Chapter 16
Sixteen
“Mia!” Jackson yelled into the phone. Where was she?
He jammed his feet into his boots and grabbed his truck keys. The moment he was through his front door, he dialed the station.
Chase answered.
“Chase! Mia was in some kind of accident. She was in her car. I heard gunshots, then a crash.” Jackson raced to his truck, climbed in, and started the ignition.
“The call’s just coming through. Dispatch is sending help now.”
“Where, Chase? I’m on my way.”
Chase gave him the directions.
“I’ll be there soon.”
He prayed she’d be all right. “Please, Lord, be with her. She has to be so scared. Lord, please help her trust in You and take comfort in Your presence.”
He made record time to the accident scene. When his truck stopped at the curb, some of the emergency crew tried to move him along until he leaped from his truck and they recognized him. Belatedly, he realized he was still wearing his paramedic uniform. Although it couldn’t hurt right now.
“I’m fine! I don’t need to go to the hospital!”
Jackson whirled, following the sound of Mia’s voice.
She sat on the back of the ambulance, holding an ice pack to her cheek.
Jackson froze, his blood pounding in his ears. His legs shook. “Thank You, Jesus. She’s alive.”
“Ma’am, did you see the driver of the SUV?” A young police officer stood next to her. Jackson ran in their direction. Mia raised her head, and her eyes collided with his. A smile split her face, flashing her dimples. He’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
“I didn’t see the driver, no. All I saw was a gun. There were kids in the road. I had nowhere to go.”
Jackson shuddered. He reached her side. “You’re okay? You seem to have hurt your face.” He gently peeled the ice pack away from her cheek to see the extent of the wound. “You’ll have a beauty of a bruise. But it doesn’t look broken.”
“That’s what Moses said.” She touched the tender spot and winced, then placed the ice pack against her face again.
Jackson waved at his buddy and colleague. “Well, Moses is right. Hurt anywhere else?”
She shook her head.
The cop cleared his throat. “Tell me what happened after he shot at you.”
Peering around, Jackson saw her vehicle hooked up to a tow truck. The blood drained from his face. For a moment, his vision blurred. “Mia! Your car is totaled!”
“I know.”
“It’s a miracle you survived that.” The back window was gone. Chunks of glass glittered like diamonds. Her tire had shredded, and there were three bullet holes in the trunk.
“Tire shot out.” A second cop pointed to the destroyed rubber.
She’d come so close to dying.
He swallowed hard.
Mia addressed the first cop. “I saw the SUV. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw the gun. I stopped and reversed. But then he shot out the tire. I lost control. When I saw the boys in front of me, I jerked the wheel to avoid them and hit the tree instead. They ran off.”
That sounded like something she’d do. He rubbed his chest, trying to soothe the ache that seemed to be a near-constant part of his life now.
Hearing Mia describe the event sent waves of nausea through him. But she was fine, he reminded himself.
Moses sauntered over to him. “She’s bumped her head pretty good, and her car is toast. I tried to convince her to go to the hospital, but she refused to go.”
Mia glared their way.
Jackson raised his hands. “I’m not the one talking about you. That’s all him. However, I will point out that in my professional opinion, you should go to the hospital.”
She shook her head.
He didn’t pressure her, but he’d keep an eye on her.
The tow truck driver finished loading her car up and began driving away. Jackson spun and faced the other way. He couldn’t look at the car, knowing she’d been inside it when it crashed into the tree.
Another woman’s voice caught his attention. The woman shrieked louder and louder.
“What on earth?” Jackson pivoted to face the woman. She was in her mid-forties, and her face wore the pinched look of someone who perpetually complained. She was pointing directly at Mia, yelling at the police.
“They should take her license! That tree’s almost a hundred years old. She did serious damage to it. She—”
“Ma’am! She was shot at. She is not at fault,” the younger officer tried to explain. He raised his hands in a calming gesture.
The woman glared at him. “Not at fault? Not at fault my eye! What did she do to make someone shoot at her! I’m sure that Jezebel is to blame!”
Jackson slowly pivoted until his gaze fused with Mia’s. The corners of her brown eyes creased as she held in her laughter. At least she found it amusing that a complete stranger was calling her Jezebel because she’d crashed into a tree.
“Mia, you’re cleared,” the officer said quietly.
Chase came and stood next to Jackson. Jackson raised his eyebrows. “Were you on call next?”
“Moses and Amber were on call, but Amber had to leave early. She had an appointment.”
