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“I do. If you’d all give Mr. Hayes and me the room, I’ll help him get changed and wheel him down to the surgical floor.”
Becket clears his throat. “Is it okay if I help him instead?”
“That’s fine, but don’t let him fall. I’ll be right outside this door.” Helen walks out, and Dr. Midori stares at me.
“You aren’t leaving the hospital, right? We’d like to monitor you overnight.”
“If you can do it from my wife’s bedside, then go for it. But I swear to God, doc. If you don’t get out of my way and let me get to my wife, I’ll go right through you,” I warn him.
“We’ll make sure he doesn’t go anywhere, doctor,” Jules tells him. “Thank you so much for taking care of him.”
The doctor walks out of the room, and I wait for Jules to leave too.
“Not a chance, Easton Hayes. I’m not letting you out of my sight. I’m going to sit right here and keep my eyes focused on this wall while you get changed.”
“Don’t fight with her,” Becket tells me. “The way you feel about getting to Lindy is how Jules and Kenzie have felt all night about you. Let her stay if it makes her happy, E.”
I nod and kick my legs out so Becks can pull my pants up because if I bend over to do it myself, I have a pretty good feeling I’ll fall the fuck over. My head is spinning from the drugs or the anesthesia or the accident. Pick one. It could be any of them.
He helps me get the shirt on, then Jules calls for Helen and the wheelchair. “I’m really not supposed to let you out of my sight, Mr. Hayes.”
“You know where I’m gonna be, Helen.”
She moves behind the wheelchair. “I do. And I’m going to take you there.”
The hospital is quiet, with the lights off in most of the patient rooms. But once we get down to the surgical floor, there’s no sign of the time. No way to tell that it’s the middle of the night. Helen wheels me into a private room with the Kingstons, and Kenzie runs to me.
Becks stops her before she can launch herself at me. “Don’t, Kenz. Don’t hug him. Give him a minute. He’s covered in bruises and has a fractured arm.”
“I’m okay. How’s Lindy?”
Jace comes over to me then. “She’s still in surgery. They’re supposed to come out here and update us once they locate the source of the bleeding, but we haven’t heard anything yet.”
I stand carefully, and Jace holds out his arm for me to grab onto as I slowly make my way over to where Ashlyn and Brandon sit, surrounded by the Kingstons. Scarlet rises from the seat next to her and touches my chest. “I’m glad you’re okay, Easton.”
I carefully squat down in front of Ashlyn, and she takes my hand in hers. “I’m so sorry,” I say as tears fill my eyes. “I couldn’t stop it. It’s my fault. I couldn’t save her.”
“Easton,” Ashlyn sobs. “There was an officer at the corner of the street. He saw it all. You couldn’t have controlled what happened. The paparazzi caused the accident. The man on the motorcycle had a long-lens camera with him. He died for a stupid picture.” Her voice shakes. “And Madeline—” She breaks off on a sob, and Brandon pulls her to him.
“Come on, Easton.” Becket moves next to me and helps me into the chair next to Ashlyn. “You’ve got to take it easy. They’ll come out and tell us what’s going on soon.”
* * *
Soon doesn’t come for three more hours.
And when it does, you could hear a pin drop in the room.
A man and a woman, both dressed in dark-blue scrubs and surgical caps walk into the room. “Mr. Hayes?” the woman calls, and Juliette points them my way.
“I’m her husband,” I say, feeling Ashlyn take my good hand in hers. “And this is her mother.”
“Are you okay, Mr. Hayes?” the woman asks, and the room whirls around me. “I’m fine. Tell me about my wife.”
The male surgeon answers, “Your wife is a fighter. Her seatbelt saved her life, but it also caused a splenic laceration. Once we located the bleed, we did everything we could to save her spleen but were unable to. She’s out of surgery now and in recovery.”
“What exactly are you saying?” I ask, wanting to make sure I’m understanding him.
“We removed your wife’s spleen. She’ll have to stay here for a few days, so we can monitor her recovery, and she’ll have to take it easy while she recovers for the next four to six weeks. She’s a lucky woman. This could have been much worse.”
