JAKE WAS RIGHT behind Rory’s car as she tore up the grassy slope toward her mother’s house, and he was beyond glad to finally be there. Not only because Wendy might need help, but because Rory had driven like a maniac on the steep curves of the road—to the point when he’d feared she’d lose control and crash.
He didn’t want to think about how it would feel to see that happen...to see her get hurt. He pulled up behind her car as she practically leaped out, running up to the uneven front porch, where Linda stood clutching her hands together and looking anxious.
“Can you still hear her?”
“Yes. I yelled to her that you were on your way with the key, but I don’t know if she could understand what I was saying. She must be somewhere in the back of the house, because all I could hear was the sound of her voice, but not the words. I walked around back, calling, but still couldn’t understand her.”
“It was stupid of me to lock the door,” Rory said. “A habit from living in LA, I guess.”
Jake could see her hand shaking as she fumbled to get the key in the door, and gently took it from her to get it unlocked. “You want me to go in first, since we don’t know what’s going on?”
Her worried gaze met his for a split second before he pushed open the door. “I... Can we go together?”
“Sure.” He reached for her hand, because she looked like she needed the support.
There was no sign of Wendy in the main room when they ran inside, with Linda following.
“Mom? Twinkie? Where are you?”
“In the bathroom. Thank God you’re here. I’m... Oh, it’s a mess.”
Mess? Jake steeled himself for what they might find. Maybe she meant a bathroom mess—which might embarrass her, but would be a hell of a lot better than her being hurt.
Since they couldn’t both get through the narrow bathroom doorway at the same time, Rory let go of his hand as she went into the small space. With her in front of him he couldn’t see her mother well, but what he could see made his pulse quicken.
The good news was that her mother was obviously lucid, even as she lay on her back. The bad news was that blood covered the floor, and Jake could only imagine how Rory was feeling on seeing it.
“Mom!” Rory dropped to her knees and reached for her mother’s hands, which were splayed across her stomach. “What happened? Where are you hurt?”
“I woke up and had to go potty pretty bad. So I got up fast and I hurried too much, I think. I felt dizzy while I was on the potty. When I got up again I think I stumbled over Toby and fell. Right on my stomach...across the side of the bathtub. Oh, it hurts so bad! I’m not sure, but I think my stitches have split open. Can you tell if any of my organs fell out?”
Her eyes were wide and scared, and Jake realized he’d rarely seen her look anything but happy and relaxed. Those two times had been when Rory had been in the snow machine accident that had destroyed their future together, and the week they’d buried her husband.
“That’s not likely, Twinkie, so try not to worry. We’ll...we’ll take a look.”
To Jake’s surprise Rory turned and reached for him, looking panicky.
“Can you help? I feel... I think it would be good if you helped me find out what’s going on.”
The fact that she was letting herself lean on him during a crisis did something funny to his chest. If she’d let herself lean on him nine years ago maybe things would have turned out a lot different. Maybe she’d never have left Eudemonia at all.
Not that it mattered anymore. Too many bridges had been burned to go back to the way things used to be.
“Let’s take a look.”
He ran his hand up and down Rory’s back, then kneeled next to her and caught his breath. He could see now that Wendy was fully dressed, wearing tie-dyed pants with a loose waistband that she or someone else had cut to make even looser. The blood staining them down to her thighs was bright red, and the volume of it showed him why Rory had reached out to him. Because it was scary as hell.
He carefully tugged the pants down to expose the long, vertical incision from her surgery, and sure enough it was split open a good four inches. It was still bleeding a lot, and he heard Rory gasp. Thank the Lord Linda had come when she had, because even fifteen more minutes of this kind of blood-loss might have been catastrophic.
“Oh, my God, I can’t believe it’s wound dehiscence! Who did this surgery?”
“It isn’t necessarily suture error,” he reminded her. “But we do need to find out why it opened up like this.”
“She’s lost a lot of blood,” Rory said in a tight whisper, though her mother could doubtless still hear her. “We need to get this closed as fast as possible.”
He nodded, and reached to grab a hand towel from the sink, quickly folded it, then placed it on the open wound to slow the bleeding, flattening his palm on top of it to apply pressure.
