Pursued by Him (Wanted Series #4) Read online

  Pursued by Him

  Hazel Kelly

  © 2015 Hazel Kelly

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, copied, or stored in any form or by any means without permission of the author. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  All characters in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, brands, organizations, places, and situations is purely coincidental.

  “Love is a gateway to the world, not an escape from it.”

  – Mark Doty

  Chapter 1: Wyatt

  When a nurse wearing too much eyeliner came by to change Sophie’s catheter, she winced.

  I’ll never forget it. Her little face pinched around her button nose and her thin eyebrows came together. I think it must’ve been the first time I was ever relieved to see her in pain.

  A moment later, she relaxed her face again, and my stomach dropped as I saw her little fist unfold where it lay on the over bleached sheet just inches from where my hand was.

  I wished I’d been holding her hand at the time, but it all happened so fast.

  Fortunately, the young nurse saw Sophie wince, too, and started opening her eyeballs.

  I felt like I was choking on an egg. Should I have thought to do that? Was that common knowledge?

  Unfortunately, Sophie was out again like a light.

  When the nurse brought some toast a few minutes later, I was nearly passed out from the adrenaline crash that followed my little girl finally waking up and feeling something. Surely it was a good sign, even though it had been pain she felt. After all, if she could feel pain, didn’t that mean she could feel the opposite?

  “You should eat that,” she said, pointing at the damp looking toast in the clear plastic box. “It won’t keep.”

  I sat up and gasped for breath before pushing my hair out of my face.

  “And you can’t sleep here.”

  I squinted at her for a second. Her face looked blurry and familiar, but her delicate features were all overwhelmed by the coal black eyeliner shrinking her eyes in her head. “I’m good,” I said, focusing on a large spot of condensation inside the lid where it hovered over the toast.

  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to eat it or throw up in the closest garbage can.

  “My name is Hannah, by the way,” she said, smoothing her hair back and tying it in a low ponytail. “If you need anything.”

  “Is she going to wake up again?” I asked, unable to remember the last time I stood up. Was it when I was pacing last night? Or was that this morning? Maybe I should eat that toast… I raised my eyebrows. “Well?”

  Hannah smiled. “I think she will, Mr. Jones.”

  I tried to recall what I’d read about diabetic comas and brain damage and blindness. “And will she be okay?”

  She shrugged. “We’re all keeping our fingers crossed. Only time will tell.”

  I nodded and swallowed. My throat felt dry. I watched Hannah walk away and looked back at the tray hovering beside Sophie’s bed. There was an applesauce on it and a purple juice box. “Hannah!” I said, rising to my feet. But she was gone.

  The chubby little nurse who must’ve been tired of looking at me by now tapped me on the shoulder. “Can I help you, sir?”

  “My daughter and I,” I said, holding up the juice box. “We don’t like grape.”

  She raised her eyebrows, which were about the only thin thing on her.

  “We think it tastes like medicine.”

  She took it from me and walked across the room towards a water cooler.

  I looked back at Sophie and then back at the nurse.

  She opened a small fridge beside the cooler, stuck her head inside, and turned around to me. “Apple or Orange?”

  “Orange,” I said. Or would Sophie prefer apple with applesauce? Or was I going to eat that myself? Was that frowned upon?

  “Here,” the nurse said, handing me an orange juice. Then she put a hand near my elbow which seemed to be about as high up as she could comfortably reach. “You okay?”

  I nodded. “She woke up.”

  “I heard,” she said, her eyes forming little crescents. “We’re all very pleased.”

  “Thanks for all your help,” I said, looking back towards Sophie.

  “My pleasure.” She held her hand out in front of us and led me back over to Sophie’s bedside. “See this button?” she asked, pointing towards a panel on the wall over Sophie’s bed.

  “Yeah.”

  “If she wakes up again, press it.”

  I stared at the button. It was just like the one on the bus I used to take into New York for gigs. “Was I supposed to press it before?”

  She shook her head. “You don’t need to press it if a member of staff is here with you.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  She nodded and disappeared.

  And then Sophie and I were alone again with the beeping machines, which I was starting to take comfort in because at least I knew they were working. But I still couldn’t believe she woke up. It was the first sign of life she’d exhibited since the seizure when I first arrived.

  I saw a flash of red out of the corner of my eye and turned to see a red-haired nurse walk by in scrubs. Her hair was lighter than Addison’s, though, more strawberry-blonde than burnt red.

  I took a deep breath. I should’ve asked the nurse if Sophie could hear me.

  “Sophie,” I said, sliding my hand under hers. “I think if you’ll just wake up you’ll find you’re plenty rested. You’ve even put my best all time sleeping record to shame at this point.” I blew the air out between my lips. “You ready to get out of here?” I raised my eyebrows.

  Her little breathing mask fogged and unfogged. Fogged and unfogged.

