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I just laughed, feeling oddly elated as we drove away. This was my first day of freedom. It was the first time I wasn’t tied to a job in ten years, and it felt damn good.
Mom had been surprisingly negative about the whole thing.
“You sure this is the right thing to do, Paige? You’d be relying a lot on Will, with the funding, and living with him and everything. What if you don’t find a job right away afterward?”
I’d soothed my mother’s worries as best as I could and dedicated the next two weeks to sending grant proposals while overseeing the renovations on the inn. Since it would be an education center now, I needed to make some major changes as well as sell the old furniture and buy new things.
I was standing on a chair, securing a projector to the ceiling in what would be one of the classrooms, when my phone rang from the adjacent room. I’d already missed a call while I was installing this thing, but I didn’t want a repeat. I climbed down, scurrying to the other room.
Val was calling.
“Hello, Val.”
“Hi, Paige. Don’t panic. Will just called me. They’re taking him to the hospital. He said he tried to call you too, but you didn’t answer.”
“Oh my God. What happened?”
“He and his partner were in a chase. Some glass panel broke and they got injured. I don’t have a lot of details, just that they’re going to do some surgery.” Val’s voice shook. “Can you meet me there? I’ll text you the address.”
“Yes. Yes. I’m... on my way.”
I couldn’t breathe. I felt as though I was running in a fog as I crossed the city in the back of a cab. I was in no condition to drive. We drove straight into a traffic nightmare on La Cienega Boulevard, and it took almost three hours to reach the hospital. My phone’s battery died midway through the ordeal, so I wasn’t getting any updates from Val. What if I lost him? What if he.... No, I wouldn’t let myself even think it. I knew I wasn’t being rational. If he’d been in serious danger, he wouldn’t have called Val. The hospital or the police would have contacted next of kin. My emotions were taking over though, and I couldn’t fight them. I even cried a little.
When we finally, finally pulled in front of the damned hospital, I knocked over three people on my way to the floor where Val was waiting. I wiped my face clean, but knew my eyes were swollen, so there would be no hiding.
Val took one look at my face, then pulled me in a hug. “Oh, Paige. Come here. Calm down, please. You didn’t get my texts?”
“Phone battery died.”
“Surgery didn’t last long. Come on, let’s go see him.”
I felt like my bones might liquefy, that’s how relieved I was. Val led me to Will’s room, and I wasn’t surprised at all to see that Jace and Hailey were with him. I knew that Landon and Lori were in Hawaii with their spouses and little ones, or I was sure they’d be rallying around him as well.
His right arm was bandaged from his shoulder to the tips of his fingers, but other than that, he looked like himself.
“Paige,” Will said brightly.
Jace shook his head. “I worked a good fifteen minutes to cheer him up, and nothing. You’re here, and look at him. I’m losing my touch.”
“Yeah, me too,” Hailey said.
Val clapped her hands once. “Okay, both of you out before you give him a headache.”
Jace and Hailey exchanged a glance, but it was Hailey who spoke next. “She still thinks she can boss us around.”
The three of them left, but not before Val affectionately ruffled his hair as if Will was a kid. He grinned at his sister, then held his good arm out for me. I climbed right in next to him on the bed, and to my embarrassment, started crying again—this time out of pure relief.
Will looked stricken. “Paige, I’m okay. A glass panel crashed onto us, but I only had shards in my right arm. They managed to take them all out.”
“I was so scared,” I admitted, scrambling to pull myself together. “I didn’t know what had happened, if you were okay. I didn’t know for three hours. It was hell.”
I was sitting right next to him, and then I lay down, hiding in the crook of his good arm until my sobs subsided.
Will held me to him, whispering soothingly, and I felt more than a little ashamed that he was the one hospitalized, yet I was crying.
“I’m done now, I promise,” I said, sitting up on an elbow so I could look at him. “Are you comfortable? Do you need another pillow? Something to drink?”
“I’m fine, Paige. I’m going to have to take a leave of absence from work. A few weeks at least.”