“You sure did a whammy on yourself, Twinkie. But we’re gonna get you closed back up, and then we’ll get you to Fairbanks.”
“Fairbanks? Wh...why?”
“You already know you’ve lost blood. We need to get some tests done that I can’t do at the clinic, and there’s a chance you could need a transfusion. They might want to keep you overnight for observation. But don’t worry. It’s gonna be okay.”
He glanced at Rory. She had both hands pressed to her mouth as their eyes met, and he wrapped his free arm around her shoulders.
“Hang in there. I can do this—or we can do it together if you’re up to it.”
“I... I’ll do it. I can do these kinds of sutures and close a wound in my sleep.”
“It’s harder when it’s your own mom—and you’re shaking like a leaf.”
She was. Without thinking, he tugged her closer and kissed her forehead. Now wasn’t the time to worry about keeping his distance from her. Not when she needed him like this.
“You have sutures and supplies? If you don’t, I have a big first-aid box in the truck.”
“I have everything. I’ll go get it now.”
“Of course you do. Always prepared, Aurora.” He sent her a smile and resisted the urge to drop another quick kiss to her forehead. “Get something to elevate her feet, too, so she doesn’t go into shock.”
She nodded, lurched to her feet and disappeared.
Which apparently gave Linda her first clear view of Wendy and the bathroom floor, and the strange low moan that Linda let out had him cursing under his breath. All they needed was her passing out and needing help, with Twinkie already in such bad shape.
“Linda, sit down. Right now—out in the hall. Put your head between your knees and you’ll feel better.”
Without responding, she did as he asked, and Jake focused on compressing the wound to stop the bleeding.
The pounding of feet told him Rory was on her way back.
“Check on Linda!” he called. “She wasn’t feeling well and I told her to sit down.”
The murmur of voices told him Linda was doing better, thank heavens, and in just a moment Rory came into the small room.
“You get scrubbed up first, then take over with compression while I do,” Jake said. “We won’t get anywhere near sterile, but that can’t be helped.”
“Okay.” She shoved an old blanket and some towels under Wendy’s feet. “How you feeling, Twinkie?”
“A little funny. Kind of weak and woozy.”
“Hang in there. We’ll be able to get this done pretty fast, then head for the hospital, okay?”
She pulled out the items that were inside sterilized baggies, ripped them open so they’d be easy to access after she was scrubbed and set everything on the tray she’d brought. She placed it on the floor, next to her mom, then stepped to the sink.
“I have antimicrobial soap and gloves, so after I scrub you can put the gloves on me,” she said, while lathering her hands and forearms.
“Of course you do.”
“What? You don’t carry soap in your first aid kit?”
“Yeah, but the possibility of me having to stitch up an injury on an ice fisherman or a hunter in the woods is a lot more likely than you needing it in Los Angeles.”
“Well, you already know how I feel about being prepared.”
The half smile she sent him was strained as she stuck out her hands. But he couldn’t help but be impressed that the scared woman who’d been shaking just minutes ago had been replaced by the efficient surgeon standing in front of him.
“Glove me.”
“Are you this bossy in the OR in LA?” he asked as he worked to get the gloves on her hands while trying to follow the correct protocol.
“Not bossy—just efficient.” She kneeled to press her forearms against the towel on Wendy’s belly, keeping her disinfected hands clear. “When you’re done scrubbing, glove up and we’ll get started.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You two are so funny together,” Wendy said, her voice noticeably weak. “Always ribbing and teasing...even when you were kids.”
Rory didn’t respond, obviously choosing to ignore Wendy’s comment about the two of them and how they’d used to be long ago. He glanced at her face in profile as she lifted the towel, and the familiar way she pursed her lips, narrowing her eyes in concentration, took him back in time to all the things they’d done and studied together.
Along with her mother’s words, it made him think about how much he’d missed her—missed her beautiful smile, missed touching her soft hair. Missed the way he’d catch her looking at him sometimes, like he meant everything to her.
He suddenly wondered if he’d miss her all over again after she was gone.
The feelings for her that had tried to resurface from the second he’d seen her again told him he would, damn it. But there was no way it could be even one iota as much as the way he’d yearned for her for a long, long time, even as he’d felt abandoned and betrayed.
