Ignoring the same desire for oblivion that was calling to her again, she focused her mind; now was not about her, now was about Betsy. Now wasn’t the time to dwell on her own hurt, but instead to be there for the woman who’d done so much for her. Now was the time to get her priorities right. And her priority right now was Betsy.
She was heading back to Granville. Heading back to be by the side of the woman who meant so much to her. Heading back to be the person that she should have been all along.
* * *
Rubbing the back of his neck, Mitchell stretched before rubbing his eyes as well. He’d finally fallen asleep in the most uncomfortable chair he’d ever had the displeasure of sitting in. It was a testament to how tired he was that he’d even managed to drift off while sitting in the thing, but ever since he’d found Betsy collapsed at the diner he hadn’t been able to sit still.
She’d sent him out to deliver some food to the Yates family, and when he’d returned he’d found her in a crumpled heap in the kitchen. The sight had frozen him momentarily until his brain had kicked in and told him to do something. So he’d dialed 911 and checked over the woman. Finding her without a pulse, he’d promptly set to work administering CPR until the paramedics had arrived.
He’d then locked up her premises, dashed out after the speeding ambulance, and followed the woman to the hospital in Jacksonburg. Giving over her details and the circumstances of the incident, he’d then been sequestered in a waiting room to wait for news.
His first thought had been to call Kendra, and he’d almost done it, but had thought better of having such devastating news coming from him and had instead called Howard. The man had refused his calls, so Mitchell had then turned to the rest of the phone numbers on his phone and alerted the rest of Granville to the situation.
Almost everybody in town had made an appearance or called him during the course of the night to find out what was occurring. He hadn’t been able to give them any information until hours later when he’d finally found something out himself. Betsy had had a massive heart attack, apparently her heart wasn’t in a good condition and they’d had to operate to repair some damage to it.
The doctors and surgeons were concerned, however. Betsy was older, and by all appearances her heart hadn’t been great for some time. Apparently Mitchell had saved her life by administering the CPR that he had when he had, but that really didn’t give much comfort to anybody. The fact was that Betsy still hadn’t been out of the woods. They had to wait and see, they’d said. Had to monitor her progress. Had to see how she’d progress over the coming hours, days, and even weeks.
Her diet would have to change, her activities would have to change, her whole lifestyle would have to change, and Mitchell couldn’t help but wonder if that would ever occur. Betsy was stubborn, and she’d take some convincing to slow down and look after herself for a change.
That had been the last thing that he’d heard. They’d told him that they’d let him know if they had any more news, but Mitchell hadn’t been able to leave. They’d told him to go home, but he’d stayed. Stayed to wait for more information. Stayed to make sure that nothing happened when he left. The last time he’d left Betsy he’d come back to find her in the predicament in the first place, there was no way that he was going home and leaving her now.
So he’d paced through the night, and fretted and worried straight through until morning. When it had been late enough for him to think a phone call would be acceptable he’d tried calling Howard Powers again. He’d been warned off, repeatedly ignored, until he’d managed to persuade the staff to let him use one of the hospital phones as well as one of the nurses to get the man onto the phone.
When Howard had eventually answered the call, Mitchell had taken over and explained that Betsy was in a bad way in the hospital and that Kendra needed to know. Howard’s initial anger that had been ignited at the sound of Mitchell’s voice had immediately drained away at the news, and the man had instead been genuinely concerned and interested in the woman’s prognosis.
After Mitchell had updated the man on the situation as it stood, he’d then retreated to the waiting room, to wait for more news about the woman, which is when he must have finally drifted off. Though looking at his watch, he knew that he’d only had maybe an hour or two tops.
Standing to remove the kinks from his back, Mitchell decided to try to track down somebody in case there was more information about the woman, and headed directly to the nurses’ station. Seeing him approach, he saw the soft and understanding smile on the woman’s face there and smiled back ruefully. They all knew that he’d been waiting for news, for the all-clear to come through, and they were compassionate to him and what he was feeling.
“She’s still unconscious, Mr Astley,” the woman said, and Mitchell nodded in acknowledgement of her words.
“No other news yet?” he asked hopefully.
“Her vitals are looking good. It’s just a waiting game for the moment I’m afraid,” she added, and he smiled before thanking her and heading back to the same room again, settling down once more to wait for more news. As much as he didn’t want anything to happen to Betsy because of how much he cared about the woman, he was even more worried about what this would do to Kendra. If something happened to Betsy, how would she cope? What would she do? How would she feel?
As much as Mitchell was worried about the older woman, his first priority and the main reason for wanting her to get better was for the woman he loved. Kendra wouldn’t cope, wouldn’t be able to deal with the loss of the woman who she treated like a surrogate grandmother. Betsy needed to make it through, not for Betsy, but for Kendra.
Chapter Twenty-four
“Mr Astley?” a voice said, and Mitchell looked up to see a doctor standing to the side. He’d been lost in his own thoughts and worry, and as such had been oblivious to his surroundings. The sight of the woman had him rising to his feet abruptly and focusing back on everything around him.
