“We’re guarding the escaped convict who caused the crash, but I believe she’s across the hallway,” one of the officers said. He tapped a nurse going by. “The woman from the accident, can you help her husband find her?”
The guards muttered between themselves and waddled back to the waiting room when they saw Cade being helped by the policemen.
“Mr. Reed?” a nurse said, scanning the entries on her tablet. “Your wife is being taken in for surgery.”
“Can I see her? Is it serious?” Cade’s stomach crashed to the floor along with his heart. Surgery? “How badly injured is she?”
“It’s pretty serious. Head trauma, maybe other internal injuries. Have a seat in the waiting room and as soon as the doctor who saw her is free, we’ll call you back.”
“Is she going to make it? Is she going to be okay?” Cade’s voice trembled. “Tell me she’ll be fine.”
“We’re doing all we can, Mr. Reed.”
Ugh, so they thought he was Declan. Lucky for him the nurse was neither a football fan or frequented B-movies.
“I’ll let you get on with your job. Don’t forget to ask the doctor to call me.”
Please, please, please, dear God, let her be okay.
Cade wasn’t a praying type of man, but he’d beg any deity who’d listen to help Andie. At this moment, he’d give anything to be Andie’s legal husband. His pulse galloped and his hands sweat while his head spun, and he swallowed the acrid taste of anxiety. Andie has to be okay. She has to come out of this. I can’t lose her now—not when I’ve only just found her.
Cade dragged his feet back to the waiting room and parked himself right outside the door. Andie, you have to pull through. Please, please, don’t be hurt too badly. Please, dear God. Bring her back to me. She’s everything to me, the meaning to my life. I love her so much. So, so much, and I need her.
An hour passed, and then another. Cade’s bladder was full to bursting, but he didn’t want to leave sight of the double doors in case the doctor should call for him and miss him.
His mother called around midnight. “Where are you? Rox and Joey returned. Andie’s still not home.”
“Andie’s in the hospital. She was in a car accident.”
“Oh, no. Is she okay?”
“I don’t know.” Cade rubbed his face. “They took her into surgery a while ago.”
“I don’t know what to say. I’ll pray for her. Which hospital are you in? Want me to come sit with you?”
“No, I’ll be fine. Just take care of the baby and let me know if anyone calls or you hear anything.”
“Have you called her parents?”
“Not yet. Not until I know something definite. Besides, it’s the wee hours in the morning over there.” Cade gripped his phone tightly. The last thing he wanted to do was speak to Andie’s mother, but eventually, it was his duty to let them know. “Talk to you soon.”
He hung up and snagged a nurse walking by. “Is there any update on Andie Wales, the woman brought in from the car accident?”
“I’m sorry, you’ll have to inquire at the front desk. We have many people suffering from car accidents every day.” The nurse walked away.
Cade was forced to get in line again in front of the irate receptionist who’d denied him entrance before.
“Miss, I need to know whether Andie Wales has come out of surgery. May I speak to her doctor?”
The blotchy faced woman shrugged and shook her head. “Do you want me to call security? You’re not family. Sorry.”
“Her family’s in New York, and I’m their representative.”
“Yeah, and I play football for the LA Flash,” the woman said, then peeked around him. “Next?”
Every blood vessel in his body felt like bursting. No one at the county hospital seemed to give a damn. He’d get Andie transferred to Celebrity Highland as soon as she was able to move.
Cade blocked the next person in line with his large body and leaned over the counter. “I want to speak to your supervisor. Miss Wales’s parents need to know how she’s doing, and you’re not helping.”
“I don’t have time for this.” The receptionist signaled to the two guards who approached, brandishing their stun guns.
“I don’t have time for this runaround.” Cade turned toward the guards. “I need to know what’s going on with my wife. You’re going to help me or what?”
“Except, she’s not your wife,” a voice jeered from behind the guards. “She’s mine.”
Declan Reed. Son-of-a-bitch.
“How is she? Do you know?” Cade addressed Declan, unable to keep from pleading. “Can you take me in there to see her?”
