“Relax,” Jase chuckled. “She isn’t going anywhere. I bet she’s home right now keeping the bed warm for you.”
I began pacing by the cruiser that waited for me to finish up at the scene. Jase was going to take me back to the station then give me a ride home.
“It’s not like that,” I growled. “She’s not like that.”
“Riiiight,” Jase smirked. “You’ve been eyeing her since you got back to town. I know how it is with you when you set your sights on someone.”
“All set boys. You can go now,” the lead officer motioned for us to head back, and I shivered as I fought the cold. How had a day that started out so nice, turn so brutal so fast?
When we’d left this morning, I would have never thought that it would be snowing tonight. I guess I should have looked at the weather forecast better. I climbed in the cruiser, and smiled at Jase. “Let’s get back to the station before my balls fall off from frostbite.”
“No problem,” he laughed. “What the hell were you doing out with only a fleece on today anyway?”
“I spent the day with Sam and my kid.” I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes on a sigh. “I’m tired, cold, and my feet are frozen… can we go now?”
“Touchy, touchy,” he teased as he pulled out onto the road.
We drove at a fairly quick pace, considering the weather, but I was worried about my girls. Sam wasn’t used to this shit weather dumped on us all of a sudden. I was berating myself for even letting her drive in it. I should have known better than to let her go, but seeing my daughter in the backseat begging to go home had caused my lack of good judgment.
“Fuccck another one?” Jase’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. “Why the fuck can’t the people that don’t know how to drive in this stuff stay home?”
My head snapped up as realization began to sink in, “Shit!”
“Dude? What?” Jase turned on the lights and pulled over.
I shoved my door open before we even came to a complete stop. It couldn’t be her. It couldn’t, but as I ran up to the side of car, I couldn’t deny it. Sam’s car lay crumpled against the front end of a pickup truck. “No,” I looked around at the wreckage.
“Come on,” Jase tried to hold me back. “Take the car, I’ll ride with someone else. They’re at the hospital already. Chicago Memorial,” he shoved the keys into my palm. “Go!” he turned me toward the car and then headed over to help the other officers on the scene.
Why the fuck hadn’t I made her wait? This was all my fault. I kept chanting it over and over as I pulled out into traffic with the sirens on. The woman I loved was hurt along with my daughter who now might never know me. How the hell was I going to fix this?
Chapter 15
Devlin
When I reached the hospital, I pulled the cruiser into the fire lane, left the lights flashing, and rushed into the emergency room. A nurse was standing behind a desk looking more than annoyed at some guy who was hounding her.
“Sir, you need to have a seat or I’m going to have to call security,” she pointed at a section of plastic chairs off to the side.
“I need answers now!” He pounded his fist on the counter and glowered at her.
“Sir…” she jumped back and her eyes flashed.
“You need to listen to her,” I pointed at the nurse as I pulled my badge from my back pocket. “Go sit down!” I commanded as I pointed at the same set of chairs. I heard him grumble something under his breath, and if my brain wasn’t spinning so fast, I might have pursued him. As it was, all I could think about was finding Sam and Mara. “Excuse me,” I watched the young nurse. “I’m looking for two people that were brought in here tonight. A woman and a little girl? Samantha Connolly?”
“Let me check,” the nurse smiled a thankful smile at me for dealing with her problem of the night and she clicked a few buttons on her computer screen. “Yes, Samantha Connolly is up in surgery right now, and Mara Ford is waiting on consent for treatment. You can go right down that hall and take two rights. She’s in the third room.”
“Thank you,” I mumbled still in shock. I’d never asked Sam what name she’d given Mara. I never thought she’d give her mine. We hadn’t discussed it, but apparently, she’d named our daughter after me.
“Officer?” the nurse called after me. “What do you need with Miss Ford?”
“I’m her father,” I choked out. “I can give consent.”
“You’re Andrew Sommers?” the nurse’s forehead crinkled in question.
