Page 83 of Investigate Away
“For what?”
Callie set both her coffee and muffin on the table and cupped her face. She couldn’t stop the floodgates if she tried. At least they were silent tears, and no one had to hear them. Only her shoulders bobbed up and down like a crazy person.
“Oh, honey, if you’re thinking this is your fault, you better stop that now.” Henrietta wrapped an arm around Callie and stroked her hair.
“It is my fault.” Callie sucked in a breath and stiffened her spine. “Besides me bringing all this back to Seattle, he all but begged her to shoot him instead of me.”
“That’s kind of what cops do,” Henrietta said. “And he loves you.”
Callie turned her head and stared into the sweetest, kindest, most loving eyes. They were filled with understanding and forgiveness. Warmth and gratitude. Callie opened her mouth, but no words came out. She cleared her throat and tried again. “So many people died because of me and that book and now Jag—”
“You better not talk like that in front of my son,” Harold said, standing over her with his hands on his hips. “The only person to blame in all of this is Kara or Carol or whatever the fuck that woman’s name is. Frankly, this family is damn happy to have you back. Our son was miserable without you. Now once this surgery is over and he wakes up, I hope you won’t be talking like that. And please tell me you’re staying.”
“As long as Jag wants me to, yes,” she said.
“Good.” Harold sat down on the other side of her and took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Did you know we made it to the hospital just as the helicopter landed with Jag on it?”
She shook her head.
“We got to see him right before they wheeled him into the OR,” Harold said. “He asked me to do him a favor.”
“What’s that?”
“He wanted you to know that he heard you. Loud and clear.”
She smiled.
The doors into the waiting room opened and in walked the surgeon. Everyone stood and inched toward the doctor. It was eerily quiet.
Callie stayed one step back, but that changed when Henrietta and Harold pulled her front and center.
“How is he?” Troy broke the silence.
“The surgery went very well. Better than anticipated. The bullet didn’t do nearly as much damage as we thought. He’ll make a full recovery, though it will take some time.”
“When can we see him?” Henrietta asked.
Callie clutched her chest. The wordsfull recoveryechoed in her brain.
“He’s actually awake and giving all of us a hard time, even though he’s groggy. But he’s in the recovery room, so I can only let in two at a time, for short periods, and only immediate family for the next twenty-four hours. While we don’t see any problems or complications arising, we have to be cautious,” the doctor said.
Immediate family.Well, he was alive. That’s all that mattered.
“Excuse me, Doctor, but is a fiancée considered immediate family?” Henrietta asked.
“Of course,” the doctor said.
Callie’s jaw slacked open. She might have been that once, but she wasn’t his fiancée now.
Henrietta turned and dug into her purse. “My husband wasn’t totally honest about his conversation with our son before they took him into the OR.”
“I’m not following,” Callie said.
“He was lucid enough to ask us to get this from his house.” She pulled out the jewelry box that housed her engagement ring. “I think he wanted us to go in first so he could give it to you, but this is the only way to get you to him.” She took the ring out and slipped it on Callie’s finger. “Why don’t you go see him first? Alone.”
“I… I…” Callie blinked, staring at the shiny diamond.
“Just go tell my son you love him.” Henrietta kissed her cheek. “We’re all so happy you came home.”
