Breaking Bedrock (Book Two) (22 page)

That night Patrick had spotted his mother, who was
severely hypothermic and not too far from death, walking along the side of the
road. He pulled over, put her in the car, and drove them to the nearest house
to call for help but hadn’t spoken to her since. He hadn’t visited her in the
hospital nor returned her calls. To tell the truth, at the moment, he wasn’t
quite sure whether he ever wanted to speak to her again. When all the facts
came out, he’d just grown more and more furious at her for what she had put his
family through. He didn’t know how he could possibly ever trust her again. His
father had suffered a heart attack and spent one night in the hospital but
seemed to be recovering well in his temporary apartment. Patrick had heard that
Penny had visited him there a few times, but from what he gathered, his dad
didn’t seem ready to move back home anytime soon.

Michele was feeling better and had been staying with Patrick at
his place since he’d had to care for the boys for the past week and a half
while Addison recovered. The boys seemed to be doing well. They were worried
about Addison, of course, but thankfully, they didn’t really know all that much
about what had taken place that night, other that their mother had gotten hurt.
Michele had been a tremendous help with them, and they seemed to have taken a
liking to her. Patrick took them to see their mother, daily, who was currently
still in hospital, learning to function on her own again. She’d suffered broken
ribs and a broken arm in addition to a severe head injury. Hammons had
apparently been able to deliver quite a few blows to her head before Hartman
could get a clear enough shot. The docs told Patrick that headaches seemed to
be improving some but she still couldn’t be exposed to much light and noise
seemed to really bother her. She was always glad to see the kids, and although
Patrick hated taking them there to see their mother like that, he believed it
was helping with her recovery, and the boys were just as happy to see Addie, as
she was to see them. They’d proudly decorated her room with flowers, pictures,
and cards that Michele had helped them make.

Patrick had mostly been able to work from home but was set to go
back to work within the next few days, which he looked forward to. The only
good thing to come out of any of this was that his family’s situation had
garnered so much attention lately that the higher-ups had decided not to
transfer him after all, despite his and Michele’s relationship.

Speaking of their relationship, it had been so far so good, and
while he couldn’t say exactly what the future might hold, he knew he wanted to
be there for his daughter the way he’d been for the boys. He loved Michele in
his own way. It was just hard sometimes to imagine what their life together
would be like after spending over a decade loving Addison, but he knew he had
to try, not only for the baby on its way but also because Addison herself had
so clearly moved on and it was probably time that he did the same.

Addie shook her head at the nurse’s insistence that she
eat. She wasn’t hungry, she promised her, but the nurse kept at it until
Addison picked up the tray and flung it across the room. She hated behaving
that way. It wasn’t like her, but she couldn’t help herself. She was angry, and
the pain was overwhelming. She didn’t want to be here in this hospital, in this
bed, unable to do anything without help. She didn’t ask for any of this, and
she certainly didn’t deserve all of the pain she’d endured.
So why her?
All she wanted was to be home with her boys—not here—not in this condition where
the nightmares always came and she wasn’t sure whether she was dreaming or
awake.

The boys came to visit daily, and that was the only sliver of the
day she was truly herself. She put on a brave face for them. She masked the
pain she was in, she smiled, and sometimes, she even laughed, but it wasn’t the
same. Nothing was the same.

She had a steady stream of visitors, but the nurses would only
let them stay for a few minutes before kicking them out, telling them she
needed her rest. Except for William, that is. They let William stay long as he
wanted. He’d wheel himself into her room and stay for hours, holding her hand,
often times without speaking at all. He was better off than she was, only
suffering a few broken ribs he’d said, a broken arm, and a collapsed lung.
Addison didn’t quite understand that because she’d watched Hammons beat William
ten times worse than she herself had been beaten, or at least what she
remembered of it anyway.

Jess visited too. She had also been helping Patrick with the boys
by taking them on fun outings and once to her house for a sleepover. She was
intent on hearing all of the details of what had happened, causing Addie to
snap because she just wasn’t ready to go there. Most of it had been reported in
the news anyway, so she really didn’t understand Jess’s need to quiz her on the
matter. But that was just Jess; she always believed in talking about things, and
she insisted that you needed to process things by getting the out. But Addie
didn’t see it that way. When it came to a lot of the situations in her life,
she’d always found that silence was golden. And so when Jess kept at it and
didn’t seem to get that she was in no condition to discuss any of it, Addie let
her have it. Afterwards, she felt terrible for talking to her best friend like
that, but she hadn’t been able to hold it in any longer. She did not want to
fucking talk about any of it.
Why couldn’t any of them get that?
There
was only one person who seemed to understand her, and it scared her to think
that she’d probably only end up hurting him too, in the long run. The doctors
and the therapists told her that this kind of behavior was typical for head-injury
patients. Anger, sudden outbursts and the inability to concentrate were all par
for the course, they’d explained.
Lucky her.

Sondra had visited her almost every day and had even brought the
baby up once. On one of her visits in an attempt to cheer Addison up or
something of the sort, she told her the story of who the little guy’s father
was. As it turned out, he was a very well-known and
very
married
politician who visited Sondra and the baby often, never promising more than
that. Admittedly, Addie could now see how much the baby looked like him. She
told Addie that she was head over heels in love with a man who would probably
never love her back, but she assured her that was okay because between work and
the baby, that was all she could really handle, anyway. She made Addie laugh by
telling her she’d never wanted a happy-ever-after, anyways.

