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Her stomach dropped, cold dread sinking into her vitals. He was hurt! He was alone!
And you left him.
“George… I don’t… how bad is it? Where is he?”
“He was in and out of consciousness while the ambulance was transporting him. They have him at Central Washington hospital in Wenatchee. But they might have to transfer him either to Sacred Heart in Spokane, or maybe even Harborview in Seattle. Don’t know yet. Depends on what the doctors say.”
“Oh, my God… oh, my fucking God! I can’t believe this. How did… how did it happen?”
George’s voice dropped, softer now. “Try not to worry, okay? He’s in good hands. They know what they’re doing in Wenatchee, trust me on that. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but the wreck was on the highway right in front of his driveway. His truck got T-boned. Delivery van of some sort hit him. Looks like almost full speed. Driver of the van wasn’t hurt but… Max was pretty banged up. I hope it was okay to call, but one of the EMTs told me Max had said your name, over and over again. I think the paramedics thought he was delirious, but once I heard that… I knew I had to call you.”
“George… George… I don’t know what to do. “
Somehow, somehow she’d managed to screw this up so much worse than she’d feared. If she hadn’t left, who knows what could have happened? Maybe he would never have made that trip? He’d be just fine. Right now.
But she had left.
And Max… he could die. She knew enough about the trauma system to understand if they even mentioned transport to a Level I or II trauma hospital that he was in potentially grave danger.
And he was alone.
She leaned forward in her chair, resting her forehead on her hand, the blood rushing in her ears. What had she done?
“Kelsey, he’s going to be all right, I think. Max is so tough. You just… hang tight. I’ll call you again when I have some news. Okay?”
“Yeah… yeah, I just… I just feel so helpless.”
“That makes two of us, honey. It’s time to pray for him.”
The tears were in her eyes already. “I will, George. Oh, God, I will.”
She hung up the call then, and leaned back against the chair, pressing her hands to her face, the happy sounds of the children warping, morphing into a cackling, a horrific, distorted sound as she began to weep.
And she thought of her father, up there on his phone, with his work—and it filled her with anger.
She knew what she had to do, and the bolt from the heavens certainty of it made her spring from the chaise as if her ass had been shocked by a cattle prod.
But there was something else that had to be taken care of first.
It was time to talk to her daddy.
* * *
She found him, unsurprisingly, on the phone again. Cursing under her breath, she dumped her empty suitcase onto her bed, and she began throwing everything she could find inside it.
Mitchell’s dark brow arched in question. “Howard, hang on.” He placed a hand over the receiver. “Uh, what the hell’s going on, Kelsey?”
She didn’t reply, her anger threatening to spiral out of control, her rage and panic vying to see which would overwhelm her first.
“Howard, I’ll call you back. Yeah, I’ll call you.” He dropped the handset into its cradle, swiveling in his chair toward her, hands clasped between the span of his thighs. The white dress shirt had a couple of buttons undone, the diagonally striped tie draped over the back of the chair. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a long day at the office.
“I’m flying back to Washington.” She practically spit the words as she found another pair of her heels, tossing them in, too.
“The hell you are,” Mitchell snarled, standing up. “What’s gotten into you? I thought we were past this? Does he have that much of a hold over you?”
She wheeled around on him, seeing red now. “He doesn’t have a hold on anyone, goddamn it! I’m a grown adult—or did you miss that while you had your nose stuck so far into your fucking work!”
“You watch that mouth. Adult you may be, but I don’t see you paying that tuition bill. Keep this up, and we’ll see just how much you want to prove you’re this adult—and actually do what adults have to do every day. You know, like be responsible. Not going off and sleeping with men old enough to be their fathers.”
