Wait for Me (3 page)

Toweling dry and then dressing in a pair of faded, well worn jeans and a sweatshirt, Lucas strolled into his massive kitchen and went about deciding what to make for himself for dinner.  That was the beauty of living alone; he could make whatever he felt like, whenever he felt like it and then could eat in front of the television and have the remote to himself.  It was some sweet bachelor living and he was sure that the masses would be envious.

Reaching into the freezer Lucas was about to pull out a steak to grill when the glare of headlights caught his attention.  No one ever came out this way; he was set far back from the road and in this snow at this time of day, clearly the person had to be lost.  With a curse, he walked toward the window near the front door and watched in horror as the car skid dangerously and then went off the narrow path of his driveway and down into the to ravine below.

“Dammit,” he muttered, running to grab his boots, coat and phone before heading out the door.  Once outside he ran toward where he saw the car go down.  It was easily a ten foot drop and he could hear the sound of the horn blaring as if someone was laying on it.

With another curse, he carefully made his way down and did his best to not slide and end up injuring himself too.  “What kind of idiot drives around in a snowstorm after dark?” he muttered as he reached the car door.  The windows were fogged and the sound of the horn was near deafening.  He yanked the car door open and found the driver slumped over the steering wheel.  Doing his best not to jar them too much he reached into his pocket for the small flashlight that he always carried and jumped back in horror at the sight of blood coming from the driver’s head.

“Emma…”

What the hell is she doing here?
Lucas’s mind raced as he checked Emma for a pulse and tried to assess where else she was injured.  She wasn’t moving and that was killing him.  “Emma?” he said, trying to keep his voice soft and calm.  When she didn’t respond he said it with a little more urgency and held his breath, hoping that she’d answer him.

She didn’t.

“Dammit,” he mumbled.  The snow was coming down so hard and fast that it was a total white out.  As much as he feared moving her, leaving Emma in the car and calling for an ambulance wasn’t an option.  Reaching into the car he unbuckled her seatbelt, softly whispering to her the whole time.  As gently as he could, Lucas scooped her up into his arms and slammed the car door shut and then looked at the hill in front of him and wondered how he was going to get them both up the slick surface.

Cursing again, he said a silent prayer and slowly and carefully made his way back up.  It wouldn’t have been an easy task for someone in excellent physical condition; it was hampered not only by the snow but his aching knee.  If it hadn’t been hurting earlier, it was certainly going to after this little excursion.

It felt like hours but he finally got them back up to the house and once inside, he raced to lay Emma down on the sofa closest to the fireplace.  She was pale but the wound on her head was bleeding less.  Lucas ran quickly to his bathroom and found his first-aid kit and when he returned to Emma’s side he tried calling her name again to see if she’d respond.

She didn’t.

Having been an athlete his whole life, Lucas was familiar with how to treat some injuries.  He cleaned the spot on her forehead and gently washed the blood away from the rest of her face.  Feeling her hands, he could tell that she was beginning to warm up from being by the fire.  Carefully he began to remove her coat and then went to take off her shoes.  With each item he would check to see if there were any other injuries that weren’t as clearly visible as the one on her head. 

Once her shoes were off, he gently rubbed her feet and then her ankles and nearly sobbed with relief when she made a slight sound of protest.  He sent a silent prayer heavenward and then softly said her name again.  “Emma?”

Emma felt as if she’d been hit in the head with a hammer.  Clearly she must have died because the last thing she remembered, her car was spinning wildly and then everything went black.  The throbbing in her head increased and she mumbled, “Great; I would be the only person to go to Heaven and still have pain.”  The sound of male laughter nearly made her scream out.  She tried to sit up but found that it hurt too much to move.

“Shh…easy,” the voice said again.  “Don’t try to sit up, Emma.  Tell me where you’re hurt.”

The voice sounded familiar and Emma had to wonder at what was going on.  If this was Heaven and God was talking to her, wouldn’t He know where she was hurt?  Why was He asking her?  When he asked again, Emma wanted to put her hands over her ears.  “Why are you shouting?” she finally asked.  “Everywhere.  I hurt everywhere, okay?”

He chuckled. 
“That’s my girl” he murmured.

“What?” she whispered as she struggled to open her eyes and see who was talking to her.  It felt like a hot poker was flaming behind her right eye and it took all of her strength to only partially sit up.
  “
Lucas?”
  Emma looked around, confusion written on her face.  “What are you doing here?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” he replied softly, aware that her head was probably killing her.

“Where are your parents?”

“They’re at their place.  Why would you ask?”

“Their place?” she asked, convinced that she had misheard him.

“Yes, their place.”

“So your father isn’t here?”

“No.”

“And your mother?”

“With dad,” a look of amusement began to cross Lucas’s face. 

Emma put a hand to her head and lay back down.  “I’m so confused,” she mumbled.

Rising from his spot beside her, Lucas walked into the kitchen to grab some ice to help Emma’s head.  Why was she here?  Why would she think that this was his folk’s place?  And really, why was she even going to his p
arent’s place?  In all the years Emma worked for Montgomery’s, she’d never come to one of the family homes.  What the hell was going on?

He put the ice in a bag and wrapped it in a towel before heading back over to where Emma lay resting on the sofa.  She looked very small and fragile lying on his big oversized sofa.  Her eyes were still closed and the grimace on her face told him that she was definitely still in pain.
  As much as he wanted to find out the extent of her injuries, there was no way to safely get them to the hospital to have her checked.  Lucas had no doubt that it wouldn’t take long for them to skid into another ditch.

Back at Emma’s side, he gently placed the ice on her head and winced when she did.  The thought of causing her any more pain nearly killed him but he knew the best thing they could do was try to ice the lump that had formed on her temple. 

