Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
“What the fuck?” Andy slammed on his breaks as a car came careening into the intersection. The car beside him wasn’t so quick and slammed into the small SUV, sending it across the road and into a light pole.
It happened so fast and also so slow. He clocked the large pickup doing a U-turn before speeding off. Something about that seemed off, and he noted it away in the back of his mind to work out later. His focus was on the inhabitants of the car and if they were okay.
He pulled up on the curb, his phone to his ear as he called emergency services, only to find out that someone else had already called the accident in and help was on the way.
Making sure it was safe to get out, he raced over to the silver SUV.
There was a woman standing nearby, looking pale, as she clutched her hands together.
Dread filled him. The woman’s reaction didn’t bode well for what he would find. But whatever he saw, he would help the occupant and hope for the best.
“Are you okay?” He asked the woman.
“Yes. I’m just—it all happened so fast.”
“I know. Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. I was walking along the path when the car came skidding up. I called for help straightaway.”
“Right, I’m going to…” He canted his head toward the mangled wreck. He didn’t want to waste time talking to the woman, but he also didn’t want to ignore her since she was clearly in shock about what happened.
“Okay, I’ll wait here.” She took a few steps back and then turned to face the intersection.
Andy made his way to the car and the driver’s side, wincing when he saw the damage.
The airbags had deployed, so he hoped that had helped the driver.
Part of the car window had shattered, and he took his jacket off and pushed the rest of the glass out so that he could get closer to the victim, their long hair, matted with blood, covered their face.
He reached and pressed fingers against their neck, the flesh warm, and he caught the faint trace of a pulse. He breathed out in relief, but a pulse didn’t mean the person still wasn’t suffering life altering injuries.
The faint scream of a siren sounded, and he relaxed a fraction, because help was on the way. “Hang on, the paramedics will be here in flash,” he murmured, not sure if they could hear him or not.
A moan sounded, and another wave of relief swept through him. “Don’t move,” he cautioned when their shoulders rolled. “It’s better if you don’t.”
He brushed the hair covering their face away, and gasped. Her features were imprinted on his mind. Even though blood trailed down her cheek, she was still recognizable to him. “Narelle!” he whispered, needing the paramedics to arrive right now.
How was it possible that she was here?
Did she live in Perth?
Or was she visiting?
Andy pushed the questions away. Right at this second, they were irrelevant. All that mattered was getting her the help she needed so that she would be alright.
The sirens were loud now, and he glanced over his shoulder to see an ambulance pulling up beside them.
His hand was still on Narelle’s neck, needing the reassurance of feeling her pulse, paranoid that if he let go, she would slip away, and now that Narelle was right in front of him, he didn’t want that to happen.
Andy paced the waiting room. The chances of him getting information about Narelle were slim.
Hell, he didn’t even know her last name.
The paramedics thought he was a concerned citizen, as he hovered nearby while they extracted her from the car.
The fact she was still breathing after seeing the damage to her car was amazing.
He’d followed the ambulance to the hospital, not being able to leave her alone.
Did she have any family?
Any next of kin?
The thoughts swirled, and he sat down, taking a deep breath. He also couldn’t shake the feeling that it was more than just an accident. He’d already asked Wilt to check to see if there were any cameras near the intersection that would’ve recorded the incident.
“Andy? Are you okay?”
He looked up and saw Tabby and Steve rushing toward him. He was immediately engulfed in a hug from his boss’s wife. He took the comfort she gave him, aware of Steve standing next to her, no doubt supporting her lower back with his hand.
“I’m fine.”
She pulled away and stared at him critically, as if trying to determine if he was lying or telling the truth. “Then why did you say there’d been an accident and you were in the hospital?”
There was no heat in her voice only curiosity, which he didn’t blame her for.
He gave them both a quick rundown of what happened.
Explaining how he knew Narelle proved to be a bit trickier, but he didn’t care that he was sharing his sexual habits with his boss and his wife.
All that concerned him was the woman somewhere in the hospital, alone and hurting, and possibly…
He cut off his thoughts. He wasn’t going to think of anything bad happening to Narelle, he had to believe she was okay.
Was it coincidence that he happened to be at the same intersection as she was at the time she had an accident? Was fate playing with them like fate had played with three of his other colleagues when they’d met their significant others?
Steve had driven past Tabby’s café and found her bleeding on the ground. Chris, their American associate, had seen his wife Lindy get her bag snatched, after a chance meeting in a bar. And Reed had been with Lauren, when her ex had turned up at Tabby’s new café, threatening her.
Andy wasn’t one to believe in things happening for a reason, but he was starting to.
“And you haven’t spoken to her since that night in Bali?” Tabby asked.
“No, it was just a one-night thing.” Andy hated how shallow that sounded, but it was the truth.
“And you don’t know her last name?” Tabby continued.
“No.”
“I wonder…” she trailed off and bit her bottom lip.
“Wonder what, honey?” Steve questioned his wife.
“You remember what you did when I was in hospital. Could Andy do the same?”
Andy knew exactly what Tabby was suggesting.
Steve had barged in, announcing that he was Tabby’s fiancée, when they hadn’t even been on a date.
The difference between their situation and the one Andy found him in, was Tabby had been aware of Steve by her side while she’d been getting treatment before being transferred to the hospital. And he knew her last name.
