Private North (13 page)

Chapter 18

For an astounding second time that day, we found ourselves hurrying into the emergency room with a victim.

They rushed Professor North in to be examined and get stitched up. Dalton and I waited to hear about Ethan.

“How was your dad in the car? What a day he’s had.”

“He was pretty out of it, and he was very anxious to get back here to Ethan.” Dalton paused and it was obvious that there was something on his mind. “Which of course brings me to the question— why the hell did he come home in the first place? He walked right into the thick of it and made things worse by being there.”

“That thought crossed my mind too.”

Dalton sighed, leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes. “I just realized that I am fucking hungry.”

“Thank God. I was hoping someone would bring up food. I didn’t want to seem callous worrying about my empty stomach with your dad being stitched up and Ethan in surgery.”

“Hell, I’m about ready to fall over.”

“We can just let the nurses know that we’ll be in the cafeteria if they need you. Or do you want to rest your leg? I could bring something up here.”

“Sitting here in this desolate waiting room with the odd smelling chairs sounds much worse than walking on my sore leg.” He pushed to his feet. “And then in the shitty mess of it all, I lose my temper and break my walking stick against a tree.”

I took his arm and we walked out of the waiting room. “Maybe it’s time to start a new wood carving project.” I suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.” He smiled at me. “How about a carving of a naked girl? Just need a model.”

“You are not walking around with a nude wood carving of me on the end of your walking stick.” I leaned over the nurse’s station. “We’ll be in the cafeteria in case we’re needed.”

“All right,” the nurse said with a sweet smile and her gaze riveted to Dalton even though I was the one who’d spoken.

We walked into the nearly deserted cafeteria and picked up the only two sandwiches that looked as if they hadn’t been sitting on the shelf for a month. “It always seems to me that when you’re in a
hospital
, which is a major part of the word
hospitality
, then delicious food should be served. Especially if you’re in here waiting anxiously to hear about a loved one. It would be nice to have a good, comforting meal at times like that,” I said.

We sat down at a quiet table next to the wall. “Have you ever sat in a hospital waiting to hear about someone who was really sick?”

I stared down at my sandwich. “No, I haven’t.”

“Shit, Auggie, you don’t have to be ashamed about it. Be glad. It sucks.”

I lifted my gaze and looked at him. He was still incredibly young yet he’d already experienced terrible losses. I swallowed to ease the lump in my throat and without warning homesickness filled the empty hollow in my stomach. It was the first holiday I’d ever spent without my parents.

Dalton devoured his turkey sandwich. “I must be starved. This tastes awful and yet I can’t stop.” He looked across the table at my sandwich. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

I took out half and slid the other half across the table to him. He finished it before I’d taken my third bite. “Do you want me to get you another one?” I asked.

He shook his head and leaned back against the seat. “I feel like I ran a marathon today. And I’m not just talking about the pain in my leg.”

“I know what you mean. I’m drained.”

He watched me eat the rest of my sandwich. “Auggie, I’m sorry I freaked out in the bathroom. Just something about the whole day and seeing myself covered in blood made me—”

I dropped the crust onto the empty plate. “That was not a freak out, Dalton. That was a—
why does all this crappy stuff happen
moment. I’m done eating. We should get back.”

***

Ethan’s surgery had been a success and the doctors were “highly optimistic” for a full recovery. Conveniently, the professor’s injury allowed him to stay overnight in the hospital to recuperate from the trauma of the day. He’d hardly said a word the rest of the night.

Dalton drove my car and we headed back to the house. The police had not caught the man yet, so they’d positioned a car out in front of the house to keep watch.

Dalton walked over to the police car. “Want any coffee?” he asked through the window.

The officer lifted a large cup to show him he’d come with his own supply.

Nearly numb with exhaustion, we shuffled inside like two people who’d been working out on the farm all day. “Still hungry,” Dalton muttered as we removed our coats.

I followed behind him to the kitchen. “I think my stomach passed the hunger stage hours ago.”

Dalton opened the refrigerator and stared into it. I hopped up on my tiptoes and put my chin on his shoulder to have a look inside too.

“Dad was kind of shirking his cooking duties these last few days. It looks pretty barren.” He pulled out a block of cheese. “I guess it’s cheese sandwiches or nothing.”

“
Nothing
is no longer an option,” I pressed my arm against my stomach. “My stomach lining is eating itself in desperation.” I went to the bread box and pulled out the loaf of bread. We sliced the cheese, stuck it between slices of dry bread and ate the sandwiches as if we were feasting on prime rib and mashed potatoes.

Dalton stared out the kitchen window toward the rear of their property. A half moon reflected off the blanket of white. “What a strange day.”

