Breaking Through (Atlanta #3) (25 page)

Finally, a fireman pulled him off the car and kept him from getting to Jenna. Luke nearly took a swing at him for dragging him away, but his precious bit of control and common sense forced its way to the surface of Luke's mind. He wanted to stay with her, not end up in jail. He shook off the fireman with a forced calm, "I got this. Sorry. Go help her."

The fireman took one more appraising look at Luke before getting back to his duties at the scene. He motioned for a paramedic to tend to Luke's hands, but Luke refused.

"Go help
her
! I'm fine. Just help her," he begged desperately.
 

"Sir, I've done everything I can until she's out of the car. If you let me fix your hands, then we might get you in the ambulance with her. Are you family?"

"If that's what gets me in the ambulance, then yes," Luke said, still desperately trying to see if Jenna would move or wake up. "Fix my damn hands fast if you have to. Just get to her."

Luke didn't feel an ounce of pain as the paramedic picked chunk after chunk of glass out of his hands with a pair of tweezers. Luke's eyes were trained on her car the entire time. When the EMT was finished, he rinsed Luke's hands with saline and bandaged him up. "Most of that was superficial. You don't need any stitches but you need to leave those butterfly bandages on and take it easy, ok?"

"How long until you
fucking get her out of there
?" he groaned. She'd been in her car far too long. The longer she was stuck there, the longer before she got the precious help she obviously needed.

Luke watched everything unfold before him in torturously-slow motion. Forever passed before the Jaws of Life finally pried Jenna's car open so they could put her in a neck collar and onto a backboard. Luke was right beside her as they put her bruised body on the gurney. Without asking permission, he crawled up into the ambulance with her. One of the medics almost protested but was stopped by the one who tended to Luke's hands.
 

With sirens blaring, the medics worked on Jenna's bruised body the entire way to the hospital. They inserted an IV in her arm and a tube down her throat, then connected wires from her body to some machine before they pulled into the ER bay. Luke held her limp hand the whole way. He had no words to say, only a single mantra repeating in his head:
Please save my angel
.

Immediately they wheeled Jenna from the ambulance through the ER doors and quickly down a hallway while the EMT rambled statistics at the doctors. Luke followed as quickly as he could, trying to make sense of what everyone was saying. They pushed her through a set of wide, double doors. The EMT who bandaged his hands held him back by the shoulders, keeping Luke from following any farther.

"What's your name?" the EMT asked.

"Luke. Baylor." He said this on autopilot, not really paying attention to anything but Jenna. He was still straining to see her through the window and trying to follow her. The EMT had to physically keep him back. Keeping a tight hold on him, the EMT tried to talk Luke through the situation. Luke didn't hear a word.

"Hey! Look at me," the guy barked.

Luke finally accepted he couldn't see Jenna anymore and focused on the EMT.

"There you are," the paramedic said. "Ok. Here's what I know. She's got deep bruising along most of her left side. She's unconscious, which can mean a lot of things, but the good part is she's not feeling any of her injuries right now. She seems to have internal bleeding, but they won't know for sure how bad it is until they get her in the operating room."

Luke nodded blankly, trying to take all of this in.
 

"They're taking her to the OR and then most likely to the ICU once they get her stabilized. She may be in surgery for several hours, but we won't know quite yet. Come with me."

Jeff led Luke through a series of hallways and into the waiting room outside of ICU. To the nurse at the station outside of the ICU ward, the EMT introduced Luke. "If anyone asks, this guy's family. Got it? He's with the blond who came in from the ambulance." He looked toward Luke. "What's her name?"

"Jennalyn Roche," Luke said, barely aware of what was going on around him. "Jenna."

"Ok, this is Connie. She'll keep an ear out to find out what's going on with Jenna."

The maternal-looking nurse nodded in understanding. "I'll let you know as soon as I hear something. Let me walk you to the lobby by the operating room. The surgeons can give you updates from there."

"Thanks," Luke said blankly as he followed her down a series of hallways. When she pointed to the lobby, he slumped down into a chair, unable to do anything but wait.
 

Please save my angel
.