My feet immediately stopped moving, and I almost tripped as I reached out and grabbed the wall. I slowly turned around, and I’m sure my face showed the panic I was feeling on the inside. “No, I’m her father,” I stammered.
“The emergency contact information that was in Ms. Connolly’s wallet listed a Mr. Andrew Sommers as the contact. We’ve called him, sir. He’s on his way here from Las Vegas. I believe the last we heard he was on a plane and would get in around midnight.”
“He’s not her father,” I uttered the words with as much force as I could. My baby was in there with some type of injury that needed treatment, and that guy who hadn’t been here for them was gonna have a say in how she was treated.
“He’s the one on the card. Do you have any proof that she’s yours?” the nurse tried again, and I began walking in the direction of where she’d told me Mara was.
“No,” I whispered as I sped up in search of her. When I reached her door, I slowly pushed it open. She was lying in the middle of a bed and covered in a pink blanket. The TV was on, but turned down very low and the lights were dim. Mara’s eyes were closed, and I could see her chest rising and falling softly as she slept. A young woman was sitting in the corner dozing in a chair.
“They gave her something for the pain,” she murmured when she looked up and saw me.
“What’s wrong with her?” I approached the bed and noticed a bandage on her forehead.
“She’s got a nice cut up there. I think a plastic surgeon is going to take a look at it in the morning. They want to make sure she doesn’t get a scar on her face. She’s got a broken arm, but it needs a pin inserted into the elbow. It’s a spiral fracture, and it won’t heal right without the pin. The doctors have to do surgery for that. They need consent. Who are you?”
She stood at this point and moved beside the bed. “I’m her father,” I whispered as I watched her sleep. “Why are you here?”
“I’m the hospital’s social worker. They called me to stay with her until someone came since she is so young. I was the one on call today,” she reached up and clasped my shoulder. “They told me her father wasn’t going to be in until much later.”
“Andrew Sommers is not her father. He raised her, but he’s not related to her,” I growled with a mix of fear, sadness, and frustration. I couldn’t believe that Sam had put him down as a contact. She’d been back here for over six months now. Why wouldn’t she have added me?
“I’m gonna go now, unless you can’t stay,” the social worker peered up at me and smiled softly.
“Thank you,” I nodded, “for staying with her.”
“It’s no problem,” she said as she stepped out into the hall.
After the door closed softly, I dragged the chair she’d been sitting in over beside the bed. I sank down into it and reached for Mara’s hand. After closing my hand around it softly, I let it all go. The fear that had taken up residence in me when I’d seen the car, the feeling that settled inside me when the nurse had told me Andy was coming, and all the worries that I’d been holding onto ever since I found out about her. She looked so fragile lying there, and as her father, I knew it was my job to protect her, no matter what. “I’m here now,” I whispered as I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. ‘I’m never gonna let anything happen to you ever again. I’ll always protect you Mara. It’s my job.”
She stirred slightly causing me to pause in my confession, but soon settled back into sleep. “I love you.” The tears I
’d been fighting finally broke loose and began to trickle down my cheeks. I’d never been one to show my feelings. I’d learned a long time ago how to hide them. In my line of work, you couldn’t feel. You had to lock things inside and find another way to let them out. I’d started out trying to hold it in, but later found that going to the gun range seemed to help. Recently, though, I’d been staying with Sam. Whenever I was around her things seemed to be easier. Life didn’t hold as many doubts or letdowns, things were brighter, and seemed to be heading in a direction that was promising a future.
