“Nothing I can tell you yet but you’ll be hearing from us soon.” Damn. That’s not the answer either of us wanted to hear, if the expression on Ashley’s face is anything to go by. “Your car has been towed to Sam’s Body Shop. Insurance will sort that out for you. Your personal belongings like your bag and phone are here,” he says, lifting up a paper bag that I didn’t notice he brought in. “Considering you’re pregnant, I wanted to bring this to you now in case you had anything important in there for the baby.” He looks a little sheepish when he says it.
“Thank you, Officer. I appreciate it.”
“If there’s anything else you think of, don’t hesitate to give me a call. Here’s my card,” he says, handing her a business card. “If you don’t mind putting your number on this one, then I can let you know when we have an update for you.”
He hands her two business cards and a pen. She turns one over, scribbles her name and number down, and hands it back to him.
“Thanks for your time, Ashley. We’ll be in touch. Get well soon.”
“Will do.”
“Nice to meet you, Nik.”
“Same.”
And then he’s gone and we’re alone again.
Suddenly the weight of what happened earlier hits me and I have to sit down. “I could have lost you,” I whisper, my throat clogging up with emotion.
“You won’t lose me. I’m too stubborn.”
“Thank goodness,” I say, giving her a soft smile. “I need to go fill in your family. They’re probably worried sick.”
“I’m sure they are,” she agrees.
I lean down and kiss her forehead, taking an extra minute to soak her in. She’s here. She’s with me. She’s going to be more than okay.
“Give me a list of what you want me to bring back with me. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Is your phone in the bag Officer Luis brought with him?”
She looks inside and pulls it out, wincing when she looks at it. “Screen a little cracked?”
“Little bit,” she agrees. “I think I bought the insurance on it, though, so it shouldn’t be a problem to get replaced or fixed but that’s a pain, huh?”
“If a new phone is all we have to worry about, let’s count our blessings.”
“And a new car, too,” she reminds me and I flinch.
“Sorry, babe. There’s no way that thing isn’t totaled.”
She looks down at her phone. “I know. I also know it’s just a thing and that I am really lucky because the baby and I are fine but I really liked it,” she whimpers.
I sit next to her and let her cry a few minutes, knowing that she truly needs to let it out. Holding it in isn’t good for anybody. “You’re right, they’re all things that can be replaced but it’s okay to be upset about it.” She nods and I give her a squeeze. “Are you going to be okay while I’m gone for a bit to get some stuff from your house?”
“Yeah.” She rattles off a few things, leggings, underwear, bra, t-shirt, a few toiletries, her Kindle just in case. “Thanks, honey.”
“I love it when you call me honey,” I tell her. “Be back soon.”
I give her one more kiss then make my way to the waiting room where her family is all huddled together. Grace sees me first and nudges her mom who stands up quickly, rushing over to me.
“How is she?”
“She’s going to be fine, the baby, too. They’re keeping her overnight for observation but… we’re lucky. She has a small fracture in her wrist and a cut on the left side of her face from where it hit the window. And a concussion, too. But nothing she can’t fully recover from.”
“Thank God. We’ve been out here praying,” she says, crying and giving me a hug.
“Do we know what exactly happened?” her dad asks.
I give them the brief explanation of the accident, not going into too many details, because I figure her parents don’t want to know the way I found their daughter. Pinned in her own car up against another. I wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to walk away or if she’d end up paralyzed.
“And what about the other drivers? I heard they had to bring one here for mild injuries but haven’t heard anything about the other driver.”
I shake my head. “The one who hit her, you mean?” He nods. “I don’t see how the outcome could have been good. It was bad. For as bad as Ashley’s car looked, that one looked ten times worse.”
After a long look between Lucy and Grant, she steps in close. “Life Flight took her to Detroit,” Lucy says quietly. “I don’t think… I don’t think she made it there.”
“Oh dear,” her mother says, her voice quivering.
“Shit,” I mutter, rubbing a hand over my face. “How’d you find out?”
It’s Grant’s turn to lean closer to me and says lowly, “Buddy of mine is a medic. Told me because he knew we are family. Said the driver had been drinking.”
“Son of a bitch,” I growl.
Grace, who’s been quiet this entire time, asks, “Can we see her?”
I want to say no instantly but that’s not the kind of person I am. Instead, I nod. “Tomorrow, I’d guess. They’re only allowing one person in the ER with her and they’re moving her to her hospital room shortly. I’m not sure what the visiting hours are.”
“But let me guess, you’re going to see her again?” she asks snidely.
Her parents both hush her but that doesn’t stop her from continuing to be a bitch. “What? Why should he get to see her and we can’t? He’s not even a relative and it’s not like he’s going to be around much longer, anyway.”
And just like that, my temper snaps. “Excuse me?”
“Grace, enough,” Lucy snaps. “Look where we are, would you? Does it not make you realize what’s important right now? Let it go already.”
“What’s going on?” her dad asks.
I don’t bother throwing in my two cents here because it wouldn’t do us any good for me to tell them what I’m thinking.
“Lucy can fill you in,” I say to the group. “I’ve got more important shit to take care of than talking to your dumb ass. Samuel.” He looks up from his phone as if he has no idea what’s happening. “Do me a favor, stay the fuck away from me and keep your wife next to you.” Samuel’s frantic eyes dart to Grace, his eyebrows furrowing. He can play the confused spouse all he wants, but I’m not going to listen to it. Pointing at him, I lower my voice. “If I hear any more about you guys buying my fucking baby or telling my girl that she and I aren’t a real thing, you won’t like the consequences. And fuck you for telling her she won’t be a good mother.”
“What is he talking about?” her dad yells. “Buying whose baby? Who won’t be a good mother? Will someone please fill me in?”
I don’t stick around long enough for Grace to explain her actions. I need to get Ashley’s things so she feels comfortable sleeping in the damn hospital tonight.
Chapter Twenty