“Has something happened?” he asked worriedly and relaxed when he saw her smile at him gently.
“She’s awake,” the doctor said. “Still weak, mind you, she’s got a bit of recuperation time ahead of her yet, but she is awake.”
“Oh thank goodness,” he said on a sigh of relief. “That’s good news, isn’t it?” he asked.
“It’s very good news,” the doctor agreed with a nod of her head. “She’s awake and conscious, and well enough to understand everything that has happened. She’s a tough one, isn’t she?” she asked with a twitch of a smile, and Mitchell smiled widely at that understatement.
“You have no idea,” he replied. “Can I see her?” he asked more solemnly and watched as the doctor nodded before turning to leave the room, obviously expecting Mitchell to follow in her wake.
“Just for a few minutes. But yes, you can see her.”
“Thank you,” he said with heartfelt emotion as he followed the woman down the corridor to the room that they were monitoring Betsy in. As the door was pushed open for him Mitchell stepped through and took in the sight in front of him.
Betsy looked so frail. So frail and small, and Mitchell was taken by surprise at the sudden change that had occurred to her. When he’d found her collapsed on the floor of the diner she’d seemed small, but he’d been so focused on tending to her that he hadn’t really dwelt on the picture that she’d made. Now though she seemed so much worse than what he could recall her looking like the day before.
Slowly moving over to her, Mitchell cast a quick glance at all of the surrounding equipment and couldn’t help but find himself welling up at the fact that the woman had been so close to no longer being here with them. So close.
“If you cry, I’ll tell Walter and he won’t ever let you hear the end of it,” Betsy’s voice said unexpectedly, and weakly, and Mitchell couldn’t help but chuckle at that.
“Surely you wouldn’t do that to me. Not when he’s only just stopped referring to me as ‘city boy’,” he teased back, and Betsy smiled in
return.
“You’d best not chance it,” she warned, and Mitchell found himself relaxing at the sparkle in her eyes as she spoke. Her body and face might look frail at the moment, but Betsy’s core strength still remained. He could see it in her eyes.
“How are you feeling, Bets?” he asked more seriously and saw her shrug.
“Can’t say I feel on top of the world, but considering everything, I’m not too bad,” she said, and Mitchell smiled.
“Does anything get you down?”
“Not if I can help it,” she returned with a smile before she focused on him more intently. “You look worse than I feel, I think.”
“Thanks, Bets,” he chuckled as he ran a self-conscious hand through his hair.
“Have you been here all night? They said that someone had waited around.”
“I couldn’t leave you alone, and especially without knowing that you’d be alright,” he confessed and watched as she smiled softly at his admission. The smile had him shifting uncomfortably and looking away, but it was the truth.
“You are a good man, Mitchell. You really are,” she replied seriously herself before reaching over to grab ahold of his arm in a remarkably firm grip considering her current state of health.
“Everyone’s been asking about you,” he informed her, wanting to get away from the topic of conversation about his status as a person.
“Nosy old goats,” she teased amiably, and Mitchell smiled at that.
“They care.”
“I know. They’ll miss my cooking,” she sighed, and he laughed at that.
“I’m not sure they’ll take to mine,” he murmured in jest, and Betsy laughed, earning him a glance of disapproval from the doctor who was still in the room with them.
“I don’t think you should even try,” she said finally then sighed deeply and closed her eyes, obviously exhausted from her exertion.
“Don’t worry,” he consoled with a pat on her arm. “I won’t do anything to send your business under while you’re recovering,” he assured. When he noticed the doctor looking over his way again he nodded at her look and focused back on Betsy. “Look, Bets, they’re kicking me out now, but I won’t go far.”
“You’d better. Next time I wake up I want to see a much handsomer man than you’re portraying right now. Give me a reason to open my eyes, will you?” she taunted, and Mitchell smiled in return.
“Alright. But I’m here for you, Bets,” he reassured as he stood, leaning over to give the woman a quick peck on her cheek.
“I can understand why Kenny fell for you, Mitchell,” she said as she settled down. “With lips like those,” she added with a twinkle in her eye, and Mitchell shook his head before he headed out of the woman’s room.
Laughing to himself as he made his way down the corridor, he found himself coming to a stop as he walked into somebody.
“Whoa!” he said automatically and put out his hands to prevent the smaller form from falling. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see …,” he started then drifted off when he took in the figure he currently had a hold of.
Emotion slammed into him like a truck and left Mitchell speechless as he stared down into the face of the woman he loved. Stuck in the moment he just stood there, feeling that same spark arcing between them, taking her in, and finding himself at a complete loss of what to do next.
Kendra stared up at the man who was currently gripping her arms and ignored the fact that his grip was intensifying the longer they stood there staring at each other. Along with the tightened grip though was that same tingling and shock that always passed through her when he touched her.
What the heck was Nick doing here? Why was he at the hospital, coming from the direction that the woman at the nurses’ station said Betsy’s room was? What the heck was going on?
