by Amy Marie
Ryder exhaled hard as he ran his hands through his hair. “Nothing.” He sighed. “I dunno if it’s because I’m not family or if they don’t know anything yet. They just said she’s in surgery.”
Bill didn’t wait for him to continue and marched straight to the desk, knocking on the closed glass window that separated them.
The receptionist appeared surprised by his dad’s lack of patience but quickly recovered, apparently used to the less friendly sides of people that emergencies brought out.
“My daughter was brought in by squad hours ago and nobody’s told us nothin ’cept she’s in surgery. I need to know what’s going on.”
He wasn’t rude, but his deep voice and air of confidence was often just as affective at getting people moving.
After giving her Emma’s information for a second time, they were only in their seats for a few minutes before a doctor came out, clad in blue surgical scrubs.
“Family of Emmason James?” he called into the waiting room as both Bill and Ryder rushed toward him.
“Can I see her?” The words rushed out of Ryder’s mouth.
“What’s going on?” Bill asked at the same time.
He was surprised at the amount of concern laced in his father’s words, but he shouldn’t have been. His dad always thought of Emma as his own daughter.
“She’s out of surgery now and in recovery.” His eyes moved between the two men. “She suffered a few lacerations to her face, which required stitches, and a fracture to the orbital floor.” The doctor motioned to the bone beneath his eye. “Which caused a piece of the bone to dislodge and was impinging on the globe of her eye. We had to do immediate surgery. but she did very well, and you will be able to see her as soon as she is transferred to her room.”
“How long will it be before she’s in her room?” Ryder asked.
“She will need to remain in recovery for one to two hours. They will give you her room number as soon as they know it. In the meantime”—the doctor looked over Ryder and his father—“you guys should get something to eat and catch a nap.”
Ryder didn’t give a shit what he looked like, he just needed to see her.
The doctor left them, and Ryder fell back into his seat. He wasn’t leaving her.
“C’mon.” His dad pulled on his shirt to bring him back to the standing position. “Come to the cafeteria with me.”
He started to argue, but when his dad gave him the look, there was no point. Instead, he grabbed his backpack and followed behind him.
Chapter 18
Emma
Emma was having the best dream ever when reality reared its ugly head. She’d been snuggled in bed with Ryder at some posh hotel, getting ready to devour the breakfast room service had just delivered. They’d spent the last several hours in that very bed, learning and relearning every naked dip and curve of each other’s bodies.
When she tried to smile at the memory, a jolt of pain hit her like a train, her still-closed eyes registering a bright light of pain as it traveled through her skull.
She could still smell the bacon, but the events of the last few minutes—or hours, or days—came crashing into her consciousness.
Fear took hold of her, pumping through her veins as her muscles tensed prepared either for a fight or the next blow to land. She couldn’t open her eyes or get her body to respond to her request for movement, and for the briefest of moments she was lost inside of her own mind. Was she dead? Paralyzed? Where was she? Was she stuck in this place forever? Her heart took over her body, being the only sensation she could feel as its raging rhythm accelerated, pulsing through her temples and squeezed her chest tight.
Finally, her eyes opened, and she took in the scene in front of her. It wasn’t like in the movies where someone begins to blink one eye lazily before coming to; all of her faculties came back to her at once. Despite the pain that she felt through her entire body, her body flew upright, her eyes opening wide as a gasp came from her mouth.
Her mind failed to understand the scene that was laid out before her, and her gut took over. She needed to run. In one, albeit ill-planned motion, she pulled the IV from her arm and stood, her knees not getting the memo that she needed to run.
Someone grabbed her, and she fought against them. Her mind and her vision were still foggy, as if the surge of adrenaline coursing through her still wasn’t enough to regain full function of her mind and body.
“Buttercup. Shhh.”
She froze at the nickname, the same one Ryder had used in her dream, the word exhaled against her skin as he kissed his way down her body.
In that moment, she regained two key senses: the embrace that was holding her in place wasn’t a threatening one, and the scent that made its way through her nose was unmistakably Ryder.
She tried to say his name, but what came out was an unintelligible croak.
“You’re okay.” His hand smoothed the back of her head as he spoke. “You’re in the hospital, but you’re okay.”
She held him with all the strength she could muster. As much as she wanted to be back in the dream, between the glorious sheets of a five-star hotel with Ryder’s naked body spooning hers, she struggled to understand reality. That was a dream, but was this real?
“Breathe.” The words were little more than a whisper but refocused her.
She couldn’t inhale for more than two seconds before she felt the need to exhale. She was hyperventilating.
Gently, Ryder lowered her to the bed, but she held on to him with all of her strength. She couldn’t let go. The fear that if she did, he would disappear altogether was the only thing she knew to be true.
“Emma, look at me.”
The urgency in his tone was what made her comply, and she opened her eyes to take him in.
“It’s over.”
His words were spoken with so much certainty and raw emotion she had no choice but to believe them. Still, she couldn’t let go.