Jackson switched his focus back to Mia. “Moses said you’d declined care?”
Mia nodded. “I did.”
“Are you sure? I can take you to the hospital.”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Thanks. I’m fine.”
“Can I at least give you a ride home?” Jackson asked her.
“That would be nice.” She smiled at the officer and Chase. “Thanks for your care.”
Jackson waited for her to join him. Without thinking about it, he caught her hand. Then he decided that since she didn’t complain, he was going to keep holding it. He needed the reassurance that she was really fine.
He opened the door for her and helped her hop up into the passenger seat. She winced and leaned back against the leather.
“What hurts?”
“I understand your concern, but if I go to the hospital, what if they want to keep me overnight? I can’t leave Gus alone like that again.”
He wanted to drive her to the emergency room, but he understood her reasoning. Gus meant so much to her. She wasn’t just an obligation. Mia loved the woman like a second mother.
“I’m worried about you, Mia.”
She glanced over at him. “I know. I’m worried about me too. I was so scared, Jackson. I really thought I was going to die. But I can’t focus on that now. Because if I do, I might fall to pieces. I have so much going on in my life.”
Where was God in that mix? And where was he?
He nodded his head slowly and started the truck. “I understand that. Believe me. But Mia, don’t forget, it’s important to take care of yourself. If you’re really hurt, you need to know. That’s not selfish.”
He pulled away from the curb, taking care not to drive over the glass that still littered the street when he passed where her car had crashed an hour ago.
“I’ll make you a deal,” she finally said. “Drive me home now. If I have any problems, either tonight or tomorrow, I’ll go to the hospital and get checked out.”
He let out his breath slowly. It wasn’t what he wanted, but he knew it was the best he’d get. And if Mia said she’d go to the hospital, he trusted her to keep her word. “That sounds fair.”
A few minutes later, he pulled up into her driveway. Putting the truck in Park, he shut off the engine. “Hold on. I’m coming to help you.” He opened his door before she could argue, then hopped down.
Mia smiled. It felt good to have someone taking care of her for a change.
Then her smile faltered. She didn’t know if she could take any more today.
It had been so hard going into her classroom, having Beth treat her like a villain, and knowing that others were watching her, judging.
For those few minutes, the hallway had become a gauntlet.
Part of her wondered how she’d go back there, even if—she changed that thought in her mind—when the district reinstated her.
“Mia?”
She jumped. Jackson had reached her door and was waiting for her. “Sorry. I was thinking.”
“About?”
“It really bothers me, Jackson. Even when this is over, there will be some who say I’m only back at my job because Blaine is the superintendent.” Her lip curled. “Of course, I can’t tell anyone he isn’t my father. That would hurt my mom.”
Jackson placed his hands on the doorframe and leaned in a bit. “If you want to tell people he’s not your dad, or if you want to change jobs, I’d say do what suits you. Life is short. Yes, you need to take care of others, but take care of you too.”
She gazed into his eyes. She’d kept her emotions in for so long she felt like her skin had been stretched too thin over her body. Like a balloon blown too full. She needed some release or she’d pop.
Unbuckling, she turned sideways so she faced him and her feet braced against the bottom frame of the truck door. “Jackson, I haven’t had a relationship with my mother, a real one, ever. I’d always assumed she didn’t love me. Do you know what I learned today?”
“Tell me.” His warm breath washed over her face.
“She was pretty much forced to marry my dad. She did it, not because she loved him or because she feared my parents, but because she loved me and didn’t want to give me up. She sacrificed so much.”
“And Blaine?”
She smiled at the distaste in those two words. “It was all about appearances for him. Always. I don’t suppose he’ll ever change.”
Jackson opened his mouth, paused, then seemed to come to a decision. “I don’t know if he’ll change. But I will pray for him. And your mom. But mostly for you. Faith can heal people. I know you’ve been struggling with trusting God. But some days my faith is all that gets me through.”
She leaned forward until her forehead touched his chest. “I prayed last night.”
He went still. “And?”
Shrugging, she relaxed into him. “I don’t know. I didn’t feel as if anything changed. But maybe I did it wrong.”
“Prayer always changes you. It doesn’t matter if you felt it.”
“But Jackson, I prayed, and today, someone tried to kill me.”
“Honey, you prayed and God protected you.” He hugged her briefly.
She stilled. “I’m still scared.”
“I know. That’s natural.”
She backed off and glanced up at him, setting her jaw. “But I refuse to cower. I can’t live in fear.”
“Attagirl.”