* * * *
“Sweetheart, I need you try and stay with us. Look at me.”
Tabitha blinked at the bright lights, trying to do what the doctor was telling her. “I’m sick.”
“I know. We’re helping you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, because help sounded like something she was in desperate need of.
She closed her eyes again.
“Oh no.” A hand grabbed her face. “We’re staying awake.”
Tabitha blinked again. “Okay.”
“Do you know who did this to you?”
“Did what?”
“Do you remember anything?”
Tabitha fought to focus, and when she did, flashes of Vaughn over her flitted through her fogged mind. She lashed out, trying to push him away.
“Honey, no, you’re in the hospital. Calm down.” The voice was anxious but kind.
Nothing like Vaughn.
Tabitha stopped fighting. She didn’t know how long she drifted on the wake of semiconsciousness before she heard the same voice say, “I need a rape kit, Carla. Someone needs to put a call into the police. This isn’t just an overdose. That’s crap. This girl was drugged.”
“No,” Tabitha rasped past the burn in her throat, because she understood that if nothing else. “You can’t call the police.”
“Honey, we have to call the police. You don’t know how badly hurt you are.”
“No.” Tabitha blinked and fought for clarity, but it was as if her mind was stuffed with cotton, and her tongue felt leaden. “Wyatt’s the police.”
“What?” The face of a middle-aged woman with soft eyes swam into view before she turned back to whoever she was talking to. “Where’s the rape kit? Tell Daniel to get the call in to Garnet. That’s where she came in from, right?”
“No!” She tried to sit up.
“Calm down. I want you to take long, easy breaths. We’re here for you.”
“Wyatt’s the police,” she repeated and then reached out for the lady’s hand. There were all sorts of tubes in the way, and she couldn’t get it. “You can’t tell him.”
“Who’s Wyatt? Is he the one who did this to you?”
Tabitha shook her head, but it made her stomach lurch, and she started gagging instead. They turned her when she started throwing up. It was horrible and tasted like a dirty fire.
“We had to pump your stomach while you were out. You’re gonna be throwing up for a while, I’m afraid.”
“I’m dying,” Tabitha whispered when she looked down and saw she was throwing up black.
“No, you’re not dying. We’re here to make sure of that.”
It wasn’t such a horrible concept, dying. She had the thought of just giving in and embracing it rather than fighting for a life that had never been that kind to her, but there had been a few highlights.
Wyatt
. She had to make sure they didn’t tell him.
“Dr. Swartz, the police are here.”
“Already?”
“He said he was her husband. It’s Sheriff Conner’s son. Wyatt.”
There was a stunned silence in the room before the woman who had been helping Tabitha whispered, “Oh shit.”
“Wyatt’s the police,” Tabitha said frantically, hoping to convey all the horrors telling him would create. “He’s the police. Wyatt is.”
She wanted to say more, but she started throwing up instead.
“Okay, don’t worry about it. I got you.” The woman held her head, her gloved hands gentle on Tabitha’s head. “You tell him to sit in the waiting room, and when I get her stabilized, I’ll speak with them.”
“They weren’t so keen on waiting. He’s got the sheriff with him.”
“Well, this ain’t a sheriff’s office. It’s my emergency room, and I say they got to wait.”
“You can’t tell him,” Tabitha whispered when she stopped throwing up. “You can’t tell Wyatt.”
“Let’s focus on you. Don’t worry about it right now.”
“No.” Tabitha started crying when she thought of what Wyatt would do if he found out. “I love him.”
The doctor stroked Tabitha’s hair. “I know.”
“He’ll ruin his life.”
“Okay.”
“Save him for me,” Tabitha whispered with a desperate sob. “Please save him for me. I know you don’t know me, but please save him for me.”
“Oh honey, you’re breaking my heart.”
“He says dumb things, but he doesn’t mean them.” Tabitha whispered the last part for herself and then somehow managed to grab the woman’s hand. She squeezed it tightly and fought to keep her in focus for Wyatt’s sake. She willed the wires in her brain to start working and made a deliberate attempt to speak slowly and clearly. “If you tell him, he will do something that will put him in prison. You
cannot
tell him.”
“Isn’t he the fighter?” someone else in the room asked. “One of those cage fighters?”
