“Since when?”
“Since just after you guys called the cops on her at Sara’s house. I don’t think it would have mattered if it was you or Bren or me or Olivia. Angel purposely went after someone Sara cares about.” She faced Terry with a determined expression. “And that’s why we’re not going to leave her alone for a single second until Angel is in jail. I’m going home as soon as Bren’s out of surgery. I’ll get some sleep and trade places with Olivia so she can do the same. One of us is going to bring fresh clothes and toiletries for Sara. There’s no sense in trying to get her to leave.”
“Good. She needs you guys right now.”
“She needs you, too,” Grace said. “I think it’d be a great idea if you sat with her for a while. I’d like a few moments alone with Olivia.”
Terry hesitated. Would Sara want her to do that? It was so up and down with them right now. But that’s what a friend would do, right? Go sit with her. Be there for her. Right?
“I’ll do that.”
“Good.” Grace gave her a one-armed hug. “Olivia, can I see you for a minute please?”
Liv and Grace shared some unspoken communication as Liv rose to join them. She nodded at Terry and said, “Go. She needs you,” then left the room with Grace.
Terry settled next to Sara. “How you holding up?”
“I’m not.” Sara’s shoulders slumped. She leaned forward and rested her arms on her knees. “It’s all my fault. I should have kept my mouth shut and never told Angel I was seeing someone. Maybe she wouldn’t have gone looking for her.”
“She was stalking you, Sara. None of this is your fault. How could it be? You can’t control that crazy bitch. No more than you can control the weather.” Terry covered Sara’s hand with hers. “Please don’t waste your energy on her. Think about Bren and keep good thoughts that she’s going to be okay. She’s young and healthy and pretty soon a doctor is going to come in here and tell us she’s fine.”
“It’s hard not to beat myself up.”
“I get it.” Terry put her arm around Sara and pulled her close so Sara’s head rested on her shoulder. “You’re a beautiful person, Sara.”
“Why do you think she did it? Was she getting back at me?”
“Angel’s the only one who knows that, honey. And I doubt you’ll ever hear the truth of it.” She gently lifted Sara’s face so they were looking at each other. The hurt in Sara’s eyes cut Terry like a knife. “Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. She did a horrible thing, and right now we have to be here for Bren and her family. Angel we can deal with later. With any luck, she’ll be in jail soon.”
“I hope so. You think I should tell my mom it’s okay to come here? She’s called twice, but I told her there were dozens of people in and out already.”
“Sure,” Terry said. “She wants to be here for you. Everyone needs their mother sometimes. Want me to call her for you?” She placed a soft kiss on Sara’s temple.
“You don’t have to, and you don’t have to stay here.” Sara’s eyes pleaded with her to stay, and Terry happily got the message.
“I’m exactly where I want to be.” Terry kissed her head again. “Tell you what, you call your mom and I’ll get you a plate of food. I haven’t seen you touch any of it, and you have to eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” Sara said, her voice so small it reminded Terry of Felicia when she was cranky.
“It wasn’t a request.” Terry got up. “Call your mom. I’ll be back with food in a minute.”
“Thanks.” Sara’s eyes filled with tears as she met Terry’s gaze. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.”
****
Liv handed Sara her third cup of coffee and pointed to the couch, such as it was. “Last one and then you sleep. You can’t keep using caffeine to stay awake.”
“I can.” Sara stubbornly stepped away from the couch. Bren now rested in an ICU room, and her exhausted friends moved to the family area located a floor above the surgery wing. The doctor spoke to Sara briefly. They’d removed Bren’s spleen and stopped the internal bleeding. At the moment, she was in a medically induced coma. Her left wrist was broken, and both bones of her lower left leg were shattered. She’d need surgery on the leg, but the doctors wanted to wait for the brain swelling to go down. Sara barely comprehended it all and didn’t want to consider Bren might not wake up.
