Page 60 of Dirt Driven

The fact he’d spoken made me feel better to know they’d had a response from him. The doctor I’d spoken with earlier before we did the press release this morning, assured me Rager’s head injury was minor, but needed immediate repair and took some time due to bleeding in his brain. He also had four broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and had broken his right ankle in two spots.

Lane wrapped his arm around me, his lips pressed to my temple. “He’s gonna make it. He’s too bad ass not to.”

It was the second time I’d heard that this morning and in my heart I wanted to believe him, but it wasn’t easy to put aside my fears and believe it. I returned Lane’s hug, hoping I was providing comfort to him too. Rager was his best friend.

Pulling away from him, the exhaustion crept in and I yawned. I still hadn’t slept. I couldn’t. I wanted my husband to be okay and I wanted my babies. Mom had the kids with her at a hotel nearby and I couldn’t stop thinking about their tiny cute faces. They must have been so scared.

Alley arrived shortly before five in the morning and I met her in a private room. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll take care of everything with the media. You just be here for Rager and Kinsley,” she told me, motioning to the waiting room behind her.

I nodded. “What do I say to her?” I rubbed my hands over my tender face. I’d been crying so much it hurt to touch my eyes. “I feel like any minute she’s going to start telling me this is my fault or Rager’s.”

Alley rested her hand on my shoulder and one under my chin. “She’s a race wife… or girlfriend. She understands that this kind of thing is racing related.”

But did she? I’d known Kinsley for a year now, but only recently gotten close with her when she started traveling with Caden full time in February. I had no idea if she’d suddenly be mad at us over this, and the anxiety of not knowing was killing me. I felt horrible for her.

A doctor came out while Alley and I were in the hallway talking. “Mrs. Sweet?”

Holy shit. Please be good news. Please!“Yes.” I nodded and he stepped forward.

“I’m Dr. Shook.”

“Is my husband okay?”

“Rager’s out of surgery and doing well. He’s stable.” He leaned his shoulder into the wall, and sighed. He was probably exhausted. “He’s up in the ICU recovering. I was able to repair the fracture and cauterize the bleeding. He has some swelling, but it’s minor. We have him intubated to let the lung heal and sedated to allow for the swelling to come down. I put in a drain, but I don’t see any reason for concern with the head injury. But, it’s a brain injury. You can never be too careful with them, or think you know how someone will react.”

There was a touch of relief, but not enough to control my pulse. My cheeks were hot as I listened and tried to understand that hours ago I was watching him race. “And his lung?”

His expression relaxed. “It’ll take a few days for it to repair. The collarbone is a clean break, should heal nicely along with the ankle. He’s very lucky it wasn’t worse.”

Caden wasn’t so lucky.

“When can I see him?”

He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s give them some time up there to get everything set up. They’re busy tonight, but then you should be able to see him. Once the swelling goes down, we’ll take him off the anesthesia and he’ll wake up soon after.”

The doctor left after that and Axel approached. I noticed in the waiting room behind him that Tommy, Lane, Willie, and all the other JAR Racing guys were there. “What’d he say?”

“He’s stable. Fractured skull, collapsed lung… that seems to be the worst of it.”

Axel drew in a deep breath. “How’s Kinsley holding up?”

I glanced back into the room we’d been in, away from the waiting room. Though she wanted to spend all her time in Caden’s room, they wouldn’t allow it and asked her to leave while they performed an MRI on his neck. In the private waiting room, she was staring at her phone in her hand. “As good as can be expected.”

His jaw worked back and forth. “This shit never gets easier.”

Our eyes met. “I’m sorry if this brings back… you know.”

His chin shook, and he blinked rapidly. “I’m praying for them both.” Swallowing hard, he nodded back at the waiting room behind him. “The guys are going to head out. We have to get the haulers to Lincoln.”

I twisted to look at Alley, who was still next to us, and Dad, who’d appeared with a cup of coffee in his hand. His eyes were bloodshot. “We’re gonna have yours and Kinsley motor homes driven back to the shop. Haulers too.”

Given the condition of both Rager and Caden, they weren’t going back to racing right away. And Caden, maybe never. We still weren’t sure of the extent of him being paralyzed, or if this was something that was temporary.

I eventually went back into the room with Kinsley, knowing that there was nothing we could do here for a while. “My mom got some hotel rooms nearby. Do you want to go see Grace and get some sleep since we can’t see the boys yet?”

“Okay.” Her eyes lifted from her phone. “My parents and Caden’s mom are on a flight here. Did you hear about Rager?”

“He’s out of surgery now but they have him in a medically induced coma. Fractured skull, collapsed lung, broken ribs and ankle.”

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