AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Zoe was wheeled out of the ambulance and straight through to the emergency department. Dr. Roberts came rushing out to meet the team and wheeled her into a treatment room.
Mitch took a seat in the waiting room. He went to call Jackson, but realized he’d left his phone on the ground beside the riverbed.
He asked the receptionist to borrow their phone.
“Mitch,” Jackson answered.
“Has Jonathan turned up?” Mitch asked, but he knew they wouldn’t get that lucky.
“No. I’ve put a call out to block every road leading out of Redwater and notified Oradale police and surrounding units. Unless he headed back to St. Louis an hour ago, he’s trapped, and it’s just a matter of time,” Jackson told him.
“Mitch?”
He looked up at the sound of his name.
“Yes,” he said, standing.
“Dr. Roberts will be with you in a moment,” the receptionist said.
Mitch exhaled a shaky breath. He prayed Dr. Roberts had good news—he refused to believe otherwise. She’d only been taken away a minute ago and she’d been alive.
She had to survive this. Her story didn’t end in tragedy.
“Mitch,” Dr. Roberts said as he walked toward Mitch. He nodded, gesturing to the hallway behind him.
Mitch moved toward him, but Dr. Roberts didn’t say a word until they were in the privacy of a treatment room.
“Zoe is being prepped for surgery now. The stab wound to her abdomen is life-threatening, but so far she’s doing well. I don’t know how long the surgery will take—it depends what I see when I open up her abdomen. You’re welcome to stay, but I suggest you go home for a few hours. I’ll call you myself when I’m done.”
Mitch swallowed, not wanting to leave her, but he knew he was of more use helping Jackson.
“Please call the station when she’s in recovery,” he said.
Dr. Roberts nodded. “I’ll call you,” he reassured. “I need to get to the OR.”
Mitch nodded and then turned to leave.
Some people said anger wasn’t a useful emotion, but Mitch disagreed. Anger fueled every step he took as he strode toward the front of the hospital.
He radioed the station. “I’m at the hospital, I need a car,” he said.
“I’ll send someone now,” the officer responded.
Mitch paced the front of the hospital while he waited for the officer to arrive—thankfully, an advantage of being in a small town meant the car was there in a few minutes.
“I’m going to the woods with Jackson,” Mitch said.
CHAPTER38
MITCH
“I’m on duty at the station. I’ll jog back there—take the keys,” the officer said, throwing them to Mitch.
Mitch slid into the driver’s seat and turned on the ignition, heading straight for Zoe’s house.
“Jackson, I’m on my way,” Mitch said into the radio. “I don’t have a phone.”
“I’ve got your phone. I’m on the east boundary of Zoe’s place. No sign of Jonathan yet; I have a feeling he came back to the house, saw the commotion, and slipped away. He’s hiding in these woods somewhere.”
