“Yes and it’s installed.” Nick peered at him. “Are you trying to blame this place on your stress?”
Luke looked up and shot Nick a look. “No, but at the current moment you seem to be raising my stress level.”
“Yeah your blood pressure is probably higher too.” He said as he motioned to his own forehead. “You have veins popping out all up in this area.” Then he crossed his arms again and cocked his head to the side. “You might want to get that checked out.”
“Are you finished?” Luke asked as his patience wore thin.
“I’m not sure.” Nick said and then sat down in the chair in front of the desk. “Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on with you? If not I can keep going…”
“When did you become so annoying?” Luke asked before sliding into the chair behind the desk. His shoulders slumped in defeat. He sighed heavily and glanced over to his friend. “I’m worried about Cara.”
“Ah ah… and there it is.” Nick said, leaning forward and holding Luke’s gaze.
“Today is the day she and Jake was supposed to get married.” Luke felt his hands clench into fists beside him. The significance of the day coupled with not hearing from her, had him on edge. He couldn’t shake the feeling in his gut that was telling him that she needed him. “I can’t get a hold of her.”
“She probably wants to be alone.” Nick offered. “She seemed fine when we went to dinner a couple of weeks ago.”
Luke nodded absent-mindedly. She wasn’t fine that night either, sure he was able to catch a glimpse of the Cara he once knew, but she disappeared quickly as the night progressed. He saw the change in her after Nick and Sam had asked them to stand up for them at their wedding. He should’ve known today was going to be hard on her. He should’ve planned a way to help her get through it. He kicked himself, as he thought of all the places he could’ve whisked her away, so she could forget. Luke could’ve been the one to make things okay for her today. It could’ve been him who made her forget the pain and not the pills, but instead he was sitting here feeling like helpless fool.
“You can’t keep beating yourself up. I know you made a promise, but sometimes things are just out of our control.” Nick said breaking Luke from his train of thought.
Luke’s eyes met Nick’s and he shook his head slightly. “I won’t give up… not on her.” He glanced at the clock and pushed out of his chair. “I’m heading out.”
Nick’s eyes widened but he didn’t say a word as he watched Luke walk out of the office.
* * * * *
Later that night Luke was sitting across the kitchen table from Ava, sharing a pizza. Only the slice that sat in his dish was barely touched. He managed to smile, though when he stared across at his daughter who was licking the sauce off her thumb.
“You love pizza.” He told her as he handed her a napkin.
“Yep! It’s my favorite.” She said before she took another big bite. He laughed and folded his slice before taking a bite. He watched her enjoy her dinner and knew that Fridays were just as much her favorite night of the week as it was his.
“I bet they don’t have pizza at Melanie’s birthday party.” She said before taking another bite.
Luke’s eyebrows furrowed at her comment. “Was Melanie’s birthday party today?” She nodded as she chewed. “Well, how come you didn’t tell me?” He put his pizza down and looked at his daughter with concerned eyes, praying she hadn’t told him and he forgot.
She shrugged her shoulders. “Because Friday night is our night and besides it was a spa party and all the other girls moms were going.” She looked up at her dad. “Can I have another slice of pizza?”
Luke swiped his hands over his face before he placed another slice in her dish. He looked at her for a moment, trying to get his words right. “It would’ve been okay if you wanted to go to Melanie’s birthday party. We could’ve had our pizza date another night.”
“But then what would you have done? Eat pizza by yourself?” She stared down at the slice he had just put into her dish. “That isn’t nice.” She glanced up, her blue eyes meeting his.
He smiled at her as he pushed out his chair and patted his lap. “C’mere.” She slid off her chair and walked around the table jumping into her father’s waiting arms. Luke placed a kiss on her forehead. “I love you, Ava, more than anything in this whole world.” He said as he tucked some of her hair behind her ears. “I don’t want you to worry about me. You’re a kid you shouldn’t be worrying about anything. I want you to have fun and always smile.” He paused for a moment. “You could’ve told me about Melanie’s birthday party and we could’ve asked Aunt Sam to go with you. She loves spas and parties.” He winked at his little girl.