He smiled as he looked down at her hands that currently had his shirt tangled in a death grip.
“You need to lay down.”
She didn’t loosen her grip—couldn’t—but the need to lay back was a demanding one. If she didn’t comply her body was going to make the decision for her.
“Lay with me,” she tried to say, and despite the fact that she could barely understand her own words, Ryder knew what she was asking and squeezed into the small hospital bed next to her.
There was too much to take in at once, so Emma only looked at Ryder. His presence was the only thing that grounded her, well that and the fact that the pain in her head was so intense there was no way this part was a dream.
“Don’t mess with that, Dad.”
Ryder looked beyond her, and despite her curiosity, turning to see what was happening was impossible. With each passing second, her head throbbed harder. The bright lights and loud beeping were nearly incapacitating.
“Just tryin’ to get this damn thing to stop beeping.”
The frustration in Bill’s voice made her smile. Well, as much as her body would allow. The inflection in his voice or the words he spoke didn’t matter; him being in the room was like being home.
“Ha!” Bill cheered with satisfaction when the beeping ceased. “Didn’t know your old dad was capable of more than just herding, did ya?” As he spoke the words, he moved around the bed and into her view.
She wasn’t sure why, but the second the tattered old man came into view, tears fell from her eyes. Maybe it was because he had addressed that statement to her, not to Ryder. It wasn’t the first time he’d referred to himself as her dad, it had started long before her mom had come into the picture making that sentiment a partial reality.
“Don’t cry, pretty girl.” He was in front of her now and placed a reassuring hand on her head. “It’s all over.”
Was it over? If it was, she had no idea how it ended.
Before she could say anything, a nurse came into the room, stopping abruptly when she took in the fact that Ryd
er was laying with her.
“She woke up a little panicked,” Bill explained.
As if that was enough of an explanation, the nurse moved to he bed and took Emma’s arm, examining where the IV had been.
Ryder sat up slightly, and Emma tensed.
“I’m just rearranging,” he immediately reassured her.
The hospital bed was far too small for the two of them, but she didn’t care. Instead, she let the nurse do her thing getting a new IV in place.
“Sorry about that.” Emma stared up at the nurse as she tied a piece of rubber on her upper arm before sliding a needle into her vein, this time in her arm.
“Don’t worry about it.” She smiled. “How is your pain now on a scale of one to ten?”
“Eight,” she answered quickly despite the fact that it felt like a ten. Since she surmised that a ten was what you felt the moment the source of your pain caused death, it didn’t feel like an appropriate answer.
“I’ll be back with some pain medicine in just a few minutes,” the nurse said before leaving the room once again.
Pain medicine. She wanted the damn stuff more than she ever imagined possible, yet the thought of falling asleep again scared her. How long had she been out already? What if she came to and Ryder was gone?
“What’s going on inside there?” Ryder brushed his fingertips across her forehead as he looked down at her.
“I don’t want to go to sleep.” She bit her lip to hold back the tears that were threatening.
“I’m not going anywhere, Buttercup.” He paused, inspecting her closely as if making sure she found the truth in them. “In fact, I may never leave your side again. You’ll be so sick of me.”
She smiled. That was impossible.
The sound of footsteps brought her attention back to the door, but instead of the nurse she’d expected, two men in suits entered.
Reluctantly, she moved to a seated position, and Ryder stood, keeping his hand in hers he didn’t leave her side.
“Ms. James, I’m Lawrence Spillwell with the Health Care Fraud Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southeast District of New York.”
She blinked and shook the hand that he offered. That was a hell of a title. His business card would have to the size of a legal pad to fit all of that.
The other man stepped forward and offered his hand, “Martin Wilson, Assistant Commissioner of Media Affairs for the FDA.”
She couldn’t breathe as she waited for them to continue. Her mind might be foggy and a bit overwhelmed at the moment, but the words FDA and Health Care Fraud Unit were all she needed to hear.
“Commissioner Stein requested my presence here as she is currently detained,” the second man continued, “but she is flying back this evening and will be meeting with you personally.”
This had to be good news. If the FDA hadn’t taken her seriously, they wouldn’t personally be here.
“We need to take a statement from you at this time with a more formal discovery once you are released from the hospital.”
She nodded in understanding as the two men in their matching suits took their seats. She wrung her hands together before wiping the sweat from her palms on her blanket. She shouldn’t be nervous, but being that she’d been knocked upside the head a few times, she feared her thoughts were too jumbled.
“Is this necessary right now?” Ryder’s eyes narrowed with concern as he looked between Emma and the suits. “She’s suffered a lot of trauma and has only been out of surgery for a few hours. Was the information from the recordings not enough?”
Recordings? Her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Were you unaware that your conversation with Roland Spurlock yesterday morning was being recorded?” the assistant commissioner who had kept his eyes on her the whole time asked.
Conversation? That’s what he was calling her meeting with Roland? She wanted to laugh but only shook her head. “How?” She rethought. “Who?”
Ryder tightened his grip on her hand, and she turned her head to face him.
