Chapter 6
As the boat pitched back and forth from the heavy wind and rain, memories of the nights in the hospital rushed back. Nights when he had sat in the chair wondering if his wife was going to survive.
He’d focused on Kaitlyn first. She’d come in with lacerations, a broken pelvis and leg, and damage to her spleen. It had been touch-and-go during surgery, but the doctors were able to repair the harm done. He’d paid for a private room and round-the-clock care.
When his daughter was out of danger, he contacted his lawyer to start drawing up the divorce and sole custody papers and once he had them, he waited patiently. Every night, Jacob had gone to Sierra’s room until she was able to wake up.
The doctors had induced a coma while they dealt with the brain swelling, the multiple broken bones, and the massive cut and burn on her face. The air bag had deployed, not only cutting open her cheek and part of her forehead but also singed it, luckily just missing the eye.
Eventually, the doctors reduced the medication. After a routine check-up, he had requested privacy from the doctors. She was still asleep, so Jacob endured another wait at her bedside.
Glancing away from the clock, he had heard her moan and gasp sharply.
Her hand lifted to her forehead as if she had a headache there.
He watched as she blinked a couple of times, then opened her eyes to slits, then wider as her eyes adjusted to the low light in her room.
She had slowly turned her head and her eyes lit up at the sight of him seated there.
Jacob remembered thinking how he used to enjoy seeing how happy she would seem in his presence.
Her look had been adoring in the beginning and that had stroked his ego and enacted his downfall.
She gave him a tentative smile, stopped when he didn’t return it.
“How long—” He heard her clear her throat. Her voice had been weak and husky when she tried talking. Her throat must have been dry.
He got up and retrieved the cup of water and a straw left by the nurse. He touched the straw to her lips, the gesture clinical and cold. He had felt her eyes on him the whole time, but only focused his attention on the task at hand. He had been so angry he couldn’t even look at her.
“How long have I been out?” Her voice sounded stronger.
He sat back down and faced her. “A couple of days, they had to put you in a coma to deal with all the swelling.”
She had suddenly looked frightened and reached out a hand to him, wincing. He knew it was pain from the fracture; her arm was in a cast with her fingers poking out. “How is Kaitlyn, is she all right?”
He looked at it and she tucked it back into the bed when he didn’t reach out to touch her. “She is recovery nicely, no thanks to you.” His angry gaze took in the hurt and regret etched in her features.
“I am so sorry, Jacob; it was an accident. I didn—”
“You didn’t, what, mean to harm her, get into an accident that nearly took her life and yours, didn’t mean to drive drunk?” Jacob had tried to keep his voice calm, but the volume increased the more he spoke.
She shook her head, slight beads of sweat now appearing. “No, I didn’t mean to drive us off the road. We were arguing and I took my eyes off for just a split second.”
He snorted in disbelief. “There is always a reason for you doing what you are doing; it’s never your fault. You lost control of the car because you were intoxicated, Sierra. The police report showed 2.0! And the eyewitness said there had been nothing in your way to make you swerve like that.”
“I am so sorry; I promise this time for good I will get help.” The tears glistening in her eyes, leaving him cold and disgusted.
“Save it, you are lucky that you’re not in handcuffs right now. Your father pulled some strings for the last time.” He was infuriated with her excuses, exhausted with the same story.
She closed her mouth, stared at him with pleading brown eyes.
He stared back, feeling nothing, just a dull ache in his heart where he once held a fondness for her, maybe even love.
Or if he was being honest with himself, she was like a drug he couldn’t shake, and her wanting him the way she did was a stroke to his ego.
But this accident was enough; he couldn’t do it anymore.
Sierra’s refusal to learn from her mistakes could have killed Kaitlyn.
He grabbed the briefcase at his feet and pulled out two documents.
“What is that, Jacob?” Her voice sounded weak and tired.
“Divorce and custody papers.” He dragged the hospital bed table up and over her legs, then stabbed his finger onto the button to raise up the head of the bed. The crack of his pen striking the table was deafening.