“You? You’re the reason she got hurt.” Declan puffed his chest and lifted his chin. “You, moron, you texted her right before the crash.”
“How? I … didn’t know. Tell me, is she okay? Take me back there to see Andie, or else …”
“Or else what? She’s in a freaking coma, dude, and you’re the last person I’m allowing to see her.” Declan turned toward the exit, flanked by the guards.
“You little rat.” Cade ran after him. “You let me in there. She needs me. I have to be there for her when she wakes up.”
“Good luck, I have to go back to sleep.” Declan yawned as he stepped out the automatic door. “Hospitals give me the creeps.”
Cade grabbed Declan by his suit jacket and wheeled him around. “You are taking me to her room right now.”
“What part of ‘get lost’ do you not get?” Declan said in a clipped faux-British accent. “Let go of me.”
“No, please, take me to see Andie.” He would beg if he had to. Andie was too important. “Please, Mr. Reed. She’s everything to me.”
“Guards!” Declan yelled. “Get this maniac away from me.”
White lights exploded in a shockwave of pain, and Cade lost control of every muscle. His arms and legs jerked out from under him, seizing with incredible pain and agony as millions of volts of electricity pierced his heart. He hit the ground, hard, unable to break his fall, but he wasn’t a wuss. No way. He squeezed his eyes and gritted his teeth, swallowing the scream deep into his gut.
Rough hands clamped his wrists in handcuffs, and a boot shoved his face to the ground.
“Loser. You threw away the Super Bowl, and now you’ve put my wife in a coma.” Declan’s voice hissed above him. “They ought to lock you up and throw away the key.”
Chapter Three
Andie’s mouth was dry. Always dry. She trudged through land barren and devoid of greenery. The ground under her sandals was cracked bone dry, and her eyes itched as if filled with sand.
She was in the company of travelers walking along a dusty dirt road. The men appeared to be warriors, wearing leather armor and carrying swords over their flowing robes. A large man with a dark brown beard had his hands tied together and was being led by a mule. Was he a prisoner?
If so, then what was she? And why was she on this dirt road following a group of actors who looked like they’d stepped out of a Bible movie?
“Can’t you walk any faster?” The guard in front of her growled.
“Are you speaking to me?” Andie narrowed her eyes. “Where are we going? And why are we walking?”
“I told you to put the daughter of Saul on the mule,” a second soldier said. “What will our boss say when we deliver her in this condition?”
“She can’t be trusted.” The first soldier jerked a thumb at the man following the mule. “She might try to free her husband and make a run for it.”
Oh, they were horrible actors, talking in front of her as if she didn’t understand. Andie slid her eyes to the side, trying to locate the cameras and the director.
Instead, all she saw for miles around was desert and mountains. No façade used for a movie set, no cameras, soundmen, and definitely no guy with a click board.
Okay, if she were in a movie, she’d know her lines, right? Since the camera was rolling, she had to play along. Obviously, she
was playing the daughter of Saul, or Michal, David’s wife.
She lifted her chin and put on a snooty look. “How is it that King David’s wife has to walk? I demand you place me on a camel for the rest of the journey.”
“Sorry, but you’re not his wife until you return to Jerusalem,” the second soldier said. “You see that man tied to the mule? He’s your husband, Phalti.”
“Phaltiel,” the first soldier said. “He got a promotion for keeping David’s wife.”
“Promotion, my big toe,” the second soldier said. “I say he took some for himself. We ought to execute him now. Why are we taking him to Jerusalem?”
“Because the princess said so.” The first soldier slapped the second one. “Come on, we need to speed up. General Abner will have our heads if we don’t get this crew to Bahurim by sundown.”
“Wait, wait.” Andie crossed her arms. “If I’m the princess, then I’m giving the orders. I want to speak to that man you claim is my husband.”
The two dweebs stared at her, slack jawed. They glanced toward the mule who’d stopped at the side of the road to graze. The man tied to the mule slumped his head between his shoulders and rested by leaning against the mule’s flank.