“Ready, Twinkie?” Rory asked. “I’m putting analgesic cream around the edges of the wound, so you won’t feel it when I’m putting in the stitches. I’m going to hold it together with my fingers and keep compressing for a few minutes to slow the bleeding, then I’ll get started.”
“I can’t believe you can do all this, marshmallow girl. I’m so proud of you.”
Jake saw her eyes widen in surprise and she turned to look at him for a second, emotion flitting across her face. Rory’s mom and dad had always been happy living simple lives here in Eudemonia, and he knew they’d never understood or even cared much about her goal to become a doctor. He also knew it had bothered her sometimes.
“Thanks, Mom. That’s... It means a lot to me to hear you say that.”
Jake hoped the tears she blinked back as he handed her the needle and sutures wouldn’t interfere with her ability to get the wound closed. “You want me to do it?”
“No. I’m good. Really.”
And she was. Her technique was flawless—not that he was surprised. The Aurora Anderson he’d known since fourth grade had always excelled at everything she attempted.
“I’m feeling fine now,” Linda called from the hall. “Sorry about that...so silly of me. But I wasn’t prepared for... Well, you know. What can I do?”
“We’re okay right now, but maybe you can find some clean, older towels we can wash her up with when we’re done? Ones she wouldn’t mind throwing away?” Jake said.
“I know just where she keeps them. Be right back.”
He and Rory worked silently together, except for answering the few questions Wendy asked. Very few, because it was obvious the ordeal had left her feeling weak and tired—which was hardly a surprise.
As Rory finished the last few stitches, Jake dug into her bag and found antibiotic cream. “I figured you’d have this in here,” he said. “You want to put it on the closed wound while I get the bandages ready?”
“Yes. Good.”
After everything was done, and Wendy was bandaged up, Jake glanced at his watch. “Twenty minutes from start to finish. Think you’d get a world record for that?”
“It was just stitches—not surgery.” But she sent him a wide, relieved smile before she snapped off her gloves and reached for her mother’s bloody hands. “We’re going to get you cleaned up and in fresh clothes, Twinkie, then head for Fairbanks.”
“Oh, I don’t think we need to go there, do we? I’m fine now.”
“Just need to check a few things,” Jake said.
“Will you come, too?” Wendy asked with a hopeful expression.
“Are you kidding? Would I let my favorite patient go to the hospital without me? No way.”
“I have clean clothes here, Rory,” Linda said as she appeared in the doorway. “I’ll help you get her washed up and dressed, then I’ll take care of the bathroom mess after you leave for the hospital. I’ll take Toby home with me, too, so you don’t have to worry about him if you have to stay in Fairbanks overnight.”
“I really appreciate you looking after him. But I hate to ask you to clean the place up, Linda. You—”
“Not another word. You’re not asking—I’m offering. It’s the least I can do for my best friend and her amazing daughter.”
Amazing. That she was—suturing her own mother with remarkably calm efficiency, her surgical skills making her work far superior to any stitching job he would have done.
“I’ll wait in the living room,” Jake said. “I’ll carry her to the car when she’s ready, so give me a holler.”
“Good. Thank you.”
Once Wendy was settled in Rory’s car, he moved toward his truck, but paused when Rory placed a hand on his arm. “You don’t need to come to Fairbanks. Seriously, we’ll be fine.”
“I told Wendy I would.”
“Jake...” She lifted her hand from him and wrapped her arms around herself. “I can’t begin to thank you for all you did today. That was...so scary. And you being here to help was huge in so many ways. But I think it’s better if we keep the time we’re together to a minimum, like we talked about before. All that at Pooky’s was... Well, it’s clear how you feel about me. And there’s nothing to be gained by dredging up the past, you know? Being around each other isn’t going to help with that.”
He knew she was right. His anger and frustration with her—which was really about what had happened nine years ago and not today—had nearly boiled over at Pooky’s, and he still wasn’t sure what exactly he might have said if they hadn’t been interrupted. What part of his heart he might have let her see. It wasn’t a place either of them wanted to go.
“All right. Send me a text and let me know what they say and if they’re keeping her at the hospital overnight.”
“Will do. And... Well, thanks again.”
She turned, and within moments all he could see were the taillights of her car.