Doing It Over (Most Likely To #1)(60)

“Repetitive questions after a head injury are common. Most of the time they go away.”

Wyatt placed a hand on Melanie’s shoulder, she gripped it with one of hers. “Most of the time?”

“She’s already making more sense than when she first arrived. I know it’s hard, but just answer her questions and keep her calm.”

“Mommy, where am I?” Hope kept staring around the room until her eyes finally connected with his. “Uncle Wyatt?”

“Hey, princess.”

Hope gave him a strangled smile. “Miss Gina is mad.”

“We’re about to get started, Miss Bartlett. Do you want to stay here while we do this?”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Melanie sat on the edge of the bed as if proving a point.

The nurse eyed Wyatt. “We need a little more room. Would you mind stepping outside?”

Wyatt turned to Melanie. “You gonna be okay?”

“Yep.”

No . . . she wasn’t, but she was putting on a good face.

Wyatt kissed the top of her head and stepped to the doorway. Jo stood just outside, her head tilted toward her cell phone. “No, don’t,” he heard her say. “Tell them to wait until I get back. There are a few things I want them to check out before we shut this case.”

The noise of a curtain closing and the voices inside Hope’s room carried into the hall, equally distracting from the conversation Jo was having.

He heard Hope whimper and cry and Melanie console her daughter, telling her it would all be better soon.

“One night. They’ve flown all this way. Hide their car keys . . . just keep them there.”

“Ouch, ouch . . . ouch.”

“Just do it, Emery.” Jo hung up the phone and tucked it into her front shirt pocket of her uniform.

“What was that all about?” Wyatt asked.

Jo released a frustrated breath. “Nothing . . . nothing. How is she?”

“They’re setting her arm.”

They stood with an ear toward the glass door, the hustling emergency room in full swing around them.

Hope let out another cry before the doctor’s voice stated the worst was over.

From there, Jo and Wyatt listened, and waited.

“See, Hope. It feels better now, doesn’t it?”

Wyatt leaned against the wall and started to feel some of the day seep into his bones. “I could sleep for a week,” he said under his breath.

“We all can,” Jo chimed in.

One of the nurses left the room and told them it was clear for them to go back in.

Wyatt pushed the curtain back and saw a bright purple cast holding Hope’s arm in a perfect L. She’d been crying, but Melanie was whispering in her ear while the staff cleaned up the room.

“I’m going to send her to X-ray again, make sure everything looks like it should, and then I’ll check on her during rounds tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Melanie shook the man’s hand.

“Mommy?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Where’s the puppy?”

Melanie closed her eyes and shook her head. “There isn’t a puppy, honey.”

“He’s going to get hurt if we don’t find him.”

Jo leaned closer to Wyatt. “What’s she talking about?”

“A lot of questions, not all of them make sense.”

“Miss Gina’s going to be mad.”

When Hope started to repeat what he’d already heard a few times, Wyatt knew it was going to be an even longer night than the day had been.

“Miss Gina is happy you’re okay, sweetie.”

“No!” Hope’s voice rose with conviction. “Miss Gina is going to be mad if we don’t find the puppy!”

To Wyatt’s side, he saw Jo’s frame freeze.

She took a step closer to the bed. “Hope, honey?”

“Auntie Jo . . . can you find him?”

Melanie sighed again. “Hope, there isn’t any—”

Jo placed a hand on Mel’s shoulder and shook her head.

“Where’s the puppy, Hope? Did you see it?”

Hope closed her eyes as if searching behind her lids for the answer. “No. I heard it. And Miss Gina won’t be mad if we find him.”

It was then some of the pieces fell into place. Hope moving far away from the house in search of a puppy . . . down a ravine.

Hope started to close her eyes. “We should find the puppy.”

“We’ll look, honey.”

That seemed to quiet her down.

Just when they thought Hope was done talking, her next words brought the temperature in the room down twenty degrees.

“Maybe Mr. Lewis found the puppy. He’s good at finding animals.”





CHAPTER EIGHTEEN




“Who is Mr. Lewis?”

Melanie didn’t think her head, her heart, or her adrenaline could pump any faster. Then she turned to see who asked the question and realized it could all double with the presence of one man.

“Nathan.”

Jo took a step in front of the man, blocking his view. “I told you to call me when you got off the plane,” Jo scolded with her tone.