“Definitely not like any day I’ve ever experienced, and one I would rather not repeat.” I rinsed off the plates in the sink. “At least Ethan and your dad are all right. That’s all that matters.” I turned off the water, but before I could turn around Dalton’s arms wrapped around me I pressed my back against his chest for a second and then turned around and lowered my head to his chest. “I keep thinking about that creepy guy holding his hand over my mouth.” A shudder ran through me, and Dalton’s protective arms tightened more. “I don’t want to sleep alone tonight.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. I have no intention of letting you out of my sight for a second.”

I smiled up at him.

“But you have to wear those sexy flannel pajamas . . . so I can have the pleasure of taking them off.”

“Wait a minute,” I said.

“I assure you it will take me less than a minute to take them—”

I pressed my hand against his chest. “No, not that. I just remembered the other thing the guy said— ‘thought you’d be alone’.”

“What?”

“That’s what he said— ‘thought you’d be alone’.”

Dalton seemed to be absorbing what I’d said and then shook his head. “I’m just too damn tired to wrap my mind around all the shit that went on here today. Hopefully my dad can help sort things out tomorrow.”

Chapter 19

The day before had been a seemingly endless nightmare but waking up tucked securely against Dalton’s naked chest helped wipe away some of the bitterness from the day before. Long dark lashes still shaded his cheeks and he snored softly. Even though the room and quilt were warm, I scooted closer to him.

He groaned quietly but didn’t open his eyes. “You do understand that there will be consequences from you wriggling against me like that?”

I squirmed against him again. “Yes.”

He grabbed hold of my waist and pulled me on top of him. He reached up and tucked a long strand of hair behind my ear. I gazed down at him. Everything about him made my heart ache.

“I’m glad you didn’t go to France, Sugarplum.”

I thought about all the awful stuff that had happened, but landing in Dalton North’s arms had outweighed all the bad. “Me too.”

His hands caressed my naked back and I leaned down and kissed him. The ring of his cell phone made us both sigh with disappointment. I rolled off of him and he reached to the night stand for his phone. “Hello.”

I could hear a deep voice responding and for a brief moment my pulse raced, wondering if everything was all right at the hospital. His calm reaction assured me all was fine.

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Is that right? That is amazing. I mean the guy was obviously a pro the way he slipped out of here without a trace. He’s going to be one disappointed thief when he opens his sack.”

The person on the other end said something else and Dalton laughed.

“Keep it for evidence as long as you like. Besides, it belongs to the university. I don’t know that much about it except that it’s priceless, so you might want to put it somewhere secure. I’ll let my dad know. He’ll be glad to hear.” Dalton hung up and laid back down next to me.

“Did they catch the guy?”

“Nope, but they found the arm band.”

I propped up on an elbow and looked down at him. “You’re kidding? Where? How?”

“Apparently, our clever, highly skilled artifact thief had a hole in his sack or whatever he used to carry off the jewelry. The police are pretty sure he used some kind of a portable zip-line to leave the house without prints. There’s a half-frozen stream just past our backyard. They noticed the thin layer of ice on top had been crushed by feet but there were still no prints. But halfway across the yard, he dropped the arm band. An officer found it sticking up in a small mound of snow.”

“Great. One happy ending after a day full of bad ones.” I flopped back down and cuddled against him. “Have they told your dad? He’ll be relieved.”

He started nuzzling my neck. “No idea.” His mouth trailed down to my breasts. The phone rang again. “Really?” he said with frustration.

He looked at the screen and sat up. “Hey, Dad. How’s Ethan?”

Dalton smiled. “That’s good to hear.” He glanced at me. “He’s hungry and flirting with nurses.”

“What do you mean who am I talking to? It’s August. Yes, she’s still here. Hey, Dad, did the police call you?”

“They called me. They didn’t catch the guy, but the jerk dropped the bracelet in the snow as he fled.”

I heard no response through the phone. Dalton’s brow creased. “Dad, are you still there?”

This time the professor’s unintelligible words floated through the phone in what sounded like a quiet measured tone.

“They found it in a pile of snow. I guess the guy dropped it as he zip-lined across the yard.” Dalton pointed at the phone and shook his head, apparently confused by his dad’s reaction. “Are you there, Dad?”

There was a sharp, loud response.

“You almost sound pissed. All right, you’re not pissed. Well, you definitely don’t sound happy. We’re going to get dressed and head over to the hospital. See you in awhile.” He hung up and stared at the phone. “That’s it, I’m sure of it now. My dad has lost his damn mind. He basically shrugged off the news about the armband being stolen, and now I tell him it’s been found, and he practically has a heart attack.”

“He’s been through a lot.”

Dalton lifted a brow. “There you go again.”

