Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68033 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Walsh, do you have any idea what time it is? I know you’re anxious to get there, but you can’t just wake a sheikh up at this hour and expect him to jump through hoops for you.”
He reached for his cell phone on his bedside table without sparing Trisha a glance.
“Watch me.”
Walsh clenched his jaw, faltering for a moment. Standing still as he fought against the mess of emotions flooding him. Kerris had bisected his life into two chunks. Before her and after her. Even though he wasn’t allowed into her life, she was everything. If he thought too long about a world where she no longer existed, he’d dissolve.
“I just…” Whatever was in his eyes, he didn’t try to hide it from Trisha when he finally looked at her. “I just need to get there.”
She walked further into the room and grabbed the phone from him.
“You finish packing. I’ll call him myself.”
Chapter Five
What are you looking for?” Mama Jess crinkled her brow, studying Meredith’s face.
“Hmmm?” Meredith glanced at the entrance to the waiting room again and again. She swung her eyes back around to Mama Jess. “What’d you ask me?”
“I said what—”
Meredith’s phone rang and she snatched it from her back pocket.
“’Scuse me, Mama Jess.” She glanced down at the screen, leaping to her feet and speeding around the corner.
“Hello,” Meredith said, her voice tentative, waiting for the unidentified caller to speak.
“Meredith,” Walsh said from the other end, sounding about as weary and worried as she did. “How is she?”
“Where are you?” She answered his question with one of her own, glancing over her shoulder and being careful not to say his name.
“I just landed at Raleigh-Durham. I’m on my way there now.”
“No, you can’t.” Meredith slipped into the stall she’d used before to call Trish. “I wanted you to know, but I didn’t intend for you to come here.”
“And did you honestly think there was anyone who could keep me from coming?” Walsh asked, his voice weary and implacable. “I’m not concerned about what you or Cam or anyone else thinks right now. I’m coming. Try to stop me.”
She closed her eyes, hearing the steel in his voice. Oh, God, what had she done? She didn’t know exactly what had gone wrong between the two men, but she knew Kerris was at the center of it. Cam was a sloppy mess in the waiting room, drowning in guilt and frustration. He wasn’t stable. If Walsh showed up now, there was no telling what would happen. It was a volatile powder keg, and she had just lit a fuse.
“Walsh, let’s compromise.”
“I’m making no promises. And I will see her.”
“No one can see her right now. She’s still in surgery.”
“And the baby?”
Meredith clutched the handicap stall grab bar for support before sinking to sit on the closed toilet seat. The silence ripened while she looked for words.
“Meredith?” Walsh’s voice was more quiet, less certain.
“The baby didn’t make it.”
“Oh, God. Does she know yet?”
“No, she hasn’t been conscious since they brought her in. They did the C-section, but the baby was already…was already gone. Then they took Kerris into surgery for the internal injuries she’s sustained.”
“Fuck!” She heard Walsh bang something with force. And then bang it again. “I’m coming to that hospital. I don’t care how it looks. Not you, not Cam, nobody will stop me.”
“It won’t do any good for you to be here right now.” Meredith smothered the words in persuasion. “She’s in surgery, and if you come, you and Cam will just glare and circle each other like wild dogs.”
“How is he?” Concern softened Walsh’s voice.
“He’s suffering.”
“I can only imagine. No, I can’t imagine. He has to be grieving for the baby, and still waiting for Kerris to come out of surgery.”
“And the guilt,” Meredith added before she could stop herself, biting her lip. She practically heard the cogs in that sharp mind on the other end turning.
“What does he have to feel guilty about?” Something quiet and deadly slid into Walsh’s voice.
“Um…”
“Don’t even think about lying to me. What are you not telling me?”
“Walsh—”
“I’ll find out, so just tell me now.”
“Well, they had a fight.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And apparently Cam…”
“Cam what?”
“Cam had been drinking and stormed off. Kerris was scared he’d hurt himself, so she went after him, and it was raining. There was something in the road. She veered and hydroplaned.”
The details tumbled out in a rush, the waiting stillness on the other end making Meredith wish she could take back every word before they reached his ears.
“And you expect me to back off for him?” His words were so soft and ominous, a shiver of fear ran along her arms. “If she dies, Meredith, I’ll twist that pretty face of his beyond recognition.”
“Walsh, listen.”
“No compromise. I’m on my way.”
“Okay, okay.” Meredith’s shoulders dropped another inch. “But call me when you get here. Wait in the parking lot. I’ll come out to let you know what’s up, and we can go from there.”