“So this one goes in the ‘no’ pile,” Grant said as he moved a box to the far left.
She grinned as she passed them, and it lingered on her lips as she wrapped her hand around the handle and turned. But the instant that door opened, her smile disappeared.
Jax stood on the other side of the door. He was wearing his deputy sheriff uniform and a grim frown.
Her mind immediately started to go through the list. Nora…her father…Tripp.
“Who is it?” The question came out of her mouth on a whisper.
“Everyone is alive,” he started off and Beth’s shoulders slumped, but the relief was short-lived. “Nora was in a car accident.”
Nora…Nora…Nora…
In the second before Jax continued, a dozen images flashed through Beth’s brain.
A sleeping newborn Nora in the basinet at the hospital the day she was born.
A giggling five-month-old Nora in Beth’s arms as she bounced around the kitchen of Colleen and Kevin’s first house.
A one-year-old Nora taking her first steps in a yellow onesie.
A four-year-old Nora grabbing Beth’s hand and leading her into the newly painted purple bedroom that was still Nora’s bedroom today.
A six-year-old, grinning, gap-toothed Nora sitting on top of a horse.
A nine-year-old Nora making a massive sandcastle with Kevin at the beach.
An eleven-year-old Nora decked out in hot pink knee pads as she roller bladed around the neighborhood with Hamilton.
A thirteen-year-old Nora snuggled up with Beth and Colleen on the sofa while they watched a movie.
A sixteen-year-old Nora wearing a black dress as she stood in front of her parents’ graves. Penny was in her arms while Grant held her hand.
A seventeen-year-old Nora from this morning, sitting at the table in the kitchen drinking orange juice and eating a piece of toast slathered in blackberry jam.
And the last image was a car smashed into a tree. It was the picture she’d seen from Colleen and Kevin’s accident.
No, this wasn’t happening. Not again. Please, Lord, not again. She stopped breathing, her chest constricting tight and preventing her from speaking.
“Beth, she’s fully conscious and it looks like she broke her wrist.”
She was surprised she could still hear Jax’s words, as her ears were ringing. She looked down at her side, where the warm steady weight of Duke rested against her leg. When had he come over? Her hand dropped down to the dog’s head as Jax continued talking.
“Tripp was in the fire truck that was called to the scene to get her out. He went with her in the ambulance.”
Tripp was with Nora. She wasn’t alone…wasn’t alone…not alone…
“I came here to take you to the hospital.”
“Beth, I’ll stay here with the kids.” Mel was speaking now, her voice steady next to Beth. When had she come over?
The words going on around her were only slightly processing, like hearing sound through water.
Nora…Nora…Nora…
“Beth.” Jax reached out and touched her shoulders. “What do you need?”
“Shoes.” She shook her head lightly, trying to clear it. She needed to focus. “And my purse.”
“Mel?” Jax asked.
“I’m on it.” And Mel was gone, heading down the hallway.
“Beth, I know you’re terrified right now.” Jax’s grip on her shoulders tightened. “But it’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that.” Her voice cracked on the words.
“Gut instinct tells me it is.”
“How often has your gut been wrong?”
“Never. Not when it comes to stuff like this. Nora was fully conscious, talking, and aware of everything that was going on. She didn’t hit her head and she was wearing her seat belt. Tripp made the exact same call I did, as well as the other firefighters on scene and both of the EMTs. She’s on her way to the hospital, or is already there. And a doctor is going to check her out from top to bottom. So let’s get in my truck, and you can hear it from whoever that doctor is. Okay?”
She nodded, only just slightly consoled by Jax’s words.
“And Beth, it would also be good for you to start taking regular breaths again. You passing out on me isn’t an option. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“Aunt B?”
“What’s going on?”
Penny and Grant’s voices had her spinning around, both of them standing at the end of the hallway.
“Hi, Jax.” Both Penny and Grant greeted him at the same time, though Penny had spoken rather exuberantly as she bounced around, while Grant waved shyly.
