Caught Looking (Hot-Lanta Series) (34 page)

“
Hey Brady, (sniffling) I’m coming over now. George attacked me in the alley and said some really awful things. I really need you right now. I know we have not seen each other in a while but I just need you to hold me and tell me how much you love me. I’m not doing so well right. See you soon.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

             
                                                        ***

Jane’s heart pounded so fast she thought she might have a heart attack. She drove like maniac and didn’t even know where she was headed. She sure as hell was not going home because that was where she assumed Brady would go. Molly’s place was not an option because Jane couldn’t deal with Molly’s drunk ass right now and Albert would be taking care of Molly therefore he wouldn’t be home. Maybe she could go to Michael’s house?

Her p
hone rang, she looked down at the caller ID, Brady was calling her. There was no way she was going to talk to him so she ignored his phone call. 

She could barely see
through her tears. The road was completely blurry thanks to her tears and bruised eye. She needed to try to focus on the road. The last thing she needed was to get in a car accident. She wanted to call Michael just to make sure he was home and not in any kind of argument with his wife. That would be awkward to walk in on.

Jane
pulled her phone out and started to dial Michael’s number when she looked up real quick to make sure she was still on the road and that was when her heart sank. A little black and white dog ran out in the middle of the road causing Jane to swerve so she would miss him. She slammed on her brakes to slow down her out of control car but was too late because she ran straight into a telephone pole.

Her air bag exploded in her face
as her head flew forward. Her leg instantly started to shoot pain all the way through her body. She could not move it because it felt like her car formed a vise grip all the way around it. She blacked out from the immense amount of pain she felt.

S
he didn’t know how long she was out for but when she woke, she woke to sirens and flashing lights surrounding her car. A man in a uniform tried to open her door but had no luck. He asked if she was alright through the car window. She gave him the thumbs up and nodded her head then regretted the movement instantly. Her head and neck were throbbing with pain and she could no longer feel her leg. 

The paramedics
had to use the Jaws of Life to get the door off her car and get her out of her smashed up interior. When she was in the ambulance hooked up to a bunch of different machines they asked if they could call anyone for her. She thought about it for a second. Well, she wasn’t going call Brady that was for damn sure so she told them to call Michael Banks in her phone.

                                                                      *** 

Michael’s phone rang and startled him from his sleep. What time was it? He looked at the clock on his nightstand noticing the late hour. He reached for his phone and saw it was Jane, his heart sank. He answered frantically.

“Hey
, is everything ok?” He was confused. Wasn’t she with Brady?

“Is this Michael Banks?” said a strange
man, Michael’s heart sank even further than he thought possible. Who the hell was he talking to? 

“Yes this is, is everything ok? Where is Jane?”

“Jane is on her way to the hospital. She got in an accident and asked us to call you. The ambulance is taking her to St. Joseph’s hospital.”

“Shit, is she ok?”

“She will be ok, sir. When you get to the front desk just ask what room she is in.”

“Thank you.” 

Michael ended the call on his phone and raced around his room trying to find clothes to put on. Holy crap his heart was pounding fast, he thought he might have an anxiety attack. Why did she call him and not Brady? Something must have happened between the two of them for her to call Michael instead. Did Brady even know that Jane got in a car accident? He should know, even if he did something to piss her off. He deserved to know. Michael called Brady.

Brady answered the phone, “Is Jane with
you?” He sounded panicked. “I’m at her apartment and she is not here, I’m starting to freak out man.” 

So some
thing did happen. Man, if Jane got in a car accident because of Brady, he would want to kill himself.

“She’
s not with me right now.” Michael heard Brady swear. “But before you hang up,” Michael added quickly. “I got a call from the paramedics who had Jane’s phone. She got in a car accident and is on her way to the hospital.” 

“What?
” Brady shouted in Michael’s ear, he had to pull the phone away for a second so he did not lose all hearing from Brady’s yelling. Brady continued. “Is she ok? Why didn’t she call me? Holy shit, I think I’m going to have a heart attack.”

“Brady calm down, she’
s alright. I don’t know why she called me. Did you guys get in a fight tonight?”

Brady swore some more. “You can say that. Shit Michael
, my life is falling apart at the seams. The one thing that is supposed to be constant in my life is in some hospital right now.” Michael could hear Brady’s voice starting to break. He felt bad for him. Whatever happened tonight must have been some serious miscommunication.  

“Hey listen, meet me at the hospital
, you can wait in the waiting room with me and you can tell me what happened. Listen though, I’m not going to let you see her until she wants to see you and I will make sure the nursing staff knows that. If she is mad at you right now we don’t need her anymore upset then she is, understood?”

“I understand, thank you. Where are they taking her?”

“St. Joseph’s, meet you there.”

Michael hung up the phone. This was not what he
expected to do tonight but his friends needed him. His friends who have helped him deal with his own problems. It was his turn to return the favor.

                                                                      ***  

Brady never drove so fast in his life. He did not give a flying fuck if he got pulled over. God damn it he caused Jane to get in an accident. He would never forgive himself for this. He loved her so much. He could not believe this happened. He should have fought harder instead of letting her take off in her car while she cried hysterically. He should have held her to the ground and explained everything to her. No, instead he let her take off when she was crying her eyes out to the point where she got in a fucking car accident. Brady slammed his hand on the steering wheel.

