Gone Country (39 page)

He’ll be pissed you’ve been drinking.

Snow swirled and blew over the windshield. It made her dizzy and she wanted to close her eyes. Why was it taking so long for the car to warm up?

A loud bang sounded and the car wobbled.

She glanced over at Boone to see both his hands clamped on the steering wheel. His feet intermittently pumped the brakes. She saw his horror when they picked up momentum and the road seemed to buckle and snap.

She was jerked forward as the front end connected with a solid object, throwing snow on the windshield before the world went dark.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Gavin glanced at his cell phone when it rang at eleven-thirty. That’d better not be his daughter calling to say she’d be late coming home. Again.

The caller ID was a restricted number so he was tempted to ignore it, but he answered, “What?”

“Gavin? This is Cam.”

Why the hell would Cam McKay be calling him this time of night? Then it hit him. Cam was with the sheriff’s office. “What’s happened?”

“Sierra’s been in a car accident.”

He sank into the closest chair. The words registered, yet not. “When?”

“Not sure. She’s in the ER now. Look, the roads are nasty and there’ve been a lot of accidents. Do you have a four-wheel drive vehicle that’ll get you into Sundance?”

He frowned at the phone. “What? I need a four-wheeler to get there?”

“No. Let’s take this slow.” Cam asked a question. Gavin answered. Cam asked another question. Gavin answered again. Cam asked, “Is Rielle there?”

“No. She’s in Denver.”

“You okay to drive?”

Gavin nodded.

Silence.

“Gavin, stay on the line.”

Sierra. Ask him what’s going on with Sierra before he hangs up.

“Cam?”

Dead air for what seemed like forever.

Then a click. “I called Ben. He’ll be there in five minutes to get you.”

That registered. Why hadn’t he thought of calling his brother? It also registered he hadn’t asked if his daughter was all right. “What can you tell me about Sierra?”

“Nothing. I’m sorry.”

Fuck.

“Do you need me to stay on the line with you until Ben arrives?”

“No, Cam. Thanks. I’m…I’ll…I need to get myself together.”

“Understandable. See you in a few.”

But he couldn’t get himself together. He was absolutely numb. What if she was…? He squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t think the word, let alone say it.

Every second felt like a day. He slipped on his cold weather gear. By the time he’d pulled on the hat Sierra had made him, a vehicle barreled up the driveway and he scooted out of the house and into Ben’s big rig.

Ben whipped a U-turn in the drive. Then they were on the highway leading to Sundance. “Any word on her?”

“No. Just that she was in an accident.”

Silence filled the cab as Gavin stared out the window into the black night. He finally said, “Cam said the roads are bad.”

“Not here. But I flipped on the road condition report. Guess it’s worse by Moorcroft. Was that where she was tonight?”

I have no idea.

Why didn’t he know?

Because as soon as she’d gotten those keys she was gone. He’d been relieved the issue of her not driving wasn’t an issue between them anymore, so he’d been lax asking her specifics on where she was going, what she was doing, and who she was doing it with.

Some parent. No idea where his kid had been, no idea how the fuck he’d deal with it if something bad had happened to her.

“Where is Rielle?” Ben asked.

“Trade show in Denver with Rory.”

“Did you call her?”

“No. Not until I know…” He cleared his throat. “Same with Sierra’s mom.”

“Let’s err on the side that everything will be all right.”

“I’m trying. But if anything happened to her, I’d lose my fucking mind.”

“I know. Don’t think that way.”

It was hard not to. “Sorry that Cam got you out of bed. I wasn’t thinking straight when he called.”

“That’s fine. I wasn’t in bed. I called Mom and Dad. They’re a little slower on the draw, but they’ll be there.”

Wasn’t long before they were in town. Gavin unbuckled his seatbelt the instant they turned into the hospital parking lot.

Ben pulled up to the front. “Go on. I’ll see you inside.”

He nearly fell on his ass when his boots connected with the slippery ground. He righted himself and headed through the ER doors. A woman not much older than Sierra managed the front desk.

“Sir? How may I help you?”

“Sierra Daniels. I’m her father. I need to see her.”

“I’ll let the staff know you’re here. In the meantime, you’ll need to fill out all the paperwork on this clipboard—”

But Gavin had already started down the hallway.

“Sir! You can’t just go back there.”

Watch me.

He stopped short of yelling her name as he passed by hospital rooms. He reached another desk and the woman behind it was no pushover. She got in his face. “You cannot barge back here.”

He loomed over her. “My daughter was in a car accident and I’ve no idea if she’s even okay. Please, just give me any kind of information—”

“They’re doing a CT scan on her right now.”

Gavin whirled around. “Who are you?”

“Alan. The EMT who brought her in.” He raised his hand to forestall Gavin’s question. “Before you badger me to tell you more, I can’t.”

“Who can?”

“I can.”

He turned the other direction quickly.

A male in surgical scrubs moved toward him and Gavin’s heart dropped.

“I’m Roger, the ER nurse. Before I can tell you anything you need to fill out the forms. There are a few questions we need answers to on Sierra’s health history.” He pointed to the small waiting room. “The sooner you get the bureaucratic portion done, the sooner we can treat your daughter and the sooner you can see her.”

Gavin grabbed the clipboard and pen. His eyeballs pulsed with anger. This was bullshit. It’d be faster if they just asked him the fucking questions. He glanced at the clipboard. The words on the paper blurred into black blots.

Get control
.

Five excruciating minutes later he handed in the paperwork. Then another five minutes before Nurse Roger appeared.

“I’ll take you back to see Sierra. Two things you should know. Sierra admitted she’s been drinking tonight.”

