Ace of Spades (Underground Affair Series Book 1) (36 page)

“You don’t have to stay Mr. King, I’m used to being alone.”

“Please call me Declan and I know I don’t have to stay but I’d like to. You worked for us for a long time and so even though you’ve moved on you’re still like family to us.”

Kaylee couldn’t hold back the tears. She was traumatized, afraid and lonely. Maybe she needed a friend.

“Thank you, Declan.”

Declan just looked at her for a moment, hearing her say his name sounded so, so sexy.

“Can I get you anything?”

“Could you call my boss, Lenny, and let him know I won’t be in for a while, his number is in my phone.”

“Sure.”

Kaylee closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.

Chace was at the entrance of the ER waiting for them to bring Ace in. Jorge told him Ace and Lucy weren’t breathing by the time they got them to shore. He was sick with worry. He texted Declan and told him to stay with Kaylee and he would keep him posted. Then he texted Shane and told him to come and to pray hard.

The ambulances arrived at the hospital with Ace and Lucy. Her father never left Lucy’s side. Jorge stayed with Ace. As they wheeled them past all Chace could see was that they were both pale and looked as if they were dead.

“Jorge, how are they?”

“Breathing, now. I think Ace broke his wrist freeing Lucy but that is the least of his problems. If Lucy doesn’t recover then Ace will never forgive himself.”

Lucy’s mother and brothers came running into the ER.

“Where is my baby?”

Jorge walked over and hugged Lucy’s mom.

“The Chief is with her.”

“This is all my fault. I upset her and she ran out and…”

Lucy’s mother burst into tears. Her brothers walked her over to the chairs and sat her down. Jon rubbed her back while Jake held her hand.

“Sandy.”

Lucy’s mom looked up and Lucy’s father was standing there. He looked distraught. She stood up and walked over and hugged him.

“Is she…”

“She’s breathing. They’re running tests and taking x-rays now. The only thing for certain is that she broke all her toes on her left foot.”

“We had an argument about Ace and she left. I should have chased after her.”

“Honey, she wouldn’t have listened. Our daughter is as stubborn as an ox.”

“Ace is the one who saved Lucy.”

“Was he with her?”

“He showed up when the rig got to the scene and although I told him not to, he couldn’t get to her fast enough. He took off running and then jumped in and swam to her car. When they surfaced he had tied his belt to Lucy so he wouldn’t lose her.”

“He really loves her, Todd.”

“I never doubted his love. But no matter what, he can’t change his past.”

Shane came rushing in looking for Chace or Jorge to update him on Ace.

“Chace.”

“Hey, I just spoke to the doctor. They have him intubated and they are also treating him for mild hypothermia.”

“So he’s going to be alright?”

“They are optimistic but won’t make any promises yet.”

“What about Lucy?”

“She’s a bit worse off seeing as she was in in the frigid water longer than Ace and she may also have internal injuries from the accident. They are testing her and doing x-rays now.”

“Where’s Dec?”

“He is upstairs with Kaylee. She was attacked tonight by the serial killer. She’s going to pull through. I’m trying to keep this quiet, ok.”

“Shit. Ok.”

“I’m going to grab something to eat, do you mind waiting around in case the doctor comes out? I’m just running to the cafeteria. Do you want anything?”

“A bottle of water and a banana.”

Chace headed off to the cafeteria. Shane decided he would sit down and call Luke and see if he was in the hospital.

Ace opened his eyes and looked around. He knew he was in a hospital but Lucy, what about Lucy? He tried to speak but with the tube down his throat he couldn’t, so he tried to get up. The nurse heard movement and rushed to his side and forced him to lay back down.

“Mr. Dean, you will cause yourself damage if you don’t lie back down immediately.”

Ace tried to pull the tape off of his mouth to pull the tube out. The nurse grabbed his hand.

“Listen to me, you need to relax or I will have to restrain you and keep you drugged until you can breathe on your own. Do you understand me?”

Ace nodded. He wasn’t happy but he didn’t want to be restrained or drugged. He just wanted to know how Lucy was. Ace grabbed the nurse’s pen from the lanyard she had around her neck. She looked down at him.

“Do you want to write me a note?”

Ace shook his head. The nurse grabbed a piece of paper from Ace’s chart and clipped it to her clipboard and held it out for Ace to write on. He was a righty and because he had a broken wrist it was almost impossible to read but the nurse figured out that it said Lucy.

“Is that the woman that was brought in with you?”

Ace again shook his head.

“She’s listed as critical for now.”

Ace was relieved to know she was still alive.

Lucy’s parents sat by her side holding hands as they listened to the machines beep.

“I’m scared, Sandy.”

“She’s a fighter, she’ll pull though.”

“I don’t think she wants to fight anymore.”

“What makes you think that? Our daughter is a fighter.”

“When she was trapped in the car, at first a bit of it was above water and I could hear her talking to Ace. She told him to go and save himself. She told him that if she couldn’t love him she didn’t want to live anymore.”

“My God. What did Ace say?”

“He said, he wouldn’t leave her, he’d die with her.”

“Oh Todd, this is all our fault.”

“Sandy, it was a car accident.”

“I know but it was because our daughter was upset because she had just seen Ace and he…”

“Maybe after Lucy is better we can discuss this. Right now, we should just pray she recovers.”

Shane walked into Ace’s room. Ace was awake but clearly couldn’t talk with a tube stuffed down his throat. So Shane decided he would have to do all the talking.

“You didn’t have to go break your wrist, you could’ve just told me you didn’t want to spar anymore.” Shane smiled.

Ace shook his head. Then he reached for the paper and pen. It took a while but he wrote Shane a note and then held it out to him. Shane read it aloud.

“Get ass 2 gym. Train. Big fight. I’m ok.”

Ace shook his head and then waved his arm for Shane to go.

“You better get well. I can’t fight without you there. Promise?”

Ace shook his head. Shane reached down and squeezed his good hand.

“Ok, I’m going to train and I’m going to make you proud.”

Ace smiled and nodded. Shane gave his hand another squeeze before letting go and leaving.

T
WO DAYS HAD PASSED
. Ace was finally breathing completely on his own and was sitting up in bed. While Shane followed his orders and hadn’t been back, Chace, Declan and Jorge took turns checking in on him and keeping him updated on Lucy.

“And how are we feeling today, Mr. Dean?”

“Ready to get out of here is how I am feeling.”

“Maybe tomorrow.”

Ace looked at his nurse in disgust.

“All seems well. Can I get you anything for the pain? Perhaps some ice chips to help sooth your throat?”

“I’ll take some ice. Can I get up to use the bathroom?”

“Do you feel strong enough to stand?”

“I won’t know until I try it.”

“Ok, well I will stay here while you try it then.”

Ace slowly swung his legs down over the side of the bed and then after a minute he stood up. He felt weak but steady enough to walk.

“I’m ok. You can go now.”

“I will just run to grab you that ice and then I’ll be back to make sure you are doing alright.”

“Thank you.”

The nurse waited until Ace made it to the bathroom and then she darted out to grab the ice.

Kaylee had been heavily medicated. She was having nightmares. She knew she was in and out of sleep but no matter when she looked over at the chair beside her bed Declan was in it. Sometimes he was asleep and sometimes she’d catch him awake and he would smile at her.

Today she was feeling much better. The pain was less and her mind not so fuzzy.

“Good morning, Declan.”