Only Sondra could say something like that and make it funny.
Addie was grateful for Sondra’s friendship, even though it had started out as
anything but friendly. Sondra was one of those rare people in this word who
were real. She never tried to be anything other than what she was, and Addie
figured she could learn a thing or two from that. On her visit earlier, she’d
brought with her an offer that Addison couldn’t quite push out of her mind.
They both laughed over Addison even being willing to listen to her even utter
the word “offer” after the last one. But this one, as she’d later decided,
didn’t sound half bad. She could use a change; that much she knew. And the more
she thought about it, the more she realized that, after everything she had been
through, Sondra’s idea was one of the few things that beckoned her to try, to
keep going, and to keep trying, no matter how much it hurt.

Nineteen

William picked up his crutches and stared at his
reflection in the mirror before hobbling toward Addie’s room. They were getting
ready to release him, even though he wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it.
He’d already bought himself a few extra days and could easy have paid for more,
but something in Addison’s demeanor told him that maybe he should go. The last
thing he wanted to do was to leave her, but just because he was no longer
considered a patient didn’t mean he couldn’t spend nearly every waking moment
there with her.

The thing about Addison that he understood so well was her need
for space. She’d been through a lot. Hell, they’d all been through a lot, but
the blatant truth was that it was his fault. Sure, what had happened to them at
the hands of Scott Hammons wasn’t exactly William’s fault per se, but the fact was
that being with a man like him would always make anyone he loved a target. If
she chose a life with him, there would always be the possibility that something
like this could happen again. Men of William’s stature, incredibly wealthy
public figures, didn’t get to live like everyone else. The lifestyle came with
a lot of perks, sure, but it also came with an incredible price too. It was a
very different way to live, and the loss of anonymity alone was enough to make
most people opt out. He had chosen this life. It was what he knew, but to ask
someone else to make that choice, to give up so much . . . Well, it was a lot
to ask of a person. William knew Addison loved him; he knew that. But he also
knew that she was as smart as they came, and so it had to be weighing on her
mind whether or not
this
was really what she wanted, not just for her
but for her children. It was a lot to ask.

He knocked quietly on the door and entered the room to find
Addison sitting up in bed, staring out the window. She didn’t turn, but he
could tell that she knew he was there. Propping his crutches against the bed,
he sat down and placed his hand on her thigh. When she turned, he saw the tears
in her eyes. “Hey, hey, hey, come here.”

She wiped her eyes and stared at him.

“I heard you did really well in physical therapy today. They say
with effort like that you’ll be out of here in no time,” William remarked.

“Yeah.”

William traced I love you on her thigh with his finger, hoping
she got the message. “What’s up?”

Addie laid her head back against the bed and closed her eyes. “William,
there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

He ran his hand down her thigh and back up again and then met her
gaze. “All right.”

Addie opened her eyes and glared at his mouth. “Sondra made me an
offer I can’t refuse.”

He frowned. “Another one, huh?” he asked and then smiled wryly.
“Well, I can’t wait to hear this one.”

“The agency wants to open in new markets, and they want to send
me to do some of the upfront leg work.” Addie said, not taking her eyes from
his.”

“Wow. Okay?”

“Well, I talked it over with Patrick, and he’s given me
permission to take the boys. So I’m going to tell her yes. I’m . . . I’m
guessing we’ll leave within the next month or so, once I get back on my feet.”

“Well, all right. I mean if that’s what you want to do, then I think
it’s a great idea.”

“Really?” Addison asked, as she crossed her arms and cocked her
head to the side. Clearly, she wasn’t buying it.

William grinned. “Yeah, if that’s what you want. But I’m going to
go ahead and take a moment to call you out on your own bullshit. If you wanna
go, that’s great. I’m behind you one-hundred percent; although, I think we both
know why you’re really doing this. You’re running, Addison. You’re scared and
you’re running, which is fine, but if you think I’m gonna let you off the hook,
just like that, well, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Addie raised her eyebrows. “I’m not scared, and I’m not running.”

William mirrored her demeanor, sighed, and called her bluff. “All
right, then. Let me come with you. Where are we going, anyway?”

“Come with me? Are you kidding? You can’t come with me.” Addie
laughed.

He deadpanned. “The hell I can’t.”

“Your life is here. Your work is here.”

“My life is with you. My work can be anywhere I want it to be.”

“But . . .” Addie exhaled and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“I’m the boss, remember? I can work from anywhere. I also have
the ability to fly where I want, when I want. Location and distance are
non-issues in our relationship, Addison. So if you want to call this off—if you
want to run—you’re going to have to do better than that because I’m not
him
.
I’ll fight for you every goddamned step of the way,” he said, winking at her.
“Keep that in mind, all right?”

Addie turned and stared out the window again, but she couldn’t
hide the smile on her face, hard as she tried.

William reached for her hand. “It’s okay to be scared, you know.
I think it’s a part of this whole love thing; it just sort of comes with the
territory.”

“Are you scared?” she asked, quietly.

William inhaled and hesitated before speaking. “Am I scared?
Hmmm, yeah, I guess you could say there are a few things that scare me.”

She turned her head to face him. “And they are?”

He smiled. “Well, for starters, I’m scared of losing you. I’m
scared that
this . . .
that my life is too much for you and that you’ll
want to leave or that maybe you already do. I’m scared that your children won’t
like me, because I have no idea what I’m doing in that department. I’m scared
that you won’t let me give you everything I have to give. But mostly, I’m scared
that if it takes me the rest of my life, even if that’s another hundred years
or more that it
still
won’t be
enoug
h time to show you how I
truly feel about you.”