Dr. Lysart cast an imploring look at Emily.
“Mason,” Emily softly spoke, “you’re very lucky that broken bones seem to be all that’s wrong. So many worse things could have happened to you.” She took his free hand and looked into his eyes. “The accident was so bad they had to cut you out of your car. Do you understand?”
He suddenly realized the enormity of what Emily described. “Yes.”
The doctor looked relieved. “As I said before, I could find no evident signs of internal injuries, but I’m going to order an MRI and CT scan just to rule out any hidden problems.”
Mason had a muscle spasm or something in his leg, and couldn’t bite back a sharp cry of pain.
“I’ll order some medication to help with the pain.” Dr. Lysart headed toward the door. “I’ll be back as soon as we have your test results. Then we’ll be putting some…”
Mason felt like he was going crazy. It was like the teacher in the Charley Brown cartoons. He saw the doctor’s mouth moving, and he knew words were coming out of it, but he couldn’t understand her. Then she left.
The next few hours…or maybe it was days…went by in a blur. After shooting something into his IV, they put him in some kind of a tube that made a lot of noise and then used some other equipment to run some different tests. He had no idea what was going on—what was being done to him. Even though people kept talking to him, and he knew they must be explaining things, it was all just a bunch of jumbled words to him.
Every time they brought him out of a test, Emily was there, waiting to walk beside his bed.
Mason slowly came back to his senses and realized they were back in the room where they started.
He was groggy and knew he wasn’t thinking straight, but there was something he didn’t understand. Something he had to ask Emily.
“Why are you still here?” He heard his own slurred speech.
She looked at him, surprise written all over her face. “I won’t leave you until we know something, and I see that you’re settled. You’re my friend.”
That made him even more confused. “Even after I tried to talk Logan into cheating on you?”
“I forgave you for that.” Then she gave him what looked like one of her actual grins. “Besides, I have you right where I want you. I may decide to go ahead and put you in a full body cast and parade those naked women in front of you like I told you I would.” She leaned down and whispered. “Of course, I could take you to the fourth floor and let you watch people walking with their bare backsides hanging out.”
He reached up with his good arm and as painful as it was, managed to hug her.
The door opened, and Dr. Lysart walked into the room. “Mr. Wright…”
“Why don’t you call me Mason?” he slurred. “You’ve seen my naked chin, for cryin’ out loud!”
She chuckled. “Okay…Mason, you are a very fortunate man. You haven’t sustained any internal injuries whatsoever. Other than your cuts and bruises, we only have to deal with nice clean breaks in both of your…” The doctor started using words that made no sense to Mason.
“I don’t understand.” He looked at Emily. “What does that mean?”
It was the doctor who answered, but Mason didn’t take his eyes off Emily. “Both your legs are broken just above your knees. Your arm is a little trickier. It’s broken in two places—by your wrist and above your elbow.”
At least that was in English. His gaze slowly returned to the doctor. “So what do I have to do?”
“Just wear your casts and rest. Let your bones mend.”
Then it hit Mason. He had three useless limbs, which left him only one in working condition. Twenty-five was not a welcome percentage in this instance. “How long will they have to be in casts?”
Again, it was like she was saying, “wah-wah-wah, wah-wah, wah-wah” to him. He finally heard her say as far as his arm was concerned, it could take anywhere from three to ten weeks for it to heal. Then some more Charley Brown teacher talking, and his legs would be in casts for between six to eight weeks.
“Let’s stay optimistic. You’re a strong, healthy man, so I think your bones will heal quickly.” The doctor’s smile was back.
“When can I go home?”
“That depends. Do you have anybody there who can take care of you?”
He waded through his fuzzy thoughts. All his friends had full-time jobs and somebody to go home to. And his family…“No.”
The doctor smiled sympathetically. “Then you may have to consider long-term care here at the hospital.” She wrote something on his chart. “I’m admitting you for a few days, anyway. I’d like to keep an eye on you.”
Long-term care. Mason didn’t even know what that was. He just wanted to go home.
“Thank you, Dr. Lysart.” Emily looked relieved, so Mason supposed he should be, too…but six to eight weeks?
“I’m just happy to be able to provide a patient who’s been through an automobile accident of this magnitude good news.” The doctor smiled at Mason. “I’ll see you tomorrow when I make my rounds.”
She said goodbye to Emily and left the room.
“I don’t see how this is good news.” Mason waited for Emily to explain.
A line appeared between her brows. “Mason, you could have had a traumatic brain injury and ended up with brain damage, or in a coma. Or broken your spine and been paralyzed.” She took his hand in both of hers. “What do nine or ten weeks seem like when compared with that?”
She had a point. “Why can’t I just go home? I can manage on my own.” Even he knew how stupid that sounded.
“Your right arm is the only limb you’re going to be able to use for at least three weeks. How will you take care of yourself? There is no way.” Emily’s mouth trembled. “I could take off work for the next couple of months and help you, but that would just cover your days. You’d still be on your own the rest of the time.”
His best friend’s wife dressing him? Helping him use the restroom? No way. “I couldn’t let you do that anyway.” He summoned a smile from somewhere. “I guess I’ll look into that long-term stuff the doctor was talking about.”