Gavin’s stomach dropped even as his blood pressure skyrocketed. Sierra had been drinking and driving?

“You can yell at her about poor choices another time. I need you to be focused on the positive side of this. Like she wasn’t behind the wheel—”

“What? She wasn’t driving?” As much as that relieved him, it also had him demanding, “Then who the hell was driving?”

Roger put his hand on Gavin’s arm. “Calm down.”

“I am calm. Who was driving?”

“Her boyfriend.”

Since when did Sierra have a boyfriend? As he looked at Roger. “You said two positive things. What’s the other one?”

“She wore her seatbelt. She only ended up with a broken collarbone and didn’t go through the windshield.”

White spots danced in front of Gavin’s eyes and he swayed.

“Whoa, there. Let’s sit down for a second.”

“No. I’m fine. Just…no one’s told me anything about what happened or how it happened or that she had…”
Broken body parts.
He managed a hoarse, “What else?”

“I’ll let the doctor discuss that with you. You’re ready to see her?”

“Yes.”

Roger walked to a room at the end of the hallway.

With each footstep Gavin’s heart beat faster. His mouth was so dry he couldn’t swallow. His gut churned. His pulse pounded in his eyes, in his ears, in his throat. Hospital sounds morphed into brutal silence in his head, making him feel like he was underwater.

Then he was beside her and he almost wept at seeing the most precious thing in his life lying in a hospital bed attached to an IV. Her dark hair was pulled back, showing the paleness of her face against the white pillow. Bruises dotted her face, jaw and neck. Her lips were reddened, cracked and chapped. Her right arm was strapped in a sling and resting on her belly. She wore a hospital gown. The left side of her body from her shoulder down was covered with several blankets. He was as afraid to touch her as he was afraid not to touch her.

Roger said, “It’s okay. You can get closer.”

Gavin murmured, “Why’s she covered up?”

“Hypothermia. She was really chilled when they brought her in.”

“How long was she out in the elements?”

“Dad?”

His heart leapt at hearing her voice. “Sierra-bear. I’m here, sweetheart.”

Her eyes opened. Tears immediately poured out. “I’m so sorry. I know I was stupid… I never meant—”

“Ssh.” He held her face in his hands. She was so cold. “We can talk about all that other stuff later. I’m just happy you’re mostly all right.” He swiped away her tears with his thumbs and kissed her forehead. He let his lips linger, needing to reassure himself she was breathing.

“But I need to know if Boone is okay.”

Gavin pulled back and looked into her pain-filled eyes. “Boone?”

“Boone West. He was driving.”

Boone West. Why did that name sound familiar? Right. The punk-ass kid who’d worked on the garage with Chet and Remy West. If that little fucker was responsible for the accident it didn’t matter if he was all right because Gavin was going to fucking kill him.

“Your boyfriend is okay,” Roger said. “He’s being checked out in another room.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Sierra whispered.

“Even if he was, he wouldn’t be after this,” Gavin snapped.

“Don’t be mad at him. He wouldn’t let me drive because I’d been drinking. It’s not his fault.”

“Not his fault,” Gavin repeated. “You’re in the hospital after he wrecked your car. That puts him entirely at fault.”

“Mr. Daniels,” Roger warned.

Gavin clenched and unclenched his fists. He wanted to inflict pain on that kid for the pain Sierra was suffering through. Somehow, he got control. He touched Sierra’s good shoulder, but she flinched anyway.

“Don’t. That hurts.” More tears slid down her face.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Gavin looked at Roger. “Have you given her anything for the pain?”

Alan shook his head. “She’s a minor and we couldn’t administer anything until you arrived. Plus, it’s too risky with alcohol in her system. She’s on an IV to clear it out faster. Meantime, we’re putting an icepack on the injury every thirty minutes until it’s safe to give her pain meds.”

Dammit. He felt so helpless. He wanted her to stop hurting
now
.

A white-coat-wearing doctor came around the curtain. He said, “I’m Dr. Abernathy,” to Gavin, but he focused on Sierra. “How are you feeling, young lady?”

She whispered, “Stupid.”

He smiled. “I hear that a lot in here, trust me. Let’s talk about your injury. You in pain?”

Sierra nodded.

“Scale of one to ten, ten being the highest.”

“Nine.”

The doctor jotted that down. “How about your head?”

“Hurts really bad. So does my neck.”

“Your entire body will feel like that for several more days, sorry to say. But I’ll point out that you’re lucky. The accident could’ve been a lot worse.” He gently patted her good shoulder. Then he faced Gavin. “You’re her father?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll get right to it. The CT scan revealed a mild concussion, which is actually good news. I expected a little more head trauma since the airbag didn’t deploy.”

Jesus.

“Her clavicle sustained a fracture. A little worse than a hairline fracture, not as bad as a multiple fracture. Given her age, I’d say she’ll heal completely in twelve weeks.”

“Three months?”

“She won’t have to wear the sling the entire time. She can probably remove it after three weeks and only wear it at night for the next four weeks. But any activity that requires her to put pressure on that part of the body? Minimum amount of rest is twelve weeks.”

“What other treatment will she need?”

“We’re keeping her overnight. Unless something unexpected shows up from the accident, I’ll release her tomorrow. She’ll need rest. I’ll write a script for pain meds. She’ll need to see her regular doctor in two weeks just to make sure everything is healing properly. She’ll need physical therapy at some point.”

His thoughts were racing as he tried to process it all. “What about school?”

“Your call. But since she is right handed, and she won’t be able to use that hand or arm for the first two weeks, I suggest she remain at home. My other concern is an accidental fall. Sidewalks, parking lots and roads are dangerously icy this time of year. For her, even a minor fall could cause major damage.”