Last Night's Kiss (8 page)

Her mind raced to remember where she’d seen the sign with the huge white H on it. Where was the hospital?

Bailey groaned. Rosa wasn’t sure if that was due to the position he was in or if it was his heart. She spoke softly to him. “It’s going to be all right,” she said. “I’m getting help. Just hold on. We’ll be at the hospital in no time.” All the while she was praying the truck kept going.

She put a hand on his back and rubbed it soothingly while continuing to drive as fast as she could. Finally she saw the sign. Turning, she had to use both hands on the steering wheel of the big, unfamiliar truck. She pulled into the circular driveway below the lighted
EMERGENCY ROOM
sign. Jumping down, she rushed inside and yelled, “Heart attack! I need help.”

Within seconds the place was filled with people rushing toward the door. Rosa followed them. She pointed to the truck.

“Bailey Osborne,” she said. “He needs help. He’s having a heart attack.” She sucked in air as she spoke, giving each word a full breath. “I couldn’t give him anything. I didn’t know anything to give him. He had no medicine on him. I had no time to search the truck.”

“We’ll take care of him,” a nurse said. Her voice was soft and calm, although their feet sped across the ground to the truck. Rosa knew the tactic was to calm her down. She took a long breath.

They got him out of the truck and on to a gurney. Immediately, he was hurried away. Rosa started to follow. A nurse turned to her. “Park the truck,” she said.

It was the first time she’d thought of the vehicle. Rosa got back in the driver’s seat. She hadn’t turned the engine off. White smoke came from the exhaust system. The engine coughed. Biting her bottom lip, she eased it into gear, but it protested. It was hard to steer and as heavy as an eighteen-wheeler. Slowly it rolled into a parking space. Before she could turn the key, the engine died. Rosa gave it little thought. She left it, running back inside the sliding doors and searching for Bailey. Her head swung from right to left. She didn’t see him. At the desk, she asked, “Where is he?”

“Exam room one,” the nurse said.

Rosa turned to leave, but the nurse stopped her. “Do you need some information?” Rosa asked. “His name is Bailey Osborne and he lives at—”

The nurse stopped her. “We know who he is,” she said. “We have all his information.”

Rosa had forgotten how small this town was. Naturally, they would know who he was.

“You’re not a relative, are you?”

Rosa shook her head. She must be the only person in the Valley who didn’t know who Rosa was and why she was here.

“Could you tell us when this happened? The doctors will need as much information as possible.”

“I don’t know,” Rosa said. “His truck was parked along the side of the road, not far from his ranch. I stopped when I saw it and found him.”

“How long ago was that?”

“About ten minutes. When I didn’t find any medicine, I drove straight here. It was all I could think to do.”

“You did fine,” the nurse assured her. “He’s with the best doctors we have.”

“When can I see him?”

“The doctors will let you know. In the meantime, we need to get in touch with a relative. There’s a phone over there. You might want to call someone.” The nurse nodded at a few chairs that were placed against a wall outside the area.

The woman, who was a fortyish blonde with deep wrinkles in her face from years of too much sun, assumed Rosa knew the Osbornes well enough to know where to find Adam. Rosa knew nothing. She didn’t even have a phone number for the house. But she would start there.

She reached for her purse to get her cell phone and found the space on her shoulder empty. She’d forgotten it, left it in the car. When she saw Bailey, all other thoughts had gone out of her head. The pay phone stared at her. At least she didn’t need money to make a call.

Adam’s pickup skidded to a stop in front of the Corvette. Something was wrong. The door was open and the car was empty. Quickly he jumped down from his seat and strode back to the car. The engine was running. Rosa’s purse lay on the passenger seat, her cell phone next to it. Picking the phone up reminded him of his own. He’d run over it when he finally calmed down enough to return home. He’d been cursing himself for going mad this afternoon.

Now he was scared. Where was she? He looked around, scanning the land for Rosa. She was nowhere to be seen. His heart stopped, then beat faster.

“Rosa,” he called, hoping she was nearby. He couldn’t think of a reason she should leave the car running and her personal items behind. He looked around, calling her name louder. There was no response. A coldness ran through him.

“Where is she?” he muttered. There was nothing here but open range. He could see clear to the mountains, his view unobstructed.

Reaching down, he turned the car off and pulled the keys out. Gathering her personal items, he opened her phone and dialed Vida’s number. If anyone would know where she was, it was Vida. The phone was smaller than his hand.

“Vida,” he said when she answered.

“Adam, I’m so glad you called. Rosa has been trying to find you.”

“I’m at her car. Where is she?”

“The hospital.”

“Hospital?” He stood up straighter, his throat closing, his body rigid as if it were waiting for a punch. “Is she all right?” His voice was tight.

“It’s not her,” Vida said. There was a long pause. “Adam, it’s Bailey.”

“Dad?”

“He’s had another heart attack. Rosa found him along the side of the road. She got him to the hospital. She’s been trying to find you for about an hour. I’ve been calling your cell phone, too.”

“It doesn’t work,” he shouted into the phone. As soon as Vida had said Bailey, Adam had climbed into the truck and turned it around.

“I’m on my way.” He clicked the phone shut and spun the tires as he burned up the road leading to the Valley’s only hospital.

In one fluid motion, as Adam pulled into the hospital lot, he was out of the truck and running toward the door. Rosa hung up the pay phone as she saw him come inside. She ran toward him. Adam grabbed her and pulled her against him. “Is he all right?”

“I don’t know,” she told him. “They haven’t let me see him since we arrived.”

Taking her hand, he went to the desk and spoke to the nurse. He had to leave Rosa behind when he went to ICU to see his father. Bailey lay pale and small in the bed. He was asleep and Adam was only allowed to stay ten minutes. Adam said nothing, knowing his dad needed to rest. They’d run the scenario before. Bailey had to take better care of himself. Anger leaked into Adam’s thoughts, but he pushed it aside. There was plenty of time later to discuss Bailey’s regiment of needs.

