Embattled Ever After (Lost and Found Series Book 5)

by J. M. Madden

  “Was he hurt anywhere else?” Lora asked.

  “Nope. Not a mark on him other than the unstable lateral compression fracture. The fall shouldn’t even have left a bruise, but his previous repairs had begun to destabilize. It was just a matter of time before he ended up here.”

  “Are you doing okay?” Shannon asked her softly.

  There was a break in her professional demeanor. For the barest moment her lips trembled, then firmed. “Yes,” she said softly. “This has just been a bit of a crazy morning.”

  Shannon crossed to her and gave her a hug. “Thank you for getting the information for us. Are they going to let you stay back there with him?”

  Alex nodded. “Yes, I think so. Probably not for the surgery, but they’re bending a few rules for me.”

  The group settled into conversation and John realized he was going to have his hands full for the next couple of months. Duncan would be unable to run the company, so it would fall to Chad and himself. Just what he needed right now, on top of everything else.

  Chad volunteered to call Duncan’s family and let them know what was going on. Alex headed back to Duncan, promising to keep them updated, and they settled in to wait.

  John paced the waiting room for as long as he could stand it, then starting doing trips up and down the hallway. When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he told Chad he was going to drive Shannon home for a while. She started to protest that she didn’t want to leave, but she must have recognized the uncompromising look in his eyes. He needed to go home for a while to decompress, and she needed to rest and get something to eat.

  His truck was still in the parking lot. One of the detectives had been about to tow it but John had protested vehemently. The guy had looked at the wheelchair and his expression had relented. John didn’t care for his pity, but it let him keep his single mode of transportation so he bit his tongue that time.

  Once home and the exuberant puppy taken outside, Shannon sagged onto the couch. He parked next to her and leaned over to stroke her curls. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, her eyes growing drowsy. “I’m worried about so many things… Duncan, Alex, the fact that we lied to the police about the man who saved us. Are we still in danger?”

  Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he sighed. “I’m not sure I can ease your mind about any of those, although I do believe Duncan will pull through this. And it sounds like he could be better off than how he started the day. As for the danger, I’m not sure. Chad said there was a lot of blood in that truck bed, enough that it had to be a pretty devastating injury. I don’t think we’ll have to worry about him for a bit.”

  She relaxed deeper into the cushions, her eyes closed. “Okay. I love you so much, John.”

  “I love you too, babe. Get some rest, then we’ll see about going back to the hospital.”

  She drifted off and with a final stroke to her hair, he pulled away. His tires silent on the hardwood floor, he rolled through the house to his security system. The turmoil of his mind settled as he settled into the familiar actions of checking screens and the movement sensors. Nothing had been in or around the house since they had left yesterday. That eased the huge knot in his stomach.

  He wanted to get his hands on the surveillance footage of the hospital entrance. Figuring it couldn’t hurt to ask, he called the detective who had been grilling him. “Any chance I can get a copy of the surveillance footage?”

  The man was silent for a long time. “I’ll let you, but only because you might recognize something on the tape that we didn’t see. If you do notify me… you got it?”

  “Yup, got it.”

  Within an hour he’d been given a link to the Dropbox account where the footage was stored. John watched the tape over and over again. It only covered from the front door to the first line of cars in the parking lot, but the picture was surprisingly clear. He paused it when Good Sam, his nick name for the rescuer looked up just right. His face looked familiar, like he’d seen it before. Where had he seen it before?

  He sat back in his chair, stewing over it. They needed to get back to the hospital before too long. It was creeping into afternoon and he wanted to be there for Duncan, just in case the surgery went more quickly than planned.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Alex had a feeling she was going to pace a hole through the waiting room floor. Actually, several of them were waiting for Duncan. When they’d wheeled him out of the room toward surgery, she’d gently been guided to the waiting room to wait with the rest of the friends and family. The surgeon, Fisk, promised he would notify her as soon as he could.

  So here she paced, waiting for anything to happen.

  “You should take a break, Alex,” Lora said, motioning to a chair when Alex drew close.

  She sat down, realizing the incessant pacing was probably as irritating to them as the waiting was to her. “Sorry,” she murmured. “I’m not used to being on this side of the situation.”

  Lora patted her knee. “Don’t be sorry. We’re all worried about him.”

  Alex glanced around at the group in the waiting room. Yes, they all were. There were couples in their own little bubbles of intimacy, stroking hands and leaning into shoulders, worry lining their faces. And there were single people, gathered in a smaller group a few chairs down. They were all worried about him. Some of the people she knew, others she didn’t. Duncan’s parents had arrived within minutes of Chad’s call, and hadn’t moved from the chairs they were in. Worry lined their faces. Alex had given them the same info she had the rest, but that hadn’t seemed to ease their minds.

  Unfortunately, she didn’t feel like she fit into either group. The other half of her heart was in surgery at the moment, and she knew she might not see him for hours. Her heart shuddered with pain because he hadn’t woken before the surgery. She hadn’t had a chance to actually say that she loved him. Alex doubted he’d heard her outside when he was laying on the cold concrete in front of the hospital.

