Katie In Denver (In Denver Series Book 3) (10 page)

“Mom, just leave me alone. Please, I just want to be alone.” I walk into the living room to find my parent there, 

“I take it you got a phone call.” My dad just comes over and hugs me. “Dad, I thought he was there with someone. I was so wrong, and I made a mess of things.”

“Shh, don't say anything just let me hold you,” my dad says, patting my back like he did when I was a little girl. 

The next morning I head to school and the day drags on. I'm glad it's the weekend. I'm surprised when I see MJ waiting outside my classroom. “Hey, I thought you had lacrosse tonight.”

“Nope, I called the coach and quit. I kind of sucked anyways. I told Uncle Liam not to come get me. I was kind of hoping you could call Ian and see if he had room in his scout troop for me. I know it's late in the year, and I missed a bunch of events, but I really miss the guys, and I just need to go back to how things were before.”

“OK, I will call Ian and see what he says. Want to head out for some pizza? I really don't feel like cooking tonight.”

“Can we grab it and come home? I really just want to be at home with you, we can even watch HGTV all night, but I just want to spend time with you, Mom.” 

“Whatever you want, buddy,” I say, looping my arms through his. “I say we get two whole pies. I'm feeling like a binge night with my favorite guy.”

“Mom, thanks for having me. I know it was hard, but thank you.” 

I hold my tears back, and say, “The minute I heard your heartbeat, I knew you would be the most important thing in my life.”

Saturday morning I walk MJ to the community center to see about him joining his old troop. Ian is happy to have him back, and he gets pulled into a group hug by his troop mates. 

I tell him I will pick him up in a few hours, that I have to head into town. I run a few errands, and when I get back in the truck after I drop some stuff off at the post office, I see I have a text from Michael. He wants to meet and talk; he wants to see MJ and talk to him. I put my seatbelt on, pull my truck out and make it to the light. When it turns green, I pull forward, and I hear the sound of screeching tires. I turn to the left, and I see a logging truck fishtailing and heading straight toward me. I turn to slam on the gas, but I know won’t make it out of the way in time. I brace myself for impact and pray. I pray that I survive this. Then all I hear is the crash and blackness takes over.

Chapter 13  

Michael 

Stop the car!” Stephanie yells from the back-seat of the car. I’m not even fully stopped when she bolts out of the back-seat of the truck. I see what she is running toward, it is a really bad wreck involving a semi carrying logs and what looks like the remnants of a truck. I can’t tell, the vehicle underneath is too mangled to be sure. I park, and Mac and I run to the accident scene to see if we can help. We can hear the siren coming, but there is no way the person inside that truck survived. People are running to the accident trying to help. 

“MAC! MAC!” Stephanie is calling for her fiancé. When he walks closer to the wreck, he turns around and the color drains from his face

“Michael, I need you to stay calm. It’s Katie. Katie is in the truck.” I run toward the wreckage, but Mac is holding me back. “Stop, Michael, you can’t help her let Stephanie help her.  

"Where’s MJ? Is MJ in the car?”

I push and drop down to the ground and crawl to the wreckage, and when I see Stephanie, she is covered in blood  

“She’s alone, Michael.”

“Oh god. Katie, baby.” I reach out to touch her, but I can’t reach her through the crushed car door opening. The paramedics and fire department are on the scene seconds later, but neither of the EMTs can fit into the wreckage

Stephanie tells them to start handing her things. I watch her snap into doctor mode, I know Katie is in good hands Stephanie was a highly sought after trauma surgeon before deciding to open her own practice here in Denver  She puts something around Katie’s neck, and I’m on the ground watching not being able to do anything. She attempts to wipe the blood out of Katie’s face; it’s all cut up, and she has pieces of glasses sticking out of her skin. They finally are able to cut Katie out of the truck with tools I never thought I would see in person. 

“Michael, Mac is going to bring you to the hospital. I’m going to ride with Katie.”

“Michael, focus. You need to call her family; you need to get your son, and you need to get to the hospital.” I stand there as they close the doors to the ambulance. I barely make it to the car and Mac is already on my phone, and we are heading to the hospital. I make it to the waiting room and am told Katie is being prepped for surgery 

Stephanie comes out, and she has changed into scrubs. “I can’t touch her, but the doctor has agreed to let me come into the OR and then give you updates. Michael, it’s bad, but she is fighting. She is fighting to come back to her son and to you.” 

