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“But I don’t blame him for this. I blame that idiot snowboarder who took a blind jump without bothering to check the landing below. It was totally irresponsible.”
“Look, I know you’ve got a lot to deal with right now, but you’ve got to talk to Jace. He’s really suffering and afraid. And if t
he worst happens and Charlie doesn’t make it, he’s going to have an even bigger load of guilt. You’ve got to help him.”
“But what if I screw this up? I don’t know what to say? I’ve only been a father for less than two weeks. And I’m really afraid she won’t live. He’s gonna know. I can’t hide it.”
“Do you love Jace?”
“Of course I do. I may not have known him for a long time, but I love him.” Josh sounded almost offended at the question.
“Then I think it’s time you said that to Jace,” said Steven. “Kids need to see it and hear it.”
“Okay... okay, I’ll tell him.”
As he turned to go inside, Steven caught his arm, “And Josh, the same goes for women. They have to see it and hear it. I don’t know what you’re planning to do about Charlie and Olivia, but—”
“I know what I’m going to do.” His voice didn’t waver as he spoke. “I’m not marrying Olivia—even if it means I lose Chloe. And if Charlie wakes up, I’m hoping she’ll marry me. But if she turns me down, I’ll wait and try to make her change her mind. And I’ll keep trying until she marries me... or someone else.”
Steven smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s the Josh I know. I’m really proud of you. She may take some convincing, especially since you swore you were in love with Olivia. But I think she’ll come around eventually. And this way, you won’t have to talk her into marrying you by January.”
JOSH FOUND JACE SITTING in the corner of the waiting room next to Emily and Spencer. “Mind if I talk to you for a second?”
At Jace’s nod, he slipped into the seat beside him. “Would it be okay if you sat in my lap? I’m kind of scared, and I could use a hug.”
Jace almost flew into his lap, throwing his arms around Josh and sobbing against his chest. Josh couldn’t hold back another round of tears. When he felt the shaking in Jace’s body subsiding, he said, “I need to tell you something. Okay?”
“Okay,” Jace answered in a small voice.
“I need to tell you I love you. I almost lost you today. If that snowboard had hit your head, I would never have had the chance to say it.”
“But Charlie would be okay, instead of me.”
“I don’t want Charlie to be okay instead of you. I want both of you to be okay. You know, Charlie risked her life for you today because she loves you, too.”
“B-but wh-what if sh-she dies?” Jace sobbed out the words.
“Oh, Jace... It would be so awful if Charlie died. But Papa Steven just told me our job is to believe she’s going to be okay. So that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to believe, and we’re going to pray. Okay?” He let his own tears stream down his face, without bothering to wipe them off.
“I’m s-sorry I f-fell and I w-wouldn’t let Charlie h-help me up. Th-that’s why I w-was in the w-way.”
“No, Jace. It wasn’t your fault—it was just a crazy accident. And we can’t have you feeling all guilty about something that wasn’t your fault. Charlie would hate that. Anyway, she was so proud of you for being independent. She told me she loved the way you insisted on getting up without any help.”
“But I don’t w-want her to d-die.”
“She won’t. Okay? She won’t die—I won’t let her.” Josh hugged him tight, wondering how he was going to keep his promise, hating his helplessness all the more.
AN ETERNITY PASSED before the doors opened and the surgeon came out, calling for the Best family. The entire group rushed to surround him. Anne was holding Steven’s hand, and he grimaced at the force of her squeeze.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
She tried to understand what the doctor was saying to Brad. She caught a few important words, “critical, but stable.” Only then did she realize she’d been holding her breath. Tears of relief flowed down her cheeks. She’d been more afraid than she’d admitted out loud, feeling the need to be strong for Emily.
“She was really lucky this happened with an emergency physician around. Otherwise I doubt she would have survived long enough to get to the emergency room. But if the aorta had been totally transected, there’s nothing any of us could have done. As it is, we’ve given her five pints of blood.”
“What’s the extent of damage to the other organs?” Josh asked.
The doctor directed his answer to Brad. “As I was saying... she lost a lot of blood. Some of that blood came from her aorta, and some from her other lacerations. We had to remove her spleen. And of course, we already knew her lung was damaged. Her overall prognosis is good, but the next twenty-four hours will be critical.”