Returning to the waiting room, he looked for Rosa. She was gone.

Don’t panic
, Rosa told herself as she walked. Her shoes were flat and she was wearing pants. She was thankful she’d donned them this morning instead of the heels and skirts she wore to the point of them being a uniform. Darkness had fallen. That big sky was filled with stars, but no moon, and frankly at this point, it was scary. The beauty of it escaped her. She knew where she was. At least she thought she knew, but she’d just as soon have a bright light to steer her.

She could kill Adam Osborne right now. Her keys had been missing when she got back to the car. So was her cell phone and her purse. She was stranded. Seconds counted when she’d found Bailey. Thoughts of her own car and personal items hadn’t entered her head. Finding the hospital, finding help was more important. But now she wished she’d taken her keys when she left the car. It still sat along the road like a shiny red paperweight.

Adam had gone in to see Bailey. The drama was over. Her frantic attempt to find him had pumped her system with anxiety. Now that he was here and Bailey was receiving care, her thoughts returned to herself.

And the car!

She’d left it running along the road. That was hours ago. She had to get back to it. Everything was in her purse, credit cards, cash, keys. She needed to get them. She had Bailey’s keys. She’d drive back and pick up her own car. Rosa spoke to the nurse and told her to let Adam know that she’d left if he came out. In all likelihood, she expected to be back before he returned.

The moment she turned the key in the ignition, she remembered the engine had died. No amount of coaxing and praying would make it start again. Rosa got out. She looked at the hospital entrance and thought of going back in and waiting for Adam. Then she realized, it hadn’t taken that long to get to the hospital and she really wanted to get her purse before someone found it. And in a car that obvious, it would be noticed.

The car couldn’t be more than a few miles away. She’d been afraid for Bailey during the drive to the hospital and the truck wouldn’t go very fast. At the entrance, Rosa looked for a taxi, but was reminded by the emptiness of any vehicles that this was Waymon Valley and outside was only sky.

She looked up as she continued to walk. The sky told her nothing about her location. She could only guess that she was walking in the right direction. No one had come along this road since she began walking. She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. She thought of her brothers and her sister. They gave her credit for being rational and sensible. What she was doing now was neither. The house was at least five miles from the car. But going back to Bailey’s was farther.

Her legs were tired and her arms felt as if she were carrying thirty-pound weights, yet she held nothing but air. Rosa glanced around her. It hadn’t been dark when she started out. Now the night noises, crickets, and cicadas played a symphony of sounds, but she thought of Adam’s warning—bears, snakes, coyotes. She tried walking faster, but her legs wouldn’t let her. She was too tired. She concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other. She couldn’t stop. She remembered stories of people dying from exposure, freezing to death. It was summer, there was no threat of that, but the animals were a real possibility.

Don’t panic
, she thought again.
People who panic don’t think rationally. You’ll be home soon. Safe. You’ll laugh about this in the morning. But that would be morning.
Right now her eyes played tricks on her. She could see bears in the darkness. The yellow eyes of coyotes or wolves formed in front of her. Her footsteps became starts and stops. Echoes plagued her from behind.

Lights swung around a corner, startling her. She didn’t remember a corner. They seemed to come from nowhere. One minute it was dark; the next a flood of bright light brought the road into view. Instinctively, Rosa dropped to the ground, making herself as small as possible. As much as she wanted a ride, she didn’t know who would be in the car or truck. It was better to be safe and alone than picked up by someone she might have to fight. She had no energy for fighting.

The truck passed her. It wasn’t a car. Suddenly it slowed and stopped. A man got out and called her name.

It was Adam.

She stood up. “I’m here,” she said. She wanted to run to him, run into his arms and thank him for finding her. But she was too tired, beyond tired, exhausted.

Adam ran.

He reached her, pulling her into his arms. Rosa was a rag doll, too weak to do anything but let him. Her arms flailed and she sagged against him.

After a moment, he roughly pushed her back. “You should be horsewhipped for a stunt like this,” he said. “Why did you leave the hospital?”

His words were harsh, but his arms were caressing. She leaned against him, breathing softly, until he turned them both and led her to the truck. No seat ever felt so soft or so welcoming. She was safe. Adam had found her. Leaning her head back against the upholstery, she closed her eyes. A moment later, she felt him reach over and fasten her seat belt. He didn’t say anything when he climbed into the warm cabin. He started the truck and pulled it back onto the road, completing a U-turn and heading in the direction Rosa had been walking. Rosa’s eyelids felt as though they were cemented closed. She was finally safe. She wanted to take Adam’s arm and lay her head on his shoulder. She settled for the headrest.

“Wake up, Rosa.” She heard Adam speaking. His voice seemed to be a long way off. She opened her eyes and closed them again. They felt as if someone had thrown sand in her face. “Wake up,” he said. “You’re home.”

“Home?” She forced herself to keep her eyes open. “We’re home?”

“You’re home,” he said.

Leaning forward, she reached for him. Her hands touched his shoulders and he lifted her from the seat and set her on her feet.

“I’m sorry,” she told him, trying to steady herself. “It was a long walk.”

Shaking her head to clear it, she looked at the sky. The stars were still overhead. They were high enough to see the curvature of the universe. “How’s Bailey?” she asked.

“Probably better than you are.”

He led her into the house. “I think you should get some sleep. Will you be all right?”

She nodded. He turned to leave, then stopped. Pulling something out of his pocket, he turned and placed her purse and cell phone on the counter.

“Adam.”

He looked at her.

“Thank you. Thanks for finding me. I know you have Bailey on your mind, but thanks for coming for me.”