Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 64910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64910 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“Mr. Crow?” a rough male voice said carefully.
“Yes.” I stiffened, unsure that I liked hearing that caution in someone’s voice.
Usually that caution preceded bad news.
“This is Gary Stegan from Accident Memorial ER. Your wife, Dorcas Crow, is here. She sustained a fall. You’re listed as her emergency contact,” Gary Stegan said.
I felt my stomach sink to my toes.
“I’m already on my way,” I answered. “I’m still at least three hours from Accident. But I’ll be there as soon as I can.” The next words stuck in my throat slightly as I said, “Is she okay?”
She had to be.
The last four and a half months had been the worst of my life.
I’d had no fucking clue—none—about how much she meant to me until she was gone.
All my noble intentions of not bringing her further into my web of lies, deceit, and mayhem died a slow death the longer I had to live without her.
No longer did I care that I was going to force her—and eventually our children—to live in a world that might not always be completely on the up and up.
Now, I knew that she was going to be mine, forever, and I’d just have to find a way to make her want me.
But now, with her hurt…
“She’s okay,” the man replied.
Gary. Was he a nurse? Or her doctor?
“She’s suffered a few bumps and contusions. At first, we were worried about a head injury, but now that we’ve ruled out a concussion, we’re only worried about the baby now.”
Baby.
My heart stopped and my stomach completely dropped to my feet.
I stared at nothing for a few long seconds before I said, “Baby?”
“Shit. You didn’t know that?” he asked. “She was so far along that I figured she’d shared. But some women get scared to share that kind of stuff with their partners at the beginning. Miscarriages are scary, I’ve heard. But yeah, baby. Act surprised when she tells you.”
I had a feeling she hadn’t been planning on telling me until it’d happened. Or at all.
I sure the fuck hoped she’d planned on telling me, even if it was at the very end.
Though, it broke my goddamn heart to know she’d been thinking she was about to do this by herself because of how I’d treated her.
Goddammit.
For ten years, I’d done nothing but stay away from her as much as I could.
But it didn’t matter.
Ten years was enough for me to get comfortable. For me to think that she would always be there.
I was so fucking stupid.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I said. “Don’t let her leave.”
“Oh, she won’t be,” he promised. “She still has an appointment with the OB, and since there’s only one in the entire town of Accident, and he’s currently swamped with three other delivering women, I highly doubt that’ll be anytime soon. But she’s stable for now.”
The ride that was supposed to take me three hours, ended up being two and a half with how fast I rode.
By the time I arrived at the hospital, I’d somewhat calmed myself down.
That was until I walked into her hospital room and saw her lying in the bed on her side sleeping.
The bruises on her face, and all the way down her exposed arm, were alarming. But it was the boot that was on her foot that was making me the most nervous.
What had happened to cause that much damage?
That wasn’t just a ‘fall.’
That looked like she’d been in a car accident or had been beaten.
Walking farther into the room, I said, “Dory?”
Dory’s eyes flashed open so fast that she was staring at me in confusion.
Her eyes were bloodshot, and I could see now that her beautiful blue eyes that I loved so much were open, that there were deep purple bruises under both eyes.
Maybe she’s not sleeping, just like I’m not.
“Bram?” she asked in confusion. “What are you doing here?”
I swallowed hard as I resisted the urge to rush toward her and pull her into my arms.
“I was already on the way here when I got a call from some guy that said you were in the hospital.” I swallowed hard. “What happened?”
Her eyes were deep and wounded as she said, “A little mishap at the place I’m staying.”
I tilted my head, wondering why she was downplaying her being hurt, when a man entered the room.
“A little mishap, my ass,” the man said. “I’m not sure getting jumped by someone outside your Airbnb is a ‘mishap.’ If it is, I’ll eat my shoe.”
That’s when the man turned and I saw his nametag.
The dude that’d called me earlier. Gary Stegan.
“I’m an RN,” he said. “And this is the worst I’ve ever seen anything on a lady in quite a while. I’ve been a nurse for going on thirteen years now. She has lacerations on almost every part of her body. Her head was literally the only thing that didn’t sustain any damage. The rest of her, on the other hand…”