Just then, a crowd of family members come rushing through the door. I see MJ, and he runs to me, shouting, “Dad!” I crumble down with him. 

Stephanie comes up to him, “Hey, MJ, it’s usually not allowed, but how about I take you back really quickly. They are going to roll your mom by on the way to surgery, and I will have them stop so you can see her.”

MJ wipes his face and takes Stephanie’s hand. They walk behind the doors, and I can see through the glass they are wheeling Katie out of the emergency room. They stop, and MJ steps hard and kisses Katie on the cheek before he turns to Stephanie, who holds him while he cries.

She walks him back to the waiting area, and he clings to me. “There is a family waiting room. I will walk you guys back, and then I will go into the OR with Katie. I will be out every few hours to give you an update.” She walks us to a large room with a few TVs mounted to the wall with the news on covering the accident. MJ sits in-between my parents, and I walk over to him.

“MJ, can I talk to you?” He looks up, and I see his face is streaming with tears. He nods, stands up, and we walk to the corner of the room and sit down.

“The first thing I want to tell you is that Stephanie is just my friend. I didn’t bring her to the house to make your mom upset, or you upset, her fiancé was meeting her there. I am trying to help them find a house. I would never do anything to hurt your mother. You and your mom are the most important people in the world to me. I love your mom, but I know now that when you guys walked in it looked bad. The most important thing I want to tell you is I’m sorry that I drank. I didn’t think one drink would affect my medication as much as it did. I said something really hurtful to you, and I want you to know that I really didn’t mean it. I’m not going to lie to you. I did tell your mom to have an abortion. I didn’t think I wanted to be a father, but the minute I had time to really think about it I was destroyed when I thought she had gone through with it. Things were never right for me after that.”

“It’s because Aunt Maggie cursed you,” MJ says, looking at his feet.

“I don’t believe in curses, but I do believe at the time I was a selfish jerk and I hurt someone who I loved more than life itself. When your mom is better, I’m going to make it up to you. I can’t tell you that it’s going to be great all the time—my illness sometimes makes things hard—but I promise I will do everything I can to make sure that I never hurt you or your mom again.”

“What if she dies?” he says as his throat hitches.

“MJ, your mom is really strong. She is going to do everything she can to come back to you.” With those words, I hold my son tight to my body, hoping I’m right. It’s a few hours before Stephanie steps through the doors of the waiting room causing every single person in the room to stand at attention.

“She is in critical condition, but she is fighting. We have put her in a medically induced coma because she has some brain swelling. And she has some rods and pins in her left leg and arm, but the plastic surgeon came in and did a fantastic job. He was able to fix a lot of cuts on her face; he says there will be little to no scarring. She is going to be moved to ICU after she comes out of the recovery ward. I promised MJ I would come back for him, so I am going to take him back. Once she is moved, they will only let two people in at a time.”

MJ walks to Stephanie, and she grabs his hand. “I told you she was going to fight to come back to you. I want to tell you something before you go back. Your mom has a tube down her throat helping her breathe, and she has a lot of things bandaged up, so you have to be gentle. Are you ready to go in?” I see MJ nod his head, and they disappear through the door. 

Chapter 14

MJ Blackwell

When I see my grandfather and grandmother at the door of the community center, I know something is wrong. I can tell by my grandma’s face she’s been crying. I see my grandfather signal Ian over and say something, but he is trying to be quiet. The minute my grandma starts crying I rush over. 

“What’s going on? Where’s my mom? She is supposed to pick me up.” 

“Your mom’s been in an accident. We need to head to the hospital,” my grandfather says.

When we get to the hospital, I see my dad, and I just want him to tell me it’s going to be OK. I prayed the whole way here that if God saved my mom I would forgive my dad. When I see Stephanie I’m confused until I see she is wearing a doctor’s outfit. She walks me to a set of doors, and we wait. They roll my mom by, and I can’t really tell it’s her she is covered in blood, but still I step forward and look back at Stephanie. She nods. It’s OK for me to go near her.

