Joey frowned as she and her sister stepped back outside. "I'd rather have you here."
"You're newlyweds—"
"So are they." Joey's voice was tinged with bitterness. She shook herself, though, and put an arm around her sister as they followed Ash along the path around the house. "We'll talk. Look, at least stay for lunch. Ash is making subs."
"I don't want to impose..."
Ash turned, letting them catch up. "Hey, you haven't lived until you've had an Ash Coye special. Make you into a new woman." He sent Caroline a smile and felt Joey's gratitude bathing him as he walked with them around the house to get the groceries from the car.
Ash clicked the key bob to open the trunk, then reached in for a bag, vaguely aware of the slamming of the screen door coming from the out back. Joey bent to grab the second bag, her worried eyes scanning her sister's face. Caroline bit her lip as tears filled her eyes once more.
"I don't think I can stand this. God, Joey, what am I going to do?"
Joey shifted the bag she held to her hip, freeing one arm. Her big green eyes moistened as she reached for her sister and hugged her for a long moment. And then all of the sudden, Joey went rigid, jerking away from Caroline. Her eyes rounded and her face went white. "Brittany," she choked. The grocery bag slid from her grasp, spilling its contents onto the blacktop. "Brittany!" It was a scream the second time, delivered as Joey took off running full tilt around the house.
Ash didn't take time to wonder what the hell her problem was. He followed her, dropping his bag back into the trunk. Caroline ran alongside, keeping pace with him when she should not have been physically able to.
Joey flew over the back lawn, heading for the river. Ash's stomach knotted when he caught sight of one little girl, only one, standing dangerously close to the riverbank. Bethany. She was near the red wooden dock, her small body convulsing with sobs. Ash ran faster. His feet hit the dock just as Joey sprang into the air over the side, knifing into the murky, fast-running water.
In the space of a heartbeat, he was following Joey's path into the cold, muddy water. If she thought Brittany was in the river, then he wouldn't waste time questioning it.
He submerged, but was unable to see in the greenish water. When he broke the surface again, he caught sight of Joey. She was out farther, in the force of the current, moving away from him rapidly. As he watched, she dived under. He stroked toward her, his heart hammering forcefully enough to break his ribs, his eyes straining, his arms putting forth superhuman effort.
He almost jumped when Joey broke surface a few feet ahead of him. Her face was pale, haggard, her eyes a dull green, a color that seemed to scream with pain. Something was wrong with her!
Then she tugged Brittany’s limp body from beneath the water, and struggled to hold the child's face above the waves as he stroked toward her.
"Ash..."
Then he had her. But there was no way in hell he could fight the current and hold onto both of them.
She pushed Brittany into his arms. Joey looked horrible, and he had a sickening feeling there was a lot more wrong with her than the cold, dirty water or exhaustion. He held the little girl firmly with one arm as she began to whine and struggle and choke. He reached for Joey with the other.
"You'll sink,” she said. “I'm okay, just get Brit out of the water."
He shook his head. "You're hurt Joey, what is it?"
"She needs to get out of the water. Go now. I'll be right behind you."
Her pupils told another story. Ash pulled her arms around the child, speaking softly to calm Brittany as he did. Then he hooked his own arms around them both. "Hold her tight, Joey. Don't let her go." He sidestroked toward shore. They would end up yards from the dock, since the current was pulling them downstream. His head was under more than it was above, but he managed to keep both Brittany's and Joey's faces out of the water.
Then he was in the shallows and Caroline was wading in up to her waist, reaching for her daughter, sobbing hysterically. Bethany came running along the shore, eyes wide.
As soon as Caroline had Brittany in her arms and was carrying her onto the bank, Ash wrapped his arms around Joey and picked her up. Her head fell backward. Her eyes were glazed. He swore and trudged onto the shore.
A jagged tear through Joey’s black spandex shorts as well as her tanned thigh gushed blood at a rate that made him dizzy. He lowered her to the grassy ground, tugged the baggy tank top over her head and wrapped it around the wound, tying a knot and tugging it fiercely tight. Her eyes fell closed.
