Loving You (The Jade Series #3) (33 page)

“Jade.” Garret appears next to me.
 

“Where am I?”

“You’re at a private medical clinic. The same one I went to when I was shot.”

“But where? Are we by your house?” I sit up, suddenly remembering what happened in the woods. “How’s Lilly? Is she okay? What happened with your dad? And Katherine?”

He takes my hand. “Hey, one question at a time. And lie down. You’re making me nervous.”
 

I rest back on the stack of pillows behind my head.
 

“I can’t tell you where we are,” he says. “But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that they’re taking good care of you.”

“But I don’t have—”
 

“It’s all paid for, Jade,” he interrupts, knowing my concern.
 

I’m not sure what he means. Is his dad paying for this? He must be. All I have is the college health plan, which only covers visits to the health clinic on campus. I don’t have insurance for any other type of medical care.
 

“And Lilly’s fine,” he continues. “She just needed to warm up from being outside for so long. It sounded like she was out there for a couple hours.”

“What happened with your dad?”

“He’s back at the house taking care of Lilly and keeping an eye on Katherine. I’m sure he’ll have her followed now to make sure she doesn’t end up back with Stephen. But Katherine was right. She and my dad aren’t getting divorced and they’re no longer separated. I have no idea why, but I’m not going to ask.”
 

He rubs his thumb along my knuckles, still holding my hand. “How do you feel?”

I take a moment to figure that out. “Okay, I guess. My knee doesn’t hurt anymore.” I pull the blankets away and see that my knee is bandaged up and I have bruises up and down my leg.
 

“What happened? Did I get stitches?”

“Yeah. You really busted up your knee. They said it’ll be fine. You just can’t go running for a while.”

“Then why am I here? Can I go home now?”

“You hit your head pretty hard. You have a concussion, so they kept you here to make sure you’re okay. They said you might be able to leave later today or tonight.”

“How long have I been here?”

“It’s Saturday, so about a day and a half.”

I sit up again. “I missed Friday classes? I had assignments due! And a quiz!”

“Jade, relax.” He eases me back down on the pillows. “We let your professors know you’d be out.”
 

“When did you get here?”

He looks confused. “What do you mean? I came here with you. I never left.”

“You missed class? But, Garret, you—”

“Why are you so worried about school? It was only one day.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to sit here with me, especially if I’ve been asleep the whole time.”

He sighs. “I love you, Jade. I’m not going to leave you when you’re hurt.”

I glance down, smoothing the blanket with my hand. “I thought you were mad at me about the whole list thing.”

“I’m over it.” He squeezes my hand to get me to look at him. “Are you?”

“Yes. I never should’ve asked you to do that. And I knew you weren’t messing around with Ava last semester, so I never should’ve accused you of that. I’m sorry. About all of it.”

“Jade, I only kept that stuff from you because I knew it would hurt you. I know how shitty I would feel thinking about you with some other guy, even if it was in the past, and I didn’t want you to feel that way. None of those girls matter. I only want you.” He picks my hand up and kisses it, his eyes never leaving mine. “I’ll always only want you.”

I don’t know if it’s the painkillers I’m on or what, but his words have me tearing up. “Come here.” I pull him in for hug. “Let’s not do the fighting thing again.”

“I’m pretty sure we’ll fight again. It’s normal. We just can’t let it go on for two days or however long that was. It seemed like two weeks.”

“Yeah, I know.” I let him go. “I should’ve talked to you sooner, but sometimes I can be a little stubborn.”

He laughs. “A little?”

I roll my eyes. “Okay, a lot. Whatever.”
 

Garret’s phone rings. “Yeah, she’s right here,” he says when he answers. He hands me the phone. “Frank.”

“Hi, Frank.” I look at Garret, unsure what to say. Does Frank know what happened? Does he know where I am?

“You’re finally awake,” Frank says. “Feeling any better?”

“Um, yeah. I feel okay.”

“Listen. No more running on those trails in the woods, especially by yourself. You see what can happen? You trip over a log and end up almost splitting your head open.”

It must be the made-up story Garret told him. I’m relieved Frank doesn’t know the truth. The less he’s involved with the Kensington drama, the better. “Yeah, I know. I’ll make sure not to go alone anymore. Or I’ll stick to paved roads from now on.”

We talk a few minutes more before we hang up.
 

Garret takes his phone back. “I’ve been updating him. And my dad talked to Frank, too, and told him you’re okay.”

“So you told him I fell when I was running on the trails?”

“Yeah. And I told him you called me on your cell and I was there right away, so he wouldn’t think you were lying in pain for hours.”
 

It’s another lie and I hate lying to Frank. But telling him about Lilly would cause him to ask too many questions. I’m still trying to understand it myself. It’s still hard to believe that Garret and his family just assumed Lilly had been kidnapped. Like she’s not even safe in her own home.

“Garret, remember when you were talking about having kids?”

He seems surprised. “Yeah. Why?”

“I was just thinking. If you ever have kids, will you have to worry about them the way you worry about Lilly? Always worried someone’s going to kidnap them? Because I think it’s sad that Lilly has to be locked away in her room and can’t even play outside.”

“I’m not going to live my life the way my dad does. I’m not going to do the bribes and the blackmail and whatever else he does to put his daughter at risk.” He smiles. “Our kids will be able to play outside.”

I ignore the “our” reference and move on. “What about the company? You’re not even going to be involved? Don’t you have to be? Aren’t you expected to take over the business some day?”

“Lilly can run it. She’s only 6 and she already likes bossing people around. She’ll make a great CEO some day.”