Liv’s eyes drooped from lack of sleep, but her voice was strong as she said, “I’m putting my foot down. If you won’t go home, the least you can do is lie down in here. Look, I got you a pillow and blanket. Sometimes they have cots you can use, but the nurse told me they didn’t have any available right now. I’ll try to get one of those recliner things they sometimes put in the patient rooms. It’ll be more comfy I think, but for right now, you’re going to lie here and like it.”
“Pushy much?”
“You know I am.” Liv took the coffee from her and tossed it into the trash. Sara’s eyes were bloodshot, and her skin so pale it scared Liv. Bren’s accident was two days ago, and among Liv, Grace, and Terry, they’d only seen Sara nod off a couple of times. Getting her to eat was even more difficult, and so unlike Sara it was scary. Liv said, “I do this out of love. Lie down. I promise to wake you if anyone comes out here with news.”
“What if Bren’s parents call?”
“Then I’ll answer your phone.” Liv put the phone in her pocket, keeping it away from Sara. “Problem solved.”
“I don’t think I can sleep.”
“Then lie there with your eyes closed and rest. That’s good enough.”
Sara finally capitulated and was getting comfortable when Charley and Grace walked in. Charley held her RCMP hat in one hand, and her arm rested on the grip of her pistol. She looked worn out and nervous, and Liv’s gut clenched at the thought of her giving them more bad news. Grace stood next to her and took her hand. Obviously she already knew what it was.
Sara leapt to her feet, and Liv clutched her other hand. “Hey, Charley.”
“Hey.” Charley ran her fingers through her short, straight hair and turned her dark eyes to them. “We arrested Angel Harrison an hour ago. I thought I should come tell you in person.”
“Good.” Sara’s grip tightened on Liv’s hand.
“She’s already got a lawyer.”
Liv’s protective streak raged. She wanted to kill the bitch. “Do you think there’s enough to convict her?”
“Yeah. The CCTV footage Marion gave us turned out to be enough to confirm it was Angel driving the car. The techs did some magic with it and were able to zoom in on her face. She used a rental car we found abandoned a few kilometers north of the city. It took us this long to find her because she bought a new car and was halfway to Alaska. They’re bringing her back here tomorrow. We’ll get a DNA sample and confirm she assaulted Terry. She’s not going anywhere for a long time.”
“Why?” Sara spoke through her tears. “Why would she do this? What did Bren ever do to her?”
“I wasn’t there when she was arrested.” Charley shifted from one foot to the other. Liv dreaded what she was having trouble getting out. “Let’s just say she’s got some serious mental health issues and leave it at that.”
“It’s because of me,” Sara said.
Liv watched the little bit of color drain from Sara’s cheeks. She quickly got her arms around Sara and helped her sit down. “Hey, it’s okay. No way is this because of you.”
“Of course it is. I told her I didn’t want to see her. She knew I was going out with Bren. We saw her the night we had dinner with you and Gracie. She’d been following me, I guess. Anyway, it’s not hard to find Bren, you know? Angel saw us at the pub on ladies night. I never thought—I mean why would she do that? I get she’s mad at me, but Bren never did anything to her.”
Charley shrugged. “It’s not really about you, Sara. Angel’s messed up. If it hadn’t been Bren, it might have been someone else at the pub. We can’t know for sure. She was
looking for someone to hurt.”
“It should have been me. I’m the one she’s pissed at.” Sara lifted sorrowful eyes to Charley, and Liv saw Charley flinch. “Can I see her?”
“Who? Angel?” Charley asked.
“Yes. I want to talk to her.”
“Not going to happen. Sorry. Not unless you’re her lawyer. Besides, Bren’s the one you should concentrate on. She needs you more than you need to talk to Angel. If something changes, and I can, I’ll tell you guys. Deal?”
Liv stood and gave Charley a quick hug. “Thanks. I owe you big time.”
“No, you don’t,” Charley said. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Once Charley was gone, Liv re-joined Sara on the couch and put her arms around her. “She’s right. It’s not your fault. Promise me you get that.”
“Do you think I pushed Angel too far by filing that police report? Should I have backed off?”