“Yes.” Tabitha was still trying to keep her words even, but her stomach was lurching, and all she managed to get out was, “Fighter.”
“We got it. We know what you’re saying. I’ll take care of it.” She stroked her face again. “I got your back, darlin’.”
Somehow, Tabitha knew she wasn’t lying, and the next time she threw up, it wasn’t quite so violent. She just let the poison come up, willing it to take all the horrible, hazy memories with it.
“Is her family out there?”
“They left.”
“
They left
?” The woman’s voice was completely incredulous.
“When they saw the sheriff pull up, they just got up and walked out.”
There was another stunned silence in the room before the doctor sighed. “Yeah, I bet they did.”
“Save Wyatt,” Tabitha whispered one more time before she felt her eyes getting heavy again. “Okay?”
“Okay,” the doctor whispered bitterly. “We couldn’t save you, but we’ll save Wyatt tonight. That’s fair.”
* * * *
“How hard is it to get a status update?”
“Sheriff—”
“No,” Wyatt’s father barked. “He’s her husband. That means he’s got legal rights to know what the hell is going on with his wife. You go find a doctor who knows what’s going on, and then drag their ass out here to give us a real status. We’ve been waiting for almost two hours. I’m done.”
“They know you’re waiting.”
“Listen to me, darlin’.” His father leaned in closer to the lady behind the desk, his voice shaking in anger. “I promised my son I would get him to see his wife. Now either you’re gonna make it happen, or I’m gonna go back there and do it for you. Got it?”
She stood up from behind the desk. “Fine, I’ll go check on her.”
“Thank you.” He leaned back against the desk and folded his arms over his chest as he looked to Wyatt. “You okay?”
Wyatt shook his head silently. He had moved past tears and was into raw shock and horror. He’d thrown up twice since getting to the hospital, and his stomach was still churning. Until this moment, he wouldn’t have been able to comprehend something destroying him this intensely.
As long as Tabitha lived through this, Wyatt told himself, he could survive everything.
Please, God, let her live.
He dropped his head back into hands and stayed there, wishing he had Jules with him. Going through this without his twin made it worse, as if that was possible.
“Sheriff Conner.”
Wyatt jerked his head up, looking to the doctor who walked around the corner. She had short dark hair and a wan smile for them when Wyatt jumped to his feet.
“Wyatt,” she said as she tilted her head back to look up at him. She appeared to be studying him with a keen eye before she shook her head. “I see what she’s talking ’bout.”
“Was she asking for me?” Wyatt asked quickly. “Is she okay? You need to let me go see her.”
She held up her hand. “We have a room where we can discuss this. Follow me.”
Wyatt saw his father pale, but he recovered quickly. His father grabbed his arm when something in Wyatt wanted to stop. What if she told him Tabitha was gone in that room?
“Is she dead?” Wyatt asked quickly. “If she is, just—”
“She’s not dead,” she interrupted him. “I believe she’ll recover. Now would you like to follow me?”
“O-okay,” Wyatt stuttered and then followed the doctor when she turned without another word.
Once she had ushered Wyatt and his father into a private room with a couch and some chairs, she gestured for them to sit. That didn’t bode well, but they both sat because this woman had a way about her that demanded attention.
“Your wife had an unfortunate incident with taking too much medication. It happens sometimes when people don’t read the medicine boxes properly,” she went on in a very calm, conscientious voice. “We pumped her stomach and are giving her drugs to counteract the negative effects to her body.”
“What drugs?”
“I’m afraid it’s a private matter, and the patient has asked that it not be shared.”
“That’s bullshit!” his father shouted. “If he’s her husband, he has a right to know. She’s not in any condition to make medical decisions for herself.”
“She has a mother, doesn’t she?”
“Her mother?” Wyatt barked. “You’re going to turn her medical care over to her instead of me?”
“Yeah, this is all kinds of illegal!” his father agreed. “And trust me, I know her mother. She ain’t fit to take care of herself, let alone her daughter. Either you start giving us real answers, or we’re gonna get a lawyer in here faster than you can say lawsuit.”
“How long have you been married to her, Wyatt?” the doctor asked curiously. “Because none of the forms her family filled out had your name on them.”
“F-four days,” Wyatt said, wishing he had a better answer.