Cassie heard the crash from the front desk at the clinic. How awful. She felt bad for whomever had to deal with the insurance mess of an accident. Few things could rearrange your schedule for a day like a nasty dent in your car. She shook her head in sympathy for the people involved and the poor cop who'd probably have to listen to the two drivers argue over whose fault the accident was.
 

That's what she thought until she heard the sirens and knew this was more than a nasty fender-bender. She hoped everyone was ok, but her hope was dashed when she saw a fire truck and two ambulances flying down the street in front of the clinic. This must be bad.
 

She didn't want to get in the way, but she really wanted to see what was going on. She couldn't though; she needed to be responsible and stay with her job. She sent up a quick prayer for the people who needed help from all those rescue workers. Returning to her task, Cassie sifted through insurance paperwork, trying to make sense of things for one of the patients going through a switch of coverage. What a pain. But still, the sirens and shouts outside made her thankful for simple problems like insurance carriers.
 

She heard one ambulance leave almost immediately, and then a good while later, she heard the second ambulance speed away toward the hospital. The second person must have been really stuck in their car to have been at the scene of the accident for so long.
 

Once the mess outside cleared up, Cassie noticed the hunger pangs in her stomach. Where was Jenna with her lunch? A sickening, impossible thought ran through her mind. Certainly the car accident hadn't involved Jenna. She went to the sidewalk outside to confirm the cars didn't include Jenna's two-door. Cassie's heart stopped when she saw the blueberry crushed almost beyond recognition only one block away. A tow-truck was on scene trying to get Jenna's mangled car on a flatbed to take it away. Dear Lord, could Jenna have survived that? Tears dripped quickly down her face as she sprinted into the clinic.

"Dr. Clayton!" Cassie yelled through the waiting room, ignoring the kids and parents there. She didn't even see them, really. She was too focused on Jenna. "Dr. Clayton! The car wreck…the ambulance…Jenna…"

Cassie couldn't even finish a sentence. She was panicked and unable to even breathe properly.
 

"Slow down," the pediatrician said. "What's going on?"

Cassie pulled herself together enough to explain the situation through her tears.
 

"I have to go to the hospital. I have to get to her!"

"You're not driving like this," Dr. Clayton said. "Call Scott and have him pick you up. If you can't get ahold of him, we'll have someone here take you."

Cassie nodded and reached a shaky hand for her phone, thankful the doctor was thinking more clearly than herself. Only two rings passed before Cassie heard noises of the pool and Scott's playful voice. "Couldn't make it through a whole day without talking to me?"

"Scott," Cassie sobbed. "…Jenna. She was in a wreck…" She sobbed harder, unable to talk anymore. She heard Scott's voice say "What?!" as Dr. Clayton reached for the phone.

"Hi, Scott. This is Dr. Clayton. There was a pretty bad car accident outside the clinic. It looks like Jenna's car was involved, and she never made it back from lunch. Cassie wants to go to the hospital to check, but she shouldn't be driving. She's too upset. Are you available to take her?"

"God. Yeah. Tell her I'll be there as fast as possible and that I'll tell Erin."

"Thanks. See you soon," Dr. Clayton replied as she hit the end button and handed the phone to Cassie. "He's on his way and said he'd tell Erin."

Cassie nodded and paced around the break room toying with her wedding ring. That always brought her comfort and reminded her to focus on happiness. Cassie forced herself to be happy the EMTs and doctors would do everything they could to help her friend.

Centuries seemed to pass before Scott arrived with open arms. She threw herself into his embrace for a quick moment before demanding to get in the car.

"Marcus and Erin are on their way to the hospital, too," Scott spoke gently. Cassie nodded and let him lead her to his SUV. She kept her hand in his silently all the way to the hospital. The volunteer at the welcome desk gave them directions to the main waiting room of the ICU, and told them another couple had been there asking about the same girl.

"Thank you," Scott said, staying strong for Cassie. He knew Marcus would do the same for Erin. He lead Cassie to the elevator bank quickly. The sooner they got to the ICU, the faster they would know Jenna's condition. Not knowing was torture.

When the elevator reached the third floor, the door opened into a drab waiting area. Erin and Marcus were already standing there, Erin in tears and resting her cheek against Marcus's chest. The minute Scott and Cassie walked in, Erin rushed to Cassie and hugged her tightly.

"Do you know anything yet?" Cassie asked weakly.