“Hey, kiddos.”
Beth pulled some semblance of composure together as she headed down the hallway—Duke still at her side—to the kids and knelt down in front of them. “Jax needs to take me somewhere right now, but Mel is going to stay with you. So you better be good for her. All right?”
“Is everything okay?” Grant asked, reaching out for Duke.
“Yes,” Beth said, hearing Jax’s words repeating in her head on a loop. “If I get home late, I’ll see you in the morning.”
“’kay.” Penny nodded before she threw her arms around Beth’s neck.
Once Penny let go, Grant hugged Beth, too, the look of disappointment on his face clear.
She kissed both of them on the cheek before she whispered, “Mel brought ice cream.”
“You brought ice cream?” Penny all but shouted as Mel appeared at the end of the hallway.
“I sure did.” She nodded as she handed Beth her purse, and a pair of socks and sneakers.
“Thank you.” Beth leaned in and pressed a kiss to Mel’s cheek before turning to Jax.
“Come on,” he said as he led her to his truck. “Let’s get you to your niece.”
* * *
There was an empty spot for emergency vehicles right by the entrance to the emergency room. Pretty much the second the locks were popped on the doors of Jax’s truck, Beth had hers open and was climbing out. The automatic doors for the hospital slid open when she walked up, and the blast of cold from the air conditioner hit her in the face, cooling her clammy skin.
Beth’s eyes landed on Tripp the moment she walked into the waiting room. He was leaning back against the wall, his arms folded across his chest and his mouth in a flat line. When he spotted her, he pushed off the wall, his long strides eating up the distance.
“Nora’s with Dr. Eamon. He’s checking her out to make sure her only injury is her wrist…” Tripp started giving Beth the rundown before she even opened her mouth, reaching out and grabbing her shoulders. Her hands went to his waist, her fingers fisting in the material of his shirt like that was where they belonged.
His palms moved up and down her arms as he talked, repeating a few of the things that Jax had already told her. It didn’t hurt to hear for a second time that Nora had been conscious, hadn’t hit her head, and that she had been wearing her seat belt. But even with all of those affirmations, all Beth could envision was Tripp pulling Nora from the smashed-in Jeep.
“Oh God.” She slammed her eyes shut, the image too much to handle.
“Beth, babe, come here.” He pulled her into him, his arms coming around her.
She let him hold her. Let his strength and confidence and reassurance wrap around her. His hands were now at her back, moving up and down her spine in slow, steady strokes. He pressed his warm lips against her temple and whispered. “I’ve got you, Beth. I’ve got you.”
She could only let herself be soothed by him for a moment, just a moment. One, she needed to get to Nora. And two, the longer he held her the closer she was to falling apart. She desperately needed to keep herself together, needed to not lose it.
Later. She could lose it later.
“I need to see her,” she whispered, looking up at him. Maybe when she actually laid eyes on her niece, she would stop freaking the fuck out…and maybe not feel like her hear
t was going to beat out of her chest.
Or maybe this feeling wouldn’t ever go away.
“I’ll be right here.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere.” His hands fell away from her body as he took a step back.
“Thank you.” Beth nodded, squeezing his hand before she let go and headed for the double doors that led to the examination area.
A nurse named Gail Sumner was sitting behind the desk next to the entrance. She stood up from her seat as Beth drew near, compassion on her face. “Nora is at the back left corner.”
“Thank you,” Beth managed to say before she pushed the doors open with shaking hands.
There were thirty beds in the ER, and about ten of them held patients tonight. The one with Nora in it had blue curtains drawn up around it. Dr. Eamon was just coming out from behind the curtains as Beth walked up.
“Oh good; you’re here. We just got Nora in there, and I want to do a complete check-up to make sure it’s just her wrist that’s hurt. Do you want to help her into the gown, or do you want me to get another nurse?”
Beth shook her head. “I’ll help her into it.”