"Joey?" He caught her face in his hands.
"Dizzy," she whispered. "Brit?"
He looked up to see Brittany sobbing and choking, white-faced, in her mother's arms. "Caroline, you have to call an ambulance."
"I did." Bethany’s trembling voice came from beside her sister, and it shook with fear. "I r-ran to the house and called 911. The lady said they would be here soon." Her lower lip trembled. "Is my sister gonna die?"
Caroline opened her arm to encircle Bethany's shoulders. "No, honey. She'll be fine." Caroline looked toward Ash for the first time. "Joey... Oh, God, Joey..."
"It’s okay, Caroline. She cut her leg on something, lost some blood, I think, but the bleeding's stopped now. She'll be okay." Ash's hold on Joey tightened and he searched her pale face. "You'll be okay." It was almost a prayer. Something inside him moved, twisted, ached. How had she come to matter so much to him in such a short time? What the hell would he do if she wasn't okay?
Chapter Seven
* * *
"Mommy, I'm scared!"
Joey tried to whisper reassurances as Brittany was settled onto the stretcher next to hers, which sat beside the river on the green mat of lawn. Her mom would’ve had a fit about them driving over her grass. The thought flitted in and out of Joey's mind like an errant breeze.
She was dizzy and having trouble keeping her eyes open. Her voice, when she spoke, was slurred and the words came slowly. She felt drunk and weak and very, very cold. All she could smell was river water. She was soaked with it.
Caroline looked helplessly from frightened, still-pale Brittany to sobbing, terrified Bethany, clinging to her waist. "I thought they were inside. I should have been watching." She'd whispered the same two phrases over and over until Joey worried she was more shaken than Brittany was.
"I don't want to go in the amb'lance," Brit whined. I’m scared."
"How about if I ride with you?" The deep voice was Ash's. He was right there, beside her, close to Brittany, one hand smoothing Bethany's hair. He was calm and strong and solid, and Joey couldn't imagine anyone she'd rather have by her side right then. "Your mom and Bethany can follow right behind us in the car. If you want, I'll hold you up so you can see them out the window."
"Mister, there isn't going to be much room,” said the prematurely balding EMT. “You'd be better off changing into dry clothes and following us yourself."
Joey focused on Ash, saw the stern look he sent in the paramedic's direction. "I'm riding in the ambulance."
"I want Uncle Ash," Brittany said softly. Her voice trembled as she was installed in the ambulance. Then Joey's gurney was lifted and snapped into place. Ash climbed in, settling himself between the two, and Joey was ridiculously glad he was here.
Caroline stuck her head in the back. "I'll grab you some dry clothes from the house and be right behind you." She leaned in farther, snagged Ash by the neck and hugged him hard. "Thank you," she said on a broken sob.
A moment later they were bounding over the lawn and then the driveway. Brittany twisted until her head was off the litter, resting it on Ash's knee. Joey saw his crooked half smile. She watched his big hand stroking Brittany's wet hair away from her face, Then he stopped long enough to tug a blanket over her shoulders.
When the driver gave a siren blast to clear traffic, Brittany jerked and began to cry.
“C’mon now, kid, you're not afraid of a little noise, are you?” Ash asked.
She nodded, cho
king on a sob.
"Would a story help?"
A short sniffle, wide blue eyes gazing upward, another nod.
Joey felt his warm gaze on her and she forced a weak smile for him. "Do you have a favorite, Brittany?"
"Red Riding Hood."
“Its been a while. But maybe I can remember it.” He pretended great concentration, a furrow forming between his brows. "Okay. There was this little girl, and they called her Red Riding Hood because..." He looked at Brittany with mock seriousness. "Because she was a redhead and she liked to go riding dressed up like a hood."
Brittany released a peal of laughter. "Noo, Uncle Ash."
"Hmm. Wait, wait, I remember now. Because she had a red car and she was always riding on the hood."
"No." Brit giggled, relaxing back onto the pillow. "Because she wore a red hood.”
