Jennifer was finally starting to get ahold of herself. Telling Wallace what had happened to their son had been one of the hardest things of her life. It ranked just shy of how she had felt burying her nephew.
Nothing had been as bad as burying their daughter all those years ago. Her arms still shook as she imagined holding Elizabeth. Jennifer had held her daughter almost the baby’s entire life—only Wallace had held her in the short moments Jennifer hadn’t.
They had grieved together then. In the years that had followed. Grief welled again. Then…grief for Reggie. She couldn’t lose him, too.
She couldn’t bury another of her children. She just couldn’t do it.
A mother wasn’t supposed to outlive her children. Ever.
Wallace had insisted that she request Allen Jacobson remain as the physician for their son.
Wallace’s bail hearing was still a week away. She had the attorney working to make that happen sooner, but he had told her there wouldn’t be much chance of it. Even under these circumstances.
Wallace’s former boss had been the surgeon who had saved Reggie’s life.
Jennifer wasn’t lost to the irony of that. She would always owe Dr. Jacobson for that, for not holding what Wallace had done against their son.
Jennifer had feared Wallace was about to have a heart attack right in front of her. The way he had paled had terrified her. Jennifer bit back the nausea.
She’d learned one truth in that moment.
She still loved him.
She had to stop deluding herself that way. She still loved Wallace; she probably always would. No matter his faults, no matter what he had done—she would love him forever.
She couldn’t let him rot in prison for the rest of his life.
Her first priority was getting Reggie healthy and whole again. Then she would find a way to save her husband. Her marriage was over, her career was practically in tatters, but she wasn’t going to let Wallace spend the rest of his life in prison because of some no-name little whore.
Wallace mattered to her and to Reggie too much for that. This would be her last gift to him. Get him out of jail so he could be with Reggie.
Reggie.
Her son had a hard road ahead of him. Jennifer wasn’t going to stop until she had him back to the way he was. Her son was going to have a life. He was going to have a wife who appreciated him far more than that for which Amanda had ever done. Amanda had deserted him, right when it mattered the most. She wasn’t worthy of Reggie. It was up to Jennifer to find a woman who was.
Jennifer made it to the hospital and to Reggie’s room in time to see someone coming out the door. She recognized him.
Tall, well-built, beautiful. Allen Jacobson was a gorgeous specimen of masculinity. She would freely admit that. She had long found him to be attractive. She’d even teased Wallace about that very thing a time or two. He hadn’t liked that. Wallace had always been so jealous whenever she looked at another man.
He was such a hypocrite. Maybe that was why she had always enjoyed pointing out how attractive to look at Dr. Jacobson was.
She should have known from the very beginning that a man like Wallace wouldn’t be satisfied in bed with only one woman; he had too many appetites. Appetites that she couldn’t satisfy. That was on her.
That was what her mother had told her the one time Jennifer had been stupid enough to ask her for advice. Her mother had always adored Wallace—adored having a wealthy doctor in their family. She’d yelled at Jennifer to better satisfy her husband and not do anything to lose him. That Jennifer was going to ruin everything for her.
Wallace had been supporting her mother for ten years by that point. It had been easy to see where her mother’s loyalties had lain.
She’d never been stupid enough to go to her mother again.
Dr. Jacobson paused. “Mrs. Henedy, how are you today?”
Jennifer bit back a snarl. She had no illusions that the man gave a damn at all. Not considering what Wallace had done. Jennifer had watched the videos over and over and over, trying to decide what to do to fix what Wallace had done.
There was still no clue why. Wallace wasn’t talking. Even to her.
“Dr. Jacobson? I’m so sorry for what Wallace did. I’m just worried about my son. Please tell me he’s going to be ok.”
Some men respected honesty. She suspected this was one of them. There was probably a bit of a chauvinist in this man. She shot him her weepiest, most vulnerable look. One she’d perfected with Wallace, Dennis Lee, and Carl.
It had always been effective.
That wasn’t a lie exactly; everything she did was for her son. It always had been. “Tell me how is he? Honestly. I…need to know.”
“He woke about an hour ago for a few minutes. He knew he was in the hospital. He even recognized me from the handful of times we met before. He can move both arms and both legs. That’s a good sign. A really good sign. He’s young, strong, and healthy. He should pull through just fine.”
She let out a breath at his words. He didn’t seem to be lying to her. Compassion was in his gray eyes.
She’d always thought he had beautiful eyes. Gray, with the smallest hint of blue around the outer edges. There was a lot of character in his face now, more than had been there when she’d first met him more than half a dozen years or so ago.
He was a tall man. He looked over her shoulder easily, and his face tightened.
Jennifer turned reflexively—in time to see a trio of young women walking down the hall, deep in discussion over what appeared to be a file in their hands.
She recognized them almost instantly. She’d met Dr. Finley Coulter many times before; frankly, Jennifer wasn’t that impressed. The woman appeared flighty and flaky.
It was the other two women that made her want to scream and scratch their eyes out.
Jennifer had always had a vicious side where other women were concerned. She embraced that fact. There was no one on the planet she wanted to claw at more than those two little smug bitches right there.
“If you’ll excuse me? I need to consult with another surgeon.” Dr. Jacobson stepped around her, not giving her time to reply.
He walked with a sure step straight to those women. She watched as he wrapped his strong fingers around the dark-haired whore’s elbow and stopped her right there in the hallway.
Jennifer stood there, rage making her almost ill, as he redirected the trio. Focus. She had to focus. She couldn’t afford to forget why she was there today.
Reggie; it was all about Reggie now.
She pulled in a deep breath and stepped into her son’s room. He was where she had to focus now. There would be time to get back at Izzie MacNamara and Nikkie Jean Netorre later. That bastard Jake MacNamara who just wouldn’t stay out of her business at all.