“I believe she would be within her legal rights to get that marriage annulled if you start stomping all over her medical wishes,” the doctor countered. “I would give the very real and honest advice to both of you that pushing this is going to create a whole lot of complications you don’t want. Your best hope for saving your marriage is to drop it. Step back for a little while. Let your wife heal, and then go from there.”
“Why doesn’t she want me to know?” Wyatt scowled at her. “What is it? If she just took something, that’s not—”
“Go home, Wyatt.”
“No!” Wyatt shouted. “I’m not leaving until I see her!”
“She doesn’t want to see you.” The doctor held up her hands. “I’m sorry. She was very adamant about it. I’m not going to force a patient who is in a fragile medical state into a situation that would cause her stress. If you have to sue me, then so be it.”
“It was just a fight! People fight!” Wyatt yelled, his voice echoing off the stark, white walls. “Tell her I’m sorry. Sometimes I say dumb shit, but she knows I don’t mean it. She knows that about me!”
“I believe she does.” The doctor smiled, and Wyatt could have sworn he saw tears in her eyes, but then she turned away and ran a hand through her hair. “I’ll tell her what you said.”
“This can’t happen,” Wyatt said frantically. “I love that girl in there more than air. She can’t be sick, and I can’t be out here while she’s in there. I’m supposed to be with her.”
The doctor opened up the door and gestured to it. “Let her be for now. Give her a night to heal. In the morning things may be better.”
“Come on, Wy.” His father nudged his arm. “We’ll go home. I’ll call my lawyer first thing in the morning. This ain’t over.”
Wyatt stayed on the couch stubbornly. “I can wait for her in the waiting room, right? I can stay there until she’s released. I can stay there for a week if I have to. I need to see her.”
“Wyatt,” the doctor said softly. “What you don’t know is that you have an angel looking out for you. Why not make all her effort worthwhile and go home for tonight?”
“What?” Wyatt frowned, feeling like this doctor was speaking another language.
“Someone loves you. Be thankful.”
“Did Tabitha say she loves me?” Wyatt pressed.
“Yes, Wyatt, she did.” The doctor nodded. “But she wants you to go home.”
Wyatt threw up his hands in defeat and then stood because he didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize Tabitha’s health. “I guess.”
“Okay.” She smiled, and again, her eyes appeared watery as she opened the door wider.
Wyatt walked out behind his father, but then he turned back and grabbed the doctor’s arm. “Listen to me, Doc. You tell Tabitha I love her. Tell her I’m sorry. Tell her that I will spend the rest of my life making this up to her. All she needs to do is come back to me.”
She nodded. “I’ll tell her.”
* * * *
It was the first time in Wyatt’s life his father broke a promise to him.
He didn’t get to see her again.
Tabitha never came back to him.
Two days after her overdose, Terry showed up at their doorstep. He looked tired and worn thin, but Wyatt didn’t have any sympathy for him. He had been sick with grief for days.
“Is she with you?” Wyatt barked, wondering why he hadn’t thought of Terry in the first place. “I went to her house because the hospital told me they’d discharged her, but her brother said she left and—”
“She was with me,” Terry said hesitantly. “I picked her up from the hospital last night.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you call me?” Wyatt yelled at him. “I’ve been puking my guts up for two days. What the hell is wrong with you? Is she okay?
Where is she
?”
“She—” Terry sighed and looked past Wyatt to Jules and Clay standing behind him. “She left, Wyatt. I took her to the airport. She wanted to leave.”
“Over an argument?” A crazed laugh burst out of Wyatt. “One fight in all this time, and she leaves me. This is bullshit! Something ain’t right. I don’t buy it. Where was she going?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.” Terry shrugged. “She said I’d tell you.”
“We can track plane records,” Jules cut in. “We can find a way. We ain’t even certain she’s medically sound. That hospital is looking at a big lawsuit.”
“She wanted me to give you this.” Terry handed him an envelope. “I’m sorry, Wyatt.”
Wyatt looked at the envelope in his hand, already knowing he didn’t want to open it. “This ain’t happening,” he whispered as he flipped it over, seeing his name written in Tabitha’s neat handwriting. “This is a breakup letter.”
Terry shrugged again as tears welled up in his eyes. He wiped at his cheeks hastily and said, “Yeah, Wyatt, it probably is. I really am sorry. You have no idea how much.”