I hugged him again.
“So you’re really okay?” he asked, looking down into my face.
“Uh-huh, but Gabe… I’m not sure. I mean, he is for now, but he has a long road ahead of him. Physical therapy, rehab type stuff.”
Dad nodded his understanding. “Well, I want to stop in and say hello to him while I’m here, but then, I do have to get going. I’m sure Mills has already told you the news?”
I cocked an eyebrow at him. “News?”
“I’ve asked Charlotte to marry me and we we’re planning on flying out tonight—if you’re okay—to Hawaii to celebrate. But now, I think we’ll have to postpone.”
I covered my mouth in shock and surprise. How come Mills hadn’t told me this right away?
“Pep, say something!”
I let my hand drop to my side again and smiled at him. “I think it’s great, Dad. Really! Go! Don’t stay here on my account. I’m fine. And Gabe…well, he’ll be okay. Go!”
He looked visibly relieved that I was pleased for him. “Charlotte and I had a rocky patch for a while, but after everything that, uhm… happened—”
I knew he was talking about Evangeline’s suicide attempt, but I wasn’t going to bring it up. “Anyways, after that, she was really there for me and we found a way to work through our issues. I realized then that she’s the right woman for me.”
“That’s great, Dad, really. Well, come say hi to Gabe, and then get out of here!”
He followed me into the room, said hello to everyone then shook Gabe’s hand and thanked him for saving my life...again! He stayed to chat for a few minutes before we all shooed him away to pick up Charlotte and get to the airport on time.
Once he’d left the room, I turned to Mills. “Hey, little missy. Why didn’t you tell me about Dad and Charlotte?”
She gave me a guilty look. “I was going to tell you… honest! So, excuse me for asking about you first. Sheesh.”
She was so melodramatic that we all laughed. “How do you feel about it though, Mills? In all seriousness?”
“Well, it’s no secret that I haven’t been a fan of them being together, but I get it now, and I’m so happy for Dad. He needs her and let’s face it—Evangeline’s a toxic mess.”
“No arguments here. Has anyone actually talked to her since… everything?” I asked—old unresolved feelings about her came rushing back.
“She’s home from the hospital now. I talked to her a little bit, but as usual, it was all about her. She didn’t even say she was sorry. I was blubbering on the phone with her, talking about how I felt, and she just complained the whole time about the hospital food and the no smoking policy.” Mills looked down at her barely swollen belly. “It was kind of messed up.”
“I’m sorry, Mills,” I said, then suddenly there was an awkward silence in the room with all of us seemingly lost in our own thoughts.
“So, did the shark chomp off part of your ass?” Aven asked, breaking the mood with her absurd comment and thankfully, it worked, and we all started talking again.
“I’m happy to report the beast left my ass completely intact,” Gabe answered, with a quirked smile.
“Thank God!” I laughed.
Gabe shot me a knowing look that would have been quite seductive under any other circumstances. “As it stands, I just won’t be able to wear those Speedo bathing suits anymore.”
“Damn, that’s disappointing,” I joked.
Mills and Aven rolled their eyes as Gabe and I flirted with each other then Mills brightened and added, “I know a great plastic surgeon! He can make that scar disappear in a snap! Want me to call him?”
“No. I don’t think I’ll need plastic surgery, but thanks. Listen, as much I’d love to sit and chit-chat with you about my ass all day, if you lovely ladies wouldn’t mind, I’m feeling my IV cocktail kicking in and I’m fading fast.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Sure, babe. You get some rest. I’ll go outside with the girls for a while, but I’ll be back.”
He smiled at me and Gabe’s eyes had closed before I’d even gotten to the door. He looked peaceful, but just when I saw the last sliver of him as I closed the door, I saw him twitch and suddenly, the alarms on the machines that were hooked into his arms begin to squeal.
I started back into the room, but was quickly moved aside by a horde of nurses and doctors to let them through. Watching it all unfold in front of me was like something out of a terrible movie.
The room was full of bustling medical staff and in the middle of the chaos, somebody yelled, “We’re losing him!”
