Another Chance (7 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Does she know yet?”

“We’ve talked about it in front of her, but she’s drifted in and out of consciousness, and I can’t say how much she would have retained.”

“Just keep an eye on her, we’ve done everything we can, and now she has to heal.”

“Yes doctor.”

Cassie groaned, waves of pain washing over her as she woke. What was the doctor talking about? How badly injured was she? Mum and Dad, what happened to them? Where were they? A million questions but it was far too hard to ask them all out loud. All she really knew was that she ached.

Slowly she opened her eyes, expecting to see the night and smell the smoke. The lights were bright and she squinted, letting in a small amount of light before gradually opening them again.

“Cassie?” came a voice, and she turned her head in the direction of the sound. A young woman in a nurse’s uniform was by the side of the bed, the concern obvious on her face.

“What happened?” she asked. Her throat was dry and scratchy; the words came out as a croak.

The nurse handed her a glass of water and sat down. “Your grandmother is coming to take you home when you’re ready…”

Cassie struggled to sit up, quickly realising that she was not in any position to. Both legs were elevated, and she was trapped in the position.

“What do you mean my grandmother? Where are my parents? What happened to me?”

Panic was rising in the young woman, and the nurse moved closer taking her hand and holding it tightly.

“I’ve been assigned to take care of you. We’ll give you the best of care in the meantime, Cassie. You have a broken back and two broken legs. As I understand it, you hit some concrete when you jumped out that window.”

She paused. “Unfortunately, Cassie, your parents were both lost in the fire which is why we’ve contacted your grandmother.”

A distraught cry came from Cassie’s throat that brought tears to the eyes of the nurse. “I’m so sorry, Cassie. I wish there was an easier way to tell you or that I could give you some good news. We’re all pulling for you love. You’ll get the very best of care.”

“Cassandra?” came a voice from the door. Cassie hadn’t seen her grandmother since she was a little girl. Her father fell out with his mother over something, and they’d stopped travelling up to Hamilton to see her. “Oh sweetheart.” She moved straight to the bed, putting her arms around her granddaughter while Cassie cried.

“Thank you,” she whispered to the nurse, “I’ll take it from here.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t have waited until you got here. Cassie woke up and asked about what was going on.”

“It’s fine. She had to find out sooner or later.”

“I’ll get the doctor to come in and talk to you. There’s a lot to explain,” the nurse said.

“That would be great,” said Cassie’s grandmother. “I’ll be here through everything, Cassie, and when you’re well enough to travel, I’ll take you home to live with me.”

“What happened to the house?” Cassie asked.

“It’s gone sweetheart, everything is gone. You are all I have now,” she kissed Cassie on the forehead, “I wished I’d made amends with your dad before he died. I would have liked to say goodbye.”

“Mrs Warren?”

The doctor stood in the doorway.

“Please tell me my granddaughter can come home soon.”

“There will be a couple more surgeries, and we’ll see. I’m afraid I can’t tell you when she’ll be able to be released, and she’ll have some recovery time. Her injuries were quite extensive, we can fix the bones, but there will be skin grafts as well.”

“It’s my fault,” Cassie whispered.

“Nonsense. It would appear to be an electrical fault Cassie, nothing you could have done.”

“Gran, I broke up with my boyfriend and Dad decided to take us out for a family day to cheer me up rather than replace the smoke detectors.” The words were broken up with sobs.

“Sweetheart, whatever happened before that doesn’t matter. It was an accident, not your fault in any way. I’m glad to hear you got one last good day with them. You need to think about that now to move on.”

Weeks of lying in a hospital bed, and multiple surgeries followed. She would be left with scarring down her lower back and thighs, but Cassie was alive. And pregnant.

“There’s no way I can go to university this year.”

“Maybe not. You could go next year. “Whatever you choose to do love, I’ll support you,” her grandmother replied.

“For the baby to have survived all I’ve been through. I can’t do anything but have it.”

“Then we’ll do this together. Is there any chance you can tell the father? I think it would be a good idea.”

She pulled a face. “I will think about it, I just don’t know if I can face him again.”

“I won’t push you into anything, Cassandra, I think you’ve been through more than enough. We will be fine whatever you choose to do.”

Cassie teared up at how nice the old woman had been, she helped Cassie through the past weeks. She regretted her father’s falling out with his mother. She’d given her nothing but support and love since the first day at the hospital.

As Cassie recovered, she bloomed in pregnancy. There were concerns that the baby would be hurt or somehow damaged by the surgeries that Cassie endured, but soon enough Sophie was born. She was perfect.

By the time Sophie came along, Cassie was up and about but not without difficulty. Cassie fell in love at first sight. Sophie had a rash of dark hair and the biggest blue eyes she had ever seen. They were a constant reminder of Patrick and Cassie’s heart ached at the thought that Sophie may never meet her father.

“I’m going to Auckland,” she announced one day.

“Are you going to do what I think you are?”

Cassie shrugged. “I think Patrick needs to know, but we’ll see what happens when I get there.”

The old lady nodded. “I think I can understand that, Cassie. I’m behind you either way.”

“I love you to bits for that.”

It was a quiet drive in the middle of the day. It took around an hour and a half to get to Auckland. Along the way, Cassie had a lot of time to prepare mentally.

Sophie slept in a baby capsule in the passenger seat, gently rocked by the cars motions. “Let’s go find your daddy, Sophie,” Cassie whispered. She was two months old now, a happy little thing and Cassie adored her.

