Dylan's Redemption (17 page)

The woman who’d been driving the vehicle that hit Jessie cried and blabbered on and on about not seeing her and how she’d come out of nowhere. The woman didn’t seem to understand she’d almost hit a child. No wonder. Will’s head barely came up to the hood of the car.

Will sobbed quietly against his chest, and Jessie—Jessie wouldn’t wake up. Blood smeared all over her arm and leg. Her dress was shredded on the bottom where she’d slid across the pavement and was pulled up to her hip.

He leaned over her and listened to her shallow breathing, then kissed her mouth.

“Come on, Jess. Wake up for me.” Dylan pleaded now.

He just wanted to see her eyes open. She had to be all right. The hood of the car that hit her was crushed in on top and had a broken windshield with a circular break, spreading out like a spider web. Blood splattered in the pattern. She’d slammed her head into the windshield.

“Will, I need to set you down next to me, so I can check on Jess.”

When Dylan set him down, Will scooted close to Jessie and put his hand on her arm.

Dylan gently put his fingers under Jessie’s head and tried not to move her neck. He didn’t know how badly she’d been hurt. So far, she’d spoken to them, but she hadn’t really moved, except to let go of Will.

He pulled his sticky, wet fingers covered in her blood away from her head.

He leaned over Jessie and tried to get a better look at her damaged shoulder. The street had chewed up her flesh and left it bloody and raw.

He moved down her side to check her thigh and noticed blood pooling at her waist and under her back. A lot of blood.

He peeled off his shirt and pressed it to Jessie’s side and under her back. She didn’t make any sound of distress when he pressed where she was bleeding. A bad sign.

He didn’t want to move her in case she’d broken her back or neck. He pressed on the shirt and it quickly stained with blood. The ambulance should arrive any minute. He hoped the paramedics could stop the bleeding.

With one hand, he pulled up her dress to look at her thigh. A gasp went up from the crowd of onlookers. He looked up in time to see his deputy go white and turn away. Jessie’s thigh was a mess. Road rash ran all the way up to her hip.

Leaning over her head, he whispered into her ear. “Jess, wake up. Please. Please, honey, come back to me. I can’t lose you again. I love you.”

“Dylan,” she sighed. “Dylan.”

“Yes, Jess. It’s me. I love you.”

“I’m sorry. Hope is gone.”

“I’m here. You’re going to be fine. The ambulance is here. We’ll take you to the hospital. You’re going to be okay. I’ll make sure of it. I won’t leave you. Stay with me. Stay with me, Jess.” He cupped her face and held her gaze until her eyes fluttered shut again.

The deputies and bystanders stared and gawked as Dylan transformed from a tough no-nonsense sheriff into a desperate man in love, begging Jessie to wake up.

The paramedics shoved him out of the way so they could get to her. One of his deputies grabbed his arm and held him back. Will clung to his leg. He scooped him up into his arms and watched helplessly as chaos reigned around him. Today he wasn’t a cop, but a father and a man in love with the woman lying hurt and helpless at his feet. He’d let his deputies handle the scene. He kept his eyes on Jessie. The paramedics staunched the bleeding wounds with bandages, strapped her to a gurney, and loaded her into the ambulance.

Rules, regulations be damned, he stepped up into the ambulance with the paramedics and Will, determined not to leave Jessie alone. Not again. Never again.

Chapter Seventeen

D
YLAN SAT IN
the waiting room slowly losing his mind. Someone in the ER had given him a shirt to wear when they arrived. He wondered if the doctor would ever come out and give him an update on Jessie’s condition. Once they took her into a curtained cubicle, they hadn’t let him see her again. No one came out to tell him anything, and it was eating him alive. Every scenario playing through his head turned into a vivid nightmare about how this could end. She had to be okay. He wished he’d wake up and find Jessie well and whole.

He’d been so worried about Jessie and had Will thoroughly checked out by a pediatrician that an hour passed before he realized he needed to make some phone calls. He took out his cell phone and called Brian first. Brian, understandably upset by the news, softly denied this could be happening before replying he and Marilee were on their way to the hospital.

His next call was even harder to make. He hated to admit Jessie may not want him with her when she woke up. He called Greg after getting his last name from Brian. Dylan had no idea he was a Langley from Langley Construction. Because Dylan loved Jessie and Jessie would want the closest people to her here, he’d suck up his own pride and jealousy and let them know what happened.