I tried to push in, but two nurses stopped me and one of them said, “I’m sorry, Ms. Anderson, but you’ll need to wait out here.”
I opened my mouth to argue with them, but they wouldn’t let me in and swiftly shut the door leaving me confused and heartbroken all over again. Mills and Aven swarmed me, one on each side. “What the hell is going on?” Aven asked.
Mills started sobbing again as she clung to me.
“I—I don’t know. He was fine…two seconds…you saw him! He was fine!” I bellowed, as though it would suddenly change things and set them right again—I couldn’t lose him. We waited, huddled together just outside the door and overheard the jargon the doctors were using, but none of us understood any of it.
“It’s going to be okay, Pepper. He’s gonna be okay,” Aven said and squeezed my hand. I nodded and sucked in a sob, unable to tear my eyes away from Gabe’s door until what seemed like an eternity later, one of the nurses opened it, shushed me and took my hand, ushering me back into the room. Gabe was wearing an oxygen mask and had even more tubes connected to him than I remembered from before.
A doctor hovered over Gabe. “Mr. Gregory. Do you remember me? I’m Dr. Carter. We spoke earlier.”
Gabe blinked his eyes to indicate he was listening and the doctor continued. “It seems you went into, what we call, hypovolemic shock and we had to resuscitate you, but you’re stable now. You lost a lot of blood when you were attacked and it put a lot of stress on your cardio-pulmonary system. Your heart has some minor damage from the blood loss which may heal in time, but it may not. It’s too early to tell right now. I know you’re in pain, and we’re going to try and manage that as best as we can without stressing your body any further.”
Gabe nodded sleepily under his oxygen mask. He looked pale as he stared up at the doctor and hung on his every word. His eyes were beady and I barely recognized him from the man I’d seen not more than twenty minutes ago. The doctor continued. “Very good. You’re going to be all right, Gabriel. Hang in there for me.”
I stood frozen in place by the door of his hospital room, a helpless bystander as the doctor delivered the news. There were still too many nurses in the way for me to get to him. Aven squeezed my hand again and Mills rubbed my back with one hand, and her little baby belly with her other. I looked over and gave them both a weak smile. I had to keep it together—for Gabe’s sake…and my own.
Later that night, he was transferred to the ICU, still recovering from all the treatments he’d received. Normally at this time of the day, the visiting hours were over, but one of the nurses took pity on me and let me in to see him. I steeled myself but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw when I stepped into his room. He was hooked up to a whole bunch of machines that flashed and beeped and had tubes and monitors than I’d seen in the previous room. The scariest part of it all was the weird color of his skin. Gabe normally had a dark tan from spending so much time outdoors at Sea Lab and every other available minute on his boat. I wasn’t used to his pale, drained appearance and it really scared me. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and I almost backed out so I wouldn’t disturb him.
“Dolphin Girl?” he whispered.
I smiled and tears sprang to my eyes. “I’m here, babe.”
I crossed the room and sat on a space next to him on the side of his bed. He gave me a small smile, but I could tell what he’d been through had taken a lot
out of him. “Hey, beautiful.”
“Hey.” Tears welled up in my eyes again as I took his hand and brushed my thumb across the skin that wasn’t covered in medical tape. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a truck.”
“I’m not sure which would have been worse, truck or shark? Either way, not good.”
He sputtered out a laugh. “Ya think? Although, since meeting you, I’ve been in a car accident, and now this. Maybe you’re bad luck.”
“What?”
“I’m kidding. Sorry, bad joke. I’m not thinking straight.” He flipped our hands so he was holding onto mine instead. “I’m not letting you go anywhere.”
I smiled. “That’s good to hear, although, I think the nurse will eventually give me the boot. I’m technically not supposed to be in here right now.”
“You know what I mean, Pepper. We need to talk.”
