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After the crash, Rafe had staggered from the car and fallen to the ground, dazed and confused. A high pitched ringing had buzzed in his head like angry bees.
What the fuck happened?
Scott had been on him in an instant, his mobile phone plastered to his ear as he called for help.
He’d propped Rafe against the side of the car then gone to check on Jane and the other driver, then Rafe had heard his old friend curse and the click of handcuffs being snapped into place.
Struggling to his feet, he’d half climbed back into the driver seat where all his worst nightmares awaited him.
Jane’s side of the car had borne the brunt of the collision. She was disoriented and pushed ineffectually at the slowly deflating airbags to her front and side.
Blood trickled down her temple and matted her hair in clumps, and on closer inspection he saw she had glass stuck in her forehead.
But that wasn’t what sent a shiver down his spine.
No, that horrible feeling came when he slid his hand over her inner thigh and it came away slick with blood. Dark crimson and wet, it had been everywhere, had soaked through her jeans and into the seat, and he hadn’t held back his cry of despair.
Blinded by tears and panic, he’d tried to unfasten Jane’s seatbelt but it was jammed.
Or maybe it was him.
His hands had shook so violently he could barely grip the buckle, and the blood made them slip across the metal without purchase.
Scott had barked at him. “Don’t touch her, wait for the doctor. Talk to her and keep her calm.”
Something about that had made sense to him, reached his more logical side, even through the fog of his killer headache. So he’d reined in his anguish and done as ordered, with silent tears streaming down his cheeks.
Since the collision happened just outside Melville’s Cross, Dr Chen and the other medical staff from the clinic arrived within minutes, as did the police constable, James and his RFS crew.
The firefighters had worked to free Jane and the other driver from the cars while Dr Chen organised medical transport then tried her best to stabilise Jane.
When the EMTs arrived, they’d seen the handcuffs on the other driver. The junior ambo had scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Are those really necessary?” he’d asked, as though Scott was over-reacting to the fact the driver had just tried to kill them.
Scott got in the kid’s face and drilled his finger into the idiot’s chest. “She’s our prime suspect in a series of crimes committed against Miss Melville,” he snarled, pointing with his free hand at the gurney Jane was being strapped to. “Including arson, and now attempted murder. So, yes. They’re necessary.”
The kid looked like he might have pissed his pants. Scott continued barking orders at everyone while his constable re-directed traffic around the scene.
The drive to the hospital hadn’t been fast enough for Rafe, and now he sat in the ER with a sprained wrist, a mild concussion and multiple contusions, while the love of his life was fuck knew where, all alone, and he couldn’t go to her.
I’ll never leave you again, Janie. I promise.
“I need to be with Jane,” he said quietly, as the nurse helped him slide his arm into a sling.
Looking up from under her lashes, pity filled her gaze. “They were taking her for X-rays and an MRI, then an ultrasound.”
“Do you know if she was awake?” She was unconscious when she’d gone into the ambulance.
The nurse shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t. But I can ask. Wait here.” Then she smiled kindly and disappeared through the slit in the curtains surrounding the bed he was sitting on.
“Wait here.” Rafe snorted. Where the fuck did she think he was going to go?
When the nurse returned she had a doctor with her. He looked young and walked with a confidence that bordered on cocky. Rafe hoped he proved capable. He’d hate to have to punch a doctor.
“Rafe, my name is Dr Ellison. I’m the senior house officer on duty this afternoon.” He picked up Rafe’s file and flicked through the top few pages, then shone a penlight in his eyes and asked him an endless stream of questions until Rafe thought he might just punch the doctor on principle.
“Enough,” Rafe snapped. “I want to see Jane. Where is she?”
The doctor clicked his pen and tucked it away in his coat pocket. “She’s been admitted and we’re running tests. I don’t have any definitive information for you yet, except that she’s been assigned a private room in the maternity ward.”
