Jarod's Heart (King Brothers Stories #2) (30 page)

“I’m coming with you,” Jarod said, as he attempted to climb into the ambulance.

“Sir, I’m sorry but there’s no room. We need to work on your wife, and I promise we are going to take good care of her. We need to leave now.”

“Wait a…” Jarod began to argue, but the doors were shut and the vehicle began to pull out onto the street, its siren whirring.

“Come on, son. We need to get to UMC. Give your keys to Jason.” His father held out his hand. “He’ll follow us in your truck.”

Stunned, he reached into his pocket and grabbed his keys while he kept a death grip on his daughter.

“Don’t worry, Jarod. I know Sassy. She’s going to be just fine,” Josh said, his voice only breaking every other word as he followed Jason back to the Raptor.

While Josh and Jason climbed into his truck, James got them buckled into the back of a black Escalade that was obviously government-issue, not a rental. Dane sat behind the wheel as James got in the back seat with Jarod and Jessica. There was no car seat, but they managed to get her buckled into the center space while she clung to Jarod’s side.

He didn’t mind. If he’d had it his way, he would’ve held her all the way to the hospital, car-seat laws be damned. What would they do, ticket him?

He shook his head at his rambling thoughts.

“What happened to Brad?” Jarod asked dully. He felt Jessica tense up at the asshole’s name, and Jarod barely kept his control leashed.

“Suicide by cop,” Dane said. “Well, maybe not suicide. It didn’t look to me like he was paying any attention to the authorities surrounding him. His main focus was on Lauren.”

At the mention of his wife’s name, Jarod’s worry came back tenfold. She’d risked her life to protect his daughter. But more than that, he didn’t know what he’d do without her. All he could see was her smiling face and hear her self-assured wit, even when she wasn’t so confident. All he wanted to do was hold her close and never let her go. If she died, he’d never live through it.

He couldn’t lose her now.

“What do you have in your hands, Jessica?” his father gently asked.

Jessica rubbed her nose on Jarod’s shirt before turning toward her grandfather.

“Teddy,” she whispered.

“Yeah?” he smiled. “I had a teddy bear growing up. He was my best friend for a while. Is he your friend?”

“Uh huh,” she said. And then in barely a whisper, “He guards the treasure.”

Jarod looked down at his daughter before raising an eyebrow at his dad. “What treasure, Darlin’?”

“Mommy and Big Mike’s treasure. Teddy is very brave. He hadda have a op-ray-shun an’ everything.”

“An
operation
?” James clarified.

“Uh huh. Mommy had to put stitches in his tummy. See?” She held up her toy to her grandpa.

James reached out to take the bear, but Jessica pulled it back protectively. “Ya hafta be careful with ’im, ’kay Papa?”

“Of course, honey. I promise I will be very careful,” he said.

Jarod watched as his father squeezed the bear between his forefingers and thumbs. Both men heard the paper that was inside.

James confirmed, “There’s something small and hard in there as well.” Then he handed the bear back to Jessica. “Thank you for letting me examine your teddy.”

“Welcome,” she said, hugging the bear and turning to put her head back against Jarod’s side. “I wanna see Mommy.”

“We’re going to see her now, Darlin’,” he confirmed. He just hoped she was awake when they got there.

THEY WERE USHERED
to a waiting room that was blessedly quiet. Jessica kept asking for her mommy and would cry a little when she was told she couldn’t see her yet.

Jarod understood how she felt. If he didn’t get to see her soon, he was going to punch something.

“We got us rooms at the Belagio,” Josh said, once he was seated in a plastic chair.

“Good,” James answered. “I’ll call your mother when we have more information on Lauren.”

“Where’d you two run off to?” Jarod asked Jason, as he sat down across from them and handed Jarod a bag.

“We went to Walmart to pick up some clothes for the princess.”

“Thank you.” Jarod hadn’t thought beyond getting his wife back. Taking a closer look at his daughter, he saw she was covered in dried blood and filth.

“There’s some wipey things in there, too,” Josh said. “At least we can wash her face and put her in some clean clothes.”

Jarod found the wipes and proceeded to wash the face of his daughter, who didn’t complain.

Just then, a nurse entered the waiting room. “Mr. King?” she inquired.

“Yes,” all four of them answered.

Jarod rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure she means me.”

“Are you Lauren’s husband?”

“Yes, how is she?” He stood up while Josh finished dressing Jessica.

“She’s stable. The bullet in her arm went straight through and no bones were broken, and there was no substantial bleeding found. She has some abrasions on her wrists from the duct tape she says was used to bind her hands behind her back. She’s in some pain, so we’ve given her meds to control that.”

“Is she awake?” Jarod asked.

“Yes, and she’s been asking for you and your daughter. We’re moving her to a room as soon as she’s finished with her CT scan. The doctor wants to rule out any skull fractures or brain hemorrhage due to her concussion, which is substantial. We’re keeping her overnight as a precaution.”

“How long before she’s in her room?” Josh asked. He’d finished dressing Jessica, who was now safely ensconced in Jason’s arms.