“Hey, Greg, it’s Dylan.”

“What’s up?”

“I need you to come to the hospital in Fallbrook. It’s not good.”

“Jessie?” Greg croaked out.

“She was hit by a car. You need to come now. She needs you.” Those words were more difficult than any he’d ever spoken.

“You do not leave her. You wait until I get there.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Dylan hated that Greg thought he could leave Jessie. But he had left her once. He’d never repeat the biggest mistake of his life.

Greg hung up on him, leaving Dylan with nothing to do but wait.

Will slept next to him with his head resting on Dylan’s thigh. It took all of Dylan’s self-control to sit still when he wanted to jump up and pace the room like a caged animal.

Looking around the room, he felt as depressed as his surroundings. The walls were white and in sad shape, marked and scuffed. The pictures on the walls looked like they belonged in some cheap motel. The peach-and-sage-tone desert scenes did nothing to soothe his anxiety.

Several other people waited in the claustrophobic room. Paper coffee cups littered the small tables and old magazines lay strewn on empty chairs, the tables, and the floor.

The heavy feel of families desperate for news of their loved ones hung in the air, making waiting that much more difficult. Just when he thought he’d go crazy waiting alone, Brian, Marilee, Greg, and John showed up at once. They spotted him sitting with Will and made a beeline for him. Their faces wore masks of concern, but the anger on Greg’s face set Dylan off. He didn’t want them to blame him. She’d saved his son, and he’d gladly take her place in the emergency room.

Brian took a deep breath before asking, “What have you heard? Is she okay?” He rubbed his hand over his neck, his eyes pleading for a positive answer. “I can’t lose her now. Not when I just started to get my life back on track all because of her. I haven’t had enough time to thank her and pay her back for everything she’s done.”

“I haven’t heard anything in almost two hours. She’s with the doctors.”

They stood over him. Under normal circumstances he would have stood and faced them eye to eye. His son lay asleep on him, and he couldn’t stand without disturbing him. So he sat under Greg’s accusing glare.

Disturbed by the conversation, Will sat up and rubbed his eyes, glancing around at the new people. “Daddy, who are they?”

“Jess’s friends and family. They came to see her.”

Greg just about lost it and gasped. “Son of a . . . This is your son?”

John and Greg exchanged looks of surprise and dismay. Dylan’s anger intensified. They knew Jessie’s secret. A secret she’d kept all these years and couldn’t bring herself to discuss with him. If he had to beat it out of Greg, he’d make him tell him about Hope.

“This is Will. Will, these are Jessie’s friends Greg and John. That is her brother, Brian, and his wife, Marilee.”

“Hi. My mommy got hurt. We flew in the air.”

Dylan sighed and picked up his son and held him close, standing to face the crowd of people waiting for his explanation.

“Will doesn’t have a mother. When Jessie saved him today, he nominated her. Other kids have one, and he wants one of his own.”

Greg actually took a step back from Dylan and Will and ran a hand over his head and put his fists on his hips. “Please tell me she didn’t hear this.”

“She did.”

Greg swore under his breath and paced a couple steps away and back again. John looked just as upset and devastated.

Dylan thought about the accident and what Jessie said for the last two hours. Her words echoed in his head.

I believed your lies and I never got a chance to tell him. He’s a father.

Hope is gone.

She hadn’t meant that he was Will’s father. He was Hope’s father. A shudder ripped through him like a shockwave.

Greg’s words at the construction site office came back to him too.

I can’t tell you how important Hope is.

Jessie’s breakdown, trying to confess her secret. Greg and John’s concern about Will calling Jessie his mommy. It all made sense.

It hit him like a wrecking ball to the heart. It exploded into a million pieces that tore his soul to shreds. He’d left Jessie behind, alone and pregnant with his child.

“Tell me about Hope,” he said to John and Greg at once.

Greg and John looked stunned and resigned at the same time. About to start talking, everyone stopped and stared when the doctor entered the room.

“I’m looking for J. T. Langley’s family. I’m Dr. Williamson.”

As a group, they stood together collectively holding their breath, waiting for the doctor’s report on Jessie’s condition. The worn, tired lines on the doctor’s face told him the news wasn’t anything he wanted to hear.