Ava looked up at her dad and she sucked in her bottom lip before she spoke. “Is it too late to go now?”
Luke glanced at the clock and then back towards Ava. “I tell you what. I’ll call Melanie’s mom and tell her you would like to go to the party, but the party will probably be over before Aunt Sam gets dressed and ready to take you. I can go with you if you’d like.”
Ava’s eyes widened and she wrapped her arms around Luke’s neck. “Dad, I love you, but I can’t take you to a spa party.” She kissed his cheek. “It’s okay, I can go by myself.”
Luke smiled at her and lifted her off his lap, settling her down on her own feet, before standing himself. “Okay then. Go get ready while I call Melanie’s mom.”
“Thanks daddy! You’re the best.” She said in a singing tone as she hurried out of the kitchen.
* * * * *
The Emergency Room was bustling and Leah felt as if she had been on the clock for two days straight. She placed the last chart on top of the nurse’s station and was just about to remove her stethoscope and call it a night when the head of the E.R. called over to her.
“Leah we have a trauma coming in.” The doctor called. Leah took a deep breath so much for going home and raiding her stock of ice cream. She ran to the door beside the doctor as the E.M.T.’s wheeled a patient on a stretcher.
“What do we got here?” asked the doctor beside Leah.
“Female Caucasian. Twenty-nine years old. Breathing on her own, but unconscious. She may be bleeding internally. She was the driver of the vehicle you might want to do a toxicology report.”
Leah stared down at the female body that was bruised and battered. She gasped when her eyes landed on her face. Cara laid on the gurney unresponsive. Her head was cradled by a brace and she was bleeding from her temple.
“Leah can you grab her identification and see if you can contact a next of kin.” The doctor ordered, forcing her out of her trance. She watched as a team of doctors wheeled her into the nearest trauma room and began to work on her.
‘Here Miss, this is what we were able to recover from the crash.” An officer said as he held Cara’s pocketbook out towards her. Leah wondered for a moment where he had come from before she took the purse from him. “License says her name is Cara Sloane.”
“Thank you.” She said before she found her footing and made her way to the nurse’s station. She typed in Cara’s name into the registration log and listed as her next of kin was Jake Lanza. Leah closed her eyes, of course Jake would be her emergency contact person. She picked up the phone and as much as she hated the position she was in, she dialed the one person who came to her mind. Luke hadn’t really left her mind since the night she called him out on having feelings for Cara. The moment the words had escaped her mouth, she had regretted it and now she was about to call him and tell him Cara needed him. He’d come running, of course, because as much as she regretted accusing him of caring for Cara, she knew it was undeniably true, even if he didn’t realize it.
“Hello?” Luke’s familiar voice spoke into the phone.
“Luke, it's Leah.” She said with a hoarse voice and cleared her throat before she began again. “Cara was in a car accident. They just brought her into the E.R. and Jake was her emergency contact…”
; “I’m on my way…” He said exasperated and then the line went dead.
Chapter Two
Luke sat in the waiting room of the hospital alone, feeling numb. The second hand ticking of the clock on the wall, reminding him he’d been there for hours waiting on word from the doctors that were working on Cara. He looked up when he heard the door open and his shoulders slumped when he saw Leah. She walked over to him, offering him a cup of coffee from the cafeteria. Her shift had ended a while ago, but she had lingered around the hospital. She sat next to him as he took the cup of coffee from her hand.
“Thanks.” He said flatly.
“I’m guessing the doctor didn’t come find you yet?” She said beside him. All he could do was shake his head as he stared at the coffee cup in his hands. “Is there someone else you want me to call?”
“No.” He replied, sighing heavily as he worked the lid of the cup and took a sip.
“She’s going to be okay, Luke. They’ll be able to stop the bleeding, that is the biggest concern.”
