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He should stay awake. He really should stay aw?—
This time, he didn’t open his eyes again when they called his name.
29
It had been hours, but Roman refused to go home or even take a nap in the waiting room. As if by staying awake, he was somehow keeping Caleb alive. Bullshit, yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Caleb needed him. Not being able to hold his hand was bad enough, but Roman would not leave the hospital. And if something happened while he was asleep, he’d never forgive himself.
Wander’s team was right there with him. All of them. Connor and Miles had booked a hotel room around the corner from the hospital to get some sleep, but everyone else sat on the uncomfortable chairs of the waiting room, faces tight. No one said much because what was there to say?
Internal bleeding. Thank god the EMTs had spotted it and had rushed Caleb to the hospital. He’d lose his spleen and maybe one kidney, but he also had a broken rib that had nicked an artery, which was a much bigger problem. That was why he’d been in surgery for hours now, and the doctor still hadn’t come back with an update.
Joey had worked him over good, especially for a man who supposedly didn’t prefer violence. Of course he’d attempted the nonviolent route with Roman and hadn’t gotten anywhere. Roman tried hard not to blame himself for that.
If only they’d found Caleb sooner, but it had taken hours to locate him, and they’d only uncovered the address because Penelope Whitman had overheard a frantic phone call between her husband and Isabella Coldrick, discussing the situation. Whitman had seen the news and wanted to know the threat Roman had referred to. When he’d found out they had kidnapped Caleb—who’d been referred to as the spy who had infiltrated Isabella’s office—he’d ordered them to release him immediately.
Penelope had reached out to Ryan, who had decided to pay Isabella Coldrick a visit, taking Connor and Miles with him. She’d refused to see them until they’d made it clear they had the dirt on her and her role in Whitman’s affairs. Once she realized it was game over for her, she’d told them everything they needed to know, including the location of the motel. She must’ve given Joey a heads-up because no one had been there when they’d arrived, but at that point, all that mattered was that they’d found Caleb.
They still didn’t know how Joey had figured out Caleb’s identity, which bugged Roman, but it bothered Wander even more. Where had they fucked up that Caleb had been exposed? How had they made the connection between Caleb and Roman?
All the news outlets were still reporting on the story, and the interview he’d done with Michelle Claiborne was repeated over and over again. She’d already texted him with a big thank-you. The interview had elevated her status from a local reporter to a national one, and she’d gotten a job offer somewhere big. That was great, but even better was that reporters had started to dig into Whitman’s background, and the first unsavory stories were already coming out.
Of course the senator himself hadn’t been seen yet. He’d been smart enough to hole up somewhere, but he wouldn’t be able to get away with that for long. Dawn was breaking, and by midday, he’d be forced to give a statement. Whether he would ever spend time in prison for everything he’d done was still a question, but at least his political career would be over.
As expected, Roman’s career was over too. He’d gotten the call from the attorney general minutes after he’d finished the interviews. The man had denied up and down he’d been bought by Whitman, but Roman didn’t believe him for a second. All he’d said was that the AG had a chance to prove his loyalty to the justice system by picking up where Roman had left off in the investigation. He wasn’t holding his breath. Either way, he was done.
A woman in dark-blue scrubs entered the waiting room, and Roman sat up straight.
“Family for Caleb Lingle?” she asked.
Roman got up. “I’m his partner. His parents are still on the way.”
Wander had called them with the news, and they’d immediately jumped into the car, which would be faster than waiting for the next plane. They should arrive in an hour or two.
“I’m Doctor Williams, trauma surgeon, and I operated on Caleb. He made it through surgery and is now in the ICU in stable condition.”
Thank fuck. “That’s great news.”
“We had to remove his spleen and his right kidney. His left kidney should increase in production to make up for it, but we’ll keep a close eye on it. We called in a vascular surgeon to repair the tear in his artery, and that went well. But Caleb has two broken ribs, a fracture in his jawbone and his right orbital bone, he lost two teeth, and he has a severe concussion.”
Jesus, that was one hell of a long list. Roman pushed down the nausea rising in his throat. “Will he make a full recovery?”
“He should, but it will take time. He has a long road ahead of him.”
“I understand. Thank you, Doctor, for all you’ve done for him.”
“My pleasure, Mr. Dwyer.” She extended her hand. “I caught some of the news, so I wanted to say thank you for exposing the senator’s dirty dealings. I wish we had more people like you dedicated to justice above all.”
“I appreciate that.” He took a shaky breath. “Can I see him?”
“Absolutely. Follow me.”
Minutes later, he sat by Caleb’s side in the ICU. Caleb’s face had swollen even more, barely recognizable with how black and blue it was. His right eye was all colors of the rainbow and swollen shut—that was also where he had the orbital fracture—and his jaw was almost black, but underneath, he was as pale as the sheet covering him. He was breathing on his own, though, so that was encouraging.
Roman carefully pulled down the sheet to check Caleb’s chest, which was covered in surgical dressings. Between those, more bruises colored his skin. Was there any place on his body where they hadn’t hit him?
Tears formed in Roman’s eyes again. He’d come so, so close to losing Caleb forever. If Ryan and the others hadn’t found him when they did or had waited to call for an ambulance, he might not have made it. He would’ve bled out internally. Just the thought made it hard to breathe.
Roman carefully took Caleb’s left hand, the one without the IV, and pressed a kiss on it. He settled into the chair and, holding Caleb’s hand, waited for him to wake up.
