Page 90 of Seduced By You

It took an age to locate a member of staff who had any information, and even then, they weren’t keen on telling me anything useful. Apparently, boyfriends didn’t count as next of kin. In the end, a nurse took pity on me and told me they were operating on her, but when I pushed for more details, she clammed up. She told me which operating room Lee was in, though. I dashed up to the fourth floor, found the waiting room, and collapsed into a chair.

People came and went, visitors and staff alike. Dash grew restless. He must be thirsty, and hungry, too. I should call a local vet and ask them to take him, but I couldn’t bear to let him go off with strangers. Lee wouldn’t like that.

My chest vibrated. Jesus Christ, my cell. It was in my jacket pocket all along. I reached inside and removed it. The call log showed a couple of missed calls from numbers that weren’t in my contacts list. Junk, most likely. I should call my parents in case they somehow found out about the accident. I’d do it later. Once I had confirmation that Lee was okay.

Dash whined and clawed at his cage. I couldn’t keep him here with me. I might be here for hours, days even.

Audrey!

She’d take him. Plus, he was familiar with her. He loved her. He’d taken over her house when Lee and I were traveling.

God, had that been only a couple of weeks ago? It felt like another lifetime.

I made the call. Audrey was only too happy to look after Dash, and as luck would have it, she had a friend who lived close to the hospital who, she said, would be happy to pick him up and take him to Audrey’s.

People’s kindness in times of adversity humbled me.

An hour later, I handed Dash over to Audrey’s friend, giving her my number in case she had any problems. Letting him go was harder than I’d thought it would be. He was my connection to Lee. He loved her. I loved her.

A volunteer came through the waiting area, offering hot drinks and sandwiches. I refused the food but accepted a coffee.

How much longer was she going to be in there?

Every minute worried me more. I prayed. I prayed like I’d never prayed before.

Please don’t die. Please live. I’ll do anything. I’ll give you up. If that’s my penance for your life, I’ll do it.

I checked my watch. Five in the afternoon. What time was it when the ambulance had brought us in? I couldn’t remember. I should prepare for bad news, but I couldn’t. It felt too much like giving up, giving in.

A doctor wearing blue scrubs emerged from the operating room. He slipped the paper cap off his head and screwed it into a ball. I launched from the chair.

“Annaleesa Alarie? Do you know how she is? I’m her boyfriend. I was in the car with her when she… when she…”

“Ah, Mr. Kingcaid.”

My eyes widened. I hadn’t expected him to know me. “How is she?”

He gestured to a room off the main waiting area. “Let’s go somewhere more private.”

My heart plummeted. Private meant bad news. Doctors never gave people bad news in public. They didn’t want to have to manage the bereaved relative causing a scene.

I wasn’t prepared for this. I’dneverbe prepared for this.

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” I blurted, tears pricking my eyes. “She’s dead and it’s all my fault.”

“Not at all, Mr. Kingcaid.” He smiled, empathy reflected in his gray eyes. “Please. Come with me.”

He led me to a windowless room with four chairs, a scratched table, and a water fountain tucked in the corner. One chair was askew. I chose that one, wincing as I sat.

“Are you in pain?” He jerked his chin at my shoulder. “I can have a nurse bring you something to take the edge off.”

“I’m fine. Please, tell me how she is.”

He grimaced. I braced myself. Just because he’d said she was alive didn’t mean her situation wasn’t dire.

“We had to perform a splenectomy, but she’ll recover from that pretty quickly. She also had a deep laceration to her face, and she’s heavily concussed.”

“But she’s okay?” I couldn’t give two shits about spleens and facial injuries. “She’ll be okay?”

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