My smile faded and I knew he wasn’t going to let me tease my way out of having this conversation. “I do, but listen, Gabe. The whole marriage talk thing, I know you weren’t serious out there on the boat. You were obviously talking crazy. I’m not going to hold you to it, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
He looked at me like I was from another planet. “That’s not what I meant, at all. I um… I actually went and looked at rings,” he confessed, “days ago, when I bought your anklet.”
My heart swelled and I could hardly contain my excitement. “You did?”
He nodded slightly. “I just didn’t find one that was you—but, I will.”
I held my breath for a moment and nodded down at him with a huge smile on my face. “Okay.”
“Pepper, I know this isn’t the perfect place, but I can’t let you leave here tonight before I ask you a very important question—”
“Oh, my God, Gabe,” I gasped and the tears slipped past my lashes and rolled slowly down my make-up free cheeks.
His eyes were dark and deadly serious as he stared up at me. He lifted his free hand and brushed away the tears. “I love you, so much. Our relationship hasn’t always been easy, but I wouldn’t change a thing. Pepper, you challenge me, stretch me, and push my boundaries, and frankly, drive me crazy sometimes,” he paused, and I giggled softly.
“I need you. I want to marry you… if you’ll have me. Please, be my wife and make me the happiest guy in the world.”
The tears streamed down my cheeks and I nodded.
“Yes, Gabe. I’ll marry you. ”
Chapter Nine — Gabe
Overall, it took nearly six weeks of rehab and physical therapy to get me back to the way I was before the attack. My leg had healed, except for my ‘pirate scar’ as Pepper liked to call it whenever she saw it. As long as she was running her soft, pretty hands all over my thighs, I really couldn’t care less what she nicknamed it…
Things had been slow at certain points during my recovery. There had been plenty of times where I’d fallen or chucked my crutches aside, collapsed on the floor, and fought back frustrated tears, but, every time, Pepper had been right by my side to help me up and encourage me to carry on. I honestly couldn’t have imagined doing it without her.
I glanced over at my fiancée, who had a sparkling, three carat, princess cut diamond on her left hand. I smiled as she held onto my arm as we walked into the main office at Sea Lab to meet with my team. I’d been working from home as much as I could, and held video conferences and long phone calls, to keep things running as smoothly as possible. Up until now, I hadn’t been fit enough to return to Sea Lab in person since the grounds were uneven, there were a lot of steps, and mainly because I hated the idea of going back to work there before I could walk in on my own.
I hadn’t heard anything about my job, so I assumed I still had one to come back to. Bobbie Jo and I had emailed each other as necessary, but she hadn’t mentioned anything more about her plans to replace me. Regardless, I had to assume she was still after my job, but she wasn’t being so in my face about it. Maybe she was being considerate towards me because of my injury. I guessed she didn’t want to look like that big of a bitch.
Pepper was on one side to offer support if I needed it, but I was standing on my own two feet as we rode up the elevator to walk to my office. I blushed when we stepped out of it to find the lobby packed with what seemed like the entire staff of Sea Lab, who all erupted with a standing ovation when they saw me emerge.
“I’m really touched but come on, guys, cut that out.” I said.
No one listened and they all kept clapping for another two or three minutes and some of them whooped, whistled or hollered as I walked through and shook hands with those nearest to me on the way to my office.
“Thanks, guys, really! I appreciate the welcome back and I’ll see you all downstairs in a few minutes,” I called over the noise, waving at them as Pepper and I went inside and shut the door.
I sank into the well-worn leather seat behind my desk, and basked in the familiar, comfortable feel of it all.
“That was sweet of them,” Pepper commented as she sat on the couch with her wedding planner book.
I nodded. “Let me get some notes printed off, and then we can go down to the meeting.”
She smiled at me as she dialed a number on her phone and before I could get the spreadsheets pulled up on my computer, I heard her sweet voice talking to someone about our wedding cake tasting session. I smiled over at her as she chattered excitedly about butter cream, fondant, and edible pearls. I was amazed at how much was involved in getting married and it was great that she was throwing herself into the planning to take the pressure off me. It had only been six weeks, but at this point I’d have loved to have eloped and got hitched on a beach somewhere. Doug and Charlotte had done just that on their Hawaiian vacation, turned honeymoon. They’d held a massive party when they got back, but the wedding itself had been small and private and to me, sounded ideal. However, Pepper had other ideas. She was on an all-out mission to have her dream wedding and I would never want to deny her that.
