Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Major!” Becca said, jumping up as I walked out and pulled my skull cap off. “How is she?”
“Sassing all the nurses and being a generally poor patient,” I said with a weak smile.
It had been two hours since the ambulance had pulled in with the woman I love in the back of it, bleeding profusely from her abdomen.
My combat training had kicked my emotions to the curb and allowed me to do what I had to do, but now the adrenaline was draining out, and the seriousness of the situation was catching up to me.
I accidentally locked my right knee, nearly falling when I went to take a step.
Cameron grabbed me and pivoted me to a chair, where I leaned over my legs with the intent to fix the prosthesis, when really, I just needed to breathe before I passed out.
Cameron had his hand on my back and his hand around my upper arm. “You got this. Take a moment now and remember she’s going to be okay because of your handiwork.”
“Every time I touch her in there, I cause her pain,” I moaned, resting my forehead in my hand.
“Maybe short term, but she knows you love her and are trying to help her,” Ivy said, and I was surprised to hear her voice. I didn’t even realize she was there.
When I glanced up, she shook her head slightly, which was enough to tell me she hadn’t clued them in about why Jaelyn was out there to begin with.
“Can you tell us how bad it is?” Becca asked. “Because it looked pretty damn bad.”
“On a scale of one to ten, it was a seven as far as blood loss. I would imagine the snow was a scary sight,” I agreed, sitting up and taking a deep breath to remind myself that she was okay and I had a hand in that.
“She needed a transfusion, and we appreciate Lance donating while she was getting stitched up. It’s unusual to have a universal donor willing to come down and donate on the spot. ”
“That’s Bells Pass for you. Besides, they’re friends, and he’d do anything for her. He’s still here somewhere.”
“As for the internal injuries, her small bowel was nicked, but the rest was fascia and tissue. I'm not a general surgeon, but I scrubbed in as a second set of hands. I’m glad I did, as we were able to get the job done quickly, so she didn’t need as much anesthesia.
She’ll hurt for a few days, but otherwise will be fine with a bit of healing. What the hell happened out there?”
“We don’t know,” Becca said, shaking her head. “She never came into the store, but I walked outside to the snack shack and noticed her car. That was the same moment Cameron radioed for me to call 911. He’d taken the snowmobile out to the clearing and found her.”
“She’s so lucky you did,” I moaned, my head back in my hand as I took a deep breath.
“I normally don’t go out there before the first ride, but I noticed footprints in the trail leading out to the clearing. I was worried someone had gotten lost, so I decided to check it out while smoothing out the path.”
“This is my fault,” I said, shaking my head in my hand. “We argued, and she left. I assumed to clear her head. I didn’t know she was going out there, or I would have called you. I did call you, but there was no answer. Now I know why.”
“That doesn’t make it your fault,” Ivy said. “She loves the farm and always calls it her one place for peace. I would guess she was taking a breather and unexpectedly encountered someone.”
“Do we know who that was?” I asked, realizing for the first time that someone had stabbed her. Logically, I knew that to be the case, but I hadn’t stopped long enough to think about it.
“Gabe suspects it was that same guy who held you guys up by the park,” Becca supplied. “We sent them the video, and while it’s not great resolution, it was enough for him to say the guy was close in height and weight. They followed his tracks.”
“She told me she doesn’t remember anything after reading my text. Did she have an exchange with the guy? Was he looking for money again?”
“No,” Cameron said. “That’s the weird part. He just came out of the trees and stabbed her. She never would have seen or heard him coming.”
“Gabe said a lot has come to light about the guy, including his multiple psychiatric holds while in prison. He has some major mental health issues, so it’s a manhunt until he’s found. They’re worried he’ll hurt someone else,” Becca added.
“Let me tell Jaelyn the bare minimum,” I said, sitting up. “I’ll tell her that Gabe is looking for the guy, but we don’t know more than that.”
“Is it wise to lie to her?” Ivy asked, one brow raised as if to say ‘again.’
“It’s not a lie. Gabe is looking for the guy. We don’t know for sure that it’s Luke West. Once we do, we’ll tell her. She needs a few hours to sleep off the drugs and start to heal.”
“I’ll tell Gabe to reach out to you once he knows something,” Cameron said, patting my back. “I’m so relieved she’s okay, but we will be having a chat when she gets out of here about how the rules apply to everyone at the farm, not just guests.”
