I start down the corridor, but to my back, Sara Jane’s father yells, “What have you done to my daughter, Kingwood? You will not get away with this. I swear over my dead body you will not get away with this.”
The cops are telling him to calm down while the nurse guides me through a set of double doors and into a smaller waiting room. “Wait here. The doctor will be right out.”
Her father’s threat still rings in my ears, her mother crying softly behind him. Despite the savage actions of the last few hours, I’m not a monster. I know they love her, even if they don’t show her. “Nurse?”
“Yes?”
“Her parents should be here. They’re still in the waiting room.”
She nods. “I’ll bring them back.”
“Thanks.”
I try to sit, but my knee begins to bounce, the motion uncontrolled and erratic, so I stand back up and pace. Fuck. What’s taking the doctor so long? I see a man in scrubs coming down the hall. Exhaustion is carved into the lines around his eyes. Sara Jane’s parents rush to him, her mother pleading for answers.
I exhale slowly. They love her, like I do, I remind myself. So I steady my splintering emotions and try to gain some patience. The doctor glances to me. “Mr. Kingwood. Mr. and Mrs. Grayson. I’m Dr. Curtis. Sara Jane is in recovery, but I wanted to update you on the surgery.” He sticks an X-ray up on a light board. “As you are already aware, Sara Jane was shot in the abdomen. This is usually a fatal point of entry due to the rapid loss of blood. In her case, she’s very lucky because it hit right about here.” He points to a section on the X-ray. “The liver was struck in the top right portion, here. We stopped the bleeding and removed a small part of the damaged liver.”
Her mother asks, “Lucky?”
“I say lucky because if you’re shot anywhere in the torso, that’s the place to be hit. Any other organ would have shut down. Add in rapid blood loss and unless a doctor is on the scene, a patient is harder to save.”
“She’ll recover?” I ask quietly from behind her parents.
“She is in recovery now. We’ll be monitoring her closely over the next forty-eight hours for potential infection, organ function, and stability. She’s been through something very traumatic. She’s on her own timeline as to when she wakes and heals and recovers. We’re hopeful. The liver is also the only organ that can regenerate, so to answer the earlier question—lucky.”
“So she’ll . . .” Her mother’s hands tremble matching her voice.
“Yes, Sara Jane is strong.” The doctor’s eyes meet mine again, and a tight, but small smile appears. “She’s a fighter.”
He comes over to me and shakes my hand, the other covering the top of mine. “If you have any questions, or concerns, don’t hesitate to tell the nurses or the doctor on call.” After shaking each of her parents’ hands, he adds, “I’m going to get some sleep, but I’ll be back in tomorrow to check on her. In the meantime, I suggest getting some rest. I’m sure this is a trying time on all of you, but she needs to be surrounded by your strength.”
“I want to be here. When can I see her?”
His smile grows. “Touch base with the nurses regarding where you’ll be and they’ll make sure to contact you when it’s okay to see Mrs. Kingwood.”
“Grayson,” her father scowls.
The doctor backs up, obviously not wanting to get involved in this feud, and says, “You can wait here or in the main waiting room down the hall. I’ll see you in the morning.”
There is nothing to keep this war from raging now that we’re alone. A gasp is heard from her mother when her father flies into action. No punches are thrown, but in seconds I’m slammed against the wall, my shirt fisted in his hands. “I don’t know what you did to my daughter, but I know she’s in there fighting for her life because of you.”
“For me.”
“What?” A snarl sits angry on his lips as he tries to take me down through a fury-filled glare. “What did you say?”
“For me. She’s fighting to live for me.”
“You cocky son of a bitch.” I’m pulled forward and slammed again. I could fight him. I could, but it’s not the right thing to do. I would do exactly the same if I were in his shoes. So I let him vent his aggression and I take it, needing the blows to wake my wilting faith. I’m empty without her.
He’s distraught as he slings insults at me from the way I’m dressed to my hair getting longer. I’m called a hoodlum, a gang member, a menace to society, a derelict, and a danger to his daughter. It’s then I realize he will never understand what Sara Jane and I are, what we mean to each other, that we only exist because the other does.
She was coming back to me.
How can he not see it in my eyes? How can he be so unaware of my pain that she’s having to fight for her life and regret that it’s because of me, engulfing me? So I’ll take his insults. I’ll take the pain. I’ll take it all if it gives me back my soul.
Despite the pride I felt that she was strong enough to leave, to walk away that dark night in December, I took it all back the second I found out she was coming back to me. My selfish love for her mattered more, until now.
What have I caused?
What have I done?
Does our love come with a price so big that even I, a man with endless resources, can’t afford it?
Is it her life or nothing?
I’ve almost forgotten that David Grayson is using me as his punching bag. I almost believe this is part of my penance. He has me convinced of all my wrong doings. “ . . . I refuse to let my daughter end up like your mother.”
Like my mother.
My eyes snap to his. All control lost as I see red. Grabbing his wrists, I overpower his strength. “Don’t you ever talk about my mother—”
“You’re a wiseass punk who will not get away with this.” He attempts to move me by pulling me forward by the shirt, but with my hands wrapped around his wrists, I stop him then walk forward, backing him up to the far wall.
“I already have.” Releasing his wrists, I’m not going to quarrel with him. Not now. Not over Sara Jane. I will fight just like she will to survive, even if it means pissing a few people off. I brush past him and stop in front of Mrs. Grayson. “I’m sorry, but I need you to understand how much I love your daughter. She’s not a part of my life. She is my life, and I’m not willing to lose her. Not now. Not ever.”
She closes her eyes and shakes her head minutely. When she exhales and her eyes meet mine again, she says, “Please don’t block us from her life.”
Pain coats my throat. They think I’m a monster. They think I want to cause a rift between them and Sara Jane. They’re causing that. Not me. “I won’t. I give you my word.”
From behind me, her father spits, “Your word is as dead as your father and mother.”