Chapter 11
Bright light burnedinto Grant’s eyelids, but they were too heavy for him to open. His whole body felt like it weighed ten times as much as it should have. He was even finding it hard to find the energy to breathe. What if his lungs collapsed beneath his ribs?
His heart rate ticked up and the annoying beeping sound to his right grew faster and faster—more obnoxious than before.
Footsteps approached and he could feel the gentle breeze of something moving nearby. Pressure on his neck caused him to flinch, and then whoever it was lifted an eyelid, shining an even brighter light into his eyes.
Grant muttered a curse, but it came out more like a growl.
“Mr. Shaw. Glad to have you back with us.”
It was a woman’s voice. At least she sounded nice.
His eyelids drooped closed, and with effort, he opened them again. White cabinets and walls surrounded him. Tubes and machines were pushed off to the side of the room. The only machine that was currently operating was the one attached to the strings stuck to his chest. He reached for them with a drunken hand.
He wasn’t drunk.
He never drank—couldn’t stand the stuff. What was wrong with him? His mind was hazy. It felt like he was wandering through a field covered in fog. Blinking only seemed to make the scenery harder to focus on.
Grant turned his head at the sound of clacking on a keyboard. A woman stood at a computer, her fingers gliding over the keys with impressive speed. She glanced in his direction and smiled.
“How are you feeling?”
He wanted to speak, but his mouth felt dry and mushy all at once. Finally, with effort, he got out the words, “Like I’ve been hit by a truck.”
She chuckled. “That’s to be expected. But here we just call that a hangover.”
Even with his muddled mind, that didn’t sound right. He hadn’t been drinking. He couldn’t touch the stuff since he was a teenager and he’d tried liquor for the first time on a dare.
He shook his head. “I didn’t drink.”
The nurse gave him a funny look then turned to her computer. “I just got here and haven’t had a chance to go through the notes in your chart…”
Just as the words escaped her lips, a gentleman knocked on the door. Her focus and Grant’s shifted to the new arrival.
The older man rubbed his hands with some sanitizer and flashed a smile. “Good afternoon, Mr. Shaw. I have good news and bad news. The good news is that your toxicology results came back, and we didn’t find any alcohol in your system.”
The nurse was the only one who looked surprised by the statement.
“Unfortunately, that’s also the bad news.” He stood with his hands behind his back. “We’re not sure what you’ve ingested or if it was something you ate. You might have had a reaction to something, or this could be your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong.”
Grant’s strength continued to grow, but it only made him more aware of the pounding in his head. “I’ve never been healthier than I am right now. I’m active and I’m careful about the food I put in my mouth.”
“Well, then it’s a good thing we’re going to send a sample to Billings. I’m having a lab run some tests to see if it can give us any insight into what is going on. Either way, you’re in good hands. We’d like to keep you overnight for observation?—”
This time, Grant shot upright. He immediately regretted it. His stomach swirled and his brain felt like it had collided with every side of his skull.
“I can’t. My son—” He held a hand to his forehead, willing the stars to pass. “What time is it? He was at school?—”
“Dad!” Nick barreled into the room, followed shortly by Bella. Nick grabbed Grant around the middle and buried his face in Grant’s lap. “What happened?”
Grant found Bella’s eyes. Or rather, her gaze captured his. Time stood still. The pain, worry, fear, and relief were all present in her expression. He hadn’t thought it was possible to show all those emotions at once.
“Mr. Shaw?”
He shook his head, the ringing leaving his ears as he focused on what the doctor was saying.
“It might be a good idea if your son… leaves the room. I’d like to take a couple more samples for additional labs if that’s okay.”
As if on cue, another nurse came in, rolling a cart with several empty vials and the materials to take his blood. The previous nurse stepped forward. She smiled and crouched down in front of Nick.
“Hey, sprout, why don’t you and I go check out the vending machines down the hall? I’m sure we could get you a couple things to snack on while your dad finishes talking to the nice doctor.”
Nick’s hold on Grant tightened. He looked from his dad to Bella with uncertainty.
“I could take him,” Bella offered. “He feels safer with me.”
The doctor glanced toward her, and something lit in his gaze. “You must be the officer who brought in Mr. Shaw.”
She nodded, holding her hand out to Nick, who slipped past the nurse and accepted her offering. “He called me when he realized…”
Her eyes dipped to Nick and she closed her mouth quickly.
The doctor seemed to understand her hesitancy to speak in front of the kid. Thankfully, both of them had the right presence of mind to keep Nick out of the loop. The last thing Grant needed was for his son to start worrying about him. They’d already struggled with a short-term bout of separation anxiety after his mother died.
Bella moved toward the door with a fleeting look in Grant’s direction, but the doctor’s voice stopped her. “Actually, I’d like to have a word with both of you—while the boy gets his snacks.” He winked at Nick, who didn’t smile back. “There are a few things I want to clear up, if that’s alright.”
The nurse moved toward Nick again. “It’s okay, sweetie. I promise we won’t go far. Your dad just got a little sick and we need to make sure he’s going to get all better before he goes home.”
Nick shot one more look toward Grant.