“Okay, I’ll be right back.” He reached out, grabbing Beth’s shoulder as he looked her in the eyes. “We’re going to take care of her.”
“I know.”
“Good.” He nodded before he let go and headed off to another patient.
Beth took a deep breath before she pulled the curtain back, but there was really nothing she could’ve done to fortify herself for the sight of her niece in that bed.
There was a bright red mark across the left side of Nora’s jaw and some scrapes on her forehead. Her face was blotchy from crying. All of those tears had tracked black mascara down her cheeks from her green eyes; green eyes that always got greener when she cried.
“I’m sorry.” Those two words escaped Nora’s mouth on a breathless whisper, right before her shoulders bent forward and she started to sob.
Beth moved, crossing the distance to the side of the bed and pulling Nora into her arms. Nora turned her head into Beth’s chest, her entire body shaking as tears soaked through the fabric of Beth’s shirt.
She brought her hand up to the back of her niece’s head, running her fingers through Nora’s hair. “I’ve got you, Nora. I’ve got you.” Beth found herself repeating what Tripp had said to her just moments before.
“I was so scared,” Nora said through her body-wracking sobs. “He was driving so fast and he wouldn’t listen to me.”
Beth’s hand stilled and she pulled back so she could look down into Nora’s face. “Who?”
Until that moment she hadn’t spared a single thought for whoever else had been in that Jeep. Absolutely all of her focus had been on getting to her niece.
Nora’s eyes widened and she took an unsteady breath before she spoke. “I…uh…I was with Brick Mason.”
There were very few people in Mirabelle who didn’t know who the Masons were. The entire family had their life played out on billboards.
The one and only car dealership in Atticus County had been a Mason-owned and operated business for three generations. It had been started by Mortar Mason, then given to Welder Mason, and now it was run by Stone Mason.
Yup, those were the names of the Mason men. No fucking joke.
Stone’s wife Kittredge, or Kitty, was also part of the business. Twenty-five years ago, Kitty had been hired to be a model for the dealership. For years there’d been billboards of her sporting the tiniest hot pink bikini imaginable.
This was during the time the TV show Baywatch was popular, and Kitty had pretty much had a Pamela Anderson-esque body—still did, thanks to the wonders of plastic surgery. At forty-three she was also still the face of the dealership, but now those billboards featured her in a Grace Kelly-style advertisement, covered in diamonds while driving a Porsche.
There’d also been a few years there where Stone, Kitty, and Brick had been on those billboards. A family values type of advertising. Because Brick had been playing football from the moment he could walk, he was usually pictured sporting a jersey and had a ball in his hands.
Brick was a legend in Mirabelle. He’d taken the high school football team all the way to the state semi-finals two years in a row, and they’d won state last fall. He was a senior this year and had gotten a full ride scholarship to the University of Miami. Most people thought of him as a small-town hero.
Beth was not one of them. She’d always gotten a smarmy feeling whenever she’d seen him. And there’d been more than a few rumors about some of his misdeeds getting covered up.
“Nora, why were you with Brick?”
“We were dating.”
“Were, as in the past.”
Nora nodded. “I ended it tonight.”
“How long have you been seeing him?”
She hesitated for just a moment before she answered. “Since the Spring Fling.”
There was an unpleasant sinking sensation in Beth’s belly. Nora had been seeing this guy for as long as Beth had been with Tripp…She chose not to focus on that fact at the moment.
“So you ended it tonight? Is that why he was driving the way he was?”
“Part of it.” Shame flickered in Nora’s eyes and she looked away.
“And what was the other part?” Beth asked, dreading the other half of the answer.
“He…he wanted to go further than I was ready for.” She shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “And I told him no.” She whispered that last part, still not looking at Beth.
A different kind of fear was now taking over Beth’s emotions, the kind of fear that was accompanied by anger…then rage. Mama bear kind of rage.
Beth reached for Nora’s chin, gently pressing up until they were looking eye to eye. “Did he stop?”
