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“Where’s he at?” I hear Caleb’s voice, his footsteps coming fast.
Jasmine says, “Broken leg and I think a concussion. He made me get out of the car. He should have gotten out, but he was saving me and didn’t make it. This is all my fault.” Her voice gets higher, and she hiccups a sob.
I force my eyes open to tell her it’s not her fault, but Caleb does it for me. “Don’t even say that. We all know none of this is your doing. We’re going to get this guy,” he states firmly.
“All good, baby,” I mutter. A woman in scrubs steps up and looks down at me, flashing a light in my eyes.
“All right, lets get you to X-ray.” She looks at Jasmine, who still has a firm clasp on my hand. “I’ll come get you as soon as he’s done.” The woman sees how reluctant she is to let me go and says, “I promise, I’ll take good care of him.”
I move her hand to my lips and kiss it. “Be back soon.” I let her go and let them roll me away on the gurney.
* * *
Jasmine
As Zeke is being rolled away, I want to run after him, but Caleb has a firm grip on my arm and takes me in the other direction. That’s when I see the whole crew waiting for me. Alex and Damian look pretty menacing, whereas Chloe and Sabrina just seem sad and worried. Coming in the main door is the older gentleman who helped Zeke out of the car with a woman I assume is his wife. He comes barreling toward me.
“How’s he doing? We came as soon as we could. Have the police gotten here yet?” he asks. “I’m Jasper, by the way. This is my wife, Cathy.” Such a brave, sweet man. He must be in his late fifties, but seems to be in great shape, with salt-and-pepper hair that gives him a distinguished, handsome appearance.
“Zeke has gone for X-rays,” I tell him. “These are Zeke’s friends and partners.”
Caleb extends a hand to shake Jasper’s. “I’m Detective Caleb Thorne.” Caleb nods toward the others. “That’s Damian and Alex and their better halves. Zeke is part of the Colorado Police Department, as are we. We’d like to ask you a few questions, if that’s all right with you.”
“Absolutely,” Jasper says quickly. “That guy was gunning for their car. Makes no sense at all.” He shakes his head.
“How about we grab a cup of coffee, and you can tell me what happened?” Damian suggests. Jasper readily agrees, and Alex decides to join them, leaving Sabrina and Chloe to take care of me. We all sit in the waiting room, Chloe on my right and Sabrina on my left.
Caleb drops to his haunches and in a gentle voice asks, “Can you tell me what happened?”
I raise my head to meet his gaze. “We were coming home. Everything was good, and then it wasn’t. Zeke made a turn out of our way and kept glancing in the rearview mirror. That’s when I knew we were being followed. Zeke had to stop for a Stop sign. We couldn’t go through. Other cars were already in the way. He took off my seat belt and practically shoved me out of the car.” I cover my face with my hands and let out a sob. “I thought he was getting out too, but he didn’t have time. Zeke got me out, but not himself.” Sabrina leans in, and I drop my head on her shoulder.
“Zeke’s going to be all right, sweetie,” she coos. Chloe grips my hand tighter, giving me an encouraging smile and nodding.
“Sabrina’s right. I know Zeke, and if it’s possible, he’ll be walking out of here in a few hours,” Chloe adds.
“I hate to ask, Jaz, but the faster we get information, the quicker we can get our guys on this. I have a couple more questions,” Caleb says.
“Sure. Of course.” I wipe away the tears with the back of my hand. I take a long slow breath. “Ready.”
“Did you get a look at the driver?”
Shaking my head, I answer, “Not clearly. He was wearing a hoodie that came down low over his forehead. The car was a dark blue SUV. When I looked for Zeke, I saw that he was still in the car. The other car rammed right into Zeke’s back end. It pushed the car into the oncoming cars. Then the SUV came at him again and plowed right into his side, flipping his car over. It was lucky that the other cars must have seen what was going on because they all slammed on their brakes. This could have been much worse.”
“Do you know how long this guy was following the two of you?” Caleb asks.
“Everything went so fast. From Longmeadow Road to Birch Avenue, I think. I wasn’t paying attention until Zeke started taking a different road home. I think he didn’t want to worry me,” I reply. “I’m sorry. I’m useless at this.”
“You’re doing just fine,” Caleb says. “This is not your fault, and Zeke would lose his mind if he thought you were thinking it was. You let Chloe and Sabrina take care of you. I’m going to check on word from the nurse’s station,” he says. He rises to his feet, plants a kiss on the top of my head like a big brother would, and goes to check on Zeke’s progress.
In the meantime, Jasper and Cathy are back with Damian and Alex, all carrying coffees for all of us and settling in for the wait.
“How are you doing, dear?” Cathy asks, sitting across from me with her husband next to her.
“I’m doing okay. It’s Zeke I’m worried about,” I tell her.
Jasper’s been quiet since he came back with the guys, and now he finally speaks up. “I’m not a doctor, but I’ve seen plenty of injuries. From what I assessed, it seems like he’s going to be fine. Your man is going to hurt like hell for a while, but he’ll be back to normal soon enough.”
“Were you an EMT or something?” I ask.