"Right. That would have been my next guess. Anyway, she was walking through the woods one day...I think she missed the bus. And along comes this big, bad raccoon." Brit squealed. "Squirrel?" Ash attempted. "No, wait, it was a ‘possum. I'm sure it was a ‘possum. A big, bad ‘possum."
Joey closed her eyes, soothed by her niece’s musical laughter. And then....
"I love you, Uncle Ash."
"I love you, too, kiddo. No more swimming in the river, okay?"
"I didn't mean to. I fell."
"I figured that."
"I caught a frog, but he got away, and when I tried to get him, I slipped."
"Well, no more frog catching near the river, then. At least, not without me. I'm a world-class frog catcher, you know."
A miserable feeling settled over Joey like a shroud. What had she done? How devastated would Brittany and Bethany be when they found out the uncle they were fast growing to adore was no uncle at all? And Ash? How much pain would the truth cause him?
Ash left the treatment room when Caroline arrived. Brittany was fine, and glad to see her mother and sister. Ash hurried through the corridor and started toward the room where they'd taken Joey, only to be stopped outside the door by a nurse.
"You can't go in there."
Ash shook his head, frustration pulling at his nerves. "The hell I can't—"
"Sir, the patient is—"
He started to go around her. "The patient is my wife." Then he stopped and stood still, blinking. For a second there, he'd believed it was true. For the briefest moment, he had stopped playing a role. He wasn't pretending. He actually felt like a man desperately worried about his wife. He drew a calming breath.
"At least tell me what's going on."
The nurse smiled gently. "She's fine. The doctor's suturing her leg. Why don't you sit down? I'll let you know as soon as you can go in."
He clenched his jaw and stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep himself from bodily moving the slight woman out of the way and charging into the room. He couldn't sit, so he paced, keeping that closed door always in his sight. The nurse went in and it took all his will to keep from following. What seemed like hours, but in truth was only minutes later, a doctor emerged. The nurse came out behind her and sent Ash a nod.
He rushed into the room, then stood inside the door as relief sapped his nervous energy. Joey sat on the edge of a bed wearing a thin white hospital gown that covered her thighs. Her bare legs dangled over the side.
She met his eyes and smiled. “You look like a drowned rat."
He glanced down at his wet shorts and the sweatshirt that still stuck to his skin. Then he glanced back up at her, and quick crossed the space between them, pushed the gown up, away from her injured leg. Thick, white bandages padded the length of her outer thigh. The memory of the way it had looked before, torn, bleeding, made him close his eyes for just a second.
He felt her palm on his cheek. "Hey, it's all right. I'm fine."
Reaction must be setting in. And it was a powerful reaction. He felt sick. He stared hard at her face, the green eyes that were already regaining their sparkle, the slightly puzzled smile. He studied it, just to prove to himself that she was really okay, and wondered just when she had dug her way under his skin.
"Brittany is fine, too," he told her. Mainly just for something to say to cover his jumbled emotions.
"I know. Dr. Fritz told me."
"Dr. Fritz?"
She bent her head and tugged the rubber band from her wet, tangled hair. "Her last name is unpronounceable. Ouch." She scowled at the hairy rubber band before tossing it toward a wastebasket.
She was okay. It was finally sinking in, and as it did, the questions that had been overshadowed by his worry came to the surface. Questions that made him uneasy.
"So what happened?"
She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to comb out the snarls. "I think it was a rusted-out barrel. I felt it slice into me when I dove in. Didn't see it, so I can't be sure.''
He bit his lip and watched her intently. "That's not what I meant." He caught her hands, stopping their movements. She faced him again, frowning. "How did you know, Joey?"
"How'd I know what?" She knew what he was asking. It was clear in her eyes.
"That Brittany fell in. We were all there together. You just went white all of a sudden, yelled her name and took off for the river. So the question I'm asking is, how did you know?"
Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips, and she hesitated before answering. "I...heard a splash."
"From that distance?" He shook his head. "No one else heard a thing, Joey."
