I ended the call and turned on my hazard lights, peeling out of the parking lot. I swallowed hard, remembering the last time I’d made that promise.Everything’s going to be okay.
Tears blurred my vision when I remembered how that had turned out. The world around me moved in fast forward, but I felt like I was crawling through quicksand. The pit in my stomach grew wider and wider, threatening to swallow me whole.
I sped into the parking lot of the hospital, barely remembering how I got there. I saw Katie standing outside the entry to the emergency room talking frantically into her phone. I parked the car and sprinted toward her. “Where is she?”
She dropped her phone to her side. “Come on.” She led me inside the hospital, weaving down a corridor to the right. “Liv is on her way now. I just talked with her.”
Katie walked right toward a red-headed nurse wearing grey scrubs who appeared to recognize her. “Is this the girl’s father?”
Father?“What?” I asked, and Katie quickly pulled me into a hug.
“Do it now, ask for forgiveness later,” Katie whispered. “Ella needs you. I’ll be in the waiting room.”
“Follow me, sir.” The nurse guided me to the end of the hall, opening the last door on the left to reveal Grace in a hospital bed hooked up to all kinds of wires and monitors that beeped ominously. “She’s on a light sedative and some pain medicine right now, so she might not wake up right away. I’ll be back in a minute.”
The sight of Grace with a large bandage over the right side of her cheek, her arm in a cast, and stains of blood on her skin was enough to make me want to fall to my knees. Her eyes were closed. She appeared to be resting peacefully.
I knew I had to appear strong for Ella who rose to her feet, throwing herself in my arms the second she saw me. Her body heaved and shook in my arms. I blinked back tears of my own as I rubbed her back and whispered comforting words I didn’t entirely believe. I didn’t exactly have a good track record in places like this.
It smelled like despair and disinfectants—the kind that lingered within you and burned your lungs long after you’d left the room. When Ella finally pulled back to look at me, her eyes were red, and her face was tear-stained.
“She has a couple of broken ribs, and her arm is broken. The doctor said it was a clean break and won’t need surgery.” Ella sniffled. “They sedated her because she had a panic attack. She was so distraught she was pulling her IVs out. They want to watch her for a couple of hours, but they said they would likely discharge her soon.” She looked back at Grace, a forlorn expression painting her face. “This is my worst nightmare, Cash. What if…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, and she didn’t have to. Because it was the same scenario that had played on repeat in my head since we’d hung up the phone.
“But it didn’t,” I said with more confidence than I felt. It didn’t, but this was a jarring reminder that it always could. “She’s going to be okay.”
I slowly crossed the room to Grace and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked weak and fragile, as I placed a gentle kiss on the side of her head that wasn’t covered in gauze. I could smell the iron from the dried blood matted in her hair.
There was a soft knock on the door, and the nurse in the grey scrubs appeared again. “I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said softly. “I was hoping I might be able to get your help with something. The young man your daughter came in with… we’re having a hard time reaching his emergency contact. I was hoping you might have a lead on how I can reach his family.”
My stomach plummeted, gravity pulling it to the floor. I’d been in such a daze that I’d left my phone in the car. “It’s me. I’m his emergency contact. Cash Montgomery.” Sam’s parents hadn’t been in the picture since he was a baby. He’d been raised by his grandmother, but she’d long since passed.
A troubled expression settled into the lines of the nurse’s face, and though it was probably only seconds until she spoke, it felt as though the time had stretched into hours. “Mr. Montgomery, I need you to come with me.”
* * *
I shovedmy way out of the emergency room exit, loosening the grip my tie had around my neck.How did this happen? How did I get here?Only hours before I’d been looking forward to Grace being home, to her knowing about Ella and me. I knew it wouldn’t all be easy, but I felt we had a shot at becoming our own family.
But seeing Grace in that hospital bed all banged up and bruised… then finding out about Sam…
The cool brick was the only thing tethering me to the earth as I leaned against the side of the building and choked back a sob.
I sucked in a deep breath of the humid evening air and pleaded with the universe to let me go back to a few hours before—back when I thought that maybe happy endings were possible.
You have to keep it together, Cash. There’s no room for doubt right now. Ella needs you.
“Cash!” I was wrenched from my thoughts by the sound of Liv’s voice as she launched herself at me, wrapping me in her arms. “How is she?”
“She was resting when I was up there last,” I said. “I got called out of the room to see about Sam.”
Liv furrowed her brow. “How is he? Is Sam okay?”
I raked my hands through my hair and shook my head. “He’s in surgery right now. His spleen ruptured, and they said he had a lot of internal bleeding.”
Liv covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh my God.”
“They’re most concerned with getting the bleeding under control.” I scrubbed my hand down my face. “They said when the other car ran the traffic light that it hit Sam’s side of the vehicle head on.”