Luke nodded as he slowly stood to his feet. He couldn’t sit still any longer and he began to pace the small area of the waiting room. He hated this place more than anything. The last time he had set foot in this building was the day his brother died. The day he carried Cara out of here and promised he’d take care of her. He’d done a shit job of that, and now it was his fault she was here.
“I’m going to go see if I can get an update.” Leah said, feeling useless as she watched Luke slip into his own world. He didn’t say a word as she left the room. He combed his fingers through his hair and stared up at the ceiling. He was no good at this and asked his heavenly father for help. Not for himself, but for Cara. He prayed he’d spare her so he could have one more shot at doing right by her. He would get it right, he vowed. He’d get her help and she’d go on to live the life she was meant to. He silently apologized to his brother as the image of his Jake’s worried face haunted him.
The coffee slipped from his hands spilling onto the floor, startling him. He turned around and saw a box of tissues on the table and grabbed the box. He knelt down and began to clean the mess with the tissues, shoving the wet ones into the now empty Styrofoam cup.
“Luke?”
He looked over his shoulder and saw his mother and father standing in the doorway of the waiting room. Concern etched along his mother’s tired features. He bit the inside of his cheek and forced himself to reign in his emotions. Deb made her way to her eldest son, bending down to help him. He held up his hand and shook his head.
“I’ve got it.” He said hoarsely and finished cleaning the mess before rising to his full height. His mother’s arms enveloped him and he closed his eyes, hating himself even more, because his mother had to return to the place where her son had died.
“Oh, Luke…” She whispered as she clung to him. He opened his eyes and looked up at his father. Joe stood solemnly wearing a blank expression on his face. He pulled back slowly from his mother, his eyes finding hers. They were tired and full of questions.
“Sam called us and told us that Cara was in a car accident.” She explained.
“She picked up Ava?” Luke asked.
“Yes, she and Nick picked her up from the birthday party.” She brushed a fallen strand of hair out of Luke’s face and stilled her hand on his cheek. “What happened?”
“Her car veered off the interstate and into a guard rail. They brought her in hours ago and from what Leah says the biggest concern is to stop her from bleeding internally…” His voice caught and he couldn’t finish.
“Has a doctor come out to see you yet?” Joe asked as he sat down on one of the couches.
Luke shook his head and took in a deep breath.
“How did you know she was in an accident?” Deb asked.
“When she was brought in Leah looked up her emergency contact on record with the hospital.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “She figured I’d be a close second I guess.”
“Jake.” Joe whispered, understanding that Leah had called him instead.
Luke nodded and stared at his father for a moment, watching as he looked around the room taking in his surroundings.
“Christ, they should name a wing in this place after us or something.” Joe said, meaning to defuse the tension and eeriness felt in the room. Silence filled the air and Deb took a seat next to her husband. Luke leaned against the wall with one of his shoes planted against the wall, and they waited together.
His parents surprised him. They were obviously uncomfortable sitting there, no doubt flooded with memories of the months they had all spent in and out of this place. Yet there they were pillars of strength sitting there again waiting for word of another one they considered one of their own. Joe took Deb’s hand and squeezed it slightly, a sign of unity.
Seconds turned into minutes and when the clock struck the new hour the door opened. Two doctors shuffled inside along with Leah, who took a step to the side and watched her colleagues. The first doctor lifted the mask off of his face and glanced around the room at the family.
“Are you all here for Cara Sloane?”
“Yes.” Luke said as he pushed off the wall and took a few steps to meet the doctor. “Is she okay?” He asked, his voice rich with despair as he looked between the two doctors.
“She’s stable. We were able to stop the bleeding. She has a concussion. We expect her to recover from the injuries sustained in the accident.” He said and then paused. He looked at the other doctor in the room.
Luke watched the exchange between the two and felt his gut clench. “What aren’t you saying?”
Deb and Joe stood on either side of Luke and looked at the doctors with the same expectant expression as their son.