She pulled up outside the university medical buildings. It was the only way she might find him, and she hoped that he would come walking down the road. Cassie knew there was a big chance she wouldn’t see him, but she hoped the odds were in her and Sophie’s favour.

Cassie strained to look as a familiar man walked down the footpath towards the car. Her heart was thumping watching Patrick walk. His head was down, and there was no way he could see her. She reached for the door handle only to hear someone calling his name. A good looking blonde girl appeared out of nowhere, running towards Patrick. Toned and tanned, it was like watching Vicki again.

Patrick grinned, pausing as the blonde ran into his arms. Cassie froze, watching as he kissed the girl tenderly, linking arms with her to keep walking.

She barely saw through the tears as she put her seatbelt back on and started the car. Patrick was fast approaching, and Cassie checked to make sure the way was clear before turning around to go home. In the rear view mirror, she could see he stopped to watch the car. He had seen it a million times before, probably recognising it. She kept going, not stopping until she was a safe distance away so she could sit and cry before the drive home.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid.” She hit the steering wheel in frustration.

He had moved on with his life. It had been nearly a year since they had seen each other. Hell, he had moved on with his life before they broke up. She took a peek at the sleeping baby beside her. “It’s just you and me kiddo.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Patrick had run after the car, sure it was Cassie’s, but to no avail. Was it her? Had she come looking for him? He had been seeing his flatmate’s sister, Melissa, but there was nothing in it. She would have seen Mel running to him and the kiss they had shared. Could that be why the car turned around? His heart still ached for Cassie.

One minute they were in love and the next she had dumped him without warning and never spoke to him again. His mother had despaired over her son, sitting in the front yard and watching the house across the road for some sign of Cassie. Whatever had split them up had hurt Cassie too as she stayed inside and he hadn’t managed to catch even a glimpse of her.

The first year at university was hard as he battled the melancholy which threatened his results. He had found it difficult to concentrate, and what usually came easily to him, he struggled with. Now, he was coming around but seeing the car had brought up so many emotions again.

Patrick hadn’t been back home to Napier, his mother had convinced him to stay in the present and not the past. All he wanted was to see her again, find out what went wrong and how to fix it.

“Patrick?” Melissa’s voice came from behind, she had run after him. He had taken off at a speed she couldn’t keep up with.

“I’m going home.”

“Aren’t we going to go and grab some dinner?”

“Not tonight, I’ve changed my mind.”

The pretty blonde looked downcast, and Patrick felt sorry for her, but he was not in the mood to flirt. “Sorry, Mel, I just have some stuff going on, and I wouldn’t be very good company. You should find another friend to take.”

She pouted. “I thought we were more than just friends.”

“Yeah well I don’t think that’s going anywhere so maybe the best thing would is not to see each other again."

Melissa stared at him. “You’re dumping me, just like that?”

“Not dumping, it’s not as if we’re serious or anything. I just have my own shit to deal with before I can be with anyone else.”

“Screw you, Patrick Cross.”

“I do, it’s not you, Mel, it’s me.”

At that, she rolled her eyes and turning on her heel, walked away from him. He shrugged and went back to staring into the distance. “Cassie,” he murmured, “was it you?”

When he told his mother, she was furious. “If it is that girl, how dare she come and disrupt your life.”

“Mum, if it were Cassie, she hardly disrupted my life. I just caught a glimpse of the car, and I’m sure it was hers.”

Her nostrils flared. “That girl put you through enough, Patrick. Don’t you dare tell me you’re going to look for her.”

“I have no idea where to start. Their old number dials disconnected. The only thing I can do is go there and talk to her parents, find out where she is.”

“Patrick, you can’t do that, you have to study. Exams are coming up. That’s what you need to concentrate on.”

Inside, Jane was still upset. She would take care of her boy, come what may but she wondered what had happened to the quiet, smart girl across the road. Patrick and Cassie’s relationship had burned fiercely for just a few weeks, and she had been sure that Patrick had found himself the right one to settle down with.

She’d always been fond of Cassie. It had been a bitter disappointment when they had drifted apart at high school age. When they were younger they’d been inseparable, and being only children, formed a solid friendship to the point that she considered Cassie to be like a daughter to her.

When Vicki came along, Jane was horrified. She was the polar opposite to Cassie, and she had been very vocal about how much she disliked her. As a result, Patrick dug in his heels and stayed with Vicki longer than he should have. By the end, he saw her for what she was. When Cassie broke up with Patrick, Jane felt it almost as much as he had. Not that she would admit it.

Patrick knew his mother was right. Cassie was an old dream, one he had to move on from, and there were a lot of cars like the one she drove. It was probably just wishful thinking.

He tried to get back into Melissa’s bed, just for the comfort she brought, but she didn’t want any part of him now. He couldn’t blame her.

After working his way through his degree, he went on to work at the hospital, finding a friend and mentor in Ethan Stone. The man was twenty years older than him and took the young doctor under his wing.

Patrick thrived under the guidance of the older surgeon whose speciality was cosmetic surgery, and he decided to follow in his mentor’s footsteps, which delighted Ethan. He had two daughters who showed no interest in pursuing their father’s profession and Patrick became almost like a son to him.

Bethany Stone was sitting outside the hospital waiting when he came out. She had been introduced to Patrick by her father in passing and Patrick had been careful not to be caught looking her over. It was hard not to, she had long brown hair and legs that seemed to go on forever.

Patrick had got through the introduction by paying as much attention to Ethan as much as possible. If Ethan noticed anything, he never said a word. He wanted a cold shower afterwards when she glanced over her shoulder as she left, shooting him a look that told him exactly what she wanted.