“So,” he began softly, “what made you come up here in a snowstorm?”

Pushing Lucas’s hand aside, Emma held the ice pack in place.  “I didn’t know there was going to be a storm,” she began, her voice trembling slightly.  “Your father needed some papers and we were all caught up at the office so he suggested that I take a long weekend.”

“A long weekend?”

Emma nodded.  “He told me that to thank me, your mother made reservations for me to spend a couple of nights at some sort of spa up here.”

“A spa?”

“Yes, Lucas, a spa.  Are you sure you didn’t hit your head, too?”

“What?  Why?” he asked, confusion etched on his face.

“You keep repeating everything I say.”

He couldn’t deny it.  “I don’t mean to do that but the whole thing seems a bit…bizarre.  I mean, why couldn’t you just fax the papers?”

“Your father said that he didn’t have a fax at the house,” she said simply.

“He does…”

Emma cut him off.  “Then I said I’d email them but he said that he didn’t bring his laptop.  I guess your mom likes him to relax and step away from work while they’re up here.”

Lucas was glad that Emma’s eyes were closed because the frown on his face would have told her that he didn’t believe one word of what she was saying.  None of it made any sense!  His father had an office at their mountain home that rivaled the one at Montgomery’s.  Why would he deliberately lie to Emma?

“Anyway, he was concerned that I don’t take a whole lot of time for myself and so when he offered the extended weekend and then sweetened the deal with the spa, well, how could I say no?”

“What kind of spa?” he asked, even though he couldn’t really care less.  He was trying to keep her talking; the more she talked the more he could tell if she had any kind of serious repercussions from banging her head.

“Oh, you know, the usual.  Deluxe, tranquil rooms, manicures, pedicures, massages…total pampering.”

“And that appeals to you?” he asked, somewhat surprised that it would appeal to someone like Emma.  She always seemed very practical and low maintenance; the type of woman who wouldn’t be interested in wasting time and money at a spa.

“Appeal to me?” she repeated.  “Right now, with the way my whole body hurts, I’d kill for a massage.”

“Not a good idea.”

She pried open one eye and glared at him.  “How could that
not
be a good idea?  I was just in a car accident and my whole body is in pain.  Massages relieve pain, right?”

“On the surface, sure, you’re right, but the reality is that the body needs to heal a little first otherwise massage can escalate the injury.”

As much as she wanted to argue the point, it made sense.  And if anyone would know about what would escalate an injury, it was Lucas.  She knew that he’d been through months of intense rehab and had tried everything known to man to get his knee back in shape so that he could return to the football field.  Unfortunately, nothing had worked.   “Okay, fine; no massage right now but as soon as this snow stops, I’m heading over to the spa.”

“That won’t be happening any time soon,” he said with resignation.

“What?  Why?  How long is this snow supposed to last?”

“Well, considering that it was coming down at the rate of several inches an hour and it’s been snowing for well over an hour…”

“Please don’t make me do the math, Lucas; my head hurts enough already.”

That made him laugh.  Emma had the ability to do that when no one else could.  “Okay, no math.  The last I heard it’s supposed to snow well into tomorrow afternoon and they’re predicting up to two feet.”

“That is totally not helping my headache,” she murmured and slowly sat up and made herself for comfortable.  She stared at the fire roaring in the fireplace and then at Lucas who was watching her warily.  “Relax, it’s just a headache.”

“We don’t know that, Emma.  You probably have a concussion.”

“You really are like a little ray of sunshine, aren’t you?”

His expression was near comical.  “Look, I know a thing or two about concussions, Emma.  You hit your head pretty hard.  You were bleeding.  We can’t get to a hospital to confirm or deny but for right now I’m going with the fact that you most likely have one.”

“But I might not.”

“But you might.”

“Lucas,” she whined.

“Don’t argue with someone who has had their share of bumps on the head,” Lucas said as he rose from the sofa.  “Let me get you some Advil or something to help with the pain.  Do you want something hot to drink?  Coffee?  Tea?”

“Do you have cocoa?”

“Cocoa?”

Emma sighed.  “Yes, cocoa; you know the hot chocolate beverage.  It sometimes comes with tiny marshmallows in it.  Any of this ringing a bell?”

His smile made Emma feel as if everything was going to be all right.  “Now that you mention it, it sounds vaguely familiar.  Unfortunately, I’m fresh out.”

“Fresh out?” she asked sarcastically as a small smile of her own crept across her face.

“Okay, I confess; I don’t normally keep a stash of cocoa in my house.”

“Not a manly drink, huh?”

“For someone with a concussion, you’re awfully snarky,” he said and for the first time since she’d met him, Emma thought he almost sounded…playful.
  Lucas graced her with a small smile as he searched the kitchen for the needed supplies. 

“Water will be just fine,” Emma said as she watched him combing the cabinets for other drink options for her.  Within minutes she had taken the offered pain reliever with a full glass of water that Lucas had brought over to the sofa for her.  “You don’t have to wait on me,” she said as she placed her glass down on the coffee table.  “I’m fine, really.”  She only wished that she believed her own words.

While talking with Lucas and being a bit in awe at being in his home had proven to be a nice distraction, now that reality was setting in, so were some aches and pains that Emma hadn’t noticed a little while ago.  The ice was helping her head, as was the ibuprofen, but every time she moved, something else seemed to bother her.

Deciding that sitting idle was probably not the best option for her, she went to rise from the sofa and cried out in pain.  Lucas was immediately at her side.  “What is it?  What’s wrong?”
  Carefully he wrapped an arm around her waist and helped Emma to sit back down.  “Where does it hurt?” he asked as he scanned her body for any obvious signs of injuries.