Loving Cara (24 page)

He lets go of his pole and waves his arms frantically, trying to regain his balance, but it’s no use. He falls hard, and I can see by the angle that he’s hurt his leg.

“Ahhhh!” he cries as he falls into the water.

“Seth!” I throw my pole onto the bank and run as fast as I can through the rushing water to the boy, who is now sitting on his butt.

The water is cold, biting my legs as I scramble to get to Seth. Before he can slip off the rock into the dangerous current, I grip his arm and guide him to a rock on the shoreline.

“Ow!” He holds his ankle up out of the water, and I can see, even from here, that it’s broken.

Oh, shit!
“Stay where you are!”

His eyes are wide and he’s staring at his ankle, clearly in shock. “It hurts, Cara.”

“I know, buddy.” I grip his calf gently in my palm and hold his leg up, examining it. “I think it’s broken, kiddo.”

“No!” He starts to cry and leans his forehead against my arm.

“Let me call Josh.” With my free hand, I pull my phone from my bra and call Josh’s number, praying he picks up.

“Hey, baby.”

“I need you.” I hear the near panic in my voice, but I can’t stop it. “Seth fell in the creek. I think his ankle is broken.”

“Where are you?” Josh’s voice is bewildered and I can hear Zack in the background.

“I don’t know,” I choke out, full panic setting in.

“Cara.” Josh’s voice has hardened. “Listen to me. Where are you, baby? I hear water. Are you at the creek?”

“Yes.” I swallow hard. “Seth and I are down at the creek behind the house.”

“We’ll be there in two minutes.”

The line goes dead and I stuff the phone back in my bra.

“Okay, your dad and Uncle Josh will be here in just a few minutes. I’m going to put your ankle in the water to keep it cold, okay?”

He’s sobbing now, bracing himself back on his hands on the rock. I lower his ankle into the water, keeping his toes above the waterline.

“You’re going to be okay, sweetie. I promise.”

“I’m sorry,” he sobs. “I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“You told me not to go into the water.”

“Seth, it’s okay. You’re not in trouble. We’ll get you fixed up.” I cup his sweet young face in my hand and smile at him, ignoring the fast beat of my heart.

Where are they?

“It hurts,” he cries again.

“Okay, focus on my voice. Seth, do you hear me?” He nods and sniffs. “Okay. I’m right here, Seth. You’re going to be okay.” I make my voice low and steady, willing him to just listen to me and not focus on the pain in his ankle. “Think about how happy Thor is going to be to see you tomorrow. You and Thor can get well together. He’ll need extra cuddles too, you know.”

“Yeah,” Seth mutters, and takes a deep breath.

“Yeah, so just think about how great it’ll be to hang out with Thor tomorrow.” I hear the roar of the ATVs approaching and thank the good Lord above that help is almost here.

“Your dad is almost here, buddy. Do you hear them?”

He nods and grimaces.

“Okay, you’re being really brave, Seth. I’m so proud of you.”

“Will you come with me to the hospital?”

“Of course,” I tell him firmly. “Do you think I’ll let you out of my sight? We’re in this together, kid.”

“Okay.”

“Seth!” Zack calls from behind the bushes at the shoreline.

“Over here!” I call out, careful to keep Seth’s leg immobile. My arm is singing in protest at the icy water, but I ignore it and focus on Seth’s face.

“Seth!” Zack cries again as he sees us and runs straight into the water, not even caring that he’s in jeans and work boots. Josh follows and I’ve never seen such a welcome sight in all my life.

“What happened?” Zack asks as they approach.

“I fell. I was jumping even though Cara told me not to.” Seth starts to cry again, but I brush his hair off his forehead.

“Stop, Seth. It’s not your fault.” I look up into Zack’s and Josh’s concerned faces. “I’m holding the ankle elevated and in the cold water. Closest thing I had to ice.” I shrug. “I couldn’t lift him.”

“Excellent.” Zack nods. “Okay, Uncle Josh and I are going to get on either side of you and lift you to take you to the ATV, okay?”

Seth nods.

“I’m not gonna lie, Son, it’s gonna hurt.”

“Okay.” Seth nods.

“What can I do?” I ask, and watch as the guys move to Seth’s sides.

“You can move out of my way,” Josh snaps as he squats next to me. Zack shoots him a hard look, but Josh ignores him. “What were you thinking, Cara? You know better than to leave the house without telling someone where you’re going.”

