Page 45 of The Awakening
“Hello?”
“Gavin Morton?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
“I’m Lieutenant Sampson. I’m calling about Elyse Morton. Are you her husband?”
“Yes, sir,” I said, my chest constricting at the seriousness of the officer’s voice.
“She’s been in a car accident. She is being life flighted to Billings.”
“How is she?”
“I’m sorry, sir. That’s all I know. If you have more questions, I can give you a number to call.”
“Yes, that would be great.” I grabbed a pen and wrote the number on the back of my hand. I ended the call and tapped the button for the flight attendant.
“Divert to Billings. Ellie is being taken to the hospital there. She was in an accident.” I turned to look out the window to hidethe flow of tears running down my cheeks. I had caused all of this by questioning her motives.
Waiting was the worst part. We were only an hour into our fight. Two more hours would feel like days.
The hospital staff was less than helpful. They kept telling me they couldn’t give me more information until the test results were back. Even my questions about the baby went unanswered.
“Gavin, what’s going on?” My father walked into the waiting room.
“They still won’t tell me anything.”
“You know, there was something funny about you and Ellie right from the start. Your mother felt like we were watching a relationship grow, not one that had been going on for months. I told her she was imagining things. That it was because you’d been gone so long. Man, I hate having to tell her she was right. I never hear the end of it. She’s going to be okay,” he said, sitting beside me and patting my knee. “What are you going to do next? She’s going to recover, and you’re going to have to make a decision about where to go from here.”
“I’m going to marry her again. We’ll have a big wedding and raise that baby as ours. Dad, I love her more than my own life.” I rested my head in my hands and let the tears flow again.
My father moved his hand to my back and soothed me like he had when I was a little boy. Back when life was easy.
“I see the way you look at her and I am pretty sure she feels the same, so if this is what you want, we’ll make it happen.” He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “So when she pulls through this, and she is back on her feet, it looks like we’ll be hosting another wedding. Your mother will be happy. She was a little upset you eloped.”
“What if she’s not all right?” I looked up at him, no longer hiding my tears. Fear was creeping in, and every terrible scenario filled my head.
“She’s going to be fine. I know it. The women my sons have chosen to spend their lives with are strong and resilient. The future of our family is in good hands with them.” He looked from me to Tyler and Rob. “You boys have made me and your mother incredibly proud.”
My brothers looked at each other and then looked at me.
I sat up straighter and looked at our father. “You hit your head or something, Dad?”
My brothers tried to hold back their laughter, and I couldn’t help the grin that formed across my face.
He just shook his head and swatted my leg, and the three of us burst into laughter.
The waiting room door swung open, and a police officer walked through them.
“Mr. Morton?” he asked.
I stood, and then my father and brothers did as well. They formed ranks around me, and we waited for whatever he was going to say.
He held out his hand, and I shook it. “Mr. Morton, I am Sergeant Tillerson. Your wife was involved in a traffic accident. Would you mind if we had a seat?”
Once we were all seated, the officer took a deep breath. “She was being chased by a man named Ray Watson.”
“Her ex-fiancé.”
