A Fresh Start for Two (19 page)

Not capable of forming a response to that, not now, Jake just kissed her lips and held her, praying they weren’t too late, praying they would get their fresh start together.

They were about a mile away when her eyelids fluttered. “Julia? Come on, baby, wake up for me. Don’t leave me, please.”

Her eyes opened and her beautiful eyes settled on him. “Jake?”

“It’s all right. I’ve got you. We’re almost at the hospital, babe.”

A call came over the radio and Ryan answered immediately. The hospital wanted to know if they would need to use the hospital’s only trauma bay. He recognized the voice as their sister’s.

Ryan said, “Yes, she needs the trauma bay, Mallory. Heavy blood loss, broken leg, head wound. Currently awake and lethargic. We don’t know how the leg wound was sustained, but it looks like it could have been a fall.”

Too grateful to have Julia awake and in his arms to focus on anything but her, Jake blocked out the rest of what Ryan was saying. He leaned down to kiss her and said, “I love you, babe. I’m sorry it took me so long to say the words.”

Julia attempted to reach up to touch his face, but she didn’t have the strength. He lifted her hand and held it against his cheek. “Vincent won’t bother you anymore. Fight for me? Promise?”

She nodded, words still too difficult. Her gaze found his and she mouthed, “Love you.” Her eyes closed again.

Seconds later, Ryan pulled into the emergency entrance. Mallory was waiting for them with two other nurses and a gurney. She opened the door and said, “Step out, Jake. We’ll help you. I don’t want to move her leg until we get her on the table.”

Julia didn’t stir again. He knew it was a blessing because of the pain she would have to bear from her leg, but still, he wanted her awake… for him. He needed to know she would be all right, and that she wasn’t just going to slip away, as he’d seen too many friends do while in the army. Once they’d settled her and moved her inside, Jake turned to Ryan and said, “Send someone for her mother. She needs to be here.” Ryan nodded and pulled away. “And her sister, too.”

Feeling as if he were caught in a nightmare, Jake headed into the trauma bay in the emergency, where he was surprised—and relieved—to see his dad.

“Sarge called me. I thought I could give you some support. Come on, we’ll stand in the back. There are several residents here, so this will get busy.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Jake couldn’t take his eyes off Julia. She looked so helpless and frail. He hadn’t actually stayed to watch a trauma team work before, but was glad his dad was with him. “I feel like I should be over there with her.”

“No, you need to let the trauma team work,” his dad said gently. “I had many turns here during my training, and you don’t want to interrupt them. They’re highly efficient. I’ll explain what’s happening as they go along. If you have questions, ask.”

Two teams of residents processed Julia, while the lead doctor stood to the back overseeing everything as the head of the team. Jake watched as his sister and the team of nurses worked on Julia. Mallory stood off to the side writing, while the other two were at her bedside, announcing each time they inserted an IV, administered a medication, or completed a task.

“They attached her to the monitor so they can follow her vital signs,” his dad explained in an undertone, pointing to it. “Her oxygen saturation is good, her pulse low, but not bad. They’re using the IV to get fluids into her fast to bring her blood pressure up, and they’ll also draw labs for testing. Once the residents assess her, they’ll do x-rays.”

Jake listened to the team, but the terminology flew by him as they assessed her head wound and cut her clothes off to assess her wounded leg. His father led him to a different area as the team inserted a catheter. She screamed, which sent a bolt of pain straight to Jake’s heart. He felt like he was only barely hanging on to sanity.

“Dad, I can’t stay. I’m going to head to the waiting room.”

“I’ll go with you. Mallory will update us.”

They were about to leave when the head doctor said, “Dr. Ramsay, you want in?”

“No, she’s a friend.”

“Oh, sorry. We’ll get her back. I sent for ortho. She’s going to need surgery to set her leg.”

“Thank you. I called plastics as well. Put my name on the bill. I’ll talk to them at the desk.” He grasped Jake’s shoulder and ushered him into the waiting room. No one else was there.

As soon as the door closed, Jake said, “Be honest with me, Dad. Will she make it?”

His heart was in his throat as he awaited the answer he wasn’t sure he wanted.

Chapter Twenty

“Yes, I think so. She’s got a tough road ahead of her, but she’ll make it. I can tell she means a lot to you…is she different from the others?”

Jake nodded as he sank into a chair. “Yeah. I didn’t realize how much until I saw all that blood pooled on the concrete.”

“I think you’ve chosen well. Julia hasn’t had an easy life, from what I know of her, but she seems to be a fighter.”

“Yeah, she is.” He stared at the floor, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together.

An unknowable amount of time passed, and then his captain strode into the room. “Ramsay. Just checking in.”

Jake jumped out of his chair. “Yes, sir. She’s headed to surgery once they stabilize her.”

“I’m sorry to bother you about this at such a time, but you know that I need your gun since it was fired.”

Jake handed his captain his gun. “Yes, sir.”

“You’ll be on desk duty when you return. I don’t want to see you today or tomorrow. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Nice job today, Ramsay. I think you saved her life.”

“Thank you, sir.” His captain strode over to his dad. “Dr. Ramsay. Good to see you.” He shook hands with him, then spun on his heel and left.