I wiped at my eyes as my shoulders slumped from exhaustion. It had been a tiring night, and the fear of what the morning held when Andy showed up was slowly taking its toll on me. I shifted in the chair and dropped my head to the bed. As my eyes drifted shut, I relaxed against the bed with my fingers still entwined with my daughter’s. As bad as the circumstances were, I was finally getting to hold her. This was the closest I’d been since we met, and now that I knew what it felt like, I was never going to let go.
ooooooooo
As morning began to creep around me, I could hear hushed whispers. I couldn’t make out exactly who was talking, but the ever-present giggle of my little girl was there in the mix. I could feel her leg moving under the covers where my head rested, and a quiet voice off in the distance. I didn’t want to wake up, knowing where we were and who was going to be there today. The happiness in Mara’s voice made the events of the night before seem distant. I wanted it to stay that way. I smiled with my eyes still closed as I released a yawn and rubbed at my eyes.
“He’s waking up!” Her voice grew louder causing me to open my eyes.
What I saw in front of me sent my heart thundering in my chest, and the muscles there to squeeze tightly in a panic. There sitting perched on the bed right beside my daughter was the one person I had hoped to never meet.
“Hey!” she grinned. “Mr. Dev this is my Daddy,” she pointed at him and smiled so big her face might spilt in two.
I glanced from her, up at him. He was tall and lean and looked like he might be a runner. His blonde hair was slightly shaggy, and his clothes were rumpled. The tie around his neck had been pulled loose, and part of his shirt untucked. He seemed older, and not anything like I expected.
“Nice to meet you,” I held my hand out for him to shake as I reached across the bed. My voice held a warning that I’m sure he picked up on. His back had straightened, and his eyes watched me as if he was waiting for me to accuse him of something.
“I’m so glad you came,” Mara looked up at him. “I knew you would. Mommy said we weren’t going to see you anymore.” Unbeknownst to her, she shoved that dagger that was in my chest just a little deeper every time she smiled at him and referred to him as her father.
“I’ll always come when you need me,” he ruffled her hair before moving to lean against the wall. By that time, a nurse had come in and pushed a syringe into Mara’s IV.
“This will help relax her while we prep her for surgery to set the break and insert the pin. You’re welcome to go grab some breakfast during the procedure. It’s going to take a little while. Then we’ll be moving her upstairs to share a room with her mother,” the nurse was pulling the side rails up at this point and motioning for help from more of the staff. As Mara was wheeled out of the room, I glared and the man that was threatening my family.
“I need to talk to you,” I scowled as I pointed at him. He nodded as he followed me out of the room. We paused in the waiting area, and I pointed at the door, “You can go now.”
“I’m not leaving until Samantha asks me to,” he crossed his arms over his chest.
“I’m Mara’s father, not you!” I pointed at my chest as I felt it tighten.
“Biologically,” he sneered. “I raised her. I was the one who held her when she was born. I went to all of Samantha’s appointments. I got up at night when she cried. I took care of her when she was sick, bandaged scraped knees, held her hand on the first day of pre-school… me! Not you!” He pounded his fist against his chest. “You may have donated the sperm, but you are not her father.”
I could feel the anger simmering just below the surface. I was fighting very hard against every instinct I had. My brain was warring between taking this douche outside and pounding his face in or calming the fuck down and being there for my daughter. The fact that she’d introduced him to me as her ‘daddy’ had almost made me tell her who I was right there. I knew that Sam wanted to be the one to tell her, though and I couldn’t take that away from her. I couldn’t take what was already a scary event and turn it into something she wouldn’t understand.
“You may have been there, but I didn’t miss those by choice,” I growled. “I didn’t know about her,” I began pacing the waiting room. “Sam couldn’t tell me,” I huffed under my breath. “I tried…” I swallowed as my eyes squeezed shut. “I tried to find her. I loved her, I still do,” I darted my eyes in his direction and I’m sure he could see the pain that was spread across my face. “Did she tell you? Do you know what happened with us? Did she tell you how much she loved me? Wanted me? Begged me to come with her?” I moved and stood in front of him. “I bet all those nights her body was in your bed, her heart and mind were in mine,” I nodded as I swallowed. “I bet she secretly wished that you were me, every time your hands touched her, she felt me. Every time she snuggled up to you, she was with me. Every time she looked at that little girl in there, she saw me. I know this because that little girl,” I pointed in the direction that they had rolled Mara. “She looks just like me!”
