Page 26 of My One and Only

Had Jo’s tiny little car been hit as well? He wanted to sit up and ask the EMT riding in the back of the ambulance with him, but the effort made him groan with pain and fall back onto the gurney.

The EMT leaned closer. “You doing okay? Anything you need?”

“There was a woman at the accident,” he said, speaking slowly so he could concentrate on getting the right words out. “Was she injured, too?”

“No, her car wasn’t hit. But she was right behind you, so she saw what happened. I heard her talking to the police and telling them how it went down.”

“Okay. Thanks,” he said, and realized he was slurring his words.

He wanted to tell this EMT to turn around and take him home. He needed to be with Fiona, so she wouldn’t worry about him. After Ashley had died, she’d been clingy. Easily upset. He didn’t want her to freak out about him not being home. But even with his brain rattled in his head, he knew the EMTs wouldn’t take him anywhere but to a hospital.

He had a vague memory of a cool hand touching his face. Soothing his aching head and neck. Jo? Maybe? Something eased inside him, flattening the sharp edges of pain.

He closed his eyes and focused on blocking out the pain. He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, the ambulance doors were open and the EMTs were lifting his gurney out of the truck.

The one who’d ridden in the back with him touched his arm. “Good luck, buddy,” he said.

“Thanks,” Cam managed to say. Then they transferred him to another gurney, moving him down a hallway. He stared at the white ceiling, counting the sprinkler fixtures as they passed. The gurney turned left, and he was in a small room.

A doctor poked and prodded at him, focusing on his head. He shone a light into his eyes, and Cam turned his head away from the pain it caused.

Then the doctor asked him to read a card held in front of Cam’s face, and he rattled off the words. Someone wheeled an x-ray machine into the room, and they took X-rays of his head from several different directions. Then the doctor said, “I’m sending you for a CT scan. I want to get a good look at your brain.”

“Okay,” Cam said, closing his eyes. He thought about Fiona, about holding her in his arms and inhaling her scent. He needed to see her so badly. To make sure she was safe.

Of course she was safe. She hadn’t been in the truck with him. She was in school. And he wouldn’t let his mom bring Fiona to the hospital. She would be completely freaked out to see her father lying on a gurney, helpless.

The CT scan was painless. All he had to do was hold still, which was all he wanted to do anyway. When they wheeled him toward the emergency room cubicle, he saw Jo, sitting on a chair and scrolling through her phone.

As soon as they wheeled him into the room, Jo jumped to her feet. “Cam! Are you all right? What did the doctor say?”

“Not much,” Cam mumbled. “Just had a CT scan. Making sure my brain was still where it belonged.”

Jo gave him a weak smile. “Ah, the Cam I remember.” Her smile fell away. “Are you gonna have to stay for the night?”

God, he hoped not. “No idea,” he said. “They haven’t told me squat.”

She edged closer to him. “Cam, I think your accident was no accident. I think the truck that hit you was waiting for you to come along. I was right behind you and saw it happen. Do you know anyone with a blue Dodge Ram 2500?”

“What are you talking about, Jo? It was an accident.”

“Not from where I was sitting. That truck had been sitting there for at least several minutes. But as soon as you stopped, then started through the intersection, that truck took off. Looked like he sped up right before he hit you. I think it was deliberate.” She leaned closer and touched his arm. “The license plates were covered with mud. So no one could read them.”

Cam began to shake his head. Froze.Don’t do that. “Lots of trucks are muddy,” he managed to get out. “That’s the point of having a truck. You don’t care if it gets dirty.”

“Yeah, I get it, but you can usually see a few of the numbers and letters on the plate. Not on this truck. Front and back were completely covered up. Like someone had deliberately smeared mud on it.”

“Why would someone want to hit my truck?”he asked, frowning at Jo.

She put her hand on his arm, and her fingers were warm. Comforting. Just like her cool fingers from earlier. He wanted her to leave them there. “Possibly because of what you found at my mom’s new house. And at other houses. Maybe whoever is responsible doesn’t want you looking into it.”

Cam frowned at her. “That’s… that’s veering into crazy conspiracy territory, Jo. Hard to believe someone would try to injure me to stop me from looking into the problems with those houses.”

“I’m not accusing anyone of doing anything, Cam. But I do find it odd that someone targeted you right after you discovered what was going on in your houses.” She leaned toward him, her elbows on her knees. “Have you considered how much money must be involved? I’m guessing a lot. Your investigation is probably costing someone a lot of money.”

He began to shake his head. Stopped immediately when pain roared through him. “I don’t know, Jo.” He tried to smile, but suspected it was more of a grimace. “I’ll keep that in mind, but it seems… seems like a TV movie plot.”

She put her hand on his arm again, and he put his hand over hers to hold it there. “I’m going to be here for another week. If you’re interested, I’ll be your bodyguard. No cost, of course. A favor for an old friend.” She tightened her fingers around his arm. “It really freaked me out when I saw that truck charge through the intersection toward you. When it hit you, it sounded like a sonic boom. I want to make sure you’re protected.”

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