Johnny had to get out of there. He had to find Stacey. “I’m going down to the front desk.”
“Again?”
Johnny shot Lina an irritated look. “Yes. Again. And I’m going to keep going down there until I get some answers. Oh, and just so you know, I’ll be hanging in the lobby for a while, keeping an eye out for that van. The room’s yours.”
He needed time to think, and that was better off done alone. He felt like a third wheel around them. He loved his sister dearly, and Kyle was one of his best friends, but they sure as hell didn’t need him moping around when they could be making proper use of the suite.
Promising to call if he learned anything, Johnny bypassed the elevator and went straight for the stairwell. Anything to burn off some of this energy was a good thing. Crossing the lobby floor, he ignored the appreciative glances he received from some of the women there. He wasn’t interested.
The guy at the registration desk was no more helpful than he had been earlier. No, Ms. Shaughnessy had not returned. No, the attendant could not give out her room number. No, he really couldn’t say how long she planned on staying with them. Johnny walked outside, barely tethering the urge to wrap his big hands around the snotty pissant’s scrawny neck and shake some better answers out of him. Maybe some fresh air would help.
God only knew how many times he lapped the parking lot before he saw the familiar white van pulling into the IHOP. Johnny was beside it before the driver came to a complete stop, waiting expectantly for the door to open.
“Can I help you, son?” The older man walked around the front of the van, watching him carefully. He made no move to slide open the handicapped-accessible passenger door.
“I’m waiting for someone,” Johnny answered, shifting his weight impatiently. Sam’s eyes narrowed, probably recognizing him as the young man he’d seen tearing across the parking lot at full speed earlier that morning.
“Sorry to disappoint you, son, but there’s no one in there. You sure you got the right van?”
“Yes, sir, I’m sure.” The image of the van’s logo was burned into his brain, as was the white-haired man speaking with him now. Johnny made no move to step away.
Sam opened the door, showing Johnny the empty interior.
“Can you tell me where she is?” Johnny asked, running his hand through his hair. It was a plea, not a demand.
“I was just about to grab something to eat. How about you join me? We could have a nice little chat.”
What the hell was this guy talking about? He didn’t have time for that kind of shit. His gut was screaming with the need to find Stacey. “Look, I just want to know - ”
“I know what you want, son. I can see it in your eyes, plain as day. And if you want any information from me, you will join me for a cup of coffee. Capisce?”
Yeah, he understood. It wasn’t like he had much choice. This guy wasn’t going to provide the information he needed otherwise. “Yeah, I got you.”
“Good choice.”
Johnny followed him across the lot to the IHOP. They sat in the same booth Johnny had been in that morning, the one with a clear view of the front entrance.
“Stacey is a fine young woman,” Sam said slowly, sipping his hot coffee while he waited for his soup and sandwich. Johnny turned his eyes to the older man’s, impatient for him to get to the point.
“Bright, funny, and beautiful, to boot. She’d make a fine wife. For the right man, that is.”
Johnny clenched his jaw. Yeah, he’d already figured all that out for himself.
“You gonna tell me where she is?”
“I showed her the sights,” Sam said slowly, taking another sip. “Should have seen her face, son. Excited as a little kid when we hit the zoo.”
Johnny could picture it clearly. Her pretty gray eyes lit up, her mouth would curl up into a genuine smile. It made his chest ache. “So where is she now?”
Sam took a deep breath. “She asked me to take her to a restaurant in King of Prussia, near the big mall. Said she was meeting someone there.”
Johnny clenched his jaw. Thoughts of her having dinner with another man shot hot bolts of jealousy through his veins. Sam caught the look and smiled.
“Before you ask, it was a woman,” Sam said knowingly. “I hung around in the parking lot, just in case she changed her mind and wanted a ride back.”
Johnny felt a surge of newfound respect for the older man. Anybody who looked out for Stacey was all right in his book. He had to admit, too, that he felt much better, knowing she’d met another woman. Maybe it was her agent.
“I don’t know who she was, but she had a real professional look about her. Stacey left the restaurant with her about an hour and a half after I dropped her off.”
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“Because I know a man in love when I see one, son. Just as I know a woman with a broken heart.”
They talked for a while longer, Johnny ever-vigilant for her return. When they parted company, Sam took his number, promising to call if he heard from Stacey again, and wishing Johnny luck.
A different desk clerk was on duty when Johnny re-entered the lobby. Familiar looking luggage was being wheeled across the floor by a skinny bellhop to a waiting hotel courtesy van.
“Hey,” Johnny called, catching up to the kid. “What are you doing with that luggage?”
The boy eyed Johnny suspiciously, his eyes shifting for the best direction to run should the need arise. Johnny whipped out a twenty and held it out to the kid, who pocketed it with one more quick glance around.
“All I know is, the lady’s not coming back and wanted her luggage sent on.”
“Sent on where?”
The kid shrugged. “I just carry the bags, dude.”
Johnny posed the same question to the van driver. It took a fifty in his palm to get the guy to look up his itinerary. “McKinnon Research and Medical Center.”
