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I took a deep breath and lifted my hands. “Okay, I’m sorry.”
Her eyebrow quirked. “Really?”
“I’m sorry,” I repeated. “I was a dumbass. You don’t deserve that.”
She blinked at me a few times, clearly in disbelief that I’d apologized. “I . . . okay.”
I almost laughed at how shocked she was. I opened my mouth to say more and maybe try express my feelings better, but there was a thump on the second floor and a shout.
“Oh, shit!” someone yelled.
“Is he okay?”
Sav and I looked at each other with wide eyes before we raced for the stairs. As soon as we hit the second landing, I saw Jackson sprawled out on the carpeted floor. His eyes were closed as if he’d passed out, and my guys were crowded around him, looking scared and confused.
“Call 911,” I said.
She looked anxious as she started to say, “What—”
I cut her off. “Sav. Call 911. Now.”
I knelt next to Jackson and grabbed his wrist, checking for a pulse. Everyone was asking me questions until one of them shouted for the others to quiet down.
His heartbeat was strong, and his breathing seemed normal. He was a little paler than normal, but otherwiselookedokay.
“What happened?” I asked.
“He fell,” someone said.
“How? What was he doing.”
“He was climbing a ladder and lost his balance,” Dylan said.
I cursed under my breath as I worked to wake him gently. I stayed on my knees next to him until then, and Sav knelt on his other side, patting his hand and trying to wake him, staring at her grandpa with tears brimming in her eyes.
He slowly blinked his eyes open and looked at her. He seemed embarrassed and tried to stand, but I kept him lying down and told him to listen to the paramedics. He reluctantly agreed and did as they asked.
They strapped him in and quickly carried him downstairs and out to the waiting ambulance. I called Sean to let him know that Jackson was in an ambulance on the way to the Maxwell Hospital a few towns over. Sav seemed to crawl inside herself as the scene unfolded. Her arms stayed tightly crossed over her chest as she stared with wide eyes as they loaded Jackson into the ambulance.
“That’s my granddaughter. Can she ride with us?”
“Sure,” one of the paramedics said.
Sav glanced at me over her shoulder, and I nodded encouragingly for her to go. “I’ll meet you guys there,” I said. “Sean is on the way too.”
She nodded and climbed into the back of the ambulance. Thunder roared in the distance as I realized the sky had grown cloudy. It was a stark contrast from the bright sunshine I’d experienced only a couple of hours ago.
Rain began to fall, and I breathed a sigh, turning to my crew standing in front of the bookstore. “All right,” I said. “Let’s clean up and get out of here.” I started for the front door. “And don’t worry. Everyone will still get the hours promised on their next check.”
“Thank God,” one of them said, and I didn’t turn around to see who it was because I probably would have decked them.
12
SAV
The bright whitewalls of the hospital creeped me out. The sight of them forced goosebumps to cover my skin as my mind was assaulted by memories of being in this same waiting room, waiting to hear news about my mom or gramma. I was in one of the rooms down the hall from where I sat, watching as Momma took her last breath after her battle with a brain tumor.
A hand covered mine on the armrest, shocking me back to the present. I glanced over my shoulder at Sean who gave me a weak smile. “It’s okay, Sav. Grampa’s gonna be fine.”