“You were the one who wanted him to come along,” the first soldier said. “You said you two were inseparable.”
The second soldier drew his finger across his neck. “’Til death do you part. That’s what you said, and since King David wants you back, it isn’t you who’s dying.”
“You’re going to kill him? Because of me?” Andie’s heart clenched, and she marched toward the big man. Whoever he was, he didn’t deserve to die on her account. “I say you set him free right now. Far be it for me to have blood on my hands. Free him and let him leave.”
“As you command,” the first soldier said, looking at her as if she’d gone crazy.
They cut the large man’s hands loose from the mule and shoved him onto the road. “Lie here. If you value your life, don’t get up until you can’t see us anymore.”
The man they called Phalti slumped to the ground, his face down. “Please sirs. Let me travel with my wife. Let me see that she makes it to Jerusalem safely. Let me know in my heart that she will be loved and cared for. I care not for my life, because without her, I have no life.”
“Fool. Idiot.” The first soldier kicked the man’s head.
“We let you go and you refuse?” the second soldier jeered. “I say we kill him now.”
“No. Don’t kill him,” Andie said, stepping between them. She dropped to the ground and shielded the man with her body.
He lifted his head and stared at her. His face was sunburnt, and his lips were cracked and bleeding. His brown beard was flecked with twigs and dried blood, and he had a huge bruise on the side of his head.
“Who are you?” she whispered. “If you don’t leave, they will kill you.”
“Don’t you know me?” The man’s clear blue eyes filled with tears. “I’m the one who loves you. Don’t go back to him. Believe that we can be together and we will.”
Whoa, wait. This guy was going off script. If he was Phalti and she was Michal, and they were on the road to Bahurim, then she knew exactly what was going to happen.
“We can’t be together, Phalti. The king has ordered me back to his palace. He needs me, the daughter of Saul, to consolidate his power. His general, Abner, will meet us at Bahurim and send you back.”
“Yes, and I will cry a trail of tears unless you change the script and fly away with me. Do it now. Click your heels three times and say to yourself, ‘There’s no love like Cade. There’s no love like Cade. There’s no love like Cade.’”
Cade? There was no person in the Bible by that name. Maybe he meant Caleb. But Caleb was Joshua’s friend, one of the twelve spies sent by Moses, many centuries ago.
“Have you forgotten your lines?” she whispered to the big man. Despite his scruffy appearance, his bloodshot eyes, and the sweat mingled with dirt on his face, he was one hunk of a man—probably chosen for his heartthrob appearance rather than his acting ability. “You’re supposed to be Phalti, son of Laish.”
“No, I’m your husband.” The man grabbed ahold of Andie’s hands and drew her close to him. Strangely enough, the guards had disappeared. So had the mule.
The man transformed from ancient garb to wearing jeans and a football jersey. He was clean shaven with short brown hair, and his eyes were the most beautiful blue—as turquoise as the calm sea.
“I should know you,” Andie exclaimed, her heart filling with warmth. “You seem familiar.”
“I am, love.” He kissed both of her hands over her knuckles. “I will always follow you, no matter where you go. I will cry a river of tears for you, only, don’t go back to Jerusalem. Don’t go back to David. You won’t be happy there.”
“I’ve read Michal’s Window. I already know. He’ll imprison me in his tower. He’ll punish me and isolate me. I will have no children to call my own, but I’ll still love him. I’ll always love him because the Bible tells me so. The Bible says Michal loved David.”
The man leaned forward until his forehead rested on hers. “The Bible tells but doesn’t show. Read behind the lines, Andie. Your father taught you well. It’s not what was said, but what was done. The man who walked at your side weeping is your husband. David never measured up to him. Deep in your heart, you know it’s true.”
“Who are you?” Andie reached for him, fighting to keep the sand from slipping through her fingers, as the man’s body disintegrated.
Soon, he was gone, and she was surrounded by dunes of fine, powdery sand. Alone. Lost in a vast wilderness. A sense of loss and dread invaded her veins. He was important. Could he be someone she loved?