“It’s okay, buddy.” He lifted his gaze to the nurse while still speaking to his son. “Maybe you can get me a candy bar or something.”
The nurse nodded, taking Nick’s hand, and they both disappeared into the hall.
As soon as they were gone, Bella jumped in. She didn’t give the doctor a chance to ask anything. “I hope you’re running his blood for poison. Or drugs.”
“Drugs?” Grant snapped. “Like I told the doctor. I don’t drink and I most certainly would never do drugs.”
Bella shot a look over her shoulder at him. “Not on purpose. Maybe even against your will.”
Grant’s eyes widened. “You think someone drugged me?”
She turned back to the doctor. “You won’t find any alcohol in his system, I can almost guarantee it. I think we’re dealing with a controlled substance, though. Can you make sure they run those tests?”
“Bella—” Grant started, but the doctor cut him off.
“That’s what I was going to ask. But I suppose now I have my answer.” He flashed another smile at Grant. “It would appear that you have a good fighter in your corner. Usually, law enforcement is quick to make rash judgments until I can prove otherwise.” He offered his hand to Bella, and they shook. “If Mr. Shaw signs the proper paperwork, I’ll have my people send over the test results as soon as we get them.”
Grant jumped, only now aware that the second nurse had finished her prepping and had jabbed his arm a little harder than necessary. She smiled, but it wasn’t one that reached her eyes. The doctor took his leave and the room fell silent as Bella stood near the foot of Grant’s bed.
When the nurse was done, she left as well and Bella shut the door behind them.
“You know what this is, don’t you?” she said under her breath, leaning over the bed.
“What?” Grant asked. “I made a dumb decision and took a drink that was meant for someone who could hold their liquor?”
She shook her head, coming around the bed beside him. “What would happen if someone caught you with liquor while on the job? While driving? What would happen if you got a DUI?”
Grant grabbed the button for his bed and lifted the head so he could rest against it. “I’d get fired. Eli doesn’t tolerate drinking on the premises. Technically, he can’t tell his men not to partake, but everyone knows he has a zero tolerance for that kind of behavior…” Then the realization hit him. “You can’t be serious. You don’t think someone at the ranch would try to frame me like that, do you? Who would hate me enough to want me to get fired? Even if I made someone mad enough to do something like that, none of them would. They’re good people.”
Bella crossed her arms and lifted a brow, disbelief in her gaze. “Yeah… uh-huh.”
“I mean it. Usually, they keep to themselves, anyway—well, except Bo. Lately he’s been pretty ornery about me hanging around.”
“Well, tell me this. Are you taking any meds that would do this to you if mixed with something else? Do you have any health issues that might explain what happened? Is there anything you can think of that would lead to you passing out?”
“Of course not. I take care of myself.”
“Any addictions? Think really hard, Grant. I need to know everything. And you’d better hurry because Nick will be back any second.”
Hot anger flooded his already tight chest, and he gripped the sheets at his sides. “Nothing.” He spit the word out like it was poison. “Even if that sort of thing was in my past, I’d never bring anything like that around Nick. He’s all I have.”
She studied him, her eyes narrowed. Finally, she lifted her chin, her features softening. “At least we can agree on that much.”
Grant wasn’t certain, but he thought he caught a glimpse of a smile. It might have been brief, but it was just as beautiful as ever. The gratitude he felt over everything she’d done for him today was overwhelming. He needed to tell her just how wonderful she was. But before he could, her radio crackled, requesting her by name.
Bella held up a finger and slipped out. She was gone for only a moment, and when she returned, her face was slightly paler.
“That doesn’t look good,” Grant said.
She shook her head. “An anonymous caller reported a truck matching your description swerving. They said they had reason to believe the driver was under the influence.”
“But that’s not possible.”
“The tip came in on the recorded line before you called me.” She gnawed on her lower lip and paced in front of his bed. “I dropped off your canteen at the station. They’re supposed to log it and get it tested, but that could take a while since we don’t know what we’re testing it for.” Her eyes darted to meet his. “That anonymous tip is going to be our biggest problem.”
His stomach dropped. He didn’t have an alibi for that time. He’d been alone.
“I told them to try to locate who might have made the call, but we can’t guarantee we’ll figure it out. At this point, I think it’s safe to say?—”
“Someone is out to get me,” he said.
Bella nodded just as the door opened and Nick rushed in with his arms full of several items. The nurse’s chagrined expression told them everything they needed to know. Nick had weaseled himself into a great deal more than he was promised and he was obviously pleased with himself.
He dropped all the snacks and drinks onto the side of the bed and beamed. “Now neither one of us will be hungry.”
Grant smiled at his son, mouthed the words “thank you” to the nurse, and handed Nick the remote for the television.
Bella moved to the other side of the bed and pulled up a chair. She kept her voice low, probably to keep Nick from hearing. “We need to get you somewhere safe?—”
He shook his head sharply. “I’m not running away from this. I’ve been… this isn’t the first time I’ve been bullied.”
“This is more than being bullied. Think of your son,” she said.
“I am thinking of him. This is his home. I won’t uproot him just because someone thinks I’m not good enough to live in Rocky Ridge. I’m not going anywhere.”