As much as she was finding herself pondering all of those questions, she was also finding herself distracted by the emotions that were being stirred up inside of her. The man she loved was currently in front of her, currently had a hold of her, and she was finding herself having to resist the urge to throw herself into his arms.
In fact, she’d just started to feel her resolve to not lean on him crumbling when her dad’s voice snapped her out of her trance, and reminded her exactly why leaning on the man in front of her was a bloody horrendous idea.
“Astley,” Howard greeted stiffly, and the use of the man’s real name had Kendra pulling away from him abruptly, breaking his grip and making him focus on the other man instead of her.
Hugging herself tightly, Kendra listened to the men’s exchange while keeping her face averted from the both of them. She didn’t need to look at Mitchell, she didn’t need to find herself softening in the face of him. She needed to remember that she was angry at him, that he’d lied to and used her, that she didn’t trust him, that he’d never really cared about her. What she needed to do was focus on why she was even here in the first place, and that was because of Betsy, because she was ill, because she’d nearly died.
“Howard,” Mitchell returned, and Kendra could feel the tension surging between them all. “You made good time,” he tried, and Kendra looked up at the pair questioningly, wondering what that meant. How would Mitchell even know that they were on their way?
“Benefit of having your own jet on standby,” her father stated, and Kendra glanced quickly at Mitchell and those sparkling blue eyes of his before looking away again. Though her mind did register that the sparkle that she’d come to associate with the man didn’t seem to be there like before. She was just about to glance back to analyze them further when the sound of her father clearing his throat awkwardly snapped her resolve back into place.
“Is there any news?” her dad asked, and Kendra kept an ear on the conversation without looking over at the man there.
“I’ve just been in with her. She’s sleeping.”
“The operation was a success?”
“It was. She’s still weak, but with time she should be fine,” Mitchell continued, and Kendra hugged herself more tightly at the thought of her friend. She was almost desperate to ask how Mitchell knew everything about it all, and what the bloody hell he was even doing here, but she was too busy trying to keep herself sane, and ignoring the impulses and desires that she had, to say anything.
“She was awake though?” her dad asked, and Kendra glanced up to see Mitchell nodding at him.
“She was. Conscious, lucid, even alert enough to tease and joke,” Mitchell added with a soft smile, and Kendra found her brow furrowing at the comment. What the bloody hell was going on here? Why would Betsy be joking with and teasing Mitchell?
“That’s good then,” her dad said, and Kendra looked away again when Mitchell chanced a quick glance at her.
“It is. She’ll be glad that you’re here.”
“Thank you for letting us know,” her dad said gruffly, and Kendra shot a startled look up at the man. Mitchell had called him? She’d known that somebody had contacted her dad but they hadn’t told her who. How could it have been Mitchell?
“How did you find out?” she couldn’t help but ask and saw the man turn his face towards her.
He studied her briefly before answering, but his answer confused her even more. “I found her,” he said sadly, and Kendra could see the pain in his eyes as he obviously thought back on it.
“It was lucky that you did,” her dad said awkwardly before they all lapsed into silence again. As they started to shuffle in place Kendra attempted to figure everything out in her mind but only succeeded in adding extra questions to the growing list there.
“Well,” Mitchell finally said after clearing his throat, and Kendra looked up to see that he was just as unsure and uncomfortable as she felt. “I promised Betsy that I’d tidy up before she saw me again,” he said with a brief flash of a smile, and Kendra found herself confused again. “And I also promised that I’d update everyone in Granville once I knew more,” he added, and Kendra looked at him in bewilderment once more.
; “We won’t keep you,” her dad said stiffly, and Mitchell just nodded before heading off. He got about three steps past them when he stopped and turned in place to look back at Kendra, and she just stood there, finding her breathing coming rapidly under the snare of that azure gaze of his as she hugged herself more tightly.
“It’s good to see you again, Kendra,” he said softly, and Kendra’s breath caught at his words. Shooting a brief glance her father’s way, he added, “Betsy’s missed you, a lot. She’ll be ecstatic to see you here.”
With that he turned and walked away again, but not before she noticed him talking to the nurses at their station. Kendra followed his progress until he was out of her sight, then slowly turned back to find her dad studying her closely.
“Are you alright?” he asked in concern, and she nodded while swallowing hard. “I guess we should go sit down if Elizabeth is resting,” he added, and Kendra nodded again before following him back to a waiting room that they’d passed.
“What did he mean?” she asked when they’d finally settled themselves into the chairs there.
“Sorry?” her dad asked as he looked at her, and Kendra studied him while repeating herself.
“Ni– Mitchell. What did he mean?”
“About what?”
“About finding Betsy. I don’t understand what he was doing there in the first place. What did he mean about telling everyone? What’s going on, Dad?” she asked in confusion and watched as he looked at her assessingly before exhaling heavily and leaning back in his chair with resignation.
“Where do you want me to start?”
“Why’d he call you?” she asked.
“He wanted to let you know.”
Masks and Lies Page 23