  That was the most devastating part of the day. She’d seen Zeke being spun toward them, and she’d known there was no avoiding the collision. But she’d damn well tried to roll away so that she didn’t land on him, and that had actually worked.

  Duncan had looked shocked, a wince of pain on his lean face. The glasses he’d been wearing went flying. She’d have to look for those and see where they went. Then the pain had contorted his features and she’d known it was bad. Within seconds of the fall, she was screaming for help.

  Thank God they’d been here, at the hospital itself. If they’d been further away… well, she just wouldn’t think about that.

  John rolled into the room with Shannon on his heels. She looked refreshed, like she’d managed to take a nap and eat something. When they spotted her, they headed her way. “Can we talk to you somewhere private?”

  Nodding, she followed him down the hallway and around a corner to a small, empty office. Motioning her in, he closed the door behind them and flicked on the light. Alex crossed to a blue cushioned chair, and Shannon sat beside her.

  “We would like to know what went on this morning. You knew who that guy was. How?”

  “I met him months ago in Kansas City at the hospital. That was Aiden Willingham.”

  John stared at her, head cocked. His handsome face scrunched up into a weird expression. “What?”

  “Aiden Willingham,” she repeated.

  “The homeless guy?” Shannon asked.

  Alex nodded. The other two sat back, absorbing the information. “But, there’s more,” she admitted.

  They waited, watching her closely.

  “When I went out to see if I could find the injured guy who’d bled on you, we found a bunch of blood in the back of the truck. A huge amount. Aiden was there and he’d been nicked on the shoulder. Not deep, just painful. I asked him what was going on and why he had protected you. He gave me this funny smile and said, ‘because he’s my big brother’.”

  John stared at her uncomprehendingly for severa
l long seconds, then shook his head, his face turning thunderous. “What the ever loving fuck are you talking about?”

  “That’s what he said, John. He was your Good Samaritan Shannon, when you had your wreck,” she flipped her hand. “And this morning he protected you.” She turned her gaze to John. “For some reason when he said that some things clicked. Even under homeless grunge, there was something about him that just rang a bell somewhere in the back of my head and yesterday, when I saw him cleaned up, he’d looked more familiar to me. It was because he looks like you.”

  John shook his head like he’d just been dealt a harsh blow. Shannon covered her mouth. “Oh, fuck,” she breathed.

  John still seemed dazed. “My brother’s name was Jaime, or something like that. Not Aiden.”

  Alex shrugged. “I think anyone can change their name nowadays. He must have had a reason.”

  “That’s why I thought I had met him before,” Shannon said. She got up and crossed to John, cupping his face. “Don’t be angry. You know you have a brother, there must be some reason why he’s been hidden all this time.”

  Without giving him a chance to deny her, Shannon sank down into his lap and wrapped her arms around her strong husband’s neck. “You have a brother out there, John,” she whispered.

  Alex saw the shine of emotion in his eyes before he buried his face into Shannon’s hair. Silently, she got up and left the room, her own throat tight. She didn’t have a lot of family either, so she could appreciate the emotions John had to be feeling right now.

  Those concerns went out of her head though, when she saw the orthopedic surgeon walking down the hallway toward the waiting room. He glanced up and smiled, and the terrible ball of fear in her stomach that she’d never felt for another person began to ease.

  “Dr. Hartfield, I was just coming to update you…”

  “Let’s go into the waiting room so they all can hear.”

  The older man nodded and followed her the rest of the way. When they entered the room every single person stood up and waited. The doctor seemed surprised at the size of the group, but when he smiled the tangible tension in the room began to ease.

  “Duncan is resting comfortably,” the doctor told them. “The surgery went well, though the repairs were extensive. The pelvis took the most time. There were several breaks in it, requiring several titanium plates and a multitude of screws to stabilize it. The bad news is, he’s going to be in a lot of pain at first. But the good news is, the repairs are secure. When we replaced the ball of the femur and sealed everything up, the leg moved better than I can ever remember it moving. I think he’s going to be pleased with the results.”

  Lora’s hand was holding hers and Alex didn’t even remember taking it. Chad’s hand was also on her shoulder, and tears were dripping down her cheeks. Alex didn’t remember ever crying over another person, ever. Her mother was gone long ago, and her father being gone was just a way of life. But Duncan Wilde….Duncan had burrowed into her soul like no other.

  * * *

  Throbbing, screaming pain…

  If he could have cried out he would have, but he couldn’t catch his breath to do it. Oh, God, it hurt. Duncan shifted on the bed and his body blazed, an inferno of agony.

  Voices murmured around him, but he didn’t understand what they were saying. No, he just couldn’t concentrate. There was misery all through his lower body, but he couldn’t focus on where. Nothing felt right.

  It was his worst nightmare, being in pain and helpless. He’d been there before.

  Then one voice became clear, distinct from the rest, speaking directly into his ear. “We’re getting you some relief. Don’t worry.”

  That voice meant something to him, and he nodded, teeth gritted. Something gripped his hand and he clung to it. Suddenly there was a cool wave that washed over him, stealing a large part of the pain away but it made him dizzy, too. His hand tightened on the hand in his, needing the anchor in his swirling world. Then blackness swallowed him, and the pain.