He stood there stunned as his face grew redder and redder, “You don’t know shit about Samantha and I, or Mara for that matter,” he hissed. “Not once did she mention you in the four years we were together.”
“She couldn’t, don’t you get that?” I shook my head as a self-deprecating laugh slipped out. “It was against the rules. She was protecting herself, but now…” I chuckled. “She doesn’t need to be protected anymore and she’s here with me and we don’t need you.”
“But you do,” he chuckled. “You needed me so she could get treated. You see,” he shrugged, “you’re not on the list.”
“Not for long,” I growled as I turned toward the elevators.
“Where are you going?” he chased after me.
“To see my girlfriend and sort this shit out,” I turned on him. “You will be leaving today. You won’t be coming back, and Mara is MY daughter,” I pushed the ‘close door’ button as soon as I slipped through the doors.
Sam was up on the fourth floor and should be awake by now. She’d had to have her spleen removed the night before, but everything had gone well. Now, I was going to have to drop this bomb on her. She needed to tell this character that he was not wanted or needed, and that he needed to go back to fucking Vegas.
Chapter 16
Samantha
Pain… that was all I could feel. My side had a shooting pain in it every time I tried to shift my body. I couldn’t really remember what had caused it. The night before was fuzzy at best, but pieces were slowly coming back. Lights, scraping metal, ice, crying… My eyes flew open, and I tried to sit up only to be held down by tubes and blankets. I groaned as I let my eyes adjust to the light.
“Easy,” Dev’s voice was barely a whisper.
“What happened?” I moistened my lips and blinked a few times.
“You were in an accident. You’re okay,” he brushed a few strands of hair off my forehead.
“Mara?” I began to panic.
“She’s okay, too,” he swallowed.
“Where is she?” I tried to lift my head, but the throbbing in it caused me to wince and give up.
“She broke her arm,” he sighed. “The doctors have to put a pin in the elbow. They’re working on it right now,” he lifted my hand and threaded his fingers between mine. “I need to tell you something and you need to promise me that you’re gonna listen and relax.”
I tried to nod, but my head was thr
obbing so bad that I stopped, “Okay.”
“When I got here last night,” he looked away for a minute, “they had her downstairs. The nurse said they needed consent, but you were in surgery so they got the contact info from your wallet.”
I knew what was coming next. He didn’t need to say anymore. The look on his face said it all. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it as he squeezed it. “Baby…”
“I know,” I swallowed. “He’s here, isn’t he?”
Dev slowly nodded as the door to my room opened. The figure standing there was one I hadn’t seen in months. He looked worn and tired. His clothes were a mess, and he was sporting what looked like a two-day-old beard.
“Hi,” he murmured as he shuffled in the room.
“Andy,” I whispered. “What are you doing here?”
“They called me about Mara. How are you?” He sank down in the chair that was across the room.
“I’ve been better,” I groaned as I shifted to look in his direction. “We need to talk.” I looked over at Dev, “Can you get me some water?”
His head bobbed slowly as he stood, grabbed the pitcher off the counter, and exited the room. “You need to leave,” I peered over at Andy as Dev left the room.
“What?” he gasped.
“You need to leave,” I tried again with a little more conviction in my voice.
“I’m not leaving until I know you’re ok,” he crossed his foot over his knee. “If you didn’t want me here, you wouldn’t have left me on your list of contacts. I think deep down inside you knew you’d need me.”
My eyes flashed as I watched his. Was he for real? I had totally forgotten about the emergency contact info. I hadn’t even thought about changing it. I was dating a police officer. I didn’t think I’d have to worry about this stuff now.
“We’re not together. We’re not going to be together. Nothing’s changed. I love him,” I pointed to where Dev was now standing in the doorway. “He loves me and Mara. You can leave.”
Becoming Somebody Page 11
