The Dominant (12 page)

“Elaina!” I shouted again, but she didn’t answer. From her end of the phone, I heard frantic voices and the sound of a car
door slam. “Elaina!”

What had happened to Abby? What did Elaina mean, it wasn’t good? Was Abby involved in the crash I’d just heard?

Then I heard yelling.

“Call 911!”

“Is she breathing?”

“Can you find a pulse?”

Breathing? Pulse?

Abby?

“Elaina!” I shouted.

Nothing.

“Abby,” I finally heard Elaina say. The tone of her voice didn’t comfort me. I strained to hear more. “Abby, wake up. Wake
up, Abby.”

“Don’t move her,” someone else said. “Her neck could be broken.”

My body shook and my knees threatened to give out. Broken? Abby? I reached for my keys with fumbling fingers. A cab or the
car?

“Elaina!” I tried again. I picked the keys up and they fell to my desk. “Elaina! Damn it. Talk to me!”

I picked the keys back up, held on to them this time. The car.

“She’s alive, Nathaniel,” Elaina sobbed.

The keys dropped again. Alive? Had there been a doubt? I swiped the keys and shoved them in my pocket. “Where are you?” I
asked as I stumbled out of my office.

“Mr. West,” Sara said, jumping up from her desk.

“I’m leaving! Don’t know when I’ll be back.” I turned once more to the phone. “Where, Elaina?”

“Lenox,” Elaina said with a shudder in her voice. “I’ll have them take her there. I’ll call Linda.”

I don’t remember much from the drive to the hospital. I tried calling Elaina several times on the way, but she didn’t answer
her phone. Linda didn’t pick up her phone either.

I pulled into the parking lot, stumbled out of the car, and ran to the ER. Had she made it here yet?

Why hadn’t Elaina picked up her phone?

Because Abby was worse.

I felt sick.

She was worse. Or else her neck had been broken. Or else her pulse—

I couldn’t think that. Couldn’t do it.

I burst through the hospital doors, and the receptionist looked up and smiled. Thankfully, she was someone I recognized from
visiting Linda before.

“Mr. West,” she said. “How are—”

“I’m here to see a patient.” My eyes darted frantically around the room.

“Patient’s name?”

“Abigail King.”

“I don’t see her here,” she said, looking at her computer screen. “Maybe they just brought her in.”

“Yes!” I shouted in spite of myself. Damn it, when would she let me through the doors? “They just brought her in.”

“Hold on.” She picked up the phone.

Hold on? Hold on? Had the entire world gone crazy?

She spoke low into the phone, having a conversation that took damn near years. She looked up. “She’s in trauma room four.
I’ll send you through, but you’ll have to wait outside the room.”

The door to my right finally buzzed open, and I ran through.

I’d been in the ER before, mostly to visit Linda. I sprinted down the corridor and turned left. Doctors and nurses rushed
around, but my eyes focused on the room at the end of the hallway.

Abby!

If I could just reach the room. Just get there. Had a hallway ever been so long?

“Nathaniel!” Elaina jogged toward me. “She’s okay. She’s going to be okay.”

I pushed her aside and opened the door. “Abby! Abby!”

Then I stopped short.

The trauma team worked frantically, moving around the room, all of them talking at once. The center of their attention was
Abby. She lay naked, still as death, and the blood from her head drenched the white sheet of the bed. Only when someone touched
her did her body move. So vulnerable. So very fragile.

Abby?

I grabbed on to the doorframe to hold myself upright.

Mumbled voices. Something metallic.

“Got the call hours ago,” a deep male voice said. “Took a long time to get down that ditch. Can’t imagine anyone’s still alive.”

I couldn’t open my eyes. It hurt too much. Where was Mommy? Where was Daddy? Why had they stopped talking?

“
Probably hit the ice. Had no chance once he hit the ditch
.”

“
Man and a woman. Look to be DOA. Damn, all that blood
.”

“
There’s a child in the backseat!
”

The voices weren’t Mommy or Daddy. Who were they? What happened?

I cracked my eye open. Didn’t hurt too much if I just moved my eye
.

“Hey! You can’t be in here!”

I shook myself and looked back to Abby. Was she breathing? They were checking her IV, taking her blood pressure, and hooking
her up to monitors. That was a good sign, right? It was only bad when they stopped.

