Page 61 of Until Waverly

I agreed. “All he wanted was his baby and his wife. He was sent to the incorrect floor for both, and he freaked out.”

“They kind of told us what happened,” Jackson said. “His wife was in a head-on accident. Wrong-way driver on I-24.”

“DUI, wrong-way driver,” I replied. “Who drinks that early in the afternoon? I have faith he’ll have the book thrown at him. He should rot in prison.”

“Guess it depends on if the baby survives. Though his sentence will be long enough for killing the mother.”

Yeah, the baby. “Joyce said he’s as good as expected right now. There’s only a three percent chance he’ll survive.”

“Fuck.” Jackson shifted closer to me, wrapping the blanket around us as he held me. “I can’t imagine what the father went through.”

“He was out of his mind. He didn’t want to listen to reason. Or couldn’t. He was desperate. Heartbroken. Furious. Most of all, he’d been scared. If I ever see another person with that wild, terrified look in their eyes again, it’ll be too soon.” It was his terrified expression I saw in my dream.

“How did everything go down?” Jackson hedged. “We were only told you took a nasty fall. Not how though.”

“I saw them. The SWAT team. They were staging outside the floor. Detective St. James called to speak with the father—then chaos.” I shook my head, piecing the memories together one part at time. The dark blanket protecting me from trauma slowly lifted, allowing the memory of the moment. “The minute he threw the phone, the stupid security guard unlocked the floor, and SWAT stormed the area. Since I’d been the one to take the initial call, I was right there, near the dad. We collided and fell because our legs were tangled together.”

“Dr. Jay told us it was a one in a billion accident.”

I agreed with him. “No way I could ever recreate what happened or how it occurred. If I could go back and start that day all over again, I think I would try to explain the situation better to the father. Maybe be a little calmer. Or even volunteer to show him where his son was in the NICU. Perhaps, if I did that, none of this would have happened.”

Jackson shook his head. “You said it, sunshine. He wasn’t listening to reason. He was in a state of shocked grief because he wife died. He might still lose his son. The father wouldn’t have paid attention even if you tried. It was a fucked-up situation for all of you.”

I dipped my chin. “Now, he might not see his son because of his actions.”

“Fucked up,” Jackson said. “All because of the actions of a drunk driver.”

My bottom lip trembled. “Exactly.”

“What about the security guard? Sounds like he was at fault.” Jackson rubbed my arm, taking away some of the chill that’d settled over me.

“I’m supposed to go back to the hospital to give my statement to administration about that,” I muttered. “I received the email this morning. I guess I forgot, considering everything.”

Jackson waved off my forgetfulness. “To be expected. This has been stressful. Plus, if they haven’t noticed, you’ve had a traumatic experience. You have the TBI MRI image to back you up and the metal to show for it.”

Yeah. I had. “I think it’s scheduled for the next couple of days. Lucky me.”

“Do you know what you’re going to tell them?”

“Yeah.” I bobbed my head. “I do. As much as the father needed to be subdued, the security guard made the situation worse. Not better. Plus, Dr. Hahn came to L&D instead of having security escort him to the right floor.”

“Yep,” Jackson murmured. “FUBAR.”

Once I finished my tea, Jackson carried me back to bed. I fell back into a semi-peaceful rest, and when I woke the next time, Alandria and Jackson were nowhere to be found. I stretched, feeling pleasantly sore, and glanced at the clock, startling myself. It was a little after eight. I’d slept the night away, never once hearing Alandria cry.

I eased out of bed and wrapped my robe around me. I needed a shower, but I wanted to check on Alandria and Jackson first. Yes, I should have put the boot on my foot, but a few awkward steps in the soft sleep boot wouldn’t amount to anything damaging—I didn’t think.

“Wait until your momma hears you slumbered through the entire night,” Jackson murmured. “She’ll be so proud of you.”

My heart expanded in my chest as I rounded the corner. Jackson and Alandria were cuddled up on the couch. She was enjoying her morning bottle while Jackson took a sip of his coffee. His brilliant red hair was messy from sleep, sticking up at odd angles, as were Alandria’s tufts too. They were adorable together, and I mentally kicked myself for denying Jackson a second of time with our daughter.

“I see you have everything well in hand.” I sat on the small coffee table in front of the couch. “Does that mean I can grab a shower?”

Lust flashed in Jackson’s eyes, and images of the night before flooded my mind. “We’re good out here, sunshine. Take all the time you need.”

There was a double meaning there. “I won’t be too long. I’m starving. I thought, if you wanted to, we could do that bigger space hunting.”

His nostrils flared. His body tensed. “Don’t tease me, Waverly.”

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