Dylan’s Redemption(98)
“There’s only a few people who know Dylan and I are seeing each other,” she said frantically. “I’m going down there. I’ll see you whenever you can manage to get out of the office.” She hung up and stood with Will still in her arms.
“Come on, buddy. We’re going for a ride.”
“Daddy got hurt?”
“Yes, honey. He did. He’s in the hospital and we need to make sure he’s okay.”
“Will you kiss his owie better?
“I’ll kiss him a million times when I see him.”
“Me too.” Will held her tighter, and she hugged him close. Both of them needed the comfort.
She strapped Will into his car seat in the Porsche and peeled out of her driveway. He asked a hundred times as she drove if his father would be okay. She tried her best to reassure him. She just didn’t know. She tried calling the hospital on her cell to get information. They wouldn’t give her any because she wasn’t family or his wife. She thought about calling back, lying and saying she was his wife, but she needed to concentrate on the road. She hoped the police didn’t pull her over and give her a ticket for speeding. She couldn’t afford the time it would take for them to issue the citation.
A couple of the sheriff department’s cars sat parked in the emergency parking lot when she pulled in. She got Will out of his seat. Carrying him in front of her, she ran into the emergency room desperate to see Dylan.
“I’m looking for Sheriff Dylan McBride. They brought him in several hours ago. Can you tell me where he is and if he’s okay?”
The nurse working the desk barely took the time to look at her before asking, “Are you family?”
“This is his son. I’m his girlfriend.” She hated having to use that term. She’d much rather be his wife. No one could stand between her and Dylan then. The thought of losing him and never being his wife hit her hard.
“They took him upstairs to the third floor about twenty minutes ago. A couple of officers went up with him along with his parents.”
“What is his condition?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, I don’t know. Check in with the nurse’s station on three.”
Jessie took off for the elevator. “Let’s go find Daddy, Will.”
Concerned and nervous, she didn’t know what she’d find when she located Dylan. The elevator doors opened. Down the hall, the two officers entered the elevator at the other end of the hospital. She rushed to the nurse’s station and waited while the nurse finished a phone call.
“I’m looking for Sheriff Dylan McBride. Is he here? Is he okay?”
Someone came up behind her, and she turned. “I’m Dr. Tanner. Are you the sheriff’s wife?”
“No, she’s not,” Martha McBride snapped.
Dylan’s mother exited one of the rooms a few doors down from the nurse’s station.
“Is he okay? Is he hurt badly?”
Martha disregarded her concern and focused on Will. “What are you doing with Will?”
“Is Dylan okay? Please, just tell me if he’s okay.” Jessie walked to the room Martha exited. The doctor moved on to his next patient. Jessie’s gut twisted. No one would tell her about Dylan.
Martha blocked the door. “Stop. Jessie, you can’t go in there. Dylan needs to rest.”
Jessie glared at the woman who cost her and Dylan so much. “Dylan and I have been seeing each other for more than three months. I love him and he loves me. I just want to see he’s okay. Will wants to see his father.”
“Come to Grandma, Will. I’ll take you to see your dad.”
Will clung even tighter to Jessie, burying his face in her neck. “Mommy, let’s go see Daddy.”
“We are, baby.” Jessie took a step toward Martha, but she didn’t move. Dylan’s father, Robert, stepped into the hall and stood beside his wife, a wall, blocking her from entering the room. “Why are you doing this? I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
“He will be. Give us Will. You can go.” Martha dismissed her.
“No. Dylan doesn’t want you to have Will. I’m not leaving him with you when I don’t know how Dylan is doing, or how long he’ll be in the hospital. Just let me see him.” Her heart pounded. She needed to get into that room and see for herself that he was okay. He needed her. She had to tell him how much she loved him.
Her heart thundered so hard in her chest that it echoed in her ears. The panic rose up and choked her.
Robert flagged down a nurse. “Please call security. This woman isn’t family and refuses to release our grandson to us.”
“Mr. McBride, don’t do this. Dylan would want me here,” she pleaded.