Dylan’s Redemption(50)
Rules, regulations be damned, he stepped up into the ambulance with the paramedics and Will, determined not to leave Jessie alone. Not again. Never again.
Chapter Seventeen
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DYLAN SAT IN the waiting room slowly losing his mind. Someone in the ER had given him a shirt to wear when they arrived. He wondered if the doctor would ever come out and give him an update on Jessie’s condition. Once they took her into a curtained cubicle, they hadn’t let him see her again. No one came out to tell him anything, and it was eating him alive. Every scenario playing through his head turned into a vivid nightmare about how this could end. She had to be okay. He wished he’d wake up and find Jessie well and whole.
He’d been so worried about Jessie and had Will thoroughly checked out by a pediatrician that an hour passed before he realized he needed to make some phone calls. He took out his cell phone and called Brian first. Brian, understandably upset by the news, softly denied this could be happening before replying he and Marilee were on their way to the hospital.
His next call was even harder to make. He hated to admit Jessie may not want him with her when she woke up. He called Greg after getting his last name from Brian. Dylan had no idea he was a Langley from Langley Construction. Because Dylan loved Jessie and Jessie would want the closest people to her here, he’d suck up his own pride and jealousy and let them know what happened.
“Hey, Greg, it’s Dylan.”
“What’s up?”
“I need you to come to the hospital in Fallbrook. It’s not good.”
“Jessie?” Greg croaked out.
“She was hit by a car. You need to come now. She needs you.” Those words were more difficult than any he’d ever spoken.
“You do not leave her. You wait until I get there.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Dylan hated that Greg thought he could leave Jessie. But he had left her once. He’d never repeat the biggest mistake of his life.
Greg hung up on him, leaving Dylan with nothing to do but wait.
Will slept next to him with his head resting on Dylan’s thigh. It took all of Dylan’s self-control to sit still when he wanted to jump up and pace the room like a caged animal.
Looking around the room, he felt as depressed as his surroundings. The walls were white and in sad shape, marked and scuffed. The pictures on the walls looked like they belonged in some cheap motel. The peach-and-sage-tone desert scenes did nothing to soothe his anxiety.
Several other people waited in the claustrophobic room. Paper coffee cups littered the small tables and old magazines lay strewn on empty chairs, the tables, and the floor.
The heavy feel of families desperate for news of their loved ones hung in the air, making waiting that much more difficult. Just when he thought he’d go crazy waiting alone, Brian, Marilee, Greg, and John showed up at once. They spotted him sitting with Will and made a beeline for him. Their faces wore masks of concern, but the anger on Greg’s face set Dylan off. He didn’t want them to blame him. She’d saved his son, and he’d gladly take her place in the emergency room.
Brian took a deep breath before asking, “What have you heard? Is she okay?” He rubbed his hand over his neck, his eyes pleading for a positive answer. “I can’t lose her now. Not when I just started to get my life back on track all because of her. I haven’t had enough time to thank her and pay her back for everything she’s done.”
“I haven’t heard anything in almost two hours. She’s with the doctors.”
They stood over him. Under normal circumstances he would have stood and faced them eye to eye. His son lay asleep on him, and he couldn’t stand without disturbing him. So he sat under Greg’s accusing glare.
Disturbed by the conversation, Will sat up and rubbed his eyes, glancing around at the new people. “Daddy, who are they?”
“Jess’s friends and family. They came to see her.”
Greg just about lost it and gasped. “Son of a . . . This is your son?”
John and Greg exchanged looks of surprise and dismay. Dylan’s anger intensified. They knew Jessie’s secret. A secret she’d kept all these years and couldn’t bring herself to discuss with him. If he had to beat it out of Greg, he’d make him tell him about Hope.
“This is Will. Will, these are Jessie’s friends Greg and John. That is her brother, Brian, and his wife, Marilee.”
“Hi. My mommy got hurt. We flew in the air.”
Dylan sighed and picked up his son and held him close, standing to face the crowd of people waiting for his explanation.
“Will doesn’t have a mother. When Jessie saved him today, he nominated her. Other kids have one, and he wants one of his own.”