“I don’t follow,” I said, glancing between them.
“She knows not to walk down to the clearing alone. Any form of wildlife could be out there waiting,” Becca said.
“We saw you two on camera that first time you were out, but we also knew she wanted to show you the big tree privately, so we didn’t say anything since she wasn’t alone.
Today, she had no excuse to break the rules.
She knows better!” Cameron reached over and squeezed his wife’s shoulder, trying to reassure her the best he could in the face of a scary situation.
“This is my fault. We argued, and Jaelyn wasn’t thinking clearly. She probably started walking without thought or reason. Don’t be too hard on her. She was likely looking for a place to escape, and she knew your home was a safe haven for her. Maybe try to think of it that way.”
“It wasn’t safe, though,” Cameron said. I could tell he was blaming himself. “It’s time to reevaluate everything about the way I do business. I can’t have kids out there working when people are walking around stabbing other people.”
Becca slipped her tiny hand into her husband’s giant paw.
“It’s not people. It was one person, and on a property like ours, everything carries multiple risks.
That’s why the kids don’t go beyond the posted areas.
The farm is safe, and no one is going to hold us accountable for the actions of someone who doesn’t even work there. ”
“Maybe not, but I hold myself accountable. Changes will be made.” Cameron’s tone held his determination, but his eyes held his fear, anguish, and second-guessing that I was responsible for. I hated what I’d done to this town with a few careless words.
“While she was busy giving me the silent treatment,” I said with a lip tilt. “She did say that she wouldn’t let you blame yourself for this. So that tells me she knew she wasn’t supposed to be out there. Give her until tomorrow morning, and then you can talk to her yourself.”
“Are you taking her home?” Ivy asked, but I shook my head.
“Not tonight. Dr. Marshall wants a scan in the morning to ensure that the bowel isn’t leaking before he releases her. She’s mad about it, but what’s new there?” My tone was teasing.
Ivy laughed. “Well, as much as my insurance is going to hate it, she won’t have any bills to worry about.”
“No,” Cameron said. “The farm’s insurance covers all of this.
I’ve already given the hospital the information.
She was injured on my property as a guest, so our property insurance will cover her bills.
I know she’ll be mad about that too because she’ll say she shouldn’t have been back there, but her anger won’t change the law. ”
“I’ll let her know so you get less of a stern talking to about it when you visit,” I said, allowing myself to laugh a bit. “That woman is something else. She was practically bleeding out, but all she was worried about was traumatizing you and ruining your birthday.”
“Sounds like Jaelyn,” they all said in unison, sending us all into a fit of giggles.
“Assure her that neither is the case, but I’m happy she’s going to be okay. Tell her she’s been suspended from work until the kids return in January.”
The face I made was partly between a grimace and a horror scream. “How about if you tell her yourself? She’s already spitting mad at me!”
“Okay, I’ll let Dr. Marshall tell her,” he said with a wink.
“I should head back before she gives the nurses too much grief about having to stay. Thank you for finding her. It’s the only reason this story has a happy ending.”
I shook his hand before I reset my prosthesis, then I hugged Becca and Ivy.
“Major?” Ivy called, and I stopped, turning back to her. “You’re the reason this story will have a happy ending. All you have to do is erase a few lines and do a rewrite.”
With a nod, I turned back with a prayer that Jaelyn wasn’t already finished with our book.
When I woke, the room was dark, except for a light from the machines by my bed.
I reached for my phone, only to remember why reaching for anything was a bad idea.
Besides, my phone was probably still in the snow at Evergreen Acres.
At least I wasn’t still in the snow at Evergreen Acres.
A moan fell from my lips when I tried to move to get more comfortable.
“Do you need pain meds?” a voice asked, startling me. “I’ll call the nurse.”
“You’re still here?” I asked, surprise in my voice. “I thought I told you to go home.”
“You did, but that doesn’t mean I listened.” His little smile told me he was only partly making fun of himself. His eyes told me the rest of the story.
“Major, you should be home in bed where it’s comfortable.”
“Not without you, it’s not,” he said. “Not when I know you’re in this bed because of me. I can suffer for a few hours for what I did to you.”
“You didn’t do anything to me. An idiot with a knife put me here, along with my own stupidity for going back there alone.”