Chapter 30
Chapter 30
Jack
NOW
I have a ton of work to do, but I can’t concentrate on anything. It’s amazing to me how quickly Blaise has become the center of my life. If you’d asked me before she showed up if I was happy, I would’ve said yes. I love my work, and I’ve adjusted to life without my parents, settled their estate and gotten through the first few years of birthdays and holidays without them. But now I realize there’s a huge difference between content and truly happy.
Blaise has made me happier than I’ve ever been.
She texted to say she was on her way from Bristol, so I take Fenway outside to play until she gets home.
When we step into the yard, the new floodlights are activated by the movement.
Fenway is taken aback for a second by the light, but she quickly recovers when she sees me holding her favorite ball.
We play for half an hour, until she’s so tired she lays down in front of me, a sign the game is over.
I’m reaching for the ball when a police SUV rolls into the yard with the lights on.
My stomach drops to my feet as everything in me goes cold with fear.
Houston jumps out of the car. “Jack… Blaise has been in an accident.”
I can’t move or think or breathe or do anything other than absorb the wave of dread that comes over me. Please no. Not her, too. I knew I should’ve gone with her.
“Jack? Come with me. I’ll take you to her.”
“Wh-where is she?”
“They were transporting her to Charlton.”
Fenway barks, as if to ask what’s going on. I wish I could tell her.
“I have to bring Fenway. I can’t leave her here alone.” Not with people torching my property.
“Put her in the backseat. I’ll keep her with me while you’re with Blaise.”
I know I’m supposed to move, to walk, to function, but the fear of losing Blaise so soon after I found her has me rooted to the spot where Houston found me.
“She needs you, Jack.”
Those four words finally break through the dread to get me moving toward the house to grab Fenway’s leash and my wallet.
Houston drives to Fall River with lights and the siren, which doesn’t help my anxiety one bit. “What do you know?”
“Someone hit her on the Mount Hope Bridge, and she spun into oncoming traffic. A truck hit her head on.”
I feel sick as I think about what that must’ve been like. “She must’ve been terrified.”
“She was unconscious when the paramedics got to her.”
“Did they get the person who hit her?”
“They took off, but people in the car behind the truck that hit her got the plate, and they’re tracking it down now.”
“This was intentional. Someone followed her over there and waited to do this to her on the bridge, where it would be scarier than hell.”
“Probably,” Houston says, sounding as grim as I feel.
“Will she make it?”
“I haven’t heard anything since they said they were transporting her, but they took her to Charlton and not Rhode Island Hospital.”
“What does that mean?”
“Charlton isn’t a level-one trauma facility, and Rhode Island Hospital is.”
“So that’s good news then.”
“I think so, but I don’t know for sure.”
“I’ll take whatever hope you can give me.”
Houston’s radio crackles to life with a call from Dispatch. “Chief, we received word from Bristol police that the victim transported to Charlton—”
My heart stops when the radio cuts out. “What? What about her?”
“Dispatch, please repeat your last transmission.”
I hold my breath and pray like I haven’t in years. Please. Please. Please.
“Chief, the victim is awake and alert.”
The relief is so tremendous, I immediately break down. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Houston continues to communicate with the dispatcher, but I tune them out. I’ve heard the only thing that matters to me. She’s alive, awake and alert.
I glance at him. “Something needs to be done to keep her safe until this is over.”
“I’ve already spoken to Josh Spurling at the AG’s office. They’re putting her in a State Police safe house with round-the-clock protection. They’re also putting officers at your house.”
“I’ll want to be with her, and Fenway goes where we go.”
“I told them that. I’ll take you home to pack whatever you need.”
“Thank you, Houston. For everything, especially for sending Blaise to my place when she needed somewhere to stay. I hope I’ll be thanking you for that for the rest of my life.”
“That’s awesome. I’m so happy for you guys.”
“I’m happy for us, too. We can’t let anything happen to her.”
“I hear you. We’re on it.”
We arrive at the Charlton ER a few minutes later. He pulls up to the door. “Go ahead. I’ve got Fenway. Call me when you’re ready for a pickup.”