Grace sat on Sara’s other side, her face drawn. “No. You did everything right. This isn’t your fault, Sara. You have to listen to us. Angel was going to do whatever she wanted to do regardless of what you may or may not have said or done. Remember when we talked about her a few weeks ago? I told you she’s an abuser?” Grace didn’t continue until Sara nodded. “I told you this isn’t your fault. You could have said no that first time, and Angel would have probably done all this stuff anyway. You don’t have any control over her. None. The important thing here is she’s been arrested and she can’t hurt anyone else.”
“It’s so—overwhelming. It’s hard not to feel guilty.”
“I know.” Grace pulled Sara into a tight embrace, and Liv saw she was very close to tears herself. “I understand. It won’t go away easily, but we’ll work on it. Okay? Promise me—promise us—you get it. That you get this wasn’t your fault.”
“I do, sort of. I mean, I hear what you’re saying.”
“That’s good enough for now.” Grace released her and stood on shaking legs. Liv moved closer to make sure Grace didn’t fall over. She had no idea Grace would react so strongly to the situation and really wanted to get her home.
But she couldn’t leave Sara.
“I hate her.” Sara spoke so softly Liv barely heard her. “She hurt that sweet girl for no other reason than to get at me.”
“That why you want to go see her?” Liv asked, putting her arm around Grace. “Think they’d let you beat her up or something?” Liv tried to keep her tone light, though she was seriously wishing that’s exactly what the police would let Sara do.
“No. I don’t know. Maybe I want to hear her say it. That she hurt Bren because she wanted to hurt me. Or maybe she ran Bren down because she couldn’t find me. I guess I want to know for sure.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Liv said. “It only matters that she’s not able to hurt anyone anymore. If she needs help, she’ll get it. If not, she’ll end up in jail where she belongs.”
“Will it get better?” Sara asked Grace.
“It will. I still blame myself sometimes, but it’s a process. It’ll take awhile.”
“Well, you’ve got Livvy, so I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”
Liv moved closer, hugged Sara, and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. “And who do you have, Sara?”
“She’s got me,” Terry said as she joined them. Sara burst into tears and practically leapt into Terry’s embrace.
Liv watched them and knew, deep down, those two were right for each other. That it took such an awful event to bring them back together sucked, but at least they were together. And Sara wasn’t alone.
Chapter Fifteen
Judy and Andy McAfferty arrived thirty-seven hours after Bren came out of surgery. Sara managed to convince Izzy to go home with Harriet around the twenty-hour mark. For the last seventeen hours, Terry was in and out, going between Sara and home to check on Felicia and her mom, then to her office. Liv and Grace were “on shift” when the McAfferty’s got there.
Sara greeted them first and introduced everyone. She’d kept them up-to-date on Bren’s condition throughout their grueling journey home. Now they were here, Sara felt a weird sense of loss.
Judy grabbed her up in a bear hug. “Thank you. You have no idea how much it’s meant for us to have you here.”
“It’s the least I could do for her. Bren’s very special to me.”
“I know.” Judy released her and took Andy’s hand. “Can we see her?”
“The nurse has been strict about one at a time and only for a few minutes. She’s in Room Five.”
Judy and Andy exchanged a quick glance, and he went in first. Judy took a seat next to Grace. “Have you all been here this whole time?”
“No, we’ve been taking shifts. Mostly to make sure Sara eats and sleeps.”
“Shifts?” Judy asked.
“Unlike my dear friend,” Liv said and gave Sara a significant look, “we all decided to come in shifts to make sure someone was here at all times. Sara, as you can see, thought that did not apply to her.”
Judy looked ready to cry, and Sara wanted to slap Liv. Good thing Grace sat next to her.
Grace rose and pulled Liv with her. “And our shift is up. Terry should be here in a few minutes, so I’ll take this one home. Judy, is there anything we can get for you and Andy? Have you had a chance to go home? Do you need anything to eat? I can come back once I get Liv out of here.”
“That’s sweet of you, but Marion took care of our luggage when she got us from the airport. And I don’t think I can eat right now.”