“I’m sorry,” I reply, shame washing through me.

“I begged her to come,” Seth interjects.

“Let me steady his ankle for you,” I say.

“Zack and I have this, Cara.”

Josh doesn’t spare me a glance as I do my best to scoot toward the bank. Seth cries out as I let go of his leg, but when I immediately reach back to grab it, Josh yells, “Back away!”

“Josh.” Zack’s voice is quiet. “Calm down.”

“Mom called the ambulance,” Josh says without acknowledging Zack’s comment.

“On three,” Zack mutters. “One, two, three.” They stand in unison, lifting the boy out of the water.

“Ow!”

“I know, Son, I know,” Zack croons to him as they walk briskly to the shoreline and up the bank to the four-wheelers.

“Seth, think about Thor,” I remind him. “I’m so sorry, you guys,” I begin, but Zack cuts me off.

“Accidents happen, honey. We’ll get him patched up.”

They settle Seth on the back of one of the ATVs. Zack hops on and takes off toward the house.

Josh hops on the other one and glances back at me. “Get on.”

“Why are you so angry?” I ask as I swing my leg over and wrap my arms around his waist.

“Because you know better than this, Cara. You knew the creek was too high, you know to never venture out on your own without someone else knowing where you are. Fuck.” he shakes his head. “We could be pulling both your bodies out of the water two miles downstream, if we ever found you at all!”

He takes off at top speed toward the house, and I have to hold on tightly to him or fall off the back.

He’s right.

He comes to an abrupt stop in his driveway, right behind Zack and Seth. The ambulance is just pulling in.

“Good timing, boys.” Josh’s mom and dad meet us as well, worry etched in their faces.

“I’m okay,” Seth assures them.

“You’ll be fine,” his grandma agrees, and kisses his head.

“How bad?” Josh’s dad asks.

“It’s broken,” Josh confirms. “But he’ll be okay.”

Sam Waters and his partner jump out of the ambulance and approach us. “Hey, guys.”

“Hey, Sam.” I offer him a shaky smile.

“We have to stop meeting under these circumstances, beautiful.” He winks at me and I flush.

“Thanks for all you did when the tree fell.”

“That’s my job.” Sam unfastens the straps on the stretcher that they’ve pulled out of the back of the ambulance. “Ready, Seth?”

“It’s gonna hurt again, huh?”

“Yeah, it is, but only for a minute. We’ll get you to the hospital fast, okay?”

“Okay.”

The guys lift Seth onto the stretcher, strap him in, and load him into the ambulance. Zack climbs in with Sam as Sam’s partner climbs behind the driver’s seat.

“Are you coming, Josh?” Sam asks before he pulls the doors closed.

“Absolutely.”

“Josh”—I grab his arm—“what do you need me to do?”

“You’ve done enough.” He still doesn’t look me in the eye. “I have to go take care of my family.”

And you’re not a part of it.

His response is a slap to the face. He climbs into the ambulance and they race out of the driveway to the highway.

“Cara,” Nancy murmurs, and takes my hand in hers, but I just stand and numbly watch the ambulance drive away.

“It’s not your fault, honey.” Jeff wraps his arm around me and hugs me to his side. He’s tall and broad like his sons, but he has fair hair and blue, kind eyes.

“I know,” I whisper.

“Come on, you can ride to the hospital with us,” Nancy offers.

I shake my head and back away toward my car. “That’s okay. I’ll meet you there. I need to change my clothes. Go on ahead and I’ll be right behind you.”

“Are you sure?” Jeff asks, his voice and face worried. “We’ll wait.”

“No.” I shake my head again and offer them a wobbly smile. “I’ll see you soon.”

I turn away and hurry into the house, grabbing my things and stuffing them into the suitcase I brought over Friday night when Josh asked me to spend the weekend with him.

An incredible, sexy, fun weekend.

And now, I’ve learned that he didn’t mean to invite me to live here and he blames me for his nephew’s being hurt.

I carry my things to the car and pull out. Josh’s parents’ car is gone.

I hit the highway and head to town, but when I get there, I turn toward my house rather than the hospital.

I told Seth I’d be there for him, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to show up where I’m not welcome. I’ll call Seth and check in on him later. I need a break from all this drama. I need some distance, and there is only one person I need to be with right now.

