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“I’m sure he’ll be able to get over there to help Liam. Now, I had no idea you had a new lady friend. How long have you been keeping this from your mother?”
That made me smile. It was never a good idea to try to keep anything from my mother. She didn’t handle being out of the loop well at all.
“Ma, I wasn’t hiding anything, promise. I only met her a month ago. It’s all very new still.”
“Okay, son, I believe you. Now, you go take care of her, and your father and I will help Liam get everything taken care of out at your ranch.”
“Thanks, Ma.”
I ended the call and glanced over at Christopher who was still on his phone. From what I could hear of his conversation, he was talking to Gabs’ friend, Silk. I wasn’t sure if Gabs was going to be happy or pissed off with her brother about calling her friend, but time would tell because from what he was saying, she was on her way here.
I headed back into the waiting room. Gabs was pacing, her arms wrapped around her middle. My heart hurt watching her lost in her misery. I strode over, and after depositing my coffee and the snacks on the table, went to her. Catching her wrist, I pulled her against me so I could wrap her up in my arms.
“It’ll all work out, sweetheart. Gonna be hard for a while, but you’ll get through it all. I’ll make sure of it.”
She relaxed against me and slipped her arms around my waist, holding on to me as tightly as I was her. I loved that she found peace with me. I wanted to be that for her. Her anchor in the storm.
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, silently sealing my promise to her.
As much as we hadn’t physically seen each other for the month between us meeting and today, all the phone calls and texts had meant we’d gotten to know each other and I knew if we got the chance, we could have something special. With how long her folks were going to need her attention and focus, it would be some time before we’d get a chance to get intimate, but I was more than happy to wait for my silver-haired beauty. She was worth it.
Gabs
I was still clutching Boone when the door swung open, and a doctor came through. I turned to watch as he went over to the other couple who were waiting in the room with us and delivered his news. They spoke too softly for me to hear what was said, but the woman’s tears seemed like relieved ones. At least that was what I was telling myself.
A few minutes later, another doctor came in along with a nurse, and Christopher stood as they headed in our direction.
“Your mother’s awake and has been moved to a room. We successfully got her shoulder back in place from the dislocation. She also had a deep laceration to her right forearm that we closed. Time will tell if she suffers any nerve damage from that. We found where she was bleeding in her abdomen and got that taken care of. I’ll be by to check on her in the morning and I’ll answer any questions you have then. In the meantime, Gemma, here, will take you both to her.”
Christopher shook his hand and thanked him. After he left and we followed Gemma out of the room, I turned to Christopher.
“Why couldn’t he tell us more now?”
“The pile-up was nasty, Gabs. Lots of injuries on top of two fatalities at the scene. He’s going to scrub up to do the next surgery. There are a lot more people to save other than our folks.”
Heat flashed over my cheeks that I didn’t think of that myself.
“What about you? Should you be in surgery?”
“Once I check in with Mom, I’ll have to head off to get scrubbed in. It’s going to be a long night.”
“You’ll make sure someone comes to let us know what’s happening with Dad, right?”
He reached over and gave my shoulder a short squeeze.
“Of course, Gabs. You’ll probably know before I do.”
I scoffed at him, not believing that for a moment, but before I could say anything to call him on it, we entered a double room where Mom lay still in a bed. She looked so fragile, the sight causing me to stumble a little. Boone was there with an arm around my waist to keep me steady. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t need to. Simply having his strong presence there helped so much.
Christopher walked ahead of me and leaned in to press a kiss to Mom’s cheek.
“Hey, Mom, how are you feeling? Scared the hell out of us all today.”
She gave him a weak smile. “Sorry, son. I’m feeling pretty groggy, but I’ll take that over the pain. Where’s your father?”
Christopher winced. “Dad’s still in surgery, Mom. His leg was badly damaged, but we haven’t heard any news on how it’s going yet. I promise they’ll be in to let you and Gabs know as soon as they can. And I pulled some strings so you’ll both be able to share a room once he’s out of recovery.”
At the mention of my name, she turned from Christopher to look at me with another slight smile.
