Page 38 of Broken Dreams

“That’s strange.”

“What’s wrong?” Nick asked with a frown.

“I'm not sure.” She clicked the voicemail button, to listen to the most recent message.

“Bethany was hit by a car. They took her to Children's Memorial Hospital.” Her sister's sobbing voice echoed in the night. “Where are you? Please, call me. I need you.”

“Oh no!” Horrified, she jumped to her feet. “Hurry. My niece Beth was hit by a car. I need to go see her!”

Chapter Twelve

Nick knew how upset Amber had been after finding out Mr. Goetz had died, but this situation hit far closer to home. He insisted on driving her to the hospital, and it was a testimony as to how distraught she was that she didn't argue. As he drove, she tried to call her sister back, but Andrea didn't answer. Frantic, she listened to her phone messages while he negotiated traffic.

“Any more information?” He glanced at her when she lowered the phone to her lap.

“No.” She clamped her lowered lip between her teeth. “I should never have turned my phone off. It was a foolishly, irresponsible thing to do. My sister sounded so upset. Poor Beth. Oh, Nick, what if she's really hurt? I can't stand it. Please, hurry.”

“Don't think the worst.” He pushed the speed limit as much as he dared. “I'm sure she's going to be fine.”

“You don't know that.” She turned to stare out the window, her jaw tight. “She's only six years old. A baby—” her voice broke.

He captured her hand in his, holding tight. He didn't know what to say, so he fell silent. For all Amber's tough talk about moving away, she was still very close to her family. How would she cope if this had happened while she'd been in Florida? He couldn't imagine.

He’d seen a variety of outcomes for children struck by cars. Many factors came into play in determining the outcome. Had the child been hit while walking? Or riding a bike? Had she been wearing a helmet? Had the car only clipped her or hit directly head on?

As part of his trauma training, he'd done a stint at a children’s hospital in Baltimore. The number of kids hit by cars while riding their bikes was astronomical. The worst injuries were caused by kids not wearing helmets. If Beth had been on a bike, he silently prayed she'd been wearing some type of head protection.

He pulled into the parking lot at Children's Memorial and circled around to the emergency entrance. He'd barely stopped the car when she shot out of her seat and raced inside.

He parked in the closest empty spot, then slid out from behind the wheel. He grabbed his cane, following at a slower pace, feeling guilty for the role he'd played in keeping her out of touch with her family. He’d been selfishly enjoying their time together, especially kissing her, when he knew a relationship between them would be impossible.

The Monroe family took up at least half of the waiting room. As Nick approached, he noticed Amber's brother, Adam, the pediatric doc wasn't there. His gaze landed on Andrea. She was in the middle of the group, holding on to her toddler son and rocking back and forth, looking as if she was in shock.

No surprise there.

Amber knelt beside her sister and engulfed her in a hug. Nick stopped just outside the family circle, knowing he didn’t belong here, yet straining to overhear the conversation.

“What happened? How is she? What are they doing for her?” Amber fired questions faster than an army drill Sergeant.

“She has a compound fracture in her right leg, they're talking about taking her to surgery.” Andrea sniffled and swiped at her eyes. “She was riding her bike in the driveway, I always tell her not to go into the road, but she must have gone out to make a wide turn. Mr. Henderson, the neighbor across the street, was backing out of his driveway and didn't see her. Thankfully, he wasn't going very fast.”

“And Beth was wearing her helmet, right?” Amber bent and brushed a kiss across Ben’s forehead.

“Yes.” Andrea's voice was faint, rough along the edges from crying. “We've been here in the emergency department for hours, they're short on beds up on the ortho floor. Adam is in there with her now while they prepare her for surgery. Ben was crying and wouldn’t calm down so Dad came in to get me.”

“I'll sit here with Ben you go back in to be with your daughter.” Amber's tone was firm and she gently lifted the little boy from her sister's lap and hugged him close. Nick expected the toddler to protest but he didn't seem to mind.

“Thanks.” Andrea stood and quickly left the waiting room. Nick felt like a third wheel, he wasn’t part of this family, no matter how welcome they’d made him feel when inviting him to dinner.

Before he could move, Alec stepped up beside him. “Thanks for bringing Amber. We were worried when she didn't answer her phone.”

Nick swallowed a sigh. He wasn't at the phone police, yet he wished she hadn't shut it off. He could understand their concern. “We were at German Fest. We ate food, hung out for a while, then watched the drone show.”

Alex stared at him grimly. “And what, the drone show was so loud she couldn't hear her phone over the noise?”

“She had her phone off.” Nick wasn't about to lie. “Look, I know she shouldn’t have done that, but you guys are just a little overprotective.” He shrugged. “I get it. And I don't even mind. I told Amber I thought it was nice the way you guys looked after her.”

With the scowl Alec turned and glanced at his sister. “Being nice isn’t the goal.”

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