“Oh.” Vanessa hadn’t realized she’d been crying.
“Do you know Justin?”
Vanessa nodded.
Zoe’s face tightened. “I hope he’s all right.”
“Thanks.”
Vanessa managed to drag herself to her office, locking her door. She was shaking so violently that she finally collapsed on the carpeted floor, feeling like she was going to throw up. Was it Justin who was seriously injured?
Hands over her belly, she rolled onto her side. This was all her fault. She’d been so resentful of his high-handed act in Chicago that she’d insisted on keep their marriage secret, claiming she didn’t want her in-laws to affect her career. Now that she thought about it, she could’ve just told her partners she wouldn’t be used to bring in her in-laws’ business either. If her refusal to persuade her family to bring its business to the firm hadn’t hurt her, a refusal to get the Sterlings for Highsmith, Dickson and Associates wouldn’t have either.
Her fault, her fault.
She pressed a fist against her mouth, trying to muffle a sob.
My god…Justin…
She should google for updates on the accident. But every time she tried to sit up, nausea hit her. She lay back on the floor and prayed harder than she’d ever prayed before.
* * *
Justin paced in the hospital. His pilot was seriously injured, while he and the cabin attendant had some bruises. There would be an investigation into what had actually caused the accident, but he was certain it was due to the poor visibility at the airport with thick and heavy fog.
He wanted to call Vanessa, but he’d forgotten to charge his phone the night before, and there was no juice. And now they were keeping him at this damn hospital.
“I’m fine,” he told the doctor again.
“We have to make sure,” the man said. A pair of rimless glasses sat on his long, pale face. “You may feel okay at the moment, but you might have other injuries you may not be aware of.”
“People are going to worry.”
“We notified your brother, Mr. Sterling. And I’m sure your family will be just as relieved to hear you were a model patient.”
The doctor was smiling, but Justin wasn’t in the mood for levity. Nate didn’t know about Vanessa, and she would undoubtedly hear about the accident. Hopefully she wouldn’t worry too much. “Fine. Make it quick.”
The doctor scheduled an MRI and CAT scan among other things. Justin wanted to bang his head against the wall, but he couldn’t blame the man for being thorough. He knew who Justin was. If anything happened to Justin because of medical negligence, Barron Sterling would descend upon the hospital with a horde of lawyers. Everyone knew what a vindictive asshole Barron could be.
It wasn’t until noon that the doc finally told him what he already knew. “It’s a miracle.” Still the doctor prescribed some painkillers, just in case Justin felt sore, and discharged him.
“To your office, sir?” his chauffeur asked.
“No. To the airport.”
His chauffeur drove extra slowly, testing Justin’s patience. He reined in his temper, and called his assistant from the car phone. “Rita—”
“Oh my gosh, Justin, are you all right?”
“I’m fine, but my laptop’s toast. Ship a replacement to my address in L.A. Make sure it gets there before COB today. And I need a new charger. Have it waiting for me at SFO.” He didn’t have Vanessa’s number memorized—an oversight that was going to be corrected ASAP—and his personal cell was the only phone that had it.
“Anything else?”
“Cancel all my appointments for today and tomorrow. If anybody calls, I’m not in. And get me on the first flight to L.A.”
* * *
Vanessa ended up going home, where she sat trembling in front of the TV. None of the news stations had anything about the crash in San Francisco. She googled, but that didn’t yield much either. Everything was speculative—one early report said a man had died, then published a correction. It seemed like nobody knew what was really going on. Probably more interested in posting something first, she thought angrily, rather than something accurate.
Frustrated, she undid her hair and started pacing. Jittery energy and tension gripped her. Even now Justin’s family might be preparing for a funeral.
She hugged herself. No. She wouldn’t be negative.
But she still hadn’t heard anything about the accident, and his phone kept forwarding her to the voice mail. Surely, if Justin was okay, he would’ve called.
Maybe there was some other reason why he couldn’t call. Maybe he’d lost his phone in the accident. She picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts. The names of clients, friends and colleagues flashed by. Her family probably didn’t know any better than her, and she didn’t know the numbers for Justin’s family.