“I’m Nathaniel West,” I managed to say. “Linda’s nephew.”

“I don’t care who you are. You can’t be in here!”

I stood where I was, unable to take my eyes off of Abby and the blood. All the blood.

“Why won’t you—” I started.

“Don’t make me call security!”

Two gentle hands grabbed my shoulders. “Nate.”

“Linda!” I spun around. “Is she okay? Why won’t they stop the bleeding?”

“She’s okay. Let them work.” She pushed me to the door. “You can’t be in here. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

The door closed behind me and I faced Elaina. Mascara smudged her eyes, and she sniffled. “Is she still okay?”

I turned back to the closed door. “I don’t know.”

Time stood still. I measured its passage by my breaths. Willing Abby to keep breathing. No one else entered the trauma room.
But no one left either. Was that good?

What would I do if something happened to Abby?

Surely nothing would happen to her. Not now. Not when she finally had a place in my life.

If I never saw her again—

Stop it!

I bent over and grabbed my knees. I couldn’t think like that. Wouldn’t think like that.

Finally, the door opened and they wheeled her out.

“What’s going on?” I asked, running to her side. She was still out, but the blood had been wiped away. Most of it, anyway.
“Is she okay?”

Why wouldn’t anyone answer?

“Abby,” I said, starting down the hall after her.

“Nathaniel. Elaina,” Linda said, coming up behind us. “Let’s sit down.”

I pointed down the hall. “I want—”

“I know, but you can’t go.” Linda sat on a bench, patting the spot beside her. “Sit down.”

“Oh, God.” My knees felt weak again, and I struggled to breathe. “It’s bad. It’s really bad.”

“Nathaniel!” she said more forcefully. “She’s going to be fine. Sit down.”

I sat.

“Nothing’s broken,” she said as Elaina sat on her other side. “We think she has a concussion, but we need a CAT scan to see
the extent of it.”

“Why won’t she wake up?” Elaina asked.

“The brain is a remarkable organ,” Linda said in a soft, soothing tone. “It knows what the body needs, even when we don’t
understand. I’m sure she’ll wake up soon. She’s going to be on the fifth floor, G hall. Why don’t you go up and wait for her?”
She stood up to leave. “And someone needs to call Felicia.”

An hour later, they wheeled Abby into her room. I followed, anxious to see and touch her. A nurse remained behind, checking
her vitals.

“Is she awake?” I asked.

“Not yet, Mr. West.” She tucked a sheet under Abby’s arms before turning to leave. “I’ll be back later to check on her. Call
me if she wakes up.”

I slowly approached her bed. The sheet moved up and down with her breathing. Her head had been bandaged in one place. Small
cuts marked her face. I reached out and brushed hair back from her forehead. She moaned.

“Wake up, my lovely,” I begged. “Wake up for me.”

Nothing.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

I spun around.

Felicia.

“She’s fine,” I said, smiling. “Abigail is going to be fine.”

“Abigail,” she spat. “Her name’s Abby. She’s lying there in a hospital bed and you can’t even call her by her name. I always
knew you had the heart of a fucking animal.” She put her hands on her hips. “I don’t even know why you bothered showing up.”

I clenched my teeth. “You don’t know what you’re talking about!”

She took a step closer to me. “I know all about you and Abby. About your little weekend games. She scratches your kinky itch,
that’s all.”

There was no need to argue—to try to justify my life. We were wrong to argue in front of Abby, whether she was conscious or
not.

“You don’t know anything about us,” I said.

“Fine then!” She stamped her foot. “Why don’t you explain it to me!”

I stepped away from Abby’s bed. “I refuse to stand here and explain myself to you.” I glared at Felicia. “I answer to no one,
but just in case it’s not clear, I care deeply for that woman and you will not—”

“Mr. West!” A nurse interrupted. “I can hear you down the hall. I’m going to have to ask you both to calm down and for one
of you to leave the room. You’re disturbing the patients. This commotion isn’t good for Ms. King.”

Felicia pointed at me. “You leave. I just got here.”

I nodded. “You have twenty minutes.”

I went out to join Elaina and Linda in the waiting room.

“What did the CAT scan show?” I asked.