“Yes, but he was pissed. He got back on the road and started driving like an idiot. I begged him to stop, to let me out, but he wouldn’t listen. He just kept driving faster and faster. There was a bend in the road, but he didn’t turn enough and then we were heading into the trees.”
“He’s here too?”
“Yes. He had a pretty deep cut on his forehead but I don’t think he was hurt too badly. He was wearing his seat belt, too.”
Wasn’t hurt too badly, huh? Beth had no problem changing that. It took everything in her not to turn around, pull back the curtains, and go find Brick Fuck Face Mason. The desire was strong, but the need to stay with Nora was stronger.
“We’ll talk about this more later.” Mainly because Beth couldn’t handle hearing anything else at the moment. “You need to get into the hospital gown so Dr. Eamon can get you looked at.”
“Okay.” Nora nodded, knowing her reprieve on this front was temporary. However, her reprieve on the pain front was nonexistent.
It took a couple minutes of maneuvering to get Nora’s shirt off and not upset the delicate state of her left wrist. But as it was a T-shirt featuring one of Nora’s favorite bands, Beth complied and didn’t just cut it off.
The second it was over Nora’s head, Beth got a glimpse of Nora’s chest. A massive red mark from the seat belt was imprinted on Nora’s pale skin, her white bra making it stand out all the more. Beth inhaled sharply through her nose. It was going to be an ugly bruise before long, an ugly bruise that was going to be pretty damn painful, too.
Every scrape, bump, and bruise on Nora hurt Beth as if they’d been inflicted to her own body.
A minute or two after Nora was all gowned up and settling back on the bed, Wallace pushed back the curtains, his face full of panic and fear. Beth had called him when Jax had driven her over, and he’d gotten right in his truck.
“What’s going on? What happened? What do we know?” he asked as he held Nora’s uninjured hand.
“I’m going to be okay, Papa,” Nora said as Dr. Eamon pushed through the curtains next.
Beth stood by Nora’s side as the head-to-toe exam was administered. She was listening to everything that Dr. E
amon said, but in the back of her mind, she kept going over what Nora had just told her about Brick.
The little shit.
Nora’s final diagnoses? A broken wrist and bruises.
In the scheme of things, Beth knew it could’ve been way worse. She’d experienced way worse in her line of work. Hell, as an obstetrics nurse she’d been around screaming, emotional mothers giving birth to children. But that broken bone in Nora’s body was more than she could really handle. There was a distinct possibility that had to do with the circumstances that created that broken bone and how the accident was so similar to how Colleen and Kevin had died.
A temporary cast was put on Nora’s arm; there was too much swelling for a permanent one at the moment. So Beth and Nora would be returning to the hospital later in the week.
It was close to ten o’clock when Beth, Nora, and Wallace exited to the waiting room, a waiting room that now held many people who were there for Nora. Tripp and Jax had been joined by Grace, Paige, Harper, Hannah, Finn, Bennett, Dale, and Hamilton.
Nora came to an abrupt halt next to Beth, no doubt also shocked by the amount of people who’d shown up.
Beth looked around at the crowd, and when her gaze landed on Hamilton she saw a range of emotions run across the boy’s face. Fear turned to relief before transforming into anger and frustration.
I feel your pain, buddy.
“I need to get some fresh air.” Hamilton shook his head before he turned around and headed outside. He was clenching and unclenching his fists with each step that he took, tension radiating from every single one of his muscles. Dale lifted one of his shoulders in a half-shrug to Nora before following Hamilton out.
Nora watched them both walk away, that look of misery on her face intensifying. She reached up and ran her fingers under her eyes, brushing away the fresh tears that had fallen with her fingertips.
Tripp was the first to step forward, pulling Nora into a gentle hug and saying something only she could hear. When he let go he moved to the side and grabbed Beth’s hand. They both stepped back so that everyone else who’d been waiting could get a hug of their own.
Uncontrollable Page 28