Page 8 of Shimmering Emeralds
Her accusatory tone was like a punch to the gut, even though I knew I deserved her venom. I didn’t want to admit the truth to her just yet, but her unflinching glare let me know that she wasn’t going to let this go.
“Kevin Durley.” It was tempting to point out that I didn’t know who it was at the time. I’d merely seen a human being in our path and reacted. It had occurred in the fraction of an instant, but it set off a series of events that would most likely have lasting repercussions on the rest of our lives.
I had expected Meg to scream at me for making such a dumb mistake, so her hysterical chortle of laughter startled me. “My daughter is unconscious and who knows how many other kids are hurt so that we could keep from hitting Kevin Durley?!?”
It had to be like adding insult to injury for her, considering the living hell Kevin had put Meg’s family through last year. Proving that was exactly how she felt, she said, “He’s the one that deserves to be here, fighting for his life… not Harper.”
I fully agreed with her, but didn’t know what to say, so I merely nodded.
“Kevin Durley.” She shook her head in disbelief over the irony.
Meg’s mother, Stella, chose that moment to scurry in to the waiting room to join us. She pulled her daughter into a hug as she spoke. “I just heard about the accident. Are you okay? Where’s Harper?”
“She’s hurt.” Meg pulled back and her chin shook as she tried to say the words aloud to her mother. “She wouldn’t wake up. They took her back there, and no one will give me an update on her condition.” Meg pointed at the double doors where the nurse had stopped us and made us stay behind.
Stella’s eyes darted in the direction Meg indicated before landing back on her daughter. When I saw the fiery green emotion in her gaze, I realized where Meg must get much of her volatile spirit. The older woman proved me correct when she said stubbornly, “We’ll see about that,” before bustling up to the reception counter.
While Meg watched her mother try to handle the gatekeeper, she took her first sip of the bitter brew I had brought her. To her credit, she only winced slightly as she swallowed the sludge.
After some heated words at the reception desk, during which I feared Meg’s mother might actually jump the counter to threaten the unhelpful receptionist, Stella returned to our area, looking utterly frustrated. “They’re no help at all.”
Just as Stella moved to take the seat on the opposite side of Meg from me, her angry gaze landed on me, as if she was just taking note of me for the first time. If I thought Meg was angry with me, it was nothing compared to her mother’s icy edge. “What ishedoing here?”
I braced myself for yet another impact when Meg answered her mother. “Levi was driving the bus that crashed.”
7
Meg
Mom’s eyes narrowed into slits so thin as she glared at Levi that I wondered how she could see out through them. “How dare you show your face here. First, you break my sweet Meg’s heart by abandoning her, and now you injure her daughter?”
The urge to kick my mother in the shin was nearly overwhelming. I’d always kept up a tough façade when it came to Levi’s abrupt departure. After I’d told him to follow his dreams of becoming a country star and he’d actually done it, I’d refused to let him see how much it hurt me that he hadn’t chosen to stay with me.
The one thing I’d grasped on to in that dark time of loneliness was my pride. By the stunned look Levi was giving me, it was obvious that my act had been convincing. But now my mother had blown my cover and revealed how upset I’d been by him leaving.
Ignoring her blustering on the other side of me, Levi’s gaze locked onto mine as he accused, “You told me to go. You said youwantedme to go.”
I shrugged my shoulders, unsure what to say. It didn’t matter now anyway. Our relationship was safely locked away in the past, and that was where it needed to stay. All that mattered now was Harper’s health.
We were saved from having to discuss it further by the arrival of Alex and Hannah. Alex was holding his daughter in his arms as if he was scared to let go of her. My arms practically itched with the desire to do the same with my little girl.
After quickly scanning the now-hectic waiting room, Alex found us and took long strides across the room to join us. Skipping a normal greeting, he asked, “How’s Harper?”
When I went to answer, I found myself unable to utter the horrific words again. Instead, I merely shook my head as tears clogged my throat.
Mother jumped in to save me from having to speak. “She’s unconscious and these nimrods,” she flailed a hand out toward the busy reception desk, “won’t tell us a damn thing.”
“Stay on them,” he advised solemnly before adding, “We’re going upstairs to check on Claire.”
“Claire?” I asked, sounding as thoroughly confused as I felt.
My mother gave me a startled look as if I might be losing it, but then her features softened perceptibly. “Oh, I forgot to tell you… Claire is in labor.”
“What? No, Alex’s baby mama just gave birth.” I spared a quick glare in Alex’s direction over that travesty.
“Mm-hmm,” my mother nodded before adding, “And right after his bastard son popped out, his wife went into labor.” She really enunciated the word wife, clearly trying to make Alex feel even more guilty for his indiscretion than he obviously already did.
Angling a pointed look in Hannah’s direction, I silently warned my mother that this wasn’t the time or place to get into this. As soon as the information had a moment to process, I felt my eyebrows snap together as a new worry surfaced in my mind.