“Thank you again.”
“No problem.”
As he drives off, I go inside through the automatic doors. At the reception desk, I ask for Blaise.
“Are you a family member?”
“Yes.” It’s the easiest “lie” I’ve ever told. I’m her family, and she’s mine. We don’t need a ceremony or vows to make that true.
“Let me check on her status. I’ll be right back.”
I want to tell the woman to hurry, that Blaise has very quickly become the most important person in my life, that I want to marry her and raise a family with her and have everything with her. But I don’t say any of those things. I simply stand there and will the nurse to understand what Blaise means to me. I’m so thankful I told her I love her. I’d wanted to tell her that for a while.
How did this even happen? How did a red-headed beauty become more important to me than my own life? One day I was minding my own business, taking care of my home and dog while growing my art career. The next minute she was there, and everything had changed. I’ve never held much stock in the idea of fate or soulmates or true love or any of that stuff. But now I get it. I understand why perfectly sane people do the craziest things to hold on to love once they find it.
It's the most precious and perfect thing there is, and all I want is to feel this way for the rest of my life.
The nurse comes back and gestures for me to follow her.
I move so fast I nearly crash into her back as she leads me through double doors into the bustling emergency department. We go down a corridor, past multiple patient rooms until we stop outside of hers.
I have to hold back a gasp as I take in the cut on her forehead, the bruises on her face and her arm immobilized in some sort of inflatable cast.
Tears fill her eyes when she sees me.
It’s a struggle to hold it together as I go to her. My heart is pounding as I realize I came very close to losing her. “Baby…”
Her chin quivers. “I’m okay.”
“Yes, you are.” I caress her unbruised cheek and kiss her softly. “You’re going to be just fine.”
“I was so scared.”
“I can’t even imagine.”
“I’ve always hated driving on that bridge.”
“You’ll never have to do it again. I’ll take you any time you need to go over there.”
“And your mother’s car… I hope it’s not totaled.”
I haven’t given it the first thought. “It’s just a car. The only thing that matters is you’re okay.”
Her chin continues to quiver as tears slide down her cheeks. “All I could think of was you.”
“Same, babe. From the second you left, I thought of you, and when Houston came to tell me you’d been in an accident…” I shake my head. “I should’ve gone with you.”
“Then you’d be hurt, too.” Her eyes widen all of a sudden. “Where’s Fenway?”
“With Houston.”
“Oh, good. That’s good.”
“I’d never leave her alone.”
“You can’t because of all the trouble I’ve caused.”
“Don’t do that. You’ve given me so much. Things I’ve never had before.” I can’t stop touching every part of her that I can reach. Her gorgeous face, her silky hair, the hand that holds mine so tightly. “They’re going to move us to a safe house until the trial.”
“You’ll hate that. Your work is at home.”
“I can bring it with me.”
“This is so disruptive to your life.”
“Yes, it is,” I say with a smile. “You’re the best disruption ever.”
“I’m being serious.”
“As am I.” I kiss the back of her hand. “I’ve never been more serious about anything.”
They release her at ten o’clock that night with orders to follow up with an orthopedic doctor tomorrow about her badly sprained wrist.
Houston is waiting for us outside the ER doors.
Fenway goes crazy in the backseat when she sees us coming toward the car.
A nurse is pushing Blaise in a wheelchair while I follow, carrying a plastic bag full of the possessions she arrived with.
I help the nurse get her settled in the front seat and put the seatbelt on her, moving carefully so I won’t hurt her. “Are you comfortable?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Fenway’s nose comes through the space between the headrest and the door, her tongue lashing at Blaise.
“I’m here, baby girl.” She reaches up to rub Fenway’s nose. That earns her a wet lick to the palm of her hand.
I get into the backseat. “Move over, girl.”
She’s so happy to see me that she does what she’s told for once.
“I hope she hasn’t driven you crazy,” I say to Houston.
“Not at all. She’s been a very good girl. We stopped by to see my parents and played some fetch in the yard.”
“She must’ve loved that.”
“She did. She had us laughing with her enthusiasm.”