  I put my other hand on top of hers. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be right here.” I looked at the red button. “Did you hear that nurse say her name was Hannah? Like your mom? Isn’t that a funny coincidence?” Now that I thought about it, they looked a bit alike, too. They had the same long hair, black rimmed eyes, and scrawny arms.

  Jesus Christ we were only kids.

  I don’t even think we were ever sober when we hooked up. Not that I wouldn’t have gotten with her if I wasn’t messed up. I just always was.

  But she was wild, too. She was always either barefoot or in leather boots, and she was one of those girls that not only didn’t have to wear a bra but considered it an afterthought.

  She wasn’t even twenty when she died.

  There was no way she meant to get pregnant. She wasn’t that kind of girl. Or at least, she didn’t want to be one for a long time, much longer than I ever thought I’d know her.

  It bothered me sometimes that I’d never know if she was still using when she was pregnant. Sophie wasn’t addicted to anything when she was born, but she was a little underweight and had always been small for her age. Then again, so was her mother.

  So small.

  The smallest little biggest thing I knew.

  But as I spread some strawberry jelly over a triangular piece of damp toast, my chest swelled with the belief that she was going to do what her mom never did.

  She was going to wake back up.

  Chapter 2: Addison

  I don’t know how long I stared at the phone after Martine hung up.

  Was I getting punked?

  Who sends someone on a romantic getaway for two weeks and then cuts it short halfway through?

  Not that it was supposed to be romantic.

  But it was.

  I sighed.

  This sucked.

  It’s not like I ever expected that I was going to get some kind of happy ending, but I might’ve
liked to have gotten laid a few more times. Was that really so much to ask? That I meet a nice guy whose kid doesn’t end up in a coma on our last date? Or even a guy with no kid at all?

  Boy could I pick ‘em. Maybe I really was better off alone.

  Not that any of this was Wyatt’s fault. And I certainly couldn’t resent him for anything he’d done with me… or to me.

  I squeezed my knees together.

  It had been nice to have them apart, though. I closed my eyes and imagined Wyatt’s big hands on me, imagined how it would feel to have him tuck my hair behind my ear and slide his hand around my hip.

  I liked how small I felt in his arms.

  My whole life, I’d always wanted to be bigger and better and faster and stronger, but with him, I just wanted to enjoy his company and see what we would get into next. Sure, he drove me crazy with his aggressive come-ons and his overwhelming conceit, but at the same time it was easy to see why he was the way he was. I mean, he really had a lot going for him, a lot more than I realized initially anyway.

  And he was a lot less boring than the suits I usually met in city bars, most of whom were so sleazy my nose crinkled at the mere thought of getting naked with them.

  But why did he have to have a kid?!

  If he was single, we might actually have a chance. I could leave the city for the weekends or he could come in and meet me for dinner someplace with soft lighting where our eyes could do the talking so he wouldn’t tick me off. And it would be fun until it fizzled out- and maybe even good for my chest pains, which had been remarkably less noticeable since he showed up and started undressing me with his eyes and hands.

  But the kid changed everything.

  No wonder he was so adamant that he wasn’t after anything serious. If he were, he’d be looking for a mother for his child, not a fuck buddy. And I couldn’t be that for him.

  My idea of spontaneity was not deciding which recorded television show I was going to watch until I got in bed or ordering something off the endangered fish list. I was hardly role model worthy. I couldn’t do homework or teach a little girl anything worthwhile. I’d barely managed to survive my own childhood.

  Hopefully she would, too.

  God she was only a little thing, her hair still thin as a duckling’s and her shins covered in little bruises from treating the world like a jungle gym. Surely it wasn’t her time.

  After all, despite the ache in my gut that was starting to form over the fact that I might never see Wyatt again, I didn’t want him to lose her, to go through that. Because as much as I didn’t believe in true love, there was something undeniably powerful about the color he was in the hospital, about the way he held his own hand as he leaned over in the waiting room, about the look in his brother’s eye when he thanked me for not leaving before his family showed up.

  His family.

  He had a support network, and they hadn’t let him down. I didn’t need to worry about him. He and Sophie would be fine. And whatever we had would always be a pleasant memory.

  Better to have loved and lost as they say…

  Not that the things we did could necessarily be confused with love, but they were extremely pleasant in their own right.

  Meanwhile, I didn’t have a family to rely on. The only support I had was my job, which was why I knew I’d be ready and waiting for the car that was going to come for me in the morning, even if I did feel decidedly duped and betrayed by Debbie at the moment.

  Still, if figuring out how to outshine Chris the brownnosing twat waffle was what I needed to do instead of daydreaming about Wyatt and whether I’d ever get a chance to kiss him again, then that’s what I would have to focus on.

  Unless…

  I slid off the bed and walked over to the chair in the corner where my purse was lying.

  I took out my wallet and counted my cash. Fifty six bucks. The ride back here from the hospital was eighty five plus tip.

  Even if I hadn’t tipped the guy, I wouldn’t even be close.

  I bet there was a cash machine at the hospital, though, right? Not that I could recall having seen one.