“You know, he’s right, don’t you?”

“I don’t know anything right now, Dad. I’m just scared.” Jake ran his hands down his face, wanting, no, needing to do something. But he knew there was nothing he could do. His only option was to wait.

“If you hadn’t gotten to her when you did…well, anyone with a blood pressure as low as hers was upon admittance needs to be treated immediately. It’s why she was sleepy.”

Hearing such a compliment from both his father and his boss made Jake think. Maybe he had done some things right today. Ryan had told him the same, hadn’t he? He’d thought he failed Julia, but yet she was here in the hospital in good hands. Vincent Nye had been close to going over the edge. Yeah, he felt a little bit better about the decisions he had made. Had they not gotten there when they had, Julia would have been in far worse shape.

The door opened again, and Ryan ushered Julia’s mother inside. Nodding to Jake, he left the room again.

Jake stood. “Mrs. Ross. Please have a seat.”

“My Julia? Where is she? Is she all right? Oh my God. I never, ever thought it would come to this.” Her eyes darted around the room as she struggled to absorb the truth of the situation. There was no desire to tell her
I told you so
, only sympathy for another soul who cared for Julia and was worried for her.

Jake grasped her shoulders and ushered her to a chair. “Please sit down. It’ll be a while.”

His dad stood up and said, “I’m going to get some coffee. Anyone else?”

Jake held up two fingers. He knew Julia’s mom liked her coffee.

As soon as they were alone together, Mrs. Ross blurted out, “How bad is she?”

Jake pulled his chair until it was directly opposite hers. “She’s in pretty bad shape right now, Mrs. Ross. But they think she’ll make it.”

Her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh, my baby.” Tears flowed down her cheeks and she rocked back and forth in her chair. “What happened? I want to know everything.”

Jake nodded. “Vincent kidnapped Julia at gunpoint. He took her by boat to an empty house and gave her a pretty bad knock on the head to keep her quiet. Once they arrived, it appears she fell down some steps and broke her leg. She was in a lot of pain. There was also a huge gash on her thigh that bled quite a bit. Vincent fired his weapon at me, and he was killed instantly. I’m sorry.”

She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. “Oh my God. How could this have happened to my baby?”

Just then, Tiffany flew in the door. “Where is she? Where’s my sister? Is she dead? Is that why you’re crying, Mama?”

Ryan came in behind her and guided her into a chair.

Jake spoke up. “No, she’s going into surgery. She’ll be all right, Tiffany.”

He thought no one else was coming, but then Lucia and Lorraine came into the room.

“Is there anything I can do?” Lorraine said.

Mallory burst through the door and said, “Mrs. Ross?”

Julia’s mother jumped out of her chair and stared at Mallory with a blank expression on her face.

“Come with me, please.”

“Can my daughter, Tiffany, come with me?”

“Of course. Jake, you should come, too.”

Mrs. Ross took him completely by surprise when she turned to him and said, “Yes. He should.”

She led them down the hall. “We have her stabilized and we’re about to take her to the operating room. We thought you might like to see her first, though I don’t know if she’ll be coherent enough to talk to you or not. She’s had quite a bit of medication.”

“What kind of operation?” Tiffany asked, gripping her mother’s hand with white knuckles.

“She has a broken bone in her leg, so they need to repair that first. She’ll be on crutches for quite a while. A plastic surgeon will stitch the deep cut in her leg so she won’t scar too much. Her head injury doesn’t need surgery at this point, but we’ll keep a close eye on her as she recovers. She has a bed in the ICU. We’ll keep you posted as we go.”

Patricia Ross gasped, her hand in front of her mouth.

Then she was there in front of them—splayed on a stretcher in the middle of a hallway outside the operating room complex with a transporter at her side. She looked much more serene now. Jake thought that was good for her mother. She was completely covered with a blanket, so her mother and sister wouldn’t be able to see the damage to her leg. Still, she was on oxygen, and a couple of IVs were connected to her arm.

“I would suggest you not touch her below the waist because of her break.”

Mrs. Ross stepped up to the side of the stretcher and stooped down to kiss her daughter’s forehead. “I’m sorry, Julia, I’m so, so sorry.” Her voice came out in broken whispers.

Standing at her mother’s side, Tiffany bent over to kiss Julia’s cheek and started sobbing. “He beat her up, Mama. Look at that horrible bump on her head. She’s so beautiful and good, and look what he did to her. He’s a monster.”

They both stood back as Jake came up on the other side of her. He smiled, took Julia’s hand and squeezed it. He gave her a kiss and said, “Don’t worry about anything. Lucia and Maria are fine, and I’ll talk to our professor. We just need you to get better so that you and Lucia can make plans for opening your store. Plus you and I have some serious things to discuss.”

Mallory touched his shoulder. “I’ve got to move her, Jake.”

He whispered close to her ear, “I love you,” before stepping back to lean against the wall, his eyes following her as his sister took her to the operating room.