I turned my attention back to my desk and sighed at the stack of paperwork that had accumulated while I’d been gone. I thought I’d been keeping on top of things from home but the sheer volume of folders and papers stacked in front of me told a different story.
While I waited for the computer to finish printing off the notes for my presentation, I thumbed through one stack of folders and was surprised to find that they were pending employee reviews. I could have sworn I’d had an email from Bobbie Jo stating she’d take care of these but then again, she probably been too busy campaigning for my job to be bothered by such petty things as employee review paperwork. I turned back to my computer and searched through my email ‘Sent’ folder to find the message I was thinking of but I couldn’t find it and I was getting frustrated. My leg started to ache and I knew I needed to hurry up and get downstairs for the staff meeting. I absently flipped through the folders and stumbled upon a photo of someone I didn’t recognize pinned to the inside. Hmm…someone new. Haven’t met him yet then I punched the button on the desk phone and called the receptionist desk.
“This is Mr. Gregory. I need to see Bobbie Jo. Is she in the park?”
“Um, I guess you haven’t heard. Bobbie Jo cleared out her office last week, Mr. Gregory. She doesn’t work here anymore.”
I stared at the phone like she’d lost her mind.
“Excuse me? Could you repeat that, please?”
“She’s not here anymore. She left last week. I thought you knew. We all thought you knew.”
“No… no I didn’t. Okay. Thanks, Penny.”
“It’s Patty.”
“Sorry. Thanks, Patty.”
I hung up the phone, confused by the conversation. Surely the newbie receptionist had it wrong. I knew I’d been hopped up on some pretty strong painkillers while I was at home, but I was sure I’d have remembered a bombshell like that. Besides, why would Bobbie Jo leave? I scoured my email box and found that the last time Bobbie Jo and I had ex
changed messages had been nearly two weeks ago, but the last message didn’t mention anything about quitting or going on vacation.
Pepper was still in the middle of her call. I knew I had a few more minutes, so I made a call to Kim, Sea Lab’s HR manager.
“Hey Kim, it’s Gabriel.”
“Gabe! How are you? Glad to have you back.”
“Thanks, and I’m as good as can be expected, I guess,” I replied as I massaged the pinching pain on the outside of my thigh.
“Well, I sure was glad to hear you were coming in today. Now, be honest, are you here against doctors orders?”
I laughed. “No, I swear. I have a note. My doctor says I can only do a couple of hours a day and build up slowly. Obviously nothing too strenuous to start with, but judging by the mountain of papers on my desk, I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I’ve got to get this under control.”
“All right, but don’t push it.”
“I promise, I’ll be good. Hey, listen, I was actually calling to see what’s going on with Bobbie Jo. The receptionist said she cleared her desk last week. Can you tell me why?”
Kim paused on the other end of the line. “Oh, wow. I thought you knew. Um, Bobbie Jo resigned last week. You should have a copy of her resignation letter and my notes from her exit interview.”
Wow. So it is really true!
I shuffled the papers around, trying to find the documents she’d sent, but it was a hopeless mess. At least one of the people who’d been picking up and dropping off paperwork to me at home hadn’t seemed to care much for keeping things in order on my desk.
“I’ll look for it but can you tell me why she left so suddenly? I just didn’t see this one coming.”
“Truthfully, none of us did. I wish I had a good answer, but she didn’t really give one, Mr. Gregory. She’s young. Maybe she just wanted to try something new?”
I leaned back in my leather chair and stared out the window in disbelief. “That just doesn’t sound like Bobbie Jo at all. She loved her job here so there has to be more to it than that. I’ll take a look at those emails later on but in the meantime, have we begun the process to fill her position?”
Destiny Undone: The Complete Series Box Set Page 41