Please God, don’
t let her be hurt that badly, Brady silently prayed. Brady wouldn’t know what to do with himself if she refused to talk to him when he got to the hospital. Brady’s throat started to get really tight as he held back tears. He couldn’t even imagine what she must be feeling. He couldn’t imagine what she thought when she saw Laney in his house holding him around his neck while he only wore a towel. She didn’t know he had his boxer briefs on underneath, let alone he had swam in the pool beforehand while he waited for her to get naked with him and take a dip. Damn it!  

He pulled into the parking lot of the hospital
, tore himself out of his car and raced for the entrance when he ran directly into Michael. He looked just as worried as Brady. Michael clasped Brady’s shoulder as they walked through the front doors together and asked the front desk receptionist where they could find Jane Bradley. The receptionist was taken back a little by the sight of them. She probably did not expect to see two starting Atlanta Braves players standing in front of her. She directed them in the correct direction.

When they got to the elevator Michael
turned toward Brady asking, “How are you doing man?”

Brady ran his
hand through his hair and shook his head. “I feel like I’m going to puke any second right now.” 

“Hang in there buddy, I’
m sure she is going to be ok.”

They got to the desk of where they were directed and th
ey were told she was in surgery. The attending nurse was nice enough to tell them she crushed her foot in the car accident and had to have some pins put in to stabilize her leg. She also had some cuts that had to be stitched up other than that she was going to be very sore but alright.

Brady felt a slight bit of relief
wash over his body but he still would be on edge until he could hold her, stroke her hair and tell her how sorry he was and how much he loved her. Until then he wouldn’t feel right. Brady could tell Michael felt awkward. 

“Thanks man for calling me. I know you didn’t have to. I really appreciate it.”

“I thought you deserved to know. So what happened?”

Brady let out a long breath and told Michael everything
that transpired a little bit ago but what rather seemed like hours ago. Reliving the events was torture. All he could picture in his mind was Jane’s face of total destruction. He put his head down and massaged his forehead. Michael didn’t talk for a little after Brady finished explaining. 

“If only I had my phone with me when I was in the pool…”

“Brady, you can’t start with the ‘what if’s.’ It is a huge misunderstanding and I will back you up on that. I know how much you love Jane and how you would never ever get back with Laney. Not after the conversations we have had about our ex’s.” 

“Thanks Michael, you’re a good friend. She
probably had the worst night of her life because of me and Captain Skinny Dick, George. The things he said to her touched every one of her sensitive spots. She was already so vulnerable and upset when she was driving to my place then she saw me with Laney all of her insecurities probably came flooding back to her.”

A man in green scrubs came up to Michael and Brady
and interrupted them. “Mr. Banks?” Michael and Brady stood up. 

“Yes?” Michael answered. 

“Miss Bradley is doing just fine. We had to put some pins in her foot and ankle, it was smashed by the engine in the accident. She suffered a concussion as well as some pretty nasty scrapes from glass on her arm and leg. We stitched her up pretty well though so we don’t think there will be much scarring. She was pretty lucky. If she swerved any further she would have flown over the guard rail and rolled down the hill. She owes her life to that telephone pole. She should be ready to take visitors in a little bit.”

They both said thank you and Brady collapsed in his chair. She could have died tonight? He could have lost Jane forever tonight. He was completely at
a loss for words. He was so grateful she was going to be ok but he still couldn’t stop thinking about what if he had done something differently? What if he told Jane about the texts from Laney prior to the whore showing up at his house unexpected? What if he didn’t unlock his door and just let Jane use her key? What if he brought his phone out to the pool with him?

Michael patted his leg and said, “It’s going to be ok man. Try to relax.”

Yea, that was the last thing he planned on doing right now. He needed to see her. He needed to hold her. “When can we go see her? I can’t take this waiting. I need to see for myself that she is ok.”

“I will go in and check on
her, remember what I said; you’re not seeing her until she is ready. She doesn’t need to be stressed out right now.”  

All Brady could do was
nod his head. He didn’t know how he would react if she did not want to see him. Didn’t serious events like this in a person’s life bring them together? Maybe she will want to see him after all. Please god let her want to see him, he thought. He felt like his gut was turning itself inside out. He excused himself to the bathroom and threw up in one of the stalls.

                                                                      ***

Jane knew she was in the hospital from all the beeping sounds that were rolling through her brain but why couldn’t she see anything or remember anything? Was she sleeping? Was she in a coma? She felt strong hands touch her arm.  Her throat was really dry but she squeaked out a measly, “Brady?”

“No
Janey bear, its Michael.”

Michael, why was he here?
Where was Brady? Wait, she told the fireman to call Michael. That’s right, Brady didn’t give two shits about her, all he wanted and cared about was Laney Johnson. That stupid bitch.

Why couldn’t Jane
open her eyes? The one side of her face burned badly. Why was it only one side? Her eye felt swollen, oh wait, George. She was attacked in an alley by her ex-fiancé, then she caught her new boyfriend cheating on her with his ex and then she got in a car accident. Fucking fantastic. But Michael was there, as least he cared about her.   

“Brady is here, do you want me to go get him?”

Jane went rigid. Brady was here? Why the hell was he here? She did not want to see him. She barely opened her eyes. Her one eye wouldn’t open at all. She saw Michael’s brilliant smile and gave him what she thought was a little smile back.