Erin shook her head. "They won't tell us anything. They said there's a family member back there already and when he comes out he can fill us in."

"Family member? Her parents are still in Africa," Cassie uttered, confused.
 

"I don't know. All I know is when she's stable, we can at least go and look through the window to see her, and find out what we can from her family."

Cassie hugged Erin one more time before turning to Scott for comfort. Both Marcus and Scott stood strong for their women and waited to find out whatever they could. Scott called the clinic to update them on what little they knew. He promised they'd pass along any information they had.

"She's been so sad," Cassie said through renewed tears. "This is too much for her."

Erin took Cassie's hand and lead her to a row of mud-brown chairs. "Happy thoughts, Cass."

Cassie nodded and leaned into Scott's arm as he sat beside her. Marcus took his position on the other side of Erin and reached his long arm over to rest on his sister's knee. "She'll be ok, Cass," he said. "I really believe she will."

"Thanks, Marc."

The four sat in silence for a long time before Scott offered to get them all something from the cafeteria. No one was hungry, but Scott went to get drinks anyway. He returned with a variety of juices, hoping to give everyone a little energy even though they didn't feel like eating. Cassie gave him a weak smile for his efforts.

A few other people filtered in and out of the waiting room while the four friends kept watch for Jenna's family member to come out and let them know what was going on. They waited for hours.

Finally, the nurse called them over to the desk. "She just came out of recover and is in a room down the hall. I told the doctors you're here, and they agreed to let you go see her as long as you stay quiet and not disturb the ward. A nurse will stay with you."

"Thank you!" Cassie said desperately. "Thank you so much. Is she ok?"

"I don't know anything beyond that. Here comes the nurse. You can follow her."

Cassie lead the line down the hallway and stopped in front of the window of Jenna's room. There beside the bed, a strong man with tribal tattoos all the way down his arm rested his forehead on the mattress, holding Jenna's hand. Luke was the family member?
 

The nurse interrupted her confusion. "The surgery stopped her internal bleeding, but the swelling and bruising will take days to weeks to go down, depending on the depth of the contusions. Her body is in good shape, all things considered. She has swelling of the brain, so now it's a waiting game. She's in a medically-induced coma for now. You can go in one at a time if you want to," she allowed. The nurse obviously understood their need to be with Jenna. "Try to stay positive."

Cassie thanked the nurse, but then looked over to Marcus, trying to see if Luke's presence made any sense to him, because Cassie had nothing but confusion going on. "Is Luke… is he Jenna's cousin or something?"

"Luke? You mean Baylor? No…huh?" Marcus's eyes registered as much surprise as Cassie's when he noticed his trainee keeping vigil at Jenna's side. "What is he doing here?" Marcus muttered to himself.
 

"Oh, my God," Cassie said. "Luke's motorcycle…is it a Harley?"

Marcus nodded, still confused about the situation and what Luke's motorcycle had to do with any of it. Cassie's eyes met Erin's and the two of them knew instantly. Luke Baylor was Jenna's mystery love.
 

Marcus put the pieces together almost as quickly as they did. Jenna was the woman Luke pushed away. And even though they had broken up, he was there, devastated and loving her. Cassie started to move toward the door, ready to be near her friend. She couldn't have cared less if Luke was in the room or not. She needed to hold Jenna's hand and tell her she'd be ok.

"Let me go in first," Marcus said quietly. "For Luke. She's not awake anyway. Here. Take my phone and call George so he knows what's going on."

Reluctantly, Cassie nodded. Scott kept his arm around Cassie's shoulders and pulled her close as Marcus walked carefully into Jenna's hospital room. Luke looked up and saw Marcus. His eyes didn't change at all. Luke simply kept Jenna's limp hand cradled carefully in both of his bandaged palms while he remained slumped over her bedside. He rested his forehead down on the sheets.

Luke felt Marcus's hand on his shoulder and the contact burned. Everything hurt. His whole body was on fire with panic and fear. His mind couldn't put two thoughts together. His heart still beat in his chest, even though he had no idea how it kept going. He ignored Marcus's presence. Who cares the secret was out? What difference did any of this make anyway? Jenna was lying lifeless next to him and he couldn't do a damn thing but sit there like a useless lump
.