“Give us thirty minutes or so, but you all can head up to room two-twelve right now to wait for her.” She smiled as she left for parts unknown.

Josh and James began gathering up the bags as Jason reassured Jessica that she would see her mommy soon.

S
he felt the weight of her body press into the thin mattress of the gurney when the narcotics from the IV entered her vein. She hated the feeling, but it was better than the burning in her arm and the massive headache that was pounding her skull. She could have sworn that her nurses were twins before she realized that there was only one of them.

That can’t be good.

Where was Jessica? Where was Jarod? Why wasn’t he here with her now? She hated hospitals. She hated being sick. She needed him, but then she remembered that he didn’t love her, so it would make sense that he wouldn’t be here.

Still, she wished she could gaze into his blue eyes and let them lull her to sleep so this headache would go away.

“Mrs. King, we’re taking you to your room now. The doctor will see you again after he’s had a chance to look at your scan,” one of the twin nurses said.

“Is my husband here?” She hated to sound so whiny, but she really needed him. Her panic sat patiently waiting to consume her behind the thin curtain of chemical pain relief that was now flowing freely through her circulatory system. She breathed deeply, but the oxygen just made her dizzy.

Good thing she was already lying down on a gurney.

“I don’t know, but I’ll have someone check the waiting rooms for him.”

Lauren watched the fluorescent lights pass by one after the other until they made a white blur along the ceiling. She really needed to concentrate on her surroundings if she was going to get out of here and find Jarod.

How had she gotten here, anyway?

Frightening images were flashing in her mind, like someone surfing channels on the television. She wanted control of the remote so she could focus on just one picture and remember. She’d forgotten something important, but for the life of her she couldn’t recall what it was. She closed her eyes for a moment and a beautiful blue hummingbird hovered in front of her mind’s eye.

No, that wasn’t right.

It wasn’t a bird.

A tiny face with blue eyes appeared. It was smiling and calling her “mommy.”

“Jessica!” Lauren nearly toppled off the gurney looking for her daughter.

“Whoa, Mrs. King. Please lie back down. We’re almost to your room.”

“No, you don’t understand! I’ve lost my daughter,” she pleaded. “She’s just a baby, please, I have to find her!”

Lauren began to get off the gurney, but the nurse was having none of it. “Lie back down, Mrs. King. We’ll find your daughter,” she coaxed.

“Mommy!”

Lauren looked around and saw Jarod and Jessica rushing down the hallway. Relief made her collapse back to the gurney, but Jarod was there with Jessica in his arms before she had time to hit the pillow. He gathered her to them for the best group hug ever.

“Mommy, mommy, mommy,” Jessica was saying over and over as Jarod allowed the little girl to slide onto the gurney with Lauren.

“My God, woman, I thought I’d lost you,” he choked out. He was showering her with kisses, making her feel as though she’d gone to heaven.

“Please, Mr. King. Let me get your wife settled in her bed,” Nurse Ratched said.

Lauren really didn’t like her anymore.

“Of course,” he said before clearing his throat.

Is he crying?

Nah. She was still dreaming from the wonderful poison dripping through her IV line.

The nurse maneuvered Lauren’s gurney into a private room where all the King men were waiting, along with the elusive Dane. After making the transfer from the gurney to the bed, which was no easy task with five large men, one small girl, and an IV stand to dance with, the nurse heaved a sigh of relief and left with the empty gurney.

Jessica had transferred along with Lauren onto the hospital bed and made herself at home cuddled up to her side. Relieved that she’d found her little girl, Lauren let the tears slide down her cheeks.

Jarod was immediately at her side, wiping them away.

“Do you want me to move her? Is she hurting you?”

“No, she’s perfect. I just missed her.” Lauren looked into Jarod’s eyes and admitted, “I missed you, too…so much.”

He smiled at her and continued to rub the backs of his fingers over her face, careful not to touch the sore spot on her cheek or her swollen bottom lip.

Someone at the foot of the bed was rubbing her foot through the thin hospital blanket. Her gaze shifted to Josh, who was smiling weakly.

“Good to have you back, Sassy.”

“It’s good to be back.”

“What happened?” Jason asked. “How did Brad get you?”

Lauren closed her eyes, not wanting to rehash the nightmare that had led her to a hospital bed in Las Vegas. But she knew if she didn’t get it out, it would haunt her.

Jarod was still gently stroking her head, making her feel safe, while Jessica was tucked up tightly to her side. Lauren glanced at Jessica’s perfect little face and noted that she’d fallen asleep. A tear squeezed out of her eye, stinging a trail down her cheek, where Jarod quickly wiped it away.

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” he whispered.

“No, it’s all right. I need to get this over with,” she sniffed, mentally preparing herself for the story.

She smiled, indicating to Jessica before her explanation. “She had to go potty and was getting pretty adamant about using one of the rented blue potties.” She paused, remembering the little argument they’d had and chuckled. “This girl is obsessed with the color blue.”