more tears, “My beautiful girl, how’d you get so smart?”
“Great genes, I guess.”
Scarlet couldn’t believe how lucky she was. To have such a wonderful daughter was an amazing gift. Maria had been the only thing that saved her all of those years ago. Sure, being a single mom had been the most difficult job she’d ever known, but Maria had always been a great kid.
“So, how’s Mark doing?”
“He’s okay. I told him Kevin had been in an accident and that I needed to get to you. I left him at the front desk. He was worried. But I told him I’d let him know as soon as I had news to share.”
“I’ll call him after we’ve seen Kevin.”
Knowing the woman who’d hit Kevin had survived the impact with tree and knowing they’d both basically walked away from the crash with only a few cuts and
bruises, Scarlet felt confident that everything would work out. It was time for all of them to be happy.
“Let’s go see your father. It’s time for both of you to spend some time together.”
Chapter Ten
The initial awkward silence fell over Kevin and Scarlet like a thick cloud. He had no idea what to say. Screaming wouldn’t solve anything. Was he angry about her keeping another secret from him? Sure, but he refused to spend another moment engulfed in any emotion that wasn’t a good one. Hours ago, he’d come close to leaving the planet without ever having a chance to be with the woman he loved. Suddenly, he’d been given another chance and a daughter.
“Thank goodness you’re okay. I’m so, so sorry, Kevin. I shouldn’t have pushed you away. Everything you said was true. I didn’t have the right to decide what was best for you. It was selfish. I was selfish and stupid. I had no idea this would happen. Sure, we both know I’m bad luck, but I never wanted you to get hurt. That’s why I thought you were better off without me. I hope you can forgive me.”
Her words came out in a rush of air and nervousness. Kevin stared into her cerulean eyes and he knew she meant every word. He could’ve stopped her, but they both needed to clear the air between them. And to be honest, he was happy to see some real emotion in her.
“Scarlet, there’s nothing to apologize for. You only did what you thought was best. I get it now. Really.”
“Please. Let me finish. There’s more.”
“Scarlet, I’m sorry too, but we can’t keep wasting time apologizing to each other over things that are no longer important. The here and now is all that matters. I already know the rest. Maria’s my daughter.” A look of shock fell over her face. “I wasn’t asleep earlier. I just didn’t know what to say and I didn’t trust myself to speak without fucking things up again. I’m sure you can appreciate how shocked I was. So I let you believe I was out of it.”
River Jewel Resort Box Set Books 1-4 BOOK BUNDLE Page 20