I pull up to my house, and as I pull my bag out of the car, I call Ty.

“Bob’s Pizza.”

“I need a favor.”

“Shoot,” he says with a chuckle.

“I need a ride to the airport.” I unlock the front door and step inside, toss my keys in their bowl, and stride quickly to my bedroom.

“Are you okay?” His voice has lost its humor.

“No. Can you give me a ride?”

“What time?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t bought the ticket yet.” I pull the dirty clothes from my suitcase and throw them in the hamper, then randomly pull clean ones from my drawers and closet and replace them.

“Text me when you know what time.”

“Okay, thanks.”

I hang up, zip my bag shut, and open my laptop, thankful that I just deposited my insurance check on Thursday, because this is going to be expensive.

Finding a flight out tonight, and feeling nauseous at the amount of money it costs me as I enter my credit card number, I text Ty with the info.

I need to leave in fifteen minutes.

Ty rings my doorbell in ten.

“Thank you,” I murmur earnestly as he takes my suitcase from me, watching me carefully.

“What’s wrong?” he asks softly.

I just shake my head, tears in my eyes.
I have to hold it together until I get to Jilly.

He nods once and sighs. “Got it.”

CHAPTER

Sixteen

JOSH

“Where is Cara?” Seth cries, his eyes wild and afraid as he looks around the small emergency room at the hospital. “She said she’d be here.”

“Seth, I need you to calm down,” Dr. Anderson tells him firmly as he examines Seth’s ankle. “Order X-ray, stat,” he instructs his nurse. “We’re going to have X-ray come see you to see what’s happening in there, Seth. I’ll be back with the results in a bit.” The doctor smiles at all of us and hurries out of the room.

“I want Cara,” Seth repeats, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling.

“Where is she?” I ask my mom, who is standing in the opposite corner of the room, leaning against my dad’s chest.

“She said she would meet us here.” She shrugs and frowns. “She should be here soon.”

I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Cara’s number, only to have it go straight to voice mail. I redial, just in case she was trying to call me at exactly the same moment, but it again goes to voice mail.

“Her phone is turned off,” I mutter.

“Hopefully it didn’t get ruined in the creek when she was holding Seth’s leg,” Zack responds, glaring at me.

What the hell?

Before I can respond, the X-ray techs bustle into the room.

“We need everyone out, please.” A young woman with blond hair, dressed in blue scrubs, pulls a high-tech X-ray machine into the room and positions Seth for the images.

“What the hell, man?” I mutter to Zack, out of our parents’ earshot. He simply shakes his head and hurries back into Seth’s room when the tech leaves.

I try Cara’s cell again, and my stomach clenches in fear when it goes straight to voice mail.

Where the fuck is she?

Long minutes later, the doctor returns with a grim look on his face and dark gray X-ray films in his hands. He pushes them against a backlit frame on the wall and turns to face us.

“I’m afraid I don’t have fantastic news. You did a good job on that ankle, Seth.” The doctor points to the anklebone on the film. I’m no doctor, and even I can see that it’s severely broken. “See here where the bone is completely separated from itself? This isn’t something that can heal with just a cast. I’m afraid you’re going to need surgery, buddy.”

“Can you do that here?” Zack asks with a frown.

“Yes, we have an excellent orthopedic team. We’ll get him into surgery in about twenty minutes.”

“That’s fast,” Mom mutters with surprise.

“We have an OR available, and I want to get this set as soon as possible.” The doctor smiles reassuringly at a shocked Seth. “Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine.”

The nurse bustles in to prepare Seth for surgery, and before we know it, the anesthesiologist arrives.

“I want Cara,” Seth whimpers. “She said we were in this together.”

“I know, buddy. She’ll be here when you wake up.”

Seth is whisked to surgery, and Zack, Mom and Dad, and I are led to the surgical waiting room, where we pour horrible coffee and wait.

I dial Cara’s number again and curse when I get voice mail.

“Where the hell is she?” I ask the room at large.

“I wouldn’t have followed you here either,” Zack replies calmly, and grimaces when he takes a sip of his coffee.

“What the hell, man? What is your problem?”

“You were a dick to her today, Bro.”

“I was not.”

“What happened?” Dad asks as I scowl at all of them.

“You should have seen him at the creek.” Zack shakes his head and throws his untouched coffee into the trash. “She was doing everything right, and he snapped at her to get the hell out of his way.”