No One But You (Silver Springs #2)(114)

Sadie didn’t get the chance to respond. The doctor had walked in. “Is there a Sadie Harris here?”

She stood up again. “Yes. I’m Sadie Harris.”

“Dawson is asking for you,” he said.

She swallowed against a suddenly dry throat. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I had quite a time removing that bullet from his shoulder, but I managed, and because I managed, he should make a full recovery. He just needs to rest up.”

Sadie smiled in relief as she turned to Chief Thomas. “He’s going to be fine.”

Thomas returned her smile as he got to his feet. “I think he’s going to be even better than fine once you tell him the good news.”

“You’re not going to tell him?” she asked in surprise.

“No. I’ll leave that to you. I’m going home.”

She tried to return his coat, but he refused to take it.

“Bring it by the station tomorrow or the next day. There’s no rush.”

“Thank you,” she said. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am that...that you were there tonight. We thought you...”

“I know what you thought.” His voice carried a trace of disappointment as he continued, “I didn’t want to show any doubt in my men, in case I was wrong. Something like this is...well, it’s so unfortunate, especially now, with the way people are feeling toward law enforcement.”

“You’re not all like Sly,” she said.

“I’m glad you realize that—and I’m happy it worked out as well as it did for you and Dawson.”

She put out her hand to shake with him. “It only worked out because you did your job. Thanks again.”





Epilogue


Angela was standing in front of Stanley DeWitt with her luggage and Megan by her side when Sadie and Dawson pulled into the parking lot. Dawson’s sister recognized his truck the second it came into view and started to wave wildly.

“Look how excited she is.” Sadie chuckled as she slowed to avoid another car that was coming down the row from the opposite direction. She was driving, since Dawson was barely out of the hospital. He should’ve been resting in bed, but he said he wouldn’t disappoint Angela by not showing up to get her.

“She won’t be happy when she realizes we don’t have Jayden with us,” he said as he used his left hand, since he couldn’t use his right, to wave back at her.

They’d had to leave Jayden with Petra. Four people couldn’t fit in Dawson’s truck or Sadie’s El Camino. Dawson was already talking about buying a sedan capable of fitting the entire “family,” though, so Sadie knew that wouldn’t continue to be a problem.

She came to a stop at the curb and put the gearshift in Park. “I’ll go grab him as soon as we get back, so she’ll get to see him soon.”

“Dawson!” Angela cried and would’ve thrown herself at him as soon as he got out if Sadie hadn’t intervened.

“Whoa! Be gentle, okay? Dawson’s hurt right now,” she explained.

His sister frowned at the evidence—she couldn’t see the big bandage under his shirt, but she could see that his arm was in a sling. “You told me you were okay, Dawson. You were in the hospital, but you said it wasn’t a big owie.” Her tone came off accusatory, as if his getting hurt had been intentional.

“It’s nothing, honey. I’ll heal, with time. I just have to be careful not to pull out my stitches, or I’ll start to bleed again.”

“I don’t like blood,” she said.

“Neither do I,” he responded.

She eyed him speculatively, as if she was deciding how much to believe. “What are stitches?”

He pulled the neck of his T-shirt over to show her the bandage. “I’ve got some threads holding my skin together under here.”

“Can you take off your shirt so I can see it all?”

“Not right now. It’s covered by bandages, anyway.” He gave her the best one-armed hug he could, but she seemed upset in spite of the excitement she’d exhibited only moments before.

“What is it?” he asked.

“You’re not going to die like Mom and Dad, are you? You’re not going away again...”

“No, I’m not going away again. Ever. I’m just fine.”

“Are they coming back?”

He shot Sadie a sad look before answering his sister. “No. But I’ll show you where you can visit them whenever you miss them.”

“I miss them now,” she said.

He nodded. “So do I.”

Sadie and Megan had to insist that Dawson not try to load the luggage himself. They took care of that while he went in to handle the paperwork.

“It’s all done,” he said when he came out. “We’re free to go.”

“I bet there were moments when you thought this day would never happen,” Megan said to him.

“There were a lot of them,” he admitted.

They thanked her before loading up and starting off for Silver Springs.

“Can I have an ice cream cone?” Angela asked almost as soon as they pulled out of the parking lot.

She knew her brother was a soft touch, and she was taking immediate advantage of that, but Sadie would’ve indulged her, too, so she couldn’t point any fingers at Dawson. They stopped at a shop and enjoyed the Los Angeles sunshine a little before starting the drive home. After that, Angela tolerated the drive for about an hour before she started asking, “How much longer?” and “When are we going to be there?”