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He very vaguely remembered someone getting him to a chair and shoving coffee into his hand, but for the life of him, he didn’t remember who. It took him a few minutes before he could pull himself together. He managed to wipe his face off and take the proffered napkins from Evan.
Over the next hour, everyone showed up. Even his mother drove down from Ventura. He took equal turns comforting everyone and being a total fucking wreck. He paced, and then he sat. Then he paced. He couldn’t fathom how anyone could bring themselves to hurt Cora.
When the ER doctor finally came out, he called Theo’s name. En masse, the entire group followed him over to the doctor, hopeful that the news would be good.
The doctor blinked at the sheer size of the group and then she asked, “Is this...”
“Family. Go ahead, please. How’s my baby?”
Theo clutched Jamie’s arm in a death grip as they waited.
“She lost a lot of blood but we were able to repair her lung and retrieve all of the bullets. One was lodged in her shoulder. Luckily, with the exception of the lung, nothing else vital was hit. She’s out of surgery now. She pulled through just fine. With her age, health, and medical history, there’s no reason to think she won’t make a full recovery. We’re moving her to a private room in the ICU so we can keep a close eye on her for the night. She’ll be here for a few days. She also has a nasty concussion.”
“When can we see her?” Jamie asked, swamped with relief.
“The nurse will let you know when she’s been settled. She’s still sedated, but you can see her briefly tonight. No more than two at a time. Five minutes max. She needs to rest.”
* * * *
He knew it was the right thing to do, letting Taryn and Theo go first. He couldn’t help but wait anxiously for his turn though. It was one thing to hear that she was going to be okay, and quite another thing to see it for himself.
He paced the hallway, his stomach in knots until Taryn said, “Your turn, Jamie,” and gave his arm a comforting squeeze.
He gave her a nod and hovered at the door for a minute. His mother stood next to him, gave him a little push, and said, “Go on. I’ll give you a minute.”
Jamie felt the stinging in his eyes but ignored it. He gave his mother a crushing hug. “Thank you, Mom.”
Any sense of relief he might have had left him the moment that he saw her laying there. She looked so fragile. She had an ugly bruise on her cheek and a scrape on her forehead. There were so many machines and wires.
He picked up her hand and sank into the chair next to her bed. He pressed a kiss against her knuckles and said, “Baby, I thought I lost you.”
“How could anyone do this to you?” he asked on a broken sob. The combination of fear, anger, and relief was too much to bear. He broke down, leaning his forehead against her hand. He had come so fucking close to losing everything.
Eventually, he felt a hand squeeze his shoulder in comfort. Still he couldn’t bear to let go of her hand. No matter the history, what had transpired between them, there had never been anyone but Cora.
“Jamie, baby. We need to go now. The nurse has been giving us the evil eye for the last ten minutes.”
He sat up, wiped his face, and said, “Shit. I didn’t realize I was in here for that long.” He released her hand with one last squeeze and then stood up.
Everyone continued to mill around until the nurses finally threatened to have them kicked out of the hospital. From what the doctor said, Cora would be held for observation for the next three days. He needed to plan for that. There was no way in hell that he was leaving her side.
Mentally, Jamie rearranged his schedule so he would be able to be at the hospital. He would need to talk to Tim about it, but there was nothing else he could do. He wouldn’t leave her. Not if he could help it.
He could barely remember the drive home. Even though he’d worried he wouldn’t be able to sleep, he had dropped off immediately. When he woke up after a few hours, he felt renewed.
He sent a few e-mails, ate breakfast, and then headed off to the hospital. When he checked in at the nurses’ station, he found out that Cora had been moved out of the ICU this
morning and into a private room. He stopped at the hospital gift shop and bought her some flowers, then made his way up to the seventh floor.
When he stepped through the door of her room, he winced. The bruises on her face were much more pronounced. He was, however, glad to see that she was no longer hooked up to oxygen. He set the flowers on the shelf by the window and dragged one of the visitor’s chairs to the edge of the bed.
Once he had settled into the chair, he gently picked up her hand and held it in his. He saw her flinch and then open her eyes. As they focused on him, she smiled and said, “Jamie.”
“Cora, baby. I thought I lost you last night. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
She squeezed his hand and said, “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Do you want water? Do you need anything?”