Her heart pounded as thick blood pushed through her temples. There’s no love like Cade. There’s no love like Cade. There’s no love like Cade.
Chapter Four
Several days later.
Cade held the door for Andie’s mother, Pam, as they stepped into the plush lobby of Celebrity Highland Hospital. Despite Declan insisting he was Andie’s husband and the hospital following his wishes on her treatment plan, he’d allowed Cade to pay for moving Andie to the private hospital—in exchange for not pressing charges against Cade for assault. Seriously, all he’d done was pull Declan’s jacket whereas Declan had him stun-gunned not once, but twice by the two security goons.
None of that mattered when Andie was still in a medically induced coma to reduce trauma to her brain after emergency surgery. Now that he was escorting Pam, he would get a chance to see her for himself.
“I’m so scared to see her,” Pam said. “Thank you for bringing me. Is it really true she’s married to that wanker, Declan Reed?”
“Apparently. They eloped two years ago, and the divorce she thought she’d signed never got filed.” Cade hated the lump in his throat at the thought of his Andie not only still married to said wanker, but acting on screen with him, too.
“I can’t believe it. Andie’s never hidden things from me. I thought we were close.” Pam wrung her hands, transferring her purse from one arm to the other. “Have you been in to see her?”
“Not yet. Declan won’t allow me in. I’m hoping you’ll grant me permission to go in with you.”
Andie’s mom cleared her throat and blinked, looking like she’d swallowed a spider. “I’m not happy with some of her choices, but you seem to care about her. Right now, I could use having a friend who cares about her, but I’m torn. Very, very torn. You must understand how hard it is for me to meet you at the airport, knowing how you’ve led my daughter astray.”
Cade lowered his eyes and stared at his feet. “I take full responsibility for the accident and everything that happened beforehand. I do want you to know that I love Andie and would never do anything to hurt her.”
“I believe you, but from where I’m standing, it doesn’t look good. You have a newborn baby with another woman, and you’re a celebrity. My daughter
’s not used to bright lights and big cities. She’s a naïve girl who has her nose in history books. The kind of attention you get as a celebrity, especially in Hollywood, would eat her alive. You know what I’m referring to.”
“Yes, ma’am, I do, and I’m deeply sorry.” Cade pressed the elevator button. How could it be that his first meeting with Andie’s mother be under these conditions? He was already fighting an uphill battle. What happens if she wakes up and her mother convinces her he wasn’t good enough for her? His chest tightened and he held the ache inside.
“Which may all be moot if she doesn’t ever wake up.” Her mother’s voice was choked. “What if we’ve lost her?”
He couldn’t fathom it. It would crush him, but he had to be strong for Andie’s mother. Here she was, all alone, with her husband an invalid, facing the worst fear that a mother could face.
Cade put his hand over her shoulder and guided her into the open elevator. “We can’t think that. Right now, nothing’s certain. We have to keep praying.”
“I am praying, but I’m afraid.” Pam trembled. “The Lord doesn’t always grant what we desire. His Will may not be obvious to us. Andie was living in sin right before the accident. What if He’s punishing her?”
“Then he’s unfair,” Cade all but growled. “I should be the one taken. Not Andie.”
“Oh, but you are not a believer, are you? The Lord chastens His own children for their own good.” Andie’s mother dabbed at her eyes. “She was always so good, at least on the surface. How could she have kept her marriage from us?”
“She thought she had a divorce.” The words tasted like bitter coffee grounds under Cade’s tongue. Of course, it didn’t make it any easier for him either, but then, he had no claim on Andie, especially not before he’d even met her.
“Makes me wonder what else I don’t know.” Andie’s mother sighed as they stepped off the elevator and headed for the Intensive Care Unit.
Cade’s heartbeat sped up as the nurse led them to Andie’s room. This would be the first time he’d see her in over a week. His precious Andie. What would she look like, and how could he stand seeing her devoid of that spark of life—lying so still in a bed?
Intercepted by Love: Part Four: A Football Romance (Playing the Field Book 4) Page 2