“Thank you again for taking care of her for us.”
“It was definitely my pleasure.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“I’m taking you to the safe house in Cranston for tonight. We’ve got the basics for you there. Tomorrow, a State Police officer will take you home to pack the rest of what you need. They’ve positioned two officers at your place in revolving twenty-four-hour watches.”
“What do we know about the truck that hit Blaise?”
“It belongs to Ryder’s father. We’re looking for him.”
“What?” Blaise whispers.
“He’s not new to trouble.” Houston glances at me in the rearview mirror. “He was arrested the first time Ryder was charged for harassing Denise’s family.”
“I never imagined there’d be so much trouble when I came back.” Blaise sounds exhausted. “I knew people would freak out about there being a witness, but not like this.”
“None of this is your fault, Blaise,” Houston says.
“Feels like it is.”
I reach up to put my hand on her shoulder. “It’s not . You haven’t done anything to deserve them lashing out at you this way. This is on him . Not you.”
She has no reply to that. I’ll have to keep reminding her of who committed a crime and who didn’t.
The house in Cranston is on a nondescript street made up of neatly kept ranch homes. I expect to see State Police vehicles outside, but there’re only unmarked SUVs. I get out and run around the car to help Blaise. “Take it nice and easy.”
“That’s my only speed right now.”
Houston gets Fenway from the back seat and follows us into the house where four plain-clothes officers greet us.
Blaise leans on me as she takes small, delicate steps.
“Right this way.” One of the officers leads us to the primary bedroom at the end of the hallway.
They leave us alone as I help to get Blaise settled in bed, propping her up on numerous pillows.
“How’s that?”
Her complexion has been bleached of all its usual rosiness. “Okay.”
“What can I get you?”
“A glass of water would be great, and I’m supposed to pick up meds from the pharmacy.”
“I’ll ask Houston to do that.” I kiss the uninjured side of her face and go to speak to him. “We need to pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy.”
“I’ll do it.”
I give him the sheet of paper with the info about the prescriptions that’re waiting at a twenty-four-hour pharmacy and my credit card. “Thank you.”
“I’ll be right back.”
“Where can I find a glass?” I ask one of the officers.
He points me to the correct cabinet.
I return to the bedroom with a glass of ice water.
Her eyes are closed, so I put the glass on the bedside table.
“I’m not sleeping.”
“I wasn’t sure. Here’s the water.”
“Thank you for all you’re doing.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“Yes, it is. I’ve made a mess of your life.”
“My life was so boring until you came along.” I sit gingerly on the mattress next to her. “The only thing that matters is that you’re going to be okay.”
“That’s not the only thing that matters,” she says tearfully.
“To me, it is. Please don’t worry about me or my life or my work or anything else. It’ll all be fine.”
“I should just give them what they want and refuse to testify, so they’ll leave us alone.”
“No way, Red. You’ve come too far to give up now. Soon enough, this’ll be over, and we’ll have the whole rest of our lives together.”
“Did you just give me a nickname?”
“Maybe.”
“Despite having had red hair my whole life and a million nicknames associated with that and my name, no one’s ever called me that.”
“Is it okay if I do?”
“Yeah, it’s okay. What’re you hearing about your mother’s car?”
“Banged up but fixable.”
“That’s a huge relief. I know how much it means to you to have her car.”
“I feel like she might’ve had something to do with keeping you safe.”
Fenway comes into the room and jumps up on the bed next to Blaise.
Before I can tell her to be careful, she drops to her belly and inches in slowly and carefully, as if she knows to be gentle.
“Hi, sweet girl.” Blaise scratches her ears and earns a soft, sweet lick to her wrist. “She’s the best girl.”
“It’s good to know she can behave once in a while.”
“I love her.”
“She loves you, too.” I kiss her forehead. “Get some rest. I’ll be right here.”
Twenty minutes later, Houston returns with the meds, which knock her out quickly. That’s a relief because she was in pain.
“Is there any word on whether they’ve arrested the guy who did this?” I ask him.
“Not yet, but everyone is looking for him.”