***

Jake sat in his chair next to Julia’s bed in the ICU. They had brought her back from surgery at around ten. Mallory had stopped in to see him after she was finished to confirm that they were sending her to the intensive care unit after surgery. The walls were all glass in the room so the nurses could constantly check on the patients.

The leg had actually not been as bad as expected, and her head injury was already improving.

It could have been so much worse. Vincent had carried out his threat…and yet they were all still here. Julia was
here,
not awake yet, but breathing on her own. Her blood pressure was back to normal blood pressure, and she was healing. Yes, she would have much to go through, but he’d be there to help her and so would Lucia, her sister, and he hoped, her mother.

And Ryan had given him more help and support than he could have hoped for. Standing at his side before, during, and after the shooting, he had been a constant source of support. Just like the old Ryan. Gram. He needed to thank Gram for having forced them to talk. If they weren’t both so damn stubborn, they might have gotten there on their own eventually, but hell, it was in the past now and he wanted to leave it there.

Julia’s head rested on the pillow, turned slightly to the side, and he could hear her even, steady breaths. The constant beeping of the monitors kept him from sleeping, but he was glad. He wanted to be here when she awoke.

Ryan and Caitlyn came in, so he jumped out of his chair to greet them. “Hey, you didn’t need to stop by. It’s late.” He gave Caitlyn a kiss on the cheek.

“It’s okay. I just finished working a twelve, so I’ll be home tomorrow, and I guess Ryan will be, too.”

“Are you still happy at the pediatric hospital?”

“Yes, I still can’t believe it, but it’s perfect for me. The days fly by.”

“Good, I’m glad.” Jake said to Ryan, “The boss ordered you to stay home for a couple of days, too?”

“Yes. And I don’t mind. I get to spend the day with my beautiful wife.” He wrapped his arms around Cait and kissed her cheek.

“He said we would go boating for a bit.” Cait leaned against her husband. “How is she, Jake?”

“She just got back from surgery. They want to keep her in the ICU so they can keep a close eye on her head wound. At least, that’s what Mallory told me. Not sure why.”

“They want to make sure her brain isn’t swelling. Has she opened her eyes since she returned?”

“No, but she only just got here. They said she’d be in a lot of pain tomorrow from the break and the stitches for her gash.”

“They’ll keep her medicated. The poor thing sure got a raw deal from a man who claimed to love her, didn’t she? And thank goodness you and Ryan weren’t hurt. Sounds like it could have gone either way. ”

Jake stared at his brother. “Thanks for being there, Ryan.”

“No problem,” his brother said, reaching forward to clasp his shoulder. “You’d do the same thing for me. I like her, Jake. I think you make a great pair.”

Jake stood up and threaded his fingers through the hair on the back of his head. “Yeah, as long as we get the chance.”

Cait set a comforting hand on his arm. “You guys are going to take some teasing when you get back to the squad room, aren’t you? First me and my fiasco, and then poor Julia?”

Ryan glanced at him and said, “Yeah. They’ll leave us alone for a few days.” Then he grinned. “After that, they’ll be relentless. But Jake and I can handle it.”

Owing to the glass windows, they saw Julia’s mom as soon as she came down the hall. She stopped outside the window and stared at her daughter in the bed, her hand coming up to her mouth as she took in the sight of all the tubes and monitors.

“Is that Julia’s mom?” Cait whispered.

Jake nodded.

“We’re going to head out, Jake,” Ryan said. “If you need anything, call us. We’ll stop by tomorrow.” And he stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. “It’s all good now, Jake. The worst is over.”

They stepped outside the door and Mrs. Ross said, “No, you don’t need to leave on my account.”

Caitlyn strode up to her without pausing and took her hand. “We were on our way out. I’m so sorry this has happened to Julia, but she’s on the mend now. It’s pretty frightening to see someone you know hooked up to all those machines, but this is the best place for her now.”

Mrs. Ross stared at Cait. “Thank you. You’re right, it is frightening.”

After a round of nods and forced smiles, they left and Mrs. Ross stepped inside. “Jake.” She nodded to him.

“Mrs. Ross, the surgery went well. They said she’d probably sleep most of the night. Here, have a seat in my chair. In fact, if you’d like me to leave you alone with her for a few minutes, I can do that.”

“No, no. Please stay, Jake. I need to say something to Julia, but I’d like you to hear it, too. That way if she wakes up and thinks she dreamed it, you’ll know the truth. It’s time she knew the whole story.”

“Sure. Take your time. Have a seat.” He moved over to the window and leaned against the wide ledge.

“No thanks. I’ll stand.”

Jake could tell she was struggling not to cry as she closed the door and moved to the side of the bed.

She reached for Julia’s hand. “Julia, it’s Mama. Can you wake up for me? Hmmm? It would mean a lot to me if you would. I need to tell you something. I’ve let it go on for long enough, and for that I’m sorry.”

Jake just stayed where he was at the back of the room. He had no idea where she was going with this conversation.

After a long pause, Mrs. Ross sighed and patted Julia’s hand. “Do you remember all the times I’ve told you it was your fault your father left and died? Well, it wasn’t.”

She pulled a tissue out of her purse and swiped at her tears, then blew her nose. A few moments later, she spoke again.

“It was mine.”