“Please Jacob. I am sorry, I will—” She tried to reach out again with her fingers; he moved his hand away.
“If you don’t sign, your father will have you arrested and locked up. And I am not going to fight him on it.”
She had searched his face, then her eyes dulled. She picked up the pen with her functioning hand and signed where he indicated. He held the paper steady so there would be no arguing the signature.
“I will pay for the rest of your stay here and your recovery. You will need to have some cosmetic surgery to your face, plus physiotherapy. The doctor said with help, you should be able to walk again, but probably with a cane.”
He gathered the documents and returned them to the briefcase. “Your doctors have my number if you need anything, but I don’t want you to try and see Kaitlyn or contact me for any reason other than your recovery.”
She’d just nodded, not fighting him, and had turned her face away.
Jacob took a step back and had halted his escape, feeling like a monster; he could see that she was fighting back tears.
He was surprised because she could call them at will to make him feel bad or guilty when she’d done something wrong.
She slowly turned her back to him, and her shoulders began to shake.
He left, rested against the wall outside her room.
Taking deep breaths, he clenched his hands into fists.
His marriage to her had been a constant battleground. She had been the jealous wife, picking fights over his female clients or when he’d spend “too much time in the office.” Over time, she had become a mean drunk and a selfish mother to Kaitlyn.
He’d had an inkling that getting involved with her was not a good idea, but he was enamored with her.
And she’d gotten pregnant during another careless mistake, where he’d forgotten to put on a condom.
He found out after they said their vows that they’d lost their child; she started spotting three weeks before the ceremony and their honeymoon.
He'd been furious when he found out, and when he’d ignored Sierra during the reception dinner, she’d taken to the bottle.
That night in their hotel room, Sierra, in her drunken state, pleaded with him that she too had wanted the child and would like for them to try again, that they didn’t just marry for the baby.
She’d seemed genuinely heartbroken and had dropped onto the bed in tears, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably; he pulled her into his arms and decided to wait until she morning.
He chose to stay and should have used that time to settle into the marriage and go to counseling because he wanted it to work.
But their relationship in the beginning had been based on sexual chemistry alone.
The sparks she’d ignite with a glance, a sensuous smile, or when she’d press herself against him.
He couldn’t help himself; he was like a man starved and would have to have her.
It wasn’t long before she announced she was pregnant again and that time, her drinking seemed to have stopped.
But the rift caused by her jealousy began to widen.
He had thought things would get better between them if he spent more time at home with her and it did, especially after Kaitlyn was born.
They both were in love with the little person they brought into the world.
He wasn’t even sure he would be a good father because his father wasn’t, but he had an amazing role model in his grandfather and when he saw her come out wailing, he knew that he would do anything for her and when she was laid on his bare chest, tears had run down his face.
He’d looked at Sierra, feeling so close to her that day, a feeling of joy and appreciation for the gift she’d given him and he decided to open his heart and see where this new path could take them.
“Thank you for giving me this precious gift.” She had reached out her hand and he took it, both watching as their daughter slept.
But Kaitlyn hadn’t even been a year when the drinking began again.
He knew he was partly to blame because his grandfather was preparing to step down and began handing over the reins to him.
He had to start wining and dining the clientele, which took time away from his family.
Whatever relief he had felt being away from Sierra clashed with the pain of missing his daughter.
He finally had enough and threatened to leave her and take his daughter with him, but she sucked him back in by making promises that would last for a little while before she would fall back into her old ways.
That night was the last straw; he got word that she’d placed a call to a female client, accusing her of having an affair with him.
He’d confronted her on the phone, and then again when he tried to de-escalate their argument when he heard her on the road with Kaitlyn in the back of the car, crying.
He still woke up in a sweat, hearing Sierra’s scream before the phone went dead.
“Sir, we are approaching the shore and will be docking soon.” Jacob looked at the captain, then took up his own rain slicker and heavy boots.
He had finally found his ex-wife, feeling grim and another emotion he refused to acknowledge.
The last time he’d seen her was when he watched her walk out of the hospital doors, leaning heavily on her walking stick.