“Hi, Mom, I’m here. I’m going to wait for you. They said you are having surgery, so Dad and I are going to wait here until you’re done. Everyone is here; we are all waiting for you. Mom, I forgive Dad. I know he didn’t mean it. I love you, Mom, please be OK.”

I step back, and they roll her through the doors. 

“You did awesome, MJ. I’m going to walk you back to your dad and then I’m going to sit with your mom. I’m gonna tell her all about how brave you’re being.” 

When I walk back into the room, I sit next to my grandparents. I see my dad, but he is in the corner, and he is praying.

Chapter 15

Stephanie Mullins

Mac and Michael are laughing so hard in the front-seat about how picky I’m being they don’t even see the accident scene the street over. When I yell for him to stop, and I bolt out of the back-seat, I’m heading in knowing that there is a huge chance the person in the truck is already gone. Once I get up close, I see the wreck in its entirety, and I’m trying to find an access point. I see one female in what’s left of the driver’s seat. People are already on the phone the driver of the semi is sitting on the curb crying. He says he just dozed off. 

Others are attending to him, and I know I need to get in the truck and see if the driver is still alive. Once I’m in, I see the driver’s chest rising and falling. It’s labored, but she is breathing. I crawl toward her to make an assessment and try to make her a stable as possible when the glint of a bracelet catches my eye.
Oh, fuck. Please, please, please...
I look around for a purse, and I dig around with one hand until I find a wallet. When I open it I have to blink away the tears; it’s Katie Blackwell—Michael’s Katie. I have to go out there and tell my friend that the women he loves is in this wreckage. 

I call for Mac because I’m a coward. This is why I’m leaving Boston; I can’t detach myself from patients, and I take every loss hard. I ask Mac to tell Michael because I can’t do it. Instead, I stay and keep Katie’s neck steady and talk to her. I tell her all about how Mac and I met and how Michael never got over her; how he was miserable at school without her; how he would get drunk and cry about her and his baby. I tell her that this is Michael’s and her time, and she needs to be strong for her son. I’m trying not to cry, but I think about the day I got the knock on the door that my parents and sister had been killed by a drunk driver. I don’t want that to happen to MJ; I don’t want anyone else to live that horror. Katie blinks. She can’t focus her eyes, but I know she can hear me. Her breathing increases and she is trying to say something, but I tell her not to talk. 

The EMT’s are here and are gonna get her out and get her help. It feels like hours before they are able to get her out. When Michael finally sees her, he wants to rush, but now I’m in full doctor mode. I give him instructions and load in the ambulance. I assist the EMT’s even though I know they can get in trouble. I note all her injuries, and when we arrive at the ER bay, I give them her vitals, her injuries, and I feel her grab my hand. I lean down to tell her I will bring her son to her. She can’t speak but blinks her eyes.

The nurse comes to me with some scrubs that I’m so grateful for. I wash my arms and hands of Katie’s blood and make my way to the waiting room. I need to do this; I need to comfort the family, assure them that everything is being done and bring MJ to see his mom. 

When I walk out, the room is packed. I usher everyone into the surgical waiting room and tell them I will sit with her. 

Once MJ sees his mom, he makes me promise to hold her hand, so she isn’t scared. I realize just then that I don’t want to wait anymore. I want to get married, and I want a baby. I don’t care that Mac isn’t established yet. Watching Katie fight for her life is all the motivation I need.

Once the staff finds out Katie is basically a Kerrigan, they bend over backward for her. I scrub in and sit on her right side. I hate just sitting here; the only sound is the machines and instructions being called out. I signal the nurse, and she laughs and steps out for a moment. When she comes back, she has her personal iPad. Her Kindle app is open; the rest of the nurses and even the doctor start giggling when I look at the titles to choose from. It’s all smut, and I can’t help but laugh

“Oh, Katie, I hope you can hear me. You’re in for a treat.”

I turn to the nurse. “Which is your favorite?” she comes over and points, and I open the book.

“Okay, Katie. Get ready for some shifter romance.” I start reading, and as I get to the sex I can’t help but look over at the doctor who is repairing Katie’s arm.