Reluctantly Royal(85)

“No.” I grunted as I tried to slide into the car to apply better pressure.

Meredith scooted closer and reached out to touch her father. “Why did you do this?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

Her fingers touched his hair softly and I tilted so I could see her face. For a brief moment, I had a picture of the little girl that she had been. The fear etched on her face made her look younger. I swallowed against the lump in my throat.

I might loathe this man, but he was her father. No matter how horrible he had been, he would always be Meredith’s parent.

“I hear sirens.” Meredith sniffed and shifted on the ground.

“Careful, there’s glass everywhere.” I could feel shards poking through the thin material of my dress shirt.

Arthur groaned and tried to move away from my hand, but I held him still.

“Don’t move, Arthur. You’ve been in a car wreck.” I tried to see if he had opened his eyes, but there was too much fabric in the way.

“Whaaa?” He shifted again.

“Stop moving, Dad.” Meredith edged closer.

“Mere?” His voice took on a sad edge.

“I’m here,” she whispered.

“Sorry.” He let out a breath before coughing.

“Don’t move. We don’t know if anything is broken,” I warned him.

“Hurt?”

“Yes, you’re injured.” I explained. “You have a nasty cut on your head.

“No.” He groaned and coughed again. “Did . . . I . . . hurt . . .”

I realized what he was asking and closed my eyes. “No, you didn’t hurt anyone but yourself.”

And Meredith.

And I’d be damned if I’d ever see that much hurt in her eyes again.

The rain started again, running into my eyes and soaking my clothes. The cold water seemed to seep into my bones.

The sirens had reached us and I could hear doors opening and slamming. Charles stood up and flagged them toward us.

“Down here. We have one injured.” Charles’s voice sounded like that of a drill sergeant.

The rescue crew pulled Meredith away from the car, and one of them slid in next to me to assess the situation.

“What’s his name?” the man asked me.

“Arthur.” I let him take charge of the wound care and backed up.

“Arthur, can you hear me?”

I sat up and tried to move out of the way but keep an ear open.

Looking around the ditch I was standing in, my eyes landed on Meredith. She was chewing on her bottom lip, a large smear of blood across her cheek and on her shirt. Moving quickly to her side, I checked her for cuts.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“No.” She shook her head and sniffed mightily.

“What’s wrong?” I pulled the collar of her shirt to the side and looked along her neck. “Where are you hurt?”

“What?” She looked at me with blank eyes. Her red hair was plastered to her face; the thin material of her shirt was soaked through. She had never looked more fragile.

“You said you were hurt.” I wrapped a hand around her neck and looked down in her eyes.

“No.” She shook her head. “I said I wasn’t okay.”

I leaned down and pressed my forehead to hers and breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m not. Not at all,” she whispered. “How am I supposed to deal with all of this? I feel like I’m holding the world on my shoulders and doing a really bad job. I’m just so tired.”

“You’re not alone, Meredith.” I opened my eyes and stared into hers. “You’ll never be alone again.”

Giant tears spilled from her lovely eyes and traced dirty tracks along her cheeks. Leaning forward, she pressed her face to my shirt and cried. I wrapped my arms around her, my heart aching with each hiccup and sob that escaped her. She fisted her hands in the wet material of my shirt and held on as if I was the only thing keeping her alive.

I watched as the crew worked to remove Arthur from the car, fitting him with a neck brace and loading him onto a stretcher.

The first of the journalists arrived as they were loading him into the ambulance. Leaning down, I swooped Meredith into my arms and headed for Charles’s car. He opened the back door for me and I slid in carefully.

“I need to go to the hospital.” Her voice sounded so tiny and broken. She had cried so hard and for so long, I was surprised she could talk at all.

“Let’s get you changed first.” I set her on the seat next to me and reached around to buckle her in. “You’re drenched to the bone, and the paramedics said that your father was stable.”

“Hospital.” Her chin jutted forward and I sighed.

“Very well.” Charles met my eyes in the rearview mirror and I nodded my head.