Page 41 of Dreaming of You

Chapter Nine

They found Kate's grandfather in the waiting room adjacent to the surgical center. He was a tall, thin, balding man who had a bandage on his head and looked pale and shaky as Kate embraced him. Barrett stood off to the side, not wanting to get in the way.

"How's Grandma?" Kate asked.

"She's in surgery," her grandfather replied. "They said there's internal bleeding. They're trying to stop it."

"How are you?" she asked, her gaze narrowing on the bandage on his temple. "Did you hit your head?"

"I'm fine. They checked me out. I just got a cut from some flying glass."

"What happened?"

"A car ran a red light." His gaze hardened with anger. "Damn red-light runner. It wasn't my fault, Katie. I had the green light. Witnesses said so. The kid came out of nowhere. And he hopped out without a scratch." He shook his head. "But maybe I should have taken another look or waited a second longer to enter the intersection."

She put a hand on her grandfather's arm. "Don't blame yourself. It sounds like you were completely in the right."

"Being right doesn't get your grandmother out of surgery."

"Being wrong won't do that, either. She's going to be all right. She has to be."

The older man nodded. "I can't live without her. She's my rock."

"I know."

Her grandfather's gaze moved past Kate, settling on him. "Who are you?"

Kate started. "Oh, sorry, Grandpa. This is Barrett Fox. He was driving me home from dinner when you called, so he brought me here." She turned to him. "This is my grandfather, Lance Harding."

"Sir," he said, shaking the man's hand. "I'm sorry about your wife."

"Thanks for bringing Kate over. I was beside myself; I didn't know what to do."

"You did exactly right," Kate said. "There's no other place I want to be than here. Now, when's the last time you got information?"

"Awhile ago. The nurses rush around, but no one tells me anything."

"I'm going to see what I can find out," Kate said. "I'll be right back."

"Okay, sure."

"Why don't we sit down," he suggested, motioning Lance to a nearby chair.

The older man moved slowly and was a bit shaky on his feet but managed to sit down without falling. "Sorry I ruined your evening," he said.

"You didn't ruin anything. I hope your wife will be all right."

"Bess is a fighter." Lance paused, then looked at him with pain in his blue eyes. "She has always been stronger than me, but she looked…bad. I didn't want to say that to Katie, but I'm scared."

He was scared now, too. Kate's love for her grandparents was huge. He didn't want her to have to deal with losing one.

"Katie is a lot like Bess," Lance continued. "She's forthright, confident, and with the biggest heart. She always goes above and beyond. She's one special girl."

He nodded. "I've seen her go above and beyond."

"But Kate and Bess also carry a lot of pain, a deep wound that has scarred over but has never gone away. That pain comes from my daughter Evie. I don't know if Katie has told you anything about her mother."

"Not a lot," he murmured, but he didn't think Lance was really listening to him. He seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

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