Blood turned to ice in his veins. Oh, Stacey. What have you done?
Chapter Sixteen
“Are you sure there’s no one I can call for you?” Elena asked as Stacey tried to relax in the sterile hospital room. They’d tried to make it less antiseptic with splashes of color here and there, some semi-comfortable looking chairs, flat screens, but there was no hiding what it was.
Stacey shook her head. There was no one. Her mother would have a bloody fit if she knew what she was doing. She’d never understood why Stacey refused to simply accept what had happened and move on.
Lina would be here in a second, and would be supportive, but as much as Stacey needed a friend, she couldn’t put Lina in that situation again.
Johnny, well, things were too new with him. Stacey had been doing a lot of thinking. If Lina was right, and there really was such a thing as a croie, then Johnny might just be hers. They hadn’t spent much time together, but was that a prerequisite? Was there some magical, socially acceptable number of hours, days, and weeks that legitimized such a thing?
There had been an instant, undeniable connection between them. In fewer than forty-eight hours, she’d grown closer to him, emotionally and physically, than she had any other man. That deserved some kind of follow-up, but not this. Before Stacey could even consider pursuing any kind of relationship, she had to get herself together first.
This was the first step. Either it would work or it wouldn’t, but either way, she had to try.
“If... if things don’t go all that well, though...” Translation: If I die or become a vegetable “... would you call this number for me and just... let her know? “ Stacey handed Dr. Hamilton a post-it note with Lina’s name and number on it, as well as a sealed, stamped envelope addressed to Lina McCullough.
“Of course.” Elena tucked the items into Stacey’s chart, making a notation along the side.
It wasn’t long before the lab techs came, taking more samples than Stacey could believe were actually necessary. A few of Dr. Hamilton’s colleagues came by to meet her as well, excited at the pro
spect of putting their theories to practical application. Stacey forced a smile, conjured as much confidence as she was able, and remained polite and pleasant.
The truth was, she was scared to death.
* * *
Johnny didn’t bother calling the room first; he went right up to the fifth floor and pounded on the door. Lina opened it only a moment later, looking freshly tousled.
“Why would Stacey go to McKinnon Research and Medical Center?” Johnny demanded.
“What makes you think she went there?” Lina asked, evading his question. The fact that she did so was not lost on him.
“Her luggage is being delivered there right now, and her room here’s been cancelled.”
Kyle walked out of the bathroom, shirtless, hair barely towel-dried and sticking out at impossible angles. “Is there a problem, Johnny?”
Johnny spared him a glance, then pinned his eyes back on Lina. “I want to know why Stacey would go to MRMC. And I think Lina has some idea.”
Lina looked guiltily away. “I don’t know why she went to McKinnon.”
“Lina...” Johnny warned. She was holding something back. It was written all over her face.
“Baby, if you know something, you should tell him.” Kyle’s voice was soft, encouraging, and once again, Johnny felt a surge of appreciation for his brother-in-law.
Lina sank down onto the sofa, putting her head in her hands. “I really don’t know why she’s at McKinnon,” she said with a sigh, “but I do know Stacey’s been doing a lot of research into experimental neurosurgeries.”
“She what?!”
Lina stood up quickly, hugging her arms to her chest. “Don’t yell at me, Johnny. It’s not helping.” She paced back and forth a few times while Johnny forced himself to remain calm.
“Please, Lina. I need to know.”
“I know.” She took a deep breath. “Stacey told me that if there was a chance she could get the full use of her legs again she would take it in a second. She had tons of info on her laptop about these promising new procedures, but most of them were only available in foreign countries. They haven’t been approved in the U.S. yet. As much as she wanted to try some of them, she was worried about the safety of having something done out of the country. She was waiting for something to become available here.”
“But why?” Johnny asked. “She’s perfect, just the way she is.”
Lina’s eyes softened. “You love her, don’t you?” He nodded, sinking down into a chair. Yeah, he did. He hadn’t known for sure until a few minutes ago, but he sure as hell did now.
“You have to understand what it’s like for her, Johnny. You didn’t know her before, like I did.”
“Then tell me. Make me understand. Because I cannot fathom how such a phenomenally successful, beautiful, intelligent, independent woman can be that unhappy with herself.” With me.
Lina sat on the edge of the chair, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and taking his hand in hers. “Stacey was like... well, let’s put it this way: if we were all stars, Stacey was a meteor. She burned more brightly than anyone I’ve ever met. She was strong and kind and fearless. She was the first one on the dance floor, the last one to leave. There was nothing she wouldn’t try at least once. She loved life. Loved living life. People were drawn to her, because when they were with her, they got to live life too. She was like this wonderful summer breeze that just pulled everyone along with her.”
Johnny nodded. He had no trouble believing that. Stacey had drawn him in from the first moment he saw her, like a moth to flame.
“I was her roommate, so I guess I knew her better than most. I knew that the one thing that terrified her more than anything else was not being able to live the life she wanted. Stacey’s father, you see, suffered for years because his wife wouldn’t let him go. Stacey watched him waste away to nothing, and swore she would never live that way.”