“If you need anything, let us know. Sara’s got our number. I’m sure she won’t be leaving anytime soon.” Grace kissed Sara on the cheek and pulled Liv out of the waiting room.
“Sorry about those two,” Sara said. “Sometimes, well, most times, Liv opens her mouth without engaging her brain.”
“I think it’s amazing you’ve been here all along. You didn’t have to do that. None of you did.”
“That’s not true,” Sara said. “Bren’s my friend, and by extension, she’s friends with Grace and Liv and Terry. We’re a team. And they’re right. There’s no way I was leaving before you got here.”
“We’re here now. Why don’t you go home? Get some rest. I can call you if anything changes.”
Sara considered her options. It would be nice to sleep in her bed instead of the lumpy, vinyl couch she now sat upon. But it didn’t feel right. Something told her she needed to stay. “How about if I get you two something to drink? There’s coffee and tea in here and a vending machine in the next room with water and sodas. I really don’t want to leave yet. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course it is.” Judy hugged her again. “I’d love some water, thank you.”
“Sure.” Sara headed to the adjoining room and met Terry in the hallway.
“I heard they got here. I ran into Liv and Gracie at the elevator. They doing okay?”
“Her dad’s with her right now.” Sara continued on to the vending machine. She stared at it for a long time, trying to remember what she was supposed to be doing.
“Hey.” Terry gently took her hand. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want her to be better,” Sara cried. “I want my friend to wake up.”
“Me, too.” Terry held Sara as a fresh bout of tears started up. “Do you want to leave or stick around?”
“Stick around. But you can go.” She sniffled and cuddled closer to Terry. She didn’t want her to go but understood if she needed to. Not everyone was capable of shutting down their lives to wait for news on Bren. It had to be Sunday by now, though Sara wasn’t completely sure. “Don’t you have a date with Felicia today?”
“I do, but she knows what’s going on.” Terry kissed Sara’s cheek and held her tighter. “She’s disappointed, but she understands. My kid’s pretty damn amazing like that. Besides, Grams is a good enough substitute for me. She lets her have more cookies.”
Sara allowed hersel
f a soft laugh. “I was hoping you’d stay.”
“No place I’d rather be. Now, let’s get something to drink and head back in. I’d like to meet Bren’s folks and see if there’s anything new to report.”
****
Sara held Bren’s right hand in hers and rubbed small circles over the back of it. Her turn to sit with her was almost over now. They were well into day five of their vigil, and the exhaustion took its toll on Sara. She desperately needed real sleep. But the one night Liv managed to get her to go home, Sara paced for several hours, got in her car, and came back. It was no use. She had to be at the hospital.
“I miss dancing with you,” she said. “I miss that I can’t just text you because I’m feeling down and need your cute emoji responses. I miss my friend.”
There was a slight tug on her fingers, and Sara looked down at their linked hands. It couldn’t be. The doctors warned them Bren’s muscles might contract and it would appear as though she moved. But this couldn’t be a contraction. She was no longer in a medically induced coma, and they were simply waiting for her to wake up. Sara tensed. Please let her be coming around.
Bren’s fingers gripped Sara’s.
Shocked, Sara turned her tired eyes to Bren’s battered face and let a smile slip through her tears. Baby blue eyes looked back at her questioningly. Bren opened her mouth, but no sounds came out. “Shh,” Sara told her. “Don’t try to talk. Let me hit the Call button.”
She pressed the button for a nurse. The door opened seconds later, and a flurry of activity followed. Sara was pushed out, happy to tell Bren’s parents what happened.
Time slowed. It felt more like hours than minutes before a doctor came to speak to them. He had a cautious smile on his face. “She’s awake. It’s hard for her to speak right now. Her vitals are stable. It appears her brain function is normal, but she’s not out of the woods yet. We’ll keep her in ICU for at least another day, but if I’m right, she’ll be moved to a step-down unit tomorrow. We’re going to need to do more tests before that happens.”
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