Page 58 of Saving Meadow

“I’m…”

“Shhh, Red. Just rest. We’ll talk later,” I told her.

The doctor finished with the gashes on the thigh and rolled her to the side to wash the abrasions on her back. I stayed where I was and lowered my face to hers, so we were inches apart.

“I’m so proud of you. You were so damn brave, baby,” I told her as the doctor continued to tend to her road rash.

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“We tracked one of Beth’s phones.”

“One of them? What do you mean?”

“It’s not important. We’ll talk about it when we get you home.”

I wasn’t prepared to tell her that Beth was Veronica Venus; and I didn’t think Meadow was emotionally ready for another blow. That type of betrayal was crushing. Meadow had poured her heart out to the woman who’d been behind all her pain. It made me sick thinking about it.

Four hours later the team, minus Joel who was still with Sally, had gathered outside Meadow’s hospital room. I’d gotten a reprieve, and Kilby let me write my after-action report at the hospital. He also postponed my interview, so I didn’t have to leave Meadow.

“Good work today,” Kilby said as he prepared to leave. I gritted my teeth, stopping myself from telling him there was nothing good about Beth Stevens getting her filthy hands on Meadow.

Mandy’s hand went to my shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “I agree. Strong work. Meadow is safe, and Beth is behind bars.”

“You ready to take her home?” Detective Lance said when he approached.

“Yes. She’s been released; we’re waiting on your okay,” I told him.

As predicted, the outside of the hospital was crawling with media. It was a madhouse outside, and we’d been planning our escape without being noticed.

“I’ve arranged for her to be taken by ambulance back to Firehouse 15. There is an unmarked car already there waiting to take you home. I’ll follow the ambulance in my car to make sure the rig isn’t being followed,” he explained.

“Thank you, much appreciated.”

“It’s the least I can do for being such an asshole. I was wrong and doubted you and damn if your profile wasn’t spot on. I won’t be making that mistake again.” Detective Lance offered his hand to Kilby, who graciously took his hand in a brief shake and nod.

“You’ll have our reports in the next day or two,” Kilby told him, then turned to us. “Any word on Sally? Christ Almighty when that dog jumped over the seat and darted out of the car I didn’t know what to expect. Her jumping into Beth Stevens was not what I expected. Though she is yours; I should’ve known she’d go off reservation.”

The team chuckled, and I did my best to smile though I knew it had to look more like a grimace.

“Joel said she made it through surgery, but the vet said it didn’t look good. I’d appreciate no one saying anything to Meadow. She’s torn up about what happened, and I’m afraid what the news will do to her.”

The team gave their agreement, and Lance escorted us back through the ER to an awaiting ambulance. Meadow’s gurney was quickly loaded, and the rig took off.

26

The uncles

“How could I not have known you were so infuriating? And possibly the most stubborn man alive?” I whined.

“Me? Stubborn? You do remember you were in the hospital a few hours ago, right? And… don’t roll your eyes at me Meadow.”

“Nick. I can walk to the bathroom. You don’t need to carry me every time I have to pee.”

“The doctor said not to put pressure on your leg,” he reminded me for the tenth time. The fluids I’d received at the ER were running through me, and I had to pee every five minutes, which meant Nick was carrying me back and forth to the bathroom every five minutes.

“She said much pressure. I can limp to use the bathroom.”

This time Nick rolled his eyes at me and ignored my protest when he sat me on the couch. When we got home, he’d put me to bed, and I dozed, but a horrible nightmare had woken me up. Nick held me until I stopped crying and now I didn’t want to go back to sleep. The painkillers were making it hard to keep my eyes open, but fear of reliving my attack was a great motivator. So was the grief I saw on Nick’s face when he rocked me, apologizing over and over that he allowed Beth to get to me.