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“To use the network’s helicopter. He has his pilot’s license. He came out despite the weather warnings and kept looking when the emergency services suggested we stop because there was little hope of finding Matt alive. Frankie, he saved Matt's life.”
My legs wobbled as I thought of them giving up on Matt and what could have happened if Kain and my family hadn’t been there. “Where is he?”
Emmy’s hands grabbed my elbows, sensing how unsteady I was.
“He’s not here, but I can call him,” Tanner offered.
“Maybe later. Matt? How was he?”
“Cold. He kept calling your name and saying sorry. It broke my heart, sis.”
“Do you think—”
“He’s fighting, Frankie. Let’s wait to see what the doctor says.”
Tanner sat, pulling me onto his lap, Gray sitting on one side and Mav on the other, Emmy and Addi took the seats across from us. And that was where we stayed for the next hour until the doctor came out, his face expressionless.
“Frankie, you should be in bed.”
“How is he, Dr. Vaughan?”
He took the seat next to Addi, pulling his glasses from his face and pinching the bridge of his nose.
“He’s been wet and exposed to the elements for more than forty-eight hours, so he’s not in a good way, I’ll be honest. He’s taken a hit to the head, so we need to take him for a scan to make sure there’s no bleeding or internal damage, but we need to warm him up. He has pretty severe hypothermia, so right now we are using all the tricks in the book, but we need to do it slowly to make sure his body can cope.” He put his glasses back on before continuing.
“We are pumping him with warm fluids, but that’s not really having the effect we need it to, so we’re going to warm his blood. This involves taking his blood out of his body through a machine that will warm it before putting it back in. Now, if that doesn’t work, we need to do peritoneal lavage, which sounds scary, but it will involve us pushing a warm saline solution into Matt’s abdomen.” Dr. Vaughan leaned forward and placed his hand over mine, his voice softening.
“Nothing is a quick fix, Frankie. You’re going to have to give us time and have some patience. As soon as his body temperature is where we want it to be and he’s had a scan on his head, then you can see him, but we’re looking at ten or twelve hours at least. Why don’t you go back to your room and rest? I will send a nurse to get you as soon as we know more.”
I shook my head, biting on my lip to try to stave off the tears threatening to fall. Tanner pulled me tighter to him.
“We’ll keep an eye on her, doc. I promise.”
“Very well then. Do any more of you need checking out?” When they all shook their heads, Dr. Vaughan left, and I rested my head back on Tanner’s shoulder, praying that Matt would come back to me.
Hours passed, coffees were bought, but went undrunk. My body screamed in pain, but I refused to move from my spot outside his room. Ethan and Ivy arrived and hugged me so tightly that I melted into them. Thomas Lanton appeared. The hospital called him as he was down as Matt’s next of kin. Thomas had supported the band so much over the last few years, his stony faced calmness was a welcome addition.
He crouched down before me and lifted my face to his, letting me see the emotion that blazed in his eyes. “He’s a fighter, and he loves you so much. I wasn’t sure he’d ever let himself be happy again after Emma and Alfie, but you, Frankie, are his world. He’ll fight for you.”
That’s when it hit me. Leaping off Tanner's knee, I cried out in pain as Thomas stood as well.
“Frankie?” Thomas questioned.
“That’s why we were outside. He was trying to leave.”
“Leave you?” His brows furrowed.
“No. Leave the cabin. They caught the person that killed Emma and Alfie. Matt lost it. He wanted to go and see for himself. The bridge was out. We were arguing about why he should wait for the storm to pass and I promised him I would help him get there. He'd agreed to come to the house and wait until the morning. Then the riverbank gave way.” I sobbed loudly as I remembered it all. The weight on my chest was almost too much to bear.
“Breathe, Frankie,” Addi demanded, her hand rubbing my back.
“He helped me out and then he was gone. I tried to find him, I searched, but there was no sign of him and that’s when I called you guys and Kain.” I looked around at my family, remembering everything.
Thomas was on the phone the minute I finished speaking, pacing the floor while he demanded answers from whoever was on the other end. Hanging up after a few minutes, he took a second to mask his emotions.
“The police arrested a man on unrelated charges and in his house were photos... lots and lots of photos. Among them were ones of Emma and Alfie. He took them after he killed them. They also found the gun that killed Emma there, as well. The police told Matt, and that’s probably why he was so desperate to leave. He blamed himself for so long, and I’ve always told him that he couldn’t have changed the outcome. It looked like this person had been watching his house for a while and waited until he was at work. He couldn’t have stopped it from happening.”
“No wonder he was so hellbent on getting there. I can’t imagine how pissed off he must have been hearing they'd caught the psycho after all these years,” Tanner replied.