  The next time he woke up he wasn’t as fuzzy. His hand was still held by another. He tried to open his eyes but everything was so bright. Eyes tearing, he lifted his hand to wipe his face, but his hand was bandaged. IV, it looked like.

  “It’s about time you woke up.”

  Duncan turned his head to the left. Alex sat at his side, holding his hand in both of hers. She smiled at him gently, and his eyes teared up for a completely different reason. He’d woken up in hospitals many, many times, but he’d never woken up to someone waiting there for him.

  “Hey,” he croaked, his voice rough and throat sore.

  Alex leaned away, tugging at her hands, but he held onto one. When she turned back to him she smiled, offering him a spoonful of ice. “Try this. It will help with the soreness.”

  Duncan opened his mouth and took the ice on his tongue. Almost immediately, relief coated his throat and he groaned happily. She offered him another spoonful, and he took it, then another. Finally, he shook his head.

  “What happened?”

  Alex winced and recounted his crash to the unforgiving ground and the resulting surgery. She explained to him the repairs that had been made and his prognosis.

  “Fisk has been after me to get the surgery done anyway. Was he crowing?”

  Alex grinned, her eyes shining. “Not crowing, exactly. Although he did preen a little when he left the operating room and came out to talk to us.”

  “Us?”

  “Did you actually think your company would let you go through this alone? Or your family? They’re all out in the waiting room, waiting for me to leave so that they can get in to see you. Look around.”

  For the first time Duncan noticed all the flowers. Every flat surface held a bouquet or balloons or some other shit. There was also a cart parked against the wall littered with gifts. His throat was aching again, but this time it wasn’t because of the surgery.

  “People are very concerned about you. The Chief of Police called, and wants you to contact him when you can. Several of these are from clients. There’s one from Harmony House.”

  “Oh, wow,” he told her softly. “They don’t have the budget for that.”

  “The vets took up a collection for you.”

  Damn it. Alex was going to think he was a blubbering baby. He wiped his eyes of tears and looked at the arrangement she pointed at. It wasn’t the prettiest or most elaborate, but it was the most important one to him. “They didn’t have to do that,” he whispered.

  There were tears in Alex’s bright green eyes as well. “You’re important to them. They wanted you to know that.”

  Duncan shifted on the bed and a paroxysm of pain made him catch his breath.

  “What do you need?”

  Alex stood up beside him, ready to help. “I’m all right. Maybe we can call an orderly.”

  She scowled. “I’m right here. What do you need?”

  Duncan hated admitting to anything, but he couldn’t stay this way. “I’m laying crooked. If you just pull on my arm a bit I think it will help.”

  Gently, she clasped his left forearm in hers and applied pressure. He straightened easily, though the pain left him reeling. He could tell he was still drugged, because it was muted, a bit. Almost like a hard echo.

  “Thank you very much.” He rested his head back against the pillow, feeling drained. “So, what else happened, besides me falling?”

  “Well,” she clarified, “Zeke is beating himself up pretty hard right now.”

  Duncan lifted his head. “Why?”

  “As John was getting into the truck there were two shots fired, one from an assailant who hasn’t been caught, and the second by Harper. There was a man that bolted out of the hospital headed right toward John. Zeke tried to grab him but the man swung him away. Zeke crashed into the two of us. You went down hard and I heard your pelvis give.” She cringed. “I don’t ever want to hear that sound again from you or anybody else. It was horrific.”

  Alex clutched h
is hand and he wove his fingers through hers as she continued. “The man got there before the bullet struck John, and was winged on the shoulder. Then he took off after the shooter. Harper apparently hit the shooter because there was a large amount of blood where he had been, but no body.”

  Duncan just stared at her, cursing the fact that he had been oblivious to all this.

  “But,” she continued, “it gets crazier.”

  He lifted his brow at that. “How so?”

  Alex took a deep breath. “The Good Samaritan who stopped for Shannon’s crash was Aiden Willingham. The man who protected John yesterday was Aiden Willingham. I caught up with him in the parking lot and asked him why he was doing all this. He said he had to protect his big brother.”

  It took Duncan a minute to connect the dots. “Wait a minute. Aiden is John’s damn brother?”

  She nodded, her eyes steady.

  “Are you sure you heard him right? I wasn’t sure John actually had a brother. He wasn’t sure he had a brother.”

  “I talked to them earlier, privately. John thought he remembered a younger brother, but his name definitely wasn’t Aiden.”

  Duncan shook his head. “A name can easily be changed. I’m just… at a loss.”

  “Yeah, you’re not kidding. He did say he’d be back but he didn’t say when.” She glanced at the watch on her wrist and grimaced.

  “How long have you been here? When was the surgery?”

  “It was just before noon. It’s almost ten now.”

  For the first time, he noticed the bruises under her eyes. They had darkened. When she’d arrived at the hospital for Shannon she’d seemed…off. Now she seemed even more tired and down. “I’m sorry, Alex. This is one of those things that I didn’t want anyone to have to deal with. Why don’t you head back to my house and get some sleep. I won’t keep you here.”