Emily looked pleased. “We have an excellent department here. They’ll take good care of you, and you won’t have to worry about finding your way here for physical therapy.”
“Wait a minute. Nobody said anything about any kind of therapy.” At least he didn’t think the doctor mentioned it.
“I’m sorry.” The door swung open behind her. “Your legs, and maybe even your arm, will be weak after being in a cast. You might just have to strengthen them a little to get them back to normal. I’m sure Dr. Lysart will tell you about it later.”
A woman with a clipboard entered the room and now stood beside Emily.
She was from admissions and needed his personal information. Emily retrieved his wallet from a locker he hadn’t noticed before, and he told her to go ahead and fish his license and insurance card out of it.
Then the woman asked him for his next of kin. He didn’t know what made him say it—whether it was the medication he was on, or the desperation of the situation, but he said, “Zoey Hadley. She’s the only family I have.”
“Relationship?” the woman asked.
“She’s my daughter.” It felt so good to say those words aloud, even if it was to a stranger who could care less.
After she had used a small device she was carrying to scan Mason’s insurance card, the woman left the room.
“Mason, you said Zoey Hadley is your daughter?” Emily quietly asked.
“Please, Emily,” he begged. “You can’t tell anybody else.”
“I won’t.” She paused. “Hadley…” A look of realization came over her face. “Is Claire her mother?”
“Yes.”
She moved toward the door. “Should I call her?”
“No.” He reached out and put his hand on her arm to stop her.
“I don’t understand.” Emily studied his face. “Why shouldn’t I c
all her?”
“I did something unforgivable…I took advantage of Claire. Now I don’t even deserve to see my daughter.” His medication was making him sleepy.
“You mean you’ve never seen her at all?” Emily’s hazel eyes were round.
He shook his head and it hurt so bad it brought tears to his eyes. “I’m not allowed to even say her name. I don’t have the right to do that. I’ll never get to hold my baby.”
Tears were running down Emily’s face.
“Mr. Wright?” A nurse had walked into the room. “I’m here to take you upstairs and get you settled.”
Emily, still crying, leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I need to go tell the guys about you, and then I’ll just go on home with Logan.” She smiled sadly. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll come up when I have my breaks.”
Even in his drug-hazed condition, Mason had never felt more alone in his life as the nurse pushed his bed out of the room.
Claire felt like she was running like a chicken with its head cut off, and not getting anything accomplished. Butlers was swamped. They usually weren’t this busy during the noon hour on Mondays. She had no idea why, but it appeared half the town had decided to dine there.
It didn’t help any that Zoey had fussed off and on during the night again. Claire tried everything—rubbing a little gel on her gums, giving her a cold teething ring, a wet washcloth—anything she could think of. Once again, the only thing that worked was to sit and hold the baby snugly against her chest. So, not only was she busier than usual, she was dead on her feet tired.
“You have one customer at table seven,” Alma informed her.
Another person hungry for the meatloaf special? Claire fixed her tray with a glass of ice water and menu and walked to the small corner table.
Emily Taylor sat there.
“Hi.” Claire was pleasantly surprised to see a person who would be friendly. “What can I get you to drink?”
“I’m not here to eat or drink.” Emily’s voice was cold.
Claire looked more intently at the other woman’s face and saw pure anger in her eyes. “Then, what can I help you with?”
“I’ve got something to tell you.” Claire had never heard the kind-hearted woman use that tone of voice before. Why was Emily Taylor so angry with her?
“I don’t know the whole story, and I don’t care what it is. All I know is a man I care about is lying in the hospital with both legs and one arm broken. He’s virtually helpless. Do you know who he listed as his next of kin? The only family he has.”
Claire’s accelerated heartbeat was probably audible.
“Even though he’s never even been allowed to see her, touch her, or hold her, that little girl is all Mason has right now, and shame on you for being so selfish you can’t look past whatever pain he caused you to let him love his own daughter.” Emily’s eyes blazed with a temper Claire would have thought impossible had she not been its witness—and target.
“Believe me, I know Mason was a jerk. He did a really crappy thing to me once, but he’s changed. Now I realize it has something to do with Zoey.”
Emily’s eyes were diamonds of tears as she stood and stared Claire down.
“I hope it makes you feel better about whatever happened, to know the condition Mason is in. Now, he’ll definitely suffer for what he’s done.”
Emily brushed past Claire, nearly knocking her off her feet, and stormed out of the room.
Claire stood there. She felt the blood rushing out of her head and thought she might pass out. She had to get out of the restaurant.
She turned and walked to the base station, where her supervisor, Stan, was working.
“I’m sick,” she told him. “I need to go home.”
He took one look at her, and she must have looked as bad as she felt because he called out to Celia and told her she was covering Claire’s tables. “Get better,” was all he said as she walked to the clock and punched her timecard.
A few minutes later she found herself sitting in her car with her head on the steering wheel. Then she started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. She kept asking herself what she was doing the entire time she drove, and she still hadn’t come up with an answer when she pulled into the visitors’ lot at the hospital.
