I don’t necessarily believe him, but I don’t want him to worry so I leave him with a slight nod and then force myself out the front door.
I’m met with a growing swarm of photographers. How these vultures got here before me, or even found out the details, I’ll never know. I ignore them all and don’t even take the time to tell them off.
I’m met by hospital security at the door. They take my ID and then swiftly breeze past me to force the journalists out of the way of an emergency vehicle coming up the drive.
Through the hectic energy, a soft hand finds mine. I find Amanda when I tear my gaze away from the officers doing their job outside. I envelope her into a hug and hold her there for a moment, allowing myself to catch up with my location. “She’s sedated while they run a few more tests, but she’s stable,” Amanda whispers, grasping me tighter. “She looks worse off than she is.”
“What happened?” I ask, wiping my nose on my sleeve as I pull away.
“Amanda!” Dalton calls as he races to catch up. He’s fought the flood and arrived behind the gurney that was brought through the doors moments ago.
Amanda looks between the two of us before moving to readjust her pony tail as if she’s suddenly become very nervous. “I can’t extend every detail, but it was a drunk driving accident,” she says with a grimace, and her eyes dart between the both of us waiting for a reaction. My stomach drops out from under me, and I fear I might be sick.
“Mae, wasn’t the one—”
“No, no!” Amanda assures, reaching forward to rest two steady hands on my arms. “There was alcohol in her system but it was at a legal level. Mae wasn’t the driver at fault either. The other gentleman…” Her words trail off for a second. “I’m afraid he’s in surgery. He ran a light and T-boned her on her driver’s side.”
I’m about to ask if we can go back, but Dalton puts a steadying hand at my back and asks for me. “Can we go in and see her?”
“You’re not family,” Amanda says. There’s a sadness coursing through her as she continues. “You’ll have to wait until she wakes up and they move her to a room.”
An announcement over the intercom calling for nurses alerts Amanda, and she’s pulled away from us. “She’ll be awake soon! I’ll be sure to have someone collect you,” she calls, turning on her heel and hurrying toward a closed door.
Left in the middle of the emergency room with nothing to do but wait, I turn to Dalton and look up at him with pleading eyes. What I’m pleading for exactly, I have not a clue, but he cups my face in his hands and gently tilts my cheek into his chest. He holds me there for a few moments before we’re approached by another hospital official and are escorted to a different part of the building.
In a new waiting room now, curled up beside Dalton, the minutes pass by as hours. The chairs are uncomfortable and the air is still. With nothing but my own thoughts coursing through me, I lean my head against Dalton’s shoulder and close my eyes.
The sound of his voice buzzes against me. “You can get a few more minutes of sleep if you need to. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”
Realizing that I had in fact started to doze off, I straighten and pull away from the comfort of Dalton’s warmth. A flash of last night and how he was able to completely scoop me up into his arms comes and goes as a door to the waiting room opens and a doctor steps out.
I’m on my feet in an instant.
Chapter 38
Dalton
POOR MAE WON’T BE playing guitar any time soon, but I’m just thankful she has any future at all. After seeing the photos from the crash and how scraped up she was from it, I feared the worst. By some miracle, she escaped with a fractured wrist and a significant amount of gashes from shattered glass and twisted metal.
It’s hard knowing that it has become my job to protect her, and I wasn’t there before or during the accident. The only saving grace is that I can be here now as more and more attention is put on her. I’ve already had to kindly escort a few looky-loos away from her door. They’ve since covered up the small window to give her some privacy.
Raleigh sits beside her, holding her uninjured hand—the one that strums. She’s apologized profusely for not being there to take her calls and messages, but Mae never once blames her or asks her where she was. She merely reassures her and rubs herhand in hers. They’re comforting each other in the ways that they need most, and it’s something that lifts my spirit. A unified team once again.
Their conversation eventually turns from Mae’s wellbeing to what happened. Mae explains the call she’d gotten from Trenton telling her that their breakup was a mistake and that he wanted her back in a way he never had before. “…I was so mad, Raleigh. So mad,” Mae says through gritted teeth. “I was angry at him for how he called me, angry at myself for letting him have that much control over my emotions, and I just wanted to tell him off. I wanted to finally take control of my life again. I guess in trying to do that all the emotion took over and I suddenly became numb. I suddenly didn’t care anymore; it wasn’t worth the drive.”
“But, you tried!” Raleigh says, sitting up straighter and putting both hands around Mae’s. “You did the right thing and turned around.”
“And now I look like this,” Mae says through a desperate laugh. “He called me when I turned around.” She gulps. “I told him we could talk about it in the morning. He yelled at me, like a child. Like all the times he’s done before, but this time it actually hurt me. I thought he was still on the line when the crash happened, but I can’t remember. He wasn’t the one to call 911, a police officer on patrol stumbled upon us, or that’s what they told me.” Both women fight back tears until there is nothing more to do. They embrace, and I quietly slip back out the door into the bustling hospital hallway.
There will be a lot for them to figure out together, things I can’t quite help with.
I’ve wanted to throttle Trenton Travers many times during my time in Nashville, but never more than I have wanted to at this moment. To distract myself from the unsavory thought, I post myself next to Mae’s door and don’t move until Raleigh comes out a short time later.
“She’s asleep,” Raleigh whispers as she closes the door shut softly behind her. “Do you mind staying here for a few minutes? I need to find an outlet and make a call.”
“Of course,” I say, stepping to the side to give her the necessary space. “Is there anything I can do?”
Her doe eyes find mine and she shakes her head. “Please don’t take any offense to this, but I think I need to go call Grant.”