“Sadly, I don’t think so,” Andy said. “The staff at the front desk are aware that I’m not related to Narelle. When I asked about her, I couldn’t even tell them her full name. I’m just waiting here like a schmuck knowing that I’m, more than likely, not going to find anything out.”
Tabby looked up at Steve as if he could solve it all, but in this situation, Andy didn’t think he could.
Why hadn’t he thought to ask for Narelle’s last name when she walked out of his hotel room? Or followed through with asking Wilt to see if he could find out information on her?
Because you didn’t want to spoil the memory. Didn’t want to meet up again and find out that the magic you’d felt with her in Bali was because of the location, and not because of anything mutual between you.
Part of that was true, but the other part was that he’d been scared. He could face down the evils of the world, but when it came to accepting feelings he had for a stranger, he couldn’t face it.
Yet, when he’d seen Narelle, bleeding and injured, his heart had skipped a beat, and he hadn’t been able to move the second he touched her.
“It’s okay,” Andy said, trying to appease Tabby.
“It’s not, but I won’t push it.” Tabby didn’t say anything else as another couple came in.
Their faces were white, and they clutched each other’s hands as if fearing letting go would bring bad news down upon them.
There was something familiar about the woman, but Andy didn’t dwell on it because his mind was on other things.
The couple were upset, and he hoped whoever they were waiting to hear news about was going to be okay.
For the next hour, he sat with Steve and Tabby, not saying much, but his gaze kept drifting to the couple who hadn’t moved since they’d walked in. Feeling the need to do something, because sitting was aggravating him, he got up and went over to them. “Can I get you something to drink?”
The woman looked up at him, and the reason for why she seemed familiar fell into place.
It was as if he was looking into the future and seeing Narelle in thirty years.
There was no mistaking the resemblance. It wasn’t his mind playing tricks on him.
Or making him see what he wanted to see.
“Thank you, but I don’t think I could stomach anything. Do you want anything, Mike?”
The older man shook his head.
Knowing he was either about to make a fool of himself, or believe, that once again, fate was playing with him, he asked the question he’d wanted to know since he saw the woman’s face up close. “I hope you don’t find this intrusive, but are you here for Narelle?”
He hoped they didn’t pick up on the fact he didn’t say her last name.
Both of them looked at him in surprise, as if they didn’t quite know what to do with his question.
“Who are you?” the man asked, looking protective and worried at the same time.
There was no way Andy was going to tell him how intimately he knew the man’s daughter, but he was going to let him know that they were friends. “My name’s Andy Grimshaw, sir. I saw the accident happen. I also met Narelle when she was in Bali a few months ago.”
“And you just happened to be at the same place when the accident occurred?” The disbelief in Narelle’s father’s voice didn’t surprise Andy. If he was the one being told the same information, he’d have trouble believing it too.
“I know it sounds farfetched, but yes, I was there, and I was shocked when I saw the driver was Narelle.”
“She’s never mentioned knowing you,” her mum piped up.
As weird as it was, Andy was pleased they were skeptical about him.
It meant they cared about their daughter and would do whatever was necessary to protect her.
But how did he answer that question without revealing the nature of his and Narelle’s interactions?
“We met on the last night we were both there and got chatting. I’m going to be honest and say that I didn’t know she lived in Perth, and she doesn’t know I do as well. ”
If that didn’t give her parents a big hint as to what went on between the two of them, he didn’t know what would.
They didn’t answer him, as their attention was drawn toward the doctor who walked into the waiting room. Andy tensed again and noticed that Narelle’s mother tightened her grip around her husband’s hands. He was also aware of Steve and Tabby moving to stand a little closer to him.
“I’m looking for the family of Narelle Hennessy?” The doctor looked around the room.
“That’s us, I’m Mike Hennessy, Narelle’s father. This is my wife, Julie.” He stood, and Julie followed, still clutching his hand.
Andy moved to the side a little, but still within earshot, so he could hear what the doctor was saying. Was it presumptuous of him, and a bit rude to be so close? Maybe, but he didn’t care because he needed to know what was going on with Narelle.
If she was okay.
He didn’t allow himself to consider the doctor was going to bring them bad news.
“How is she?” Narelle’s mum asked, when the doctor still hadn’t said anything.
The doctor sighed, and Andy braced himself for bad news, mentally cursing himself that he hadn’t looked for her.
“I’m not going to lie,” the doctor started.
“Narelle is a very lucky woman. Her injuries could’ve been much worse.
Having said that, her recovery is going to be long.
She sustained a broken leg and a minor break to her arm.
She also suffered internal bleeding from some lacerations, but we were able to repair them, and she didn’t lose any internal organs. ”
The mixed sounds of relief and anguish from Narelle’s parents faded into the distance as Andy’s heart thumped louder, and he took a couple of deep breaths.
Narelle was alive.
Narelle was alive.
He was aware of the doctor saying more, but he didn’t hear it. The release of his fear was threatening to drown him.
An arm slid around his waist, pulling him back from the brink of the abyss he was being sucked into.
“Breathe, Andy.”
Tabby’s words centered him again, and once he became aware of his surroundings, he noticed that the doctor had left, and Narelle’s parents were watching him carefully.
Mike leaned forward. “How well do you know our daughter?”