As she started to get out of the car, reality set in. What was she doing there? She couldn’t just forgive Mason because he was injured. She couldn’t give him his daughter because she felt sorry for him.
But what if Emily was right? What if Mason had changed? And he didn’t have anybody. She wouldn’t have Zoey if it weren’t for him, even if what he did was wrong.
She slowly got out of the car and made her way inside the building, to the front desk. The volunteer manning it told her Mason Wright was in room 215.
During the short elevator ride and walk down the hall, she realized she didn’t even know what she was going to say. Then she took a deep breath, walked into the room, and saw him.
Mason lay there, covered in scratches and bruises. His collar-length, black hair had been pushed out of the way to make rooms for bandages. His ever-present beard was gone, and there was a long line of stitches across his chin. Both his legs were in casts from thigh to calf, and white plaster covered his entire left arm. He looked broken and helpless. Her legs gave out from under her, and she sank into the chair next to the bed.
Every one of his words came crashing back to her. He had just wanted to see Zoey. Spencer’s father never even cared enough to find out whether she’d given birth to a boy or girl, even after they were older. All Mason asked for was to know his daughter.
Mason opened his eyes. A scuffling sound drew his attention to the chair beside his bed. He wondered if they had increased his medication, because he was seeing things. It looked like Claire Hadley was sitting in his hospital room.
“Hi, Mason.” His delusion spoke.
“Did you bring Spencer to see me?” he tiredly asked.
“Spencer doesn’t know you’re here yet.” She couldn’t keep the tremor from her voice.
“How did you know I was here?” His accident couldn’t already have been in the Ransom Razor.
Her eyes met his. “Emily Taylor let me know.”
“I’m sorry.” His voice was gruff. “I never asked her to do that. You can just tell Spencer I’ll see him as soon as they let me out of here. There isn’t any reason for him to see me all banged up like this.”
“Spencer will want to come and see you. He won’t wait.” She dug down deep to find the strength to speak her next words. “I’m not here about Spencer. I wondered if you were feeling up to meeting your daughter.”
Mason suddenly realized what Emily’s mood must have been when she “let Claire know” about him. Well, no thank you.
“I don’t need your sympathy,” he enunciated. “I know how you feel about me. I’m still the same piece of crap I was before I plowed into that pillar. You can just go home and forget about me. I won’t bother you anymore.”
He cleared his throat. “In fact, you can tell Spencer I’ve left the Brothers at Heart program. Fletcher Danning is available since Emmett decided to stop participating. He’ll be happy to take over with Spencer.”
She was speechless.
“What are you waiting for?” He all but yelled. “A ticker tape parade on your way out?”
She stood up and studied his face. There, behind the anger, she could see pain and vulnerability. He wasn’t as cold and unfeeling as he wanted her to think.
“Don’t let the door hit you,” he growled.
Claire silently turned and left the room.
As soon as the door closed behind her, he began shaking.
If he was worthless before, he was even more so now. His daughter should never be in the same country as him. He had been on his own for a long time. He didn’t need anybody. He’d do fine on his own.
A sharp pain shot through his arm and brought tears to his eyes. He didn’t even try to stop them.
&nbs
p; Claire was as prepared as she could be when Spencer walked through the door after school. She knew he would be upset by her news.
“Mom?” he called. “Wait until I tell you what…” His voice tapered off as he saw her sitting on the couch. “What’s wrong?”
“Sit down.” She indicated the place beside her.
He dropped his backpack on the floor and hesitantly sat down. “Is Zoey okay?” His deep voice quivered.
“She’s okay.” Claire gestured toward the playpen. “She’s taking a nap.”
“Then, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Mason.” She reached out and put her hand over his. “He had a car accident last night, and he’s in the hospital.”
“Is he all right?” Spence’s face was as white as a sheet. “Why is he still in the hospital, if it happened last night?”
“Spence, both of his legs and one of his arms were broken.”
Spencer’s mouth dropped open and closed. “How can he move?”
“I don’t suppose he’s able to right now,” she admitted. “He probably won’t be able to, until his bones are healed and the casts are removed.”
“How long will that take?” He drew closer to her.
She sighed. Claire knew her son loved Mason, and this was going to be difficult for him. “I don’t think they know for sure yet.”
Spence stood up. “We’ve gotta go! I have to see him now.”
Claire stood beside him. “I knew you’d want to. I just want you to be ready. Mason has lots of cuts and bruises. They even had to shave his beard off.”
Tears started pouring down her son’s face. “I don’t care how he looks, Mom. I just want to see him.”
She remembered Mason’s words about giving Spence to another big brother. “Mason may not act like he usually does, Spencer. He’s in a lot of pain, and I’m sure he’d rather be at home than in the hospital. Sometimes people act angry when they’re really hurting inside.”
Spencer shook his head. “Mason won’t be mad at me. He never gets mad at me. I want to go see him now.”
“Okay. Let me get your sister ready so we can leave her with Louise. We don’t need to take her with us.” She was worried enough about how Mason was going to respond to Spencer, let alone Zoey.
Believe Me (Hearts for Ransom Book 3) Page 4