Stunned silence filled the plane. Raven and River got out of their seats, shaking their husband’s hands away and knelt at Hugh’s feet.
Raven grabbed Hugh’s wrist and brought the phone close. “Thomas,” she whimpered, “Thomas. Tell me…was she…was our sister?—”
“Hurt in any…other way?” River finished.
“Unless she didn’t want to say, lass, she said no,” MacGregor answered in a gentle Scottish brogue. “She’s terrified and hurting…but, no, not that way I think. She told an officer on the scene that the big guy, she meant Reynolds, told her that he wasn’t giving her back. James told me that Jo’s pilot rerouted her plane to Huntsville.”
The landing gear hit the tarmac. Hugh ended the call without a goodbye. He couldn’t speak. His throat was too tight. It wasa matter of ticking things off in his mind to ignore the rage begging to be unleashed—to hold in the scream.
He stared again at nothing. He looked at no one. He spoke to no one. He didn’t even have his beard to hide behind.
He clasped his hands together so the urge to destroy the plane’s interior couldn’t manifest. He just kept repeating the steps required to reach her.
Land. Disembark. SUV. Hospital. Rowan.
Land. Disembark. SUV. Hospital. Rowan.
Land. Disembark. SUV. Hospital. Rowan.
They gotto the hospital before Rowan. Jeffreys was on the phone with Huntsville police, but everyone else, Stanton’s family, a subdued Diana Gaines included, was standing outside the emergency room entrance waiting for the ambulances to arrive.
No one spoke. Bran and Patrick flanked his sides. Raven and River stood slightly apart, holding hands, tears rolling steadily down their cheeks. He imagined his sons wanted to comfort their wives. They understood that neither would find comfort until they laid eyes on their sister.
Someone behind him gasped, jerking Hugh’s head up to scan his surroundings. Two ambulances, lights on but sirens off, were pulling into the emergency vehicle-only drive. No siren was good. Sirens meant emergency. He felt a hand land on his shoulder. Whichever boy it was thought he needed the support. They were right. He needed it. Badly.
He couldn’t rush her. He knew she would need her sisters more than him right now. He understood. He would wait.
The ambulances parked side by side, the first door opened, and a bed was wheeled out. Cries of Mom were shouted. Katy looked weary and drawn. A wobbly smile brushed her lips.
“Oh, my babies,” she cried.
The EMTs rolling her gurney slowed as her children ran to give their mom light kisses on her cheeks. They were probably afraid of touching her somewhere tender and hurting her. He glanced at Stanton, who stood still as a statue. He looked relieved and devastated at once. He didn’t approach his ex-wife. It was clear he desperately wanted to.
And then the second ambulance finally opened. Hugh crossed his arms over his chest, locking his joints so he didn’t fall to his knees. There she was, looking so tiny. A light sheet covered her body. Her bare arms rested on top of the sheet. An IV ran from one, and light gauze wrapped the opposite hand…a metal chain snaked its way between the wrapping. A bastardized version of freedom.
He held still as Raven and River ran to her side, causing her EMTs to stop just as Katy’s had. He, Bran, and Patrick watched the women they loved reunite. It was beautiful and painful in the same breath.
None of them spoke. They just looked at each other. Rowan was the first to move. She touched her fingers to Raven’s cheek, then lifted the hand wrapped in gauze—the one still sporting her handcuff and touched River’s. Her wince at moving her obviously wounded hand had Hugh taking a step forward, ready to intervene.
Bran and Pat grabbed his arms.
“Wait,” Bran demanded.
“They need this,” Patrick added.
He exhaled and shook his boys’ hands off. He would wait.
Raven touched Rowan’s cheek. River did the same. They were a triumvirate of absolute, pure love. After a moment, Rowan let her hands rest back by her sides, giving her sisters a small nod.
“I love you. I’ll see you soon,” Rowan assured them.
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
They backed away from Rowen, and the gurney started its forward momentum toward the motion-activated glass doors leading into the hospital. He couldn’t see Rowan’s face. An EMT was blocking her upper body. She was speaking…arguing? He heard his name spoken in an urgent whisper.
Before his brain fully comprehended what his body intended, he lunged toward the gurney, startling the EMTs and causing them to stop once more.