The second doctor stepped forward. “Due to the nature of why Ms. Sloane was brought in we were required to do a full work up on her. Her toxicology results came back that she had consumed an extreme amount of pain medication. While she was undergoing the surgery, she began to choke on her own vomit, we had to pump her stomach to get all the drugs out of her.”
Luke closed his eyes briefly when he heard his mother gasp beside him.
“The report showed she had oxycodone and morphine in her system. Has she had any medical issues in which she would be prescribed these medications?” The first doctor asked.
“No.” Luke said solemnly.
The doctors knowingly glanced at one another before turning back to the family.
“We’ve inserted I.V. fluids to rehydrate her and she may be in some pain when she initially wakes up. Due to her dependency we would like to refrain from giving her pain medication. But if she is in any real pain we will administer the proper dosage and monitor her pain management while she is here.”
“We will have a social worker come and discuss treatment options with her when she’s coherent.” The other doctor offered.
“Addiction is a powerful disease and one that is an ongoing struggle. If Cara decides to seek treatment for her addiction, she will need a support system. I take it you are her family?”
“Yes, we are.” Joe said firmly. “We’ll do whatever she needs us to.”
“Can we see her?” Deb asked as she brushed away the tears that fell from her eyes.
“She’s still unconscious so only one visitor at a time. I should warn you all though, when she wakes she may be hostile and seeking another fix. She more than likely won’t be receptive to treatment and strung out. If she agrees to treatment her body will be detoxing over the next few days. I caution you it will not be easy to see her like that.”
Luke took a step back feeling as if the words spoken by the doctor smacked him in the face.
He couldn’t make out what his father said to the doctors or what they had said in return, all he could hear was the sound of his brother’s voice.
“Promise me, I need to hear you say it, Luke.”
Luke swallowed. “I promise I’ll take care of Cara, you don’t have to worry about her.” A
tear slipped down his cheek as he finished his vow to his little brother.
Jake smiled slightly and closed his eyes. “I could always count on you.”
“Luke?” He heard his mother say as he snapped out of it turning his head to face her.
“I’m sorry, what?” He asked, barely audible.
“I’m going to go in first. Okay?” She asked as she looked up at him concerned.
He nodded automatically and watched as she glanced back at her husband. Her eyes communicating with Joe’s and then he nodded in response to her. Deb followed the doctors out of the waiting room. Leah glanced at Luke before she exited the room herself leaving father and son alone.
“This is all, my fault.” Luke said once the door closed. He didn’t mean to say it out loud, but he couldn’t help it.
Joe stared at his son for a moment, choosing his words carefully. “Did you give her the pills?”
Luke turned abruptly to face his father, anger spread across his features. “Of course I didn’t.”
Joe didn’t skip a beat unfazed by his son’s fury. “Did you shove the pills down her throat?”
“No!” He said a little louder than he planned.
“Then I’m confused. How is this, your fault?” Joe said as he crossed his arms against his chest and peered at Luke.
“I knew she was taking the pills.” Luke admitted roughly. His fists clenched at his sides and he suddenly found himself wanting to punch something. He looked at the wall. That would suffice, he thought. His father remained silent as he watched him pace the room frantically looking for an outlet to unleash his anger.
“I caught her taking Jake’s pain medication and instead of taking the bottle and forcing her to stop I let her drive herself into that guardrail.” His fist collided with the wall, giving into his rage. “I could’ve stopped her. I should’ve stopped her. Instead, I…” He trailed off. Why hadn’t he? Was he too consumed by their night together that he allowed it to cloud his thoughts? He had been tied up in knots since that night at Rudy’s when she took him into the office. He couldn’t allow himself to think one clear thought afterwards. He’d been struggling with the fact that while having her for one night was all he could think about, she couldn’t even remember it. Their tryst replayed over and over in his mind and didn’t even cross hers once. She was too busy grieving his brother. Too busy trying not to live. And he was too busy dreaming of her. What kind of person did that make him?
Fitting The Pieces (The Riverdale Series Book 3) Page 3
