Page 33 of Inherited Light
I turned into her driveway and parked in the space where her van usually sits. The ignition off, I swiveled toward her. “I’m sorry, Cat. I don’t know why you feel this way, but your pain is palpable as I sit here with you. Maybe it’s because I grew up with Cinn, and I learned how to read her cues when her words weren’t telling me the truth about how she truly felt. All I know is, I need to get you into the house so you can take a hot shower and go to bed. Tomorrow morning will be soon enough to check out the ramp. We’ll do it in the bright morning sun and share a cup of coffee in the yard. Okay?”
She grasped my hand tightly. “Will you stay with me tonight?”
I took a deep breath and held it, unsure of what to say. Her eyes searched mine and I never wanted to see such desperation in them ever again. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea, Cat. You should rest.”
“I only meant stay in the house with me. I don’t want to be alone. Can I be honest with you?”
I rubbed her face with my thumb. “Always, baby.”
“When I saw Xavier tonight, everything from the time I dated him rushed back to me in a wave of fear. I don’t want to be alone because I’m scared. I know, logically, he’s not going to come out here, but the dark scares me into believing he might.”
I tugged her to me, right into my arms so I could hold her. “I’ll stay for however long you need me to stay, Cat. I know Xavier and he’s all bark and no bite, but it’s little consolation when you’re tired, sore, and upset about your van. Let’s go in and you can shower while I chill the wine. We can share a glass before bed.”
She nodded against the hollow of my neck and rather than release her I opened my door, climbing out with her still in my arms. I swiveled and sat her on the seat while I unstrapped her wheelchair and then grabbed the cushion and her purse, before lifting her down into the chair. I noticed her wince and wondered if she had hurt herself somehow and didn’t want to tell me. She rolled ahead of me and I grabbed the keys and the bottle of wine, locking the truck behind me.
She stopped at the ramp and waited for the light to come on, but it didn’t. “Did you turn the light off when you were in the house?” she asked.
A feeling hit me as I stood there waiting in the darkness. It was doom. As though our lives were about to change and it took everything I had to answer her, and not pick her up and run. “No, I didn’t go in the house. Let me check and see if the bulb is burned out.” I set the wine down on the sidewalk and jogged around the side of the ramp.
She started rolling up the ramp alongside me. “It shouldn’t be burned out, but I guess you never know.”
I grabbed my phone as I stepped carefully around the back of the ramp. I fumbled with the phone to turn the flashlight on and dropped it by accident. “Dammit,” I said, bending over to pick it up. I felt a sharp pain in my neck and the ground rose up to meet me.
Chapter Eleven
My head pounded with each heartbeat and I woke slowly, wondering what the hell had happened. The dark had swallowed me, but I searched around on the ground for my phone, remembering it was what I had bent over to get before someone hit me from behind. I felt the hard case under my rib and rolled over, moaning a little as I did, until I could get the phone in my hand. I sat up and the hulking ramp loomed in front of me. Only then did I remember where I was.
Fear enveloped me and I hoisted my body up and propelled myself forward, yelling into the night. “Cat! Cat!” I called as I ran around the ramp, the flashlight bouncing a beam of light across the lawn until I trained it on the house. Her chair lay tipped over against the ramp’s railing and another sweep of the light was all I needed to find her, laying at the bottom, not moving.
Terror. Heart stopping terror was all encompassing as I ran and slid to my knees, my hands checking for a pulse. I let out a breath when I felt a steady one. There was no light, so I ran to my truck and turned the headlights on, illuminating the space around us, and protecting us from another sneak attack. I knelt by Cat again and rubbed her face roughly. “Cat, please wake up, honey,” I called, slapping her face lightly. She slowly moved her head and moaned, her face grimacing as though she was in terrible pain.
“Ren?” she asked, her hand coming up to touch her head. “What happened?”
She tested her arms and fingers, but I held her still with my hand. “I’m going to call an ambulance. I don’t want to do anything until they stabilize your neck.”
She didn’t argue, which had me dialing 911 with urgency. I somehow knew she would refuse an ambulance unless she was worried about her condition, too. I held the phone between my shoulder and my ear, keeping my hand on her to hold her steady.
“911, what’s your emergency?” the operator asked.
“I need an ambulance at 722 Hollyhock Lane. We were attacked and a woman is injured.”
“I’m sending an ambulance now. Is the patient conscious?”
I ran my hand over her face and she grabbed it with her hand. “Yes, she’s conscious, but she was thrown from her wheelchair. She’s paralyzed from the waist down.”
“Okay, sir, make sure she doesn’t move until the paramedics arrive.”
“She’s not moving. I’m holding her still,” I said as she stared up at me with fear written all over her face.
“My ankle hurts,” she said, tears in her eyes.
“You can feel your ankle?” I asked, suddenly realizing how little I knew about her true condition. “She says her ankle hurts,” I told the operator.
“I can feel it,” Cat said, breathing heavily. “I have patchy feeling in my legs and feet. I can feel there’s something wrong with it.”
I kept one hand on her shoulder. “Don’t move. I’m going to check it.”
“Sir, wait for the paramedics,” the voice on the line said.