“We’ve moved her into a room,” Dr. Williamson began, and Dylan exhaled his relief that she was okay. “I’ll let you see her, but only a couple at a time.” Things couldn’t be that bad if they were allowed to see her.

Dylan took the lead. “How is she? What are her injuries?”

“Are you here officially, Sheriff?” Dr. Williamson eyed his badge and the gun at his hip.

“No,” Dylan said tightly.

“You’re going to break all the hospital rules to get to Jessie, aren’t you?”

“I’m glad we understand each other, Doctor,” Dylan responded, thankful he still held Will, so he wouldn’t ring the doctor’s neck to get him to start talking.

“She’s unconscious. She has a major head injury. The fact she isn’t in a coma is both a miracle and a rarity. We put ten stitches in her scalp. She’ll have a massive headache when she wakes up and a bump the size of a small apple. We’ve cleaned the road rash on her shoulder, thigh, and hip. The scrapes were coated in dirt and grime from the street. She’s on some heavy-duty antibiotics. Her skin will remain raw for a few days before it scabs over, leaving some lasting scars. Parts of her thigh and shoulder took the brunt of the skid on the pavement. Most of the gravel is out, but it’s impossible to get it all. Her skin will heal over what’s left and it’ll feel bumpy rather than smooth as scar tissue builds up. Later, if she wants, plastic surgery can take care of most of it. I’m particularly concerned about the four-inch shard of glass we pulled out of her side. It probably came from a broken soda or beer bottle. We cleaned the wound and stitched it closed.

“We’ll watch her for fever and infection over the next couple of days. The head wound is the most severe injury. We’ll closely monitor her the next day or two and see how she does. She’s very lucky.

“She’s in room 211 on the second floor, a few doors down the hall. There’s another waiting room upstairs. You can go in, but only two at a time. Only for a few minutes each. She needs to rest.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Dylan shook his hand. As he left, everyone spoke at once.

Marilee became the voice of reason and called for quiet. “Let’s go upstairs to the other waiting room. Brian and I will visit Jessie first, followed by Greg and John. Dylan, when you go in to see her, I’ll watch Will. Now, let’s go.”

Dylan didn’t utter a sound, and no one else argued or said a word. They rode the elevator upstairs, Dylan lost in his thoughts about Jessie . . . and Hope.

Chapter Eighteen

D
YLAN WAITED FOR
Brian and Marilee to go sit with Jessie before he demanded answers from Greg. He needed to know about Hope. If Jessie couldn’t bring herself to tell him, Greg sure as hell would.

“Greg, tell me the truth about Hope.”

Greg and John shared another look, and John nodded his head to Greg. “He deserves to know, son. You should tell him. Jessie’s been hurting and angry for far too long. He should carry his half of the burden. She’s carried it alone all these years. It’s too much for her to carry alone.”

Greg squeezed his father’s shoulder, shook his head, and said, “I guess I’m the unwilling narrator to Jessie’s story.”

Frowning deeply, Greg continued. “Hope was your daughter.”

“Was,” Dylan said on an exhale, like that one word encompassed everything it meant. He took a shallow breath and leaned back in his chair, grief enveloping his whole being. He held Will a little tighter.

“No.” Dylan’s mother gasped. Everyone turned and stared at her, standing in the doorway of the waiting room. Her face pale, she used one hand to hold on to the doorway for balance. He couldn’t believe she’d driven to the hospital. Everyone looked as surprised as him to see her there.

Panic etched into every line on her pale face. “She lied. That girl was no good from the start. She probably slept with every boy in town. She’s the reason you turned your back on college, your family, the life you should have had. She sent you that email because she wanted to use you and get her hands on the McBride money. I wouldn’t let her use a baby to reel you in again. Not then. Not now. The baby wasn’t Dylan’s. It couldn’t be.”

Dylan couldn’t believe what his mother just admitted. Sick to his stomach, he spit out, “You knew she was pregnant.”

“How did you find out? She never told Dylan,” Greg added.

“The email Jessie sent didn’t go through. The reason she called you”—Dylan turned his attention to his mother, raked his fingers through his hair in frustration, trying to put it all together and believe the unbelievable—“she called you to find me. You told her I didn’t want anything to do with her when you knew she was pregnant with my baby.”