“Nathaniel,” Linda said. “If you and Felicia can’t control yourselves, I’ll have to ask one of you to leave.” She looked at
me sharply. “And she is Abby’s emergency contact.”

I sighed. “I understand.”

“Good. The scan showed a moderate concussion. We just need her to wake up now.”

“How long will that be?” How long until those beautiful eyes opened?

“Shouldn’t be too much longer. I’ll go check on her as soon as Felicia leaves.” She clasped my shoulder. “She’s going to be
fine. I promise.”

“Thanks.”

She walked off and I turned to Elaina. “Tell me what happened.”

The damn driver ran a stop sign.

I was still fuming when Felicia left Abby’s room.

She curled her lip up. “Twenty minutes. I’ll go call her dad.”

Linda chuckled behind me, and we pushed against the door to enter the room.

Abby lay still. I focused on the movement of the sheet.

She was breathing.

She was fine.

I stepped back so Linda could examine her.

But when would she wake up? Why wouldn’t she wake up? What if her brain was hurt worse than the scan showed? What if she never
woke up?

I started chanting in my head, matching my words to the up-and-down movement of her chest.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Her eyelids fluttered.

Oh, please.

“Abby?” Linda asked.

Her eyes opened. I almost dropped to my knees in thanks.

She licked her lips. “Dr. Clark?” Her voice sounded scratchy.

“You’re in the hospital, Abby. How are you feeling?”

She tried to smile, but winced in pain.
Don’t move, Abby. It’s okay. You’re okay
. Relief flooded through me.
Take it easy, Abby
.

“I must be badly off to have the chief of staff in my room.”

“Or else you’re very important.” She stepped to the side so Abby could see me.

Excitement filled her eyes. God, she was beautiful. Bandages covered her face, she’d be a mess of bruises for weeks, but she
was still the most beautiful person I’d ever seen.

And she was happy to see me.

“Hey,” she said.

I walked slowly, trying to contain all the emotions coursing through me. I took her hand. It felt so good to touch her. “You
scared me.”

“Sorry.” She wrinkled her forehead. “What happened?”

She didn’t remember. What if she’d lost her memory? But she knew me, knew Linda. She was fine. I had to keep telling myself
that.

“Your cab was hit by a dump truck,” I said. “Damn driver ran a stop sign.”

“You have a moderate concussion, Abby,” Linda said. “I’m keeping you overnight. You were more deeply unconscious than we’d
usually expect in concussion cases. But there’s no internal bleeding. Nothing broken. You’ll be sore for the next few days.”

“Did I hear Felicia?” Abby asked, and I cringed. Not yet. I wasn’t ready to hand her over to Felicia yet.

My aunt smiled at her. “New hospital regulation. Nathaniel and Felicia aren’t allowed within twenty feet of each other.”

Keep it light. Good thinking, Linda.

“We had a slight misunderstanding,” I said. “She’s with Elaina. They’ve been talking to your dad.”

“Can I—?” Abby asked.

What? What did she want? What could I do?

“You need to rest,” Linda said. “I’ll go let the others know you’re awake. Nathaniel?”

She would tell Felicia that Abby was awake. I had a few moments. That was all.

Abby waved me over.

What did she need? I’d do anything for her.

“I missed yoga class this afternoon,” she whispered.

Was she serious?

Did she think I’d punish her for missing yoga?

I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I think I can overlook it this one time,” I said, just in case she was serious.

“And I’ll probably miss my jog tomorrow morning.”

The medication. It had to be the medication.

“Probably,” I teased.

“But on the upside,” she said with a yawn, “I seem to be getting lots of sleep.”

She was serious. She was seriously telling me she was getting enough sleep.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Shh,” I whispered instead, brushing her forehead. Her eyelids fluttered, and she drifted off to sleep.

I sat for several long minutes, watching her. Had there ever been a more perfect creature? My heart swelled. She was fine.
She was going to be okay.

I ran my hand down her arm, cupped her hand in my palms, and studied it. The soft, pale skin. I raised her fingers to my face
and kissed the inside of her wrist, right where her pulse surged strong and steady.

“Abby,” I whispered.

The door pushed open.

“I heard she was awake,” Felicia said. “When were you planning to let me see her?”

I wiped my eyes. “I was just leaving.”