  But what if I got there and Wyatt wasn’t there and there was no ATM? If only I’d accepted some money from his brother for the ride, I’d have enough to get back now.

  To make sure he was okay.

  How close was the nearest gas station? Maybe I could catch a cab from there if it wasn’t too far to walk. Then again, that sounded like the kind of thing someone might do right before they went missing.

  I sighed.

  I knew he wasn’t my problem, but was I just supposed to disappear without finding out what happened?

  It’s not like I could leave a note.

  For all I knew, Deborah was going to come up to the cabin next week and that’s why she wanted me out. Or maybe she was going to let a friend use it. Either way, I couldn’t figure out anything a note could say that wouldn’t clearly give away the fact that there was no one home.

  Plus, it was probably naïve to think he would look for me.

  We only went on two sort of dates, and while our trysts far exceeded my expectations, it would be ridiculous to assume they were exceptional by his standards.

  I slumped on the chair, stared at the crumpled money in my hand, and shook my head.

  I guess it was fun while it lasted.

  And considering the fact that I was probably minutes away from forming a life threatening ulcer over the fact that I hadn’t thought about work all week and had two days to prepare for the biggest meeting of my life, maybe it was best that I stop thinking about him.

  Just like he stopped thinking about me the second he found out Sophie was in the hospital… and how he stopped thinking about the band the second he found out she was his.

  Wow.

  I couldn’t imagine compromising like that, couldn’t imagine walking away from something I’d worked so hard for out of love for someone else. But maybe love was a real thing and not just an ancient myth that kept people going to the movie theatre.

  Who the fuck knew?

  I certainly didn’t.

  And I doubted anyone else did either.

  Of course, part of me wished I could say no. Part of me wished I could call my boss back, tell her I was going to take the rest of my arranged vacation days, and say I would be available to review the notes of Friday’s meeting in a week’s time.

  Which actually made me laugh because saying no to my boss had never even occurred to me before.

  What would she do?

  Maybe she would respect me for it.

  Unfortunately, that wasn’t a risk I could take.

  I needed that promotion as much as I needed Chris to not get it, as much as I needed Sophie to wake up, and as much as I needed Wyatt’s arms around me now, the smell of his sweat filling my nostrils and making me lightheaded and horny at the same time.

  Maybe I could leave my card in the floorboards of the porch he was still planning to stain.

  Or maybe I could look him up online when I got back to a wifi hotspot.

  Either way, I hoped Sophie would wake up soon and bring that sexy smile back to his face.

  Chapter 3: Wyatt

  She was pulling on my ear lobe. “Daddy.”

  I sat up. My tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth. I threw my arms around her. “Sophie, honey!” It took everything I had not to squeeze her too hard.

  A moment later, I remembered the red button and lunged for it.

  When I looked down, her oxygen mask was pulled up over her forehead.

  “I need you to put this back on,” I said, reaching for it.

  She covered her face. “But it’s making a dent in my nose,” she said, dragging her finger between her eyes.

  I moved her little hands and pulled the mask down. “Just for a second.”

  “Sophie!” Hannah said, appearing at the end of the bed dewy with bronzer. “How are you feeling?”

  A young Indian doctor and a young Asian doctor came around t
he corner. I looked around, trying to figure out if I was in some kind of sitcom. The round nurse was at the end of the bed a second later.

  Had I thanked her for the juice box?

  I watched from a few feet away while the doctors took turns talking to Sophie and taking blood samples. Naturally, she was completely unfazed, which didn’t surprise me. She was no stranger to taking shots. She’d been giving them to herself since she first went to school. Karen always thought that was why she was so maternal.

  Speaking of Karen, would she have let go of Gigi’s hand to let the sitcom doctors get closer?

  “Dad,” Sophie said. “Can we go home now?”

  I opened my mouth and raised my eyebrows.

  Hannah shot me a look from the head of the bed while she replaced a bag of liquid that was feeding into my daughter.

  Should I ask her what the fuck she was doing? Should I ask for these people’s credentials?

  “Not just yet, honey,” I said. “Soon, though.”

  “Can I have something to drink?” Sophie asked, seeming comically comfortable with being the center of attention.

  I spun around and walked straight for the small fridge, grabbed an orange juice, and had the little straw poked in the top by the time her hand wrapped around it.

  I felt like a million bucks having finally done something to help. Meanwhile, none of the prodding doctors paid me a moment’s notice.

  Until I felt the round faced nurse’s hand on my shoulder. “The doctors are going to run some tests on Sophie. Let’s go tell your brother the good news that she’s awake.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “He’s still here?”

  She nodded. “The rest of your family went home last night.”

  I nodded, reaching forward to squeeze Sophie’s foot where it was covered by the sheets. “I’ll be right back, honey. I’m just going to go tell Uncle Austin you’re awake.”

  She sighed like a sixteen year old. "Fine.”

  I turned and followed the nurse to the waiting room.

  Austin stood up as soon as he saw me. His eyebrows were up to his hairline.