Guilt was still gripping Liam’s conscience as the conference ended and Jaz returned from the fray. Sebastian swept her into an unapologetic hug, his tall, lanky body engulfing hers.
“Good job, killer.” He kissed the top of her head. “Ready to see what this exciting city has for restaurants?”
“I’m ready to test out the mattress,” Jaz told him. “I’ll grab a sandwich at the marketplace and hope I can stay awake long enough to chew.”
Liam was glad to hear that, but Sebastian looked disappointed.
Jaz seemed to pick up the same vibe because she pulled the car keys—that she’d taken away from Liam earlier—from her pocket. “You should totally go out, though. Do some recon for when we come back from the field and are starved for something cooked on a real stove.”
“You sure?” Sebastian’s hand was already wrapped around the keys, his eyes alight. “I’ll bring you something back. In case you wake up hungry. I can even pick up something for your pet bear.”
Liam didn’t indulge that with a reply.
“Sounds perfect.” Jaz laughed in that easy way she had around her friend. The kind she and Liam would never share. “Have fun.”
True to her word, Jaz stopped at the little market shop near the check-in counter for something that claimed to be a chicken salad wrap, set her alarm for four in the morning, and dropped into bed.
Keeping the lights low, Liam pulled out his laptop and settled behind the writing desk to catch up on work. Which was how, at 11:00 p.m., he saw the call from the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in San Bernardino flashing across the screen of Jaz’s charging phone. Since he’d checked the lay of the land before leaving on this trip, he knew that hospital to be a fairly short drive from their current location.
“Hello?” Liam answered without hesitation.
“Good evening,” a no-nonsense voice on the other end said calmly over the line. “This is Naomi, the charge nurse at the Arrowhead Regional ER. I’m looking for a Jaz Keasley.”
“I’m Jaz,” Liam told Naomi. “What’s going on?”
“Mr. Keasley, your friend Sebastian asked me to call you. I’m afraid there’s been an accident.”
12
Jaz
Jaz rushed through the doors of the Arrowhead Regional ER, Liam’s words when he woke her replaying on a loop in her mind.
There was an accident. A hit-and-run that T-boned Sebastian’s car. Sebastian was in surgery. There was an accident…
“Can I help you?” A woman behind a semicircular desk with an Information sign hanging above it asked with too great a calm.
Jaz drew a breath. She didn’t like hospitals. Didn’t like the clean walls and wheeled beds and the antiseptic smell. The signs pointing to different circles of hell, like oncology and intensive care, burn unit. Hospitals were places where people changed. And now Bastian, her kind, sensitive best friend Bastian, was in one.
“What are you looking for?” The woman prompted again.
Liam put a hand on Jaz’s shoulder, speaking with the confidence and authority of someone who considered himself at home in such places. Of course he was. He was a medic just like Kyan. The woman at the information desk gave Liam an appreciative sort of smile, which he ignored, and started tapping away on the computer. Thirty seconds later, Liam had directions and was steering Jaz along in a daze.
They sat in silence in the waiting room, Liam throwing a jacket he’d somehow thought to bring along over Jaz’s shoulders. An hour passed. Jaz stared at the bland wall. Liam tapped away on his phone. Finally, a doctor-looking person in scrubs and a cap covering her hair appeared in the door.
“The car that hit your friend’s vehicle struck on the driver’s side,” the woman explained in a soft voice. “It fractured his leg in several places. For a little while there, we were worried about the femoral artery, but fortunately, it was spared. Sebastian will have a long road to rehab, but he’ll be all right.” She paused. “He’s out of surgery and coming out of anesthesia now. Would you like to see him?”
“Yes,” said Jaz.
“Would you give us a moment first?” Liam asked.
“Of course.” The doctor stepped out.
Jaz wheeled on Liam, her heart throwing itself against her ribs. “What are we waiting on now?”
“For you to start breathing.” Liam invited himself into Jaz’s space, taking her chin in that way that he had. The one that made her feel safe and infuriated all at the same time. “The last thing Sebastian needs right now is for you to go in there and fall apart.”
Jaz tried to pull away.
Liam didn’t let her.
“You don’t know what he needs,” she said through clenched teeth. “You don’t know anything.” She shoved Liam right in the chest.
Liam’s hands slipped to Jaz’s face, his thumbs tracing her cheekbones. “Listen to me. Sebastian is going to have a hard road to recovery. Do you want him to feel like a victim or a survivor?”
Liam’s words finally penetrated Jaz’s haze, and she nodded. She could do this. She’d act if she had to, but she could do this. With Liam’s hand steady on her lower back, she allowed herself to be guided into Sebastian’s room.
Sebastian was half reclined in a bed, his face scratched and his leg in an elevated sling attached to the bedframe. He gave Jaz a weak smile as she stepped in.
“The doc tells me you’re hard to kill,” she told him as a way of greeting.
“Kill? ’Tis but a flesh wound.” For someone just coming off anesthesia, Sebastian did a fair imitation of the British knight from Monty Python. Regardless, he looked pale beneath his freckles. “And I did get a nice airlift ride here. I just wish I’d been conscious to enjoy more of it. That and, hey, if a glorious man’s gonna shear off my pants, I’d prefer he at least take advantage of my naked body.” Sebastian waggled his brows. “How did you get here anyway? I hate to tell you this, but the rental Vector Ascent leased for us is absolute toast. I hope that doesn’t damage your sponsorship.”
Jaz realized she hadn’t even noticed that Liam had procured another car somewhere. He was right—she was a wreck. “Never mind about the car. You scared the shit out of me, you know.” Though she was trying to hide it, all the pent-up adrenaline was making her hands shake. She stuffed them behind her back. “Do you remember what happened?”
His grin slipped. “I was circling what passes for main streets around here, got lost. The next thing I know, this huge ass SUV is flying out at me. Then, boom, crack, airbags. The last I saw of the bastard, he was backing away and speeding off.”
“Why would someone do that?”
“Could have a record or a warrant out for their arrest,” Liam said, staring at his phone.
“I’d hate to think of it like that,” said Sebastian. “Maybe it was just a kid who got freaked out and didn’t know what to do. Maybe they’ll end up confessing everything to their parents and showing up at the police department later.”
“Yeah. Definitely.” Liam’s voice was dry. “Did you stop anywhere before the accident? Have an argument with anyone?”