Letters from Home (Love Beyond Reason #1)(24)

He patted his breast pockets, pulled a cigar, unwrapped it, and tucked it between his lips.

“I’m ninety-nine percent sure of who it is.”

“Then I’ll go for the one percent.”

She opened her mouth to object again, but he’d opened the front door and was already outside. Catalina snickered from her spot at the top of the steps. She wanted to go, too, but Lena had put her foot down. “Good luck,” her sister called out. Lena had the urge to slam the door as she left, but managed to keep her head.

It didn’t matter who was there. The whole town could be there. But her stomach messed with her, sending signals of nervous anticipation through her blood.

She glanced at her dad, the unlit cigar now in the corner of his mouth. He wasn’t exactly the silent partner in her parents’ marriage, but mom had always been more vocal. Unless it was a matter of safety and protection. She should have known. Yet even thrown for a loop by his presence this morning, she loved him for it.

“Do you think I’m being stupid?”

He grunted a response with a shrug.

“Is that a yes or a no?”

“No.”

Lena nodded, but she knew there was more he wasn’t saying.

He pulled the truck into the parking lot and found a spot where he could see the gazebo. “I’ll wait here.”

Lena checked her phone as she walked the short distance to the wooden structure. She’d wondered if Zack would call her when he woke and found her gone. So far, no. She faced south. Main Street headed north on her right, curving by the park toward the east, giving her a perfect view of whomever she was about to meet. Her phone stayed quiet. She stood, closing her eyes. The smell of cigar drifted on the morning air, comforting her.

Traffic rumbled up and down the street, even though it was Christmas Day. Off to her left a pair of birds fluttered and chirped, welcoming the morning sun. Lena opened her eyes and saw him.

Zack.

Her heart pounded. She’d known it. How could it have been anyone else? And she’d been right. Zack was here for her. She grinned, forcing herself to stay at the gazebo. The right hand blinker of his sporty little car came on.

Dad laid on the horn, opened his door, and stood on the running board. But he wasn’t watching Zack’s car. He had his eye on a truck, baring down from the north, swerving back and forth on the road. The thwap of uneven rubber on the black top—a flat tire.

Zack pulled to the right and slowed almost to a stop in the turning lane, but the truck was moving too fast. Her grin crumbled as she realized the driver was slumped over his steering wheel.

“Zack!” she screamed even as she ran toward the two vehicles.

It happened so fast, the ungodly clash of metal filling her head as the truck slammed into Zack’s car. Glass fell to the ground in a symphony of bell-like sounds, followed by the screech of Zack’s car sliding over the concrete.

“Stay back,” her dad yelled.

She was almost there. Almost to him. “Zack!” she cried. A hand on her arm stopped her. She shook it off, intent on getting to the man she loved.

“Call 9-1-1. Lena!” Papi grabbed her. Shook her by her shoulders. She realized she was crying. But a crowd had started forming, and other people had their phones out, too.

Lena wiped her eyes. “Let me go, Papi. I’m a doctor.”

They went together, and her dad opened the passenger door. He leaned in and turned off the car. He spoke a few words, too, but she couldn’t hear. Hope blossomed. “Is he awake? Are you talking to him?”

Her dad didn’t answer right away. She tugged on his jacket. “Let me see, let me help him.”

“There’s a pulse and he’s breathing.”

Ducking her head, she could see blood pouring down his face.

“I hear the sirens. The ambulance is coming.”

She pulled off her jacket, her sweater, and then her cotton camisole, ignoring her father’s protests. She quickly pulled her sweater back over her head and entered the car, using the soft cotton of her undershirt to put pressure on the wound above his eye. Keep talking. That’s what she did for all her patients. “Hey, Zack. I hate to tell you, but I knew it was going to be you.”

His eyes remained closed. She lifted his eyelids one at a time. Ay, Dios mío. His left pupil was larger. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest, but she held the panic in check.

“They’re not going to be able to get you out of here.” A glance at the floor boards showed the deep buckling of the undercarriage. “Looks like you got your legs in a bind.”

She reached down and felt the length of one leg and then the other. “No blood. That’s good, Zack.”

Her lips trembled. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Miss, I’m going to need you to get out of there, now.”

She’d lost Podolski, she couldn’t let anything happen to Zack. “He’s got a concussion and laceration of the supraorbital artery. I need to keep pressure on it.” She couldn’t leave him. What if something happened? What if he regained consciousness and she wasn’t there?

“Elena.” Her dad. She felt a firm hand on her shoulder “Please. You’ve done your job, now let these men do theirs.”

She turned and saw the concern in his eyes. He nodded. She placed a kiss on Zack’s temple and let her fingers trace the swell of his lips. “Don’t you dare leave me, Zack Benson,” she whispered.