A Billionaire's Redemption(38)

Gabe? Is that you?” Melinda called out from her room.

Drat.

Busted,” the nurse whispered sympathetically.

If there’s any word on Willa Merris, will you come rescue me?”

The nurse nodded conspiratorially. Steeling himself to endure one of Melinda’s patented tirades, he stepped into her room. But his heart was in another part of the building entirely.





Chapter 16

Willa started as she opened her eyes and was surrounded by nothing but white. Had she died? “Where am I?” she asked experimentally.

A disembodied voice answered, “You’re in an MRI machine, Miss Merris. Please don’t move. We’re almost done.”

I’m alive, then?”

Very much so.”

That was good, at any rate. “How did I get here?”

An orderly wheeled you down here on a gurney.”

No. I mean to the hospital.”

Mr. Dawson brought you in.”

So, she hadn’t imagined that dream of him cradling her with his body and climbing out of hell with her. Except it hadn’t been hell. It had been outside, though. She remembered feeling a breeze on her skin. And the acrid taste of limestone dust.

Something bad had happened.... She tried to remember, but only snatches came back to her. Strange laughter echoing around her. Someone pushing her. No, not her. She frowned and tried hard to remember. Her car. Someone pushed her car.

Abruptly, memory exploded of standing on her brake pedal with all her strength while her little car slid over the edge of a cliff on the way to Lover’s Point.

Oh!” she exclaimed. She tried to sit up, but something restrained her.

Please, ma’am. Don’t move.”

Someone tried to kill me. I remember now!”

A pause. “Who?”

I don’t know. A car. No. A van.”

A van tried to kill you?” the voice asked doubtfully.

Well, obviously not the van itself. Someone in a van. It hit me and then pushed me off the road.”

I’ll notify the police, ma’am. But please lie still.”

She subsided, impatient for the stupid MRI to end. “Where’s Gabe?”

Mr. Dawson?”

Yes, yes,” she answered impatiently.

He’s waiting for you. You can see him as soon as you’re done.”

And just like that, everything was all right. She was alive. Gabe was alive. He’d saved her like he always did, and he was nearby. Her knight in shining armor. Warm, soft, joyous feelings flooded her. This so had to be love. She loved him. Overwhelmed and overjoyed at the notion, she relaxed until a technician came to wheel her out of the MRI machine.

Her first words were, “Can I see him now? Can I see Gabe?”

I’ll tell the doctor you’re asking for him.”

But she was wheeled into a room and hooked up to a bunch of machines, and still there was no sign of him.

A new doctor came in and announced, “Your MRI looks good. There don’t appear to be any serious internal injuries. I think we can safely say you’re going to make a full recovery.” He shined a bright flashlight into both of her eyes and added, “We’re going to keep you here for observation overnight, though, because you hit your head and were unconscious for an extended period of time. It’s just a precaution. Is there anyone we should notify?”

A deep voice said from the doorway, “Consider me notified, doctor.”

Her heart leaped, and she smiled at Gabe. Even through the bright spots dancing in front of her eyes from the doctor’s flashlight, Gabe was beautiful. His jaw had a long scratch on it, and he was moving carefully, but he was still her Gabe.

She held out her arms to him and he brushed past the doctor to gather her in his embrace. Tears of joy overflowed her eyes.

Hey, no need to cry, baby. You’re going to be fine,” Gabe murmured into her hair.

I’m not sad,” she whispered back. “I’m happy. To see you and to be alive. I knew you’d save me.”

His arms tightened around her. He spoke over her head. “Does she get a clean bill of health besides the knock on her noggin, doc?”

Yes, sir.”

His arms tightened even more, but she didn’t care one bit that he was squeezing the stuffing out of her. For a while there, she’d been pretty sure she wasn’t getting off that mountain alive. The doctor slipped out of the room, for which she was entirely grateful. There was something she needed to tell Gabe, and she darned well didn’t want an audience when she did it.

She hesitated, nervous, and opted for a circuitous approach to the topic on her mind. “I thought I was done for up there.”

God, Will. I’m so sorry I didn’t get to you sooner. I was no more than a mile away when I had to turn around and go back to town. If only I had known you were out there—” He buried his face in her hair and took a shaky breath.

Why did he have to return to town? She would normally have asked, but she didn’t want to get sidetracked. “I had a little while to think about my life in between bouts of unconsciousness.”

Reach any conclusions?” he asked.

Actually, yes. I realized how much I trust you. And depend on you. I think of you as my knight in shining armor.”

He laughed a little, sounded embarrassed. “Well, maybe I’m an old knight in dented and tarnished armor.” He added teasingly, “To heck with a horse. I charge to rescue in a Cadillac.”

Nonetheless, you saved my life. I can never thank you enough.”

Willa, if something had happened to you—” He didn’t finish the sentence. After a moment he said soberly, “Believe me, saving you was as much for my benefit as yours. If something bad had happened to you...” he tried again. Still no conclusion to that thought other than his arms crushing her until she squeaked for air.

What I’m trying to say, Gabe, is that I think I lo—”

A commotion at the door stopped her on the verge of declaring her love for him. Gabe looked up sharply at the same time he leaned over her protectively. Two large, black-shirted men barged into the room in a rush. Her security guards. The poor guys looked nearly as frazzled and glad to see her alive as Gabe had.

And speaking of Gabe, he glared past her at the two men. “Yeah,” he said grimly, “you’re fired.”

Gabe!” she exclaimed.

Baby, you almost died tonight. You shouldn’t have been on that road alone and upset. You wouldn’t have gone over the edge, otherwise.”

Uhh, actually, I would have,” she said in a small voice.

All three men stared at her. “What do you mean?” Gabe asked ominously.

There was a van. It pushed me off the road. Well, it hit me first. Rear-ended me. And I hit my brakes. That’s when it pushed me over the edge.”

As in it hit you a second time?” Gabe exclaimed.

No. As in it drove up behind me, put its bumper against mine and the driver stood on the gas until he shoved me off the edge of the road.

The two security men all but jumped down her throat. “What did the van look like? Did you get a license plate? What did the driver look like?” At a terse nod from Gabe, their cell phones came out and both men talked fast into them.

When the guards came up for air, she said wryly, “I guess my guards are rehired, then?”

Gabe nodded reluctantly, but added to the men, “Just so we’re clear, gentlemen. One strike and you’re out. No more screwups.”

Roger that, Mr. Dawson,” the taller of the two men agreed.

The security team went through their questions again, more slowly this time. She described the van as best she could, which wasn’t actually in much detail. She hadn’t seen the driver at all, nor had she spotted a license plate before it was plastered against her rear bumper.

As their questions wound down, she added slowly, “I have this weird memory of laughter. At least I think it was laughter.” She described the maniacal sound echoing around her as she lay in her mangled car.

Gabe and the security men exchanged significant looks. “Okay, Willa. It’s time to tell us about every enemy you have. Anyone who might have any reason to harm you,” Gabe said gently.

She frowned. “I don’t have any enemies.”

That’s not exactly true,” Gabe responded soberly. “There’s James Ward, for one. He’s pretty pissed off at you.”

She winced. “I think his mother is madder than he is.”

Gabe nodded at the guard who was taking notes on a tablet computer. “Good point. Roseanne Ward goes on the list, too.”

The second guard asked encouragingly, “Who has given you a dirty look recently or said something nasty to you or hated something you’ve done?”

Willa sighed. “Just about everybody.”

Like who?” the guy prompted.