“I knew something was wrong but never imagined you were in so much danger.” He was regretful and pulled his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I only left for a few hours, and only because you said you were meeting Roland in a couple of days.”
“The recordings provided are an important piece to the investigation, this statement being more of a formality at this time,” the assistant commissioner interrupted but gave Emma a quick, sympathetic smile.
Over the next hour, Emma exhaustingly went over every detail of her relationship with Roland and her employment with Locke Pharmaceuticals. The conversation took much longer due the pain she was suffering after refusing the medication to keep her mind clear. When she informed them that she had signed over the land deed to Ryder and Bill she was surprised to find that they didn’t know. Ryder had never opened the envelope she left him.
By the time she finished, she was exhausted yet relieved. They didn’t offer total reassurances, but what she’d gathered from their conversation provided it nonetheless. Unbeknownst to her, the Spurlock family and Locke Pharmaceuticals had been under much scrutiny after several previous investigations into other drugs. This was the first time they weren’t able to buy their way out of it or eliminate the person making the complaint. And those were the exact words the attorney and the assistant commissioner used.
“What about Roland? Where is he now?” Emma asked as a wave of unease hit her. No one had told her if he was in jail or had already managed to use his money to his advantage.
Her question was met with silence as the two men interviewing her looked at each other. Her eyes moved to Ryder; he would give it to her straight.
“Mr. Spurlock suffered a fatal gunshot wound when officers tried to retain him,” the attorney provided, matter-of-fact.
Emma’s mouth fell open. At this point, she was incapable of processing anything. “When they tried to retain him?”
Seemly finished with the way in which the investigators were speaking, Ryder spoke up. “The email you sent,” he started, “well, it got to the right people just in time. By the time they got to your apartment you were unconscious, and Roland pulled out his gun.”
“On a federal agent,” Bill volunteered.
Emma nodded in understanding. Well, as much understanding as she could muster after everything she’d been through.
She asked for nothing further, and the agents left, leaving her with Ryder and Bill.
“You need to get some sleep.”
A shuddered breath left Emma, and Ryder quickly continued. “We’re not going anywhere.” Ryder’s fingertip caressed her cheek before he laid down next to her, kissing her temple. “I’ll never leave your side. Never again.”
And he didn’t.
Epilogue
Emma awoke stiff and covered in hay, the mare she’d refused to leave the night before now absent from its stall. Taken aback, she stood and wiped they wiry blades from her jeans and sweatshirt and left the barn.
Her eyes immediately went to the pasture where she found the mare, Destiny, grazing.
“Sleep well?” Ryder asked with a teasing grin.
She was beaming with joy as she looked to him. “How did you get her out of her stall without waking me?”
“You were out.” Ryder laughed before coming to her and placing a kiss on her forehead.
She closed her eyes and breathed him in. Last night, she refused to leave Destiny. The infection she developed was at a crucial point. Yet, today, she was on the mend.
Destiny was born just after Emma was released from the hospital, and she’d immediately taken to the mare. There was nothing like an ailing animal to take away all of your own problems. Against her better judgment, she’d put her whole self into saving Destiny, and while she recovered, so did Emma.
After being released from the hospital, coming back to the Seven Deuce Ranch, or back home, as Ryder and his dad liked to say, was never a question. Ryder had insisted on it, a
nd she never argued; there was no argument to make. This was her home and always had been. Ryder and Bill—they were her family. Something that they made official when Emma and Ryder married, on this very ranch just less than one year ago.
The case against Locke Pharmaceuticals and the Spurlocks was finally resolved and behind them. With the help of her testimony, the recordings, and various former employees finally coming forward, the guilty were behind bars, and the company itself was bankrupt.
Emma was finally able to put that part of her life behind her, but the same could not be said for her former employer. Since the investigation and proceedings, several other lawsuits had been filed. Hydromexlizine never it made it to human trials, but it wasn’t the only drug manufactured by Locke Pharmaceuticals with devastating effects. Prior to her employment there, three other drugs were made available to the public, ultimately resulting in serious illness or death to thousands. The company was only now being held responsible.
The guilt she initially harbored had mostly dissolved. While she was ashamed at her own lack of judgment when it came to both her previous employer and Roland Spurlock, she accepted the fact that if she hadn’t been a part of them, she never would have been a part of their undoing.
“What are you thinking so hard on, Mrs. MacIntosh?”
The heaviness of her thoughts subsided at his words; she loved when he called her Mrs. MacIntosh.
“Just how much I love you.” It wasn’t a lie, it was something she thought about whenever she looked into his cornflower-blue eyes, or when he smiled at her, revealing the dimple on his cheek.
He kissed her, stealing every thought from her mind and leaving her weak with all the passion that exploded between the two of them.
“Anything else?” he asked expectantly as he pulled away.
She smiled. Anymore, it seemed as if she was always smiling. The life they had planned for themselves when they were little more than kids was now a reality. The road to get there just held more curves than either of them imagined. “Take me to bed?”
