This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4)

Somehow, Jason had been persuaded to become a part of the Kingdom family business, but he still remained by and large on the periphery. He had his own businesses to take care of, so his time was limited. However, it seemed to him that his wife was even busier than him.

It was his birthday. After pampering him for the entire morning, Aviva left the house to attend a meeting. Before she left, she showed him images of the new Broadway musical producer she was going to meet. Looking at the photo of the handsome man, Jason had almost insisted that he go with her. That he was experiencing feelings of jealousy had nothing to do with Aviva, he trusted his wife. It was other men he didn’t trust.

That she knew they had a dinner engagement, and she hadn’t called, and he couldn’t reach her worried him. Something didn’t feel right. Just about to call Aviva for the umpteenth time, Jason’s phone rang. Grabbing it, he spoke into the mouthpiece.

“Aviva?”

“May I speak to, Jason Kingdom?” Came an unknown voice.

“Who the hell is this?” Holding the phone away from his face, Jason looked at the screen in an attempt to identify the caller. The number showed up as private.

“Are you Mr. Jason Kingdom?”

The man’s avoidance pissed Jason off. He didn’t know why he was so reluctant to answer the callers’ simple question. All he knew was that a feeling of dread was settling over him.

“This is Jason Kingdom,” he finally confirmed.

“Mr. Kingdom, my name is Detective Saunders–”

“What the hell is going on here?” Jason broke in before the man could complete what he had to say.

“Sir, if you would just hold on a minute, I’ll fill you in.”

“I repeat, what’s going on?” Jason’s heart rate had sped up so much he was having difficulty breathing. The only thing his mind was capable of doing was repeating the words don’t say Aviva, over and over again, in its reluctance to hear her name mentioned over the phone.

“Sir, there has been an accident...”

Jason remained silent through the detective’s pause, refusing to assist the person he knew was the bearer of bad news.

“Mr. Kingdom, are you still there?”

“Tell me.” All the anger went out of Jason’s voice as he steeled himself for what he was about to hear.

“Sir, your wife has been in an accident. Her car went off the road somewhere around 5:00 pm this afternoon.”

“Where is she?”

After the detective informed him of Aviva’s whereabouts he hung up the phone, no longer interested in anything else the man had to say. His only intention was to get to her as quickly as he could. He didn’t want to know anything else. The irrational part of his mind didn’t want to hear what the man had to say; nor did he want to think about what he would find when he arrived at the hospital.

Jason walked through the door of the hospital alone. At no point in his mad dash across the city did he think about calling anyone for support. Aviva was his wife and his responsibility. Never once did it enter his mind that the rest of his family would want to know that she had been in an accident.

Hesitating outside her hospital room, one of his hands made contact with the cold steel of the door handle. His other hand remained locked at his side, fisted with tension. As he vacillated, his senses were assaulted by the antiseptic smell he had long associated with hospitals. A deep breath later, he pushed open the door.

Aviva was lying motionless on the bed and Jason almost lost his mind. A few giant steps were all it took to bring him to her side, and to realize her chest moved up and down in a regular fashion. There was also an absence of equipment and tubes normally associated with someone in a critical condition, which did nothing to lessen his worry.

Resting his shaking hand against her pillow for balance, Jason carefully kissed her cheek. Just then the doctor and nurse walked into the room.

“Mr. Kingdom, I’m doctor Park.”

From his inclined position, Jason turned and looked at the man standing at the end of his wife’s bed. Whatever the doctor saw in his visage caused him to take a hurried step backwards.

“You had better be here to tell me my wife is going to be as good as new,” Jason spoke quietly, enunciating each word; well aware that he was probably frightening the man with his unsmiling expression.

Taking a visible gulp, the doctor looked down at Aviva before he again attempted to speak to Jason.

“Mr. Kingdom, your wife was brought in around 6:00 pm this evening having been in a car accident.”

“What’s the matter with her? I want to know everything!” Jason demanded.

“Mr. Kingdom, I’m going to have to ask you to calm down. If you are unable to do so I will have no alternative other than to call security and have you removed!” The doctor said, clearly losing his patience in the face of Jason’s demands.

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