"Well, I did."
"So how'd you know it was Brit, and not Bethany?"
She bit her lip, her gaze lowering. "Bethany is afraid of water. Brittany is a little fish. Or, at least, she used to be. Maybe that will change now."
Ash stood close to her, his thighs touching her legs where they dangled from the edge of the bed. He studied her face, wanting to be angry with her for holding things back. But he couldn't. He was just so damn glad she was alive. He replaced her hands in her hair with his own and shook the still-damp tangles out. For the first time he questioned his own skepticism. Maybe there was actually something to this psychic thing.
"You saved my life, Ash. Brit's, too. You could have drowned trying to pull us both to shore."
She was grateful. She meant it. Her eyes were like billboards announcing her true feelings. He knew when she was lying, when she was hurting, when she was scared. He knew when she was wanting him and fighting it. "No chance of that, princess. Frogs are great swimmers."
He stiffened then, because she slid her arms around him, beneath his, and lowered her head to his chest. "I'll never be able to repay you for this. There aren't any words. If I'd lost that little angel..." She shook her head. "How am I ever going to thank you?"
"You could try trusting me, Joey."
She lifted her head, meeting his eyes.
"All frogs aren't the same, you know. Some of them are pretty decent characters, given half a chance."
She blinked as moisture gathered in her eyes. "I'm afraid..."
"Of what?"
She shook her head quickly. "That you'll go away...that you'll stay. That I'll become a gullible fool like my mother, and my sister Toni’s mother, and so many others." A tear spilled onto her cheek.
"You're a lot of things, Joey. But gullible isn't one of them. Maybe you ought to try trusting your instincts."
She shook her head. "That's what my mother did, and then my sister. Look where it got them."
"It doesn't have to be that way."
She looked at him then, her eyes so intense he felt them penetrating his mind. He leaned forward intending to kiss her senseless. He'd show her, make her believe... He was brought up short when the door opened and the same petite nurse stuck her head in.
"Your sister asked me to bring you these." She set a plastic grocery bag on the floor. "Dry clothes." She left them alone again, and the door swung closed.
He cursed the woman's timing. The mood was broken. Joey lowered her arms and averted her eyes. Sighing, Ash picked up th
e bag and pulled a pair of shorts and a T-shirt out of it. Joey slid from the bed to the floor and winced when she put weight on the leg.
"Easy now." Ash set the clothes on the bed and gripped her around the waist, lifting her right back up to the bed again. He grabbed the shorts and crouched in front of her to slip them on, over her feet, pulling them to her knees.
She grabbed the waistband. "I can take it from here." She slid down, landing only on her good leg this time, and tugged the shorts up under the gown. She tried balancing on one leg while reaching behind her to undo the ties in the back, but wobbled and would have fallen if he hadn't caught her.
"Enough with the modesty, Joey. Turn around."
She sighed and presented her back to him.
Ash untied the gown. He couldn't keep his eyes from traveling over the gentle curve of her spine. And he knew it wasn't really necessary to slide his palms slowly over her skin as he pushed the gown down from her shoulders, but he did it anyway.
The hospital gown landed on the floor. He stood still for a moment fighting the demon that drove him to turn her around, to look at her, to touch her. It was a hard battle, harder because it was one he didn't want to win. But he stiffened his resolve and reached past her for the T-shirt her sister had brought for her. As she gripped the bed for support, he pulled it over her head, holding it in place while she inserted one arm, then the other. And it really was accidental that the backs of his fingers brushed over her breasts as he pulled the shirt down over her body.
He felt her shudder, though. He lifted her hair out of the shirt's collar, and then he held it aside and lowered his lips to the back of her neck. He didn't think about doing it, wasn't even aware he was going to until his lips brushed over her nape. He heard the breath escape from her in a rush, and something like pain squeezed his chest.
Then he straightened and stepped away from her. He had to, or God only knew what the little nurse would see the next time she popped through the door.
Forgotten (Shattered Sisters Book 2) Page 9