“I’m serious, Garret.”

“So am I. I don’t want the company. I don’t want anything to do with it. I’ve already told you that. I’m getting a business degree so I can start my own company. Something totally different.”

“Does your dad know that?”

“Yes. He doesn’t accept it, but that’s not my problem. He can’t force me to take over the business. Besides, my dad’s only 48. He’ll be running the company for at least the next 30 years. And in that time he can either train Lilly to take it over or find someone else.”

The door opens and a man walks in wearing dark pants, a white dress shirt, and a tie, with a stethoscope around his neck. I do a double-take when I see his face. It’s the doctor who’s been helping Frank. The one who also helped Garret the night he was shot. This guy really gets around.

“Jade, I’m glad to see you up and alert.” He comes over to my bed. “I’m Dr. Cunningham. We’ve met before. Do you remember me?”

“Um, yes.”
 

Garret steps aside as the doctor takes my wrist and checks my pulse. Then he checks one of the machines next to my bed.

“Any headaches? Vision problems?” he asks.

“No. Nothing.” I shouldn’t be surprised seeing him there. I know he works for this secret medical group, but I still don’t know what that means. I wish someone would just tell me what’s going on with this guy and explain more about this group and what they do.

“Well, everything looks good. I think we’ll go ahead and send you home.” The man turns to Garret. “You’ll keep an eye on her?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“What about overnight? Can someone stay with her? Does she have a roommate?”

“I’ll stay with her.”

“Then I’ll give you this.” He hands Garret a sheet of paper. “Look it over and let me know if you have questions.” He turns back to me. “I’ll send you home with some crutches. You’ll probably only need them for a couple weeks, if that. But even if your knee feels better, don’t run on it. Walking only for now. Do you have any questions for me?”

“Um, am I supposed to come back here to get the stitches out?”

“No. I’ll see you at a clinic near campus. Garret knows where it is. We’ll call you to set up an appointment. If that’s it, I’ll let you two head out.” He starts to leave.

“Wait. Can I ask you something?” My palms get sweaty as he walks toward me again. I’m sure I shouldn’t be asking this and I consider chickening out, but I feel like I owe it to Frank. I need to know the truth.

“What is it, Jade?” the doctor asks.

“What are you doing to Frank?” I blurt it out.
 

The doctor glances at Garret, then back at me. “I’m not sure I understand the question.”

“I mean, are you helping him?” I realize how bad that sounds and quickly try to fix it. “Sorry. I know you’re helping him, but how? Do you have some kind of cure?”

He shakes his head. “No. We don’t have a cure for MS. I wish we did. I’m just taking a more individualized approach to treating his condition. Modern medicine tends to take a one-size-fits-all approach, which is cheaper than a more personalized approach but isn’t good for the patient. The medications he was taking weren’t right for him. They were actually making his condition worse. He’s doing much better now.”

“Well, thanks for everything you’ve done for him.”

He nods and smiles briefly, then walks briskly out the door.

“You ready to get out of here?” Garret asks.

“What did the doctor give you?” I point to the paper in his hand.

“Instructions for caretakers of people with head trauma. I’m supposed to watch for all these signs.” He reads them off. “Nausea, vomiting, confusion, memory loss, slurred speech . . .”

I take it from him. “My head is fine. You don’t need to watch me.”

He snatches the paper back. “Hey, this is my job and I take it very seriously.” He leans over to kiss my forehead. “If your head doesn’t get better, it’ll be all my fault. And I can’t have that on my conscience. I’m going to keep watch on you every second of the day.”

“Oh, really? What about Monday when you’re at class?”

He thinks for a moment. “I’ll make you call me every 10 minutes and I’ll ask you questions to see if you’re confused or losing your memory. Like I’ll ask if you know what day it is. Or if you remember who I am.”

It makes me laugh. “If I can’t remember who you are, I definitely need medical attention.”

He gets up and takes my clothes out of the closet. “Need help getting dressed?”

“No, I can do it.” I smile as he hands me my clothes. “Besides, you’re better at undressing me.”

He smiles back. “That’s true.”

After I’m dressed I practice walking a little on the crutches. As we’re leaving the room, he stops to kiss me.
 

“What was that for?” I ask him.

“For finding Lilly. I just realized I didn’t thank you for that.”

“You don’t need to thank me.”

“Lilly would’ve froze to death if you hadn’t found her.”

“You would’ve found her yourself if I wasn’t there.”

“Just accept the thank you, Jade.”

“Okay. You’re welcome. But if you’re thanking me with kisses, feel free to keep thanking me because I’ve really missed your lips.”

He kisses me again. “I’ve missed yours, too.”
 

I hobble down the hall on my crutches with Garret walking slowly beside me. “This really sucks. I feel like I’m going to fall.”

“You’ll get used to it. I broke my leg when I was 8 and I was an expert with those things after just a few days.”

The hallway leads to an underground parking garage where a car is waiting with a driver. As we leave, I look for any clues that might tell me where we are, but there aren’t any. We drive along a tree-lined road that could be anywhere. There aren’t any landmarks that even hint at our location. After almost an hour, we finally get on the interstate and I see signs that say we’re in Connecticut.

When we arrive at Garret’s house the driver lets us out, then takes off before I remember to check his license plates.
 

“Lilly wants to say hi quick before we go back to campus,” Garret says, as he waits for me to make it to the front door.
 

As we walk in the house, Garret’s dad comes out of his office. “Jade, it’s good to see you’re feeling better.”

“I’ll go get Lilly.” Garret takes off, leaving me alone with his dad.