Lina took a deep breath. Her voice was shaky when she spoke. “Stacey never should have been on the road that night. We had finals coming up and we were going to barricade ourselves in the library to study, away from our apartment where the phone was always ringing or someone was dropping by.”
“Anyway, it was really stormy that night. Stace loved thunderstorms. She used to scare me half to death the way she would stand outside, letting the rain soak into her skin, practically daring the lightning to strike her. She said it made her feel alive, connected with the universe. I thought she was crazy, but I loved her like a sister. I still do.”
“We’d camped out in front of the huge windows in the library, a compromise, so that Stacey could watch the storm while we studied. My head was buried in the books, but she was hypnotized by the storm, drawn by its power. I can still remember the look on her face as she watched the trees bend against the fierce winds and pounding rain - awe. I swear her eyes flashed right along with every bolt of lightning; I saw the goosebumps on her skin as the thunder rumbled through her.”
That was harder for him to imagine. Johnny could only see the raw fear and stark terror he witnessed; feel the way she had clung to him. His heart broke all over again.
“During one of the flashes, she claimed she saw something on the far side of the quad. It was raining so hard that it was impossible to tell exactly what had happened, but she said it looked like some kind of accident. I looked, but I couldn’t see anything. Stacey was insistent, though, and told me to call campus security. By the time I’d hung up, she was gone.” Moisture began to pool in Lina’s eyes.
“A couple of minutes later, I heard the sirens and saw flashing lights. I waited for Stacey to come back, thinking that she would know what was happening out there, but she didn’t. And then after a while, more students made their way to the windows, talking in muted tones as they watched the scene with morbid curiosity. And I knew, here,” Lina touched her heart, “something bad had happened.”
Tears were running freely down her face now, and her words were punctuated with little hitches. “By the time I got to the hospital, she was already in emergency surgery. There was an hysterical woman in the waiting room. Apparently she’d hit a pothole and blown a tire. Stacey was helping her change the tire, and another car hit the same hole and came hydroplaning right toward them. Stacey must have seen it coming; she pushed the other woman out of the way, but Stacey didn’t make it in time. She was crushed between the two cars.”
The silence was deafening. The pain in his chest was suffocating as his mind created the images conjured by Lina’s words.
“By the time I got to the hospital, she was in emergency surgery, so I waited. I was there when her mom arrived. They moved her to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit. They would only allow immediate family in to see her, so I lied and said that I was her sister. Her mom went along with it; I don’t think she wanted to face it alone.”
“When they finally let us see her...,” Lina wiped her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know what I expected, but there were all of these machines hissing and beeping. There were tubes and IV’s going into both arms, her nose, her mouth. The nurse said she was in a medically induced coma, and a machine was breathing for her.”
“I asked if she would be okay, and the nurse said the next few hours were critical. She explained that her lower ribs had been broken, and her spine had been badly bruised. Both legs had been crushed. The doctors did everything they could, but there was a very real possibility she wouldn’t make it through the night, and if she did, might never walk again. We had to prepare ourselves for that.”
“I couldn’t help it. I cried. I bawled my eyes out, right there in front of her. And all I could think of was, she wouldn’t want this. I said so, and her mother went ballistic. She slapped me, hard, and told me to get out.”
“All kinds of machines started going crazy then, and a team of nurses and doctors swarmed in, ordering us to leave. They pulled her through, obviously, but once she regained consciousness, her mother had her moved to another facility closer to Denver, and I didn’t
see her again until last week.”
“I never stopped calling, but Stacey refused to speak with me, or with anyone else for that matter. I learned much later that she started writing to ease the boredom, saying that the drugs she was on gave her some pretty vivid dreams. Plus I think it helped her, giving her something to focus on through all of the surgeries she’d had to endure. Isn’t it just like Stacey to become the queen of romance novels?” She gave a small smile and wiped at her nose with a tissue. “She never did do anything half-way.”
“I couldn’t believe it when she actually picked up the phone a couple of weeks ago. It was something I’d been praying for. And when she agreed to come for a visit, well, I just can’t tell you how happy I was! But as far as she’s come, Johnny, she hasn’t given up hope of walking again. If there’s even a slight chance of a full recovery, she’ll do whatever she can to take it. She wouldn’t be Stacey, otherwise.”
Lina looked at him, her eyes so sad. “The problem is that most of the procedures are risky, which is why they don’t do them here.”
Johnny felt like someone had filled his body with cement. What was he supposed to do? Lina had given him great insight into Stacey’s life, and provided the history of events that explained so much. But while he might understand the situation a bit more now, it made no difference in how he felt about her.
He hadn’t known the “before” Stacey. The accident had been horrific, but it made her into the woman she was now. The woman who made sweet, passionate love to him for hours on end. The woman who held onto him throughout the night.
The woman who needed him.
There was no doubt about it. He loved her, exactly as she was right now, and every fiber of his being was screaming for him to go into the city and drag her out before she did something risky, regardless of the consequences.
Johnny (Connelly Cousins #2) Page 12