“I know, sorry. Can’t help myself when it comes to your dad.” I threw my legs over the side of the bed and I stood and walked over to the dresser. “I guess we should get dressed.”

The bed creaked as he stood. He walked across the room and his arm went around my waist. He pulled me against his chest. He lowered his mouth to my ear and ran his tongue along it. “Or not.” His hand smoothed up my stomach to my breasts. He kissed my neck and shoulder and I wilted against him.

“My knees weaken the moment you touch me,” I whispered.

He trailed his mouth down my back while his fingers teased my nipples. He straightened and turned me around to face him. “And my knees grow weak at the sight of you,” he whispered against my mouth. He lifted me into his arms and carried me back to the bed. There was a measured urgency in our movements. Until now we’d wanted each other so badly, our self-control was always smashed to hell by our needs. He lowered me back onto the pillows and straddled his legs over my thighs. He combed his long hair back with his fingers and stared down at me with that green gaze that made me blush all over. He leaned down over me and pushed the hair from my face and then he kissed me gently but with so much emotion my throat ached and tears burned my eyes. He lifted his face. He wiped an escaped tear away with his thumb.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

My hand went around his neck. “Everything is too right.” I spread my thighs open beneath him and he knelt between them. “Still promise that you’re never going to let me out of your sight?”

He rubbed his thumb across my bottom lip and then he leaned down and kissed me. “Never.”

Chapter 20

“Maybe your dad doesn’t want me to go to the hospital.” I leaned over the kitchen counter and nibbled on a piece of toast. “He seemed surprised that I was still here.”

“No, I think he was more surprised that it was so early and that you happened to be sitting right next to me.”

“Oh,” I said somewhat confused by what he said and then it hit me. “Oh.” I blushed. “Now maybe
I
don’t want to go.”

He pulled on his coat. “Yes, you’re going. I told you I’m not going to let you out of my sight.” He picked up a folder from the kitchen table. “I picked up the insurance papers. I realized we never actually got them back to the hospital.” He walked back over to me with some degree of ease.

“I think you’re walking better without your walking stick.”

“I kind of noticed that. Maybe I was depending on it too much. I wasn’t giving my bad leg a chance to get stronger.”

The police car was still parked at the top of the driveway. Most of the blood had soaked into the ice and now only a pale circle of pink remained but the memory of Ethan lying there would last forever.

Then an idea hit me. “Let’s stop at your mailbox on the way down.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Ethan was waiting for a package from Veronica when he rushed outside. My woman’s intuition tells me the package is going to be just what he needs today.”

Dalton pulled up to the mailbox and I hopped out and reached inside. The package was a large envelope. The meticulously scrolled name and address on the outside assured me my intuition was not wrong.

We reached the hospital and I was relieved to be walking into the general entrance instead of the emergency room. “Who are we going to visit first?” I asked.

“Ethan.”He answered without giving it any thought. Dalton seemed in no hurry to see his dad. His patience had been worn thin by his inconsistent behavior. And it was Ethan who’d truly gone through a trauma.

Ethan was sleeping as we walked into his room. The light blue walls of the room seemed to make him look even paler than he’d looked lying out in the snow and his normally neatly combed hair stood in every direction. He looked nothing like the smooth, confident grad student who floated around the university hallways.

Dalton’s throat moved up and down as he stared down at his brother. They’d not spent much time together during the past few days, and the time they had spent had been somewhat contentious, but Dalton’s face showed just how close they really were.

Ethan stirred and then grimaced in pain as he moved. He opened his eyes for a second and stared up at Dalton and then shut them again. “Hey, Buddy,” Ethan said weakly.

“Hey,” Dalton said quietly.

Ethan’s eyes opened again. “These drugs are fucking amazing.”

Dalton smiled. “You don’t need to tell me.”

Ethan chuckled weakly. “No, I guess not. Hey, Bro, I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Everything. I don’t know. Just everything.” His words were slightly slurred, and his eyelids dropped slowly before opening again. He turned his head to focus on the other figure standing in his room.

“Hey, there’s that cutie pie, Auggie,” he said. He lifted his hand and attempted to touch Dalton, but the intravenous tubes and drug high made it a difficult task. “She is awesome, Ton. Don’t do anything to fuck this up.”

I walked closer. “Ethan, I brought that package you were waiting for yesterday.”

It took him a minute to process what I’d said. “You did?” There was a slight tremor in his voice as the whole thing seemed to be coming back to him. And, for a second, I regretted bringing the package. I hadn’t thought about the fact that it would drum up the entire fateful chain of events.

He reached for the button on the side of his bed and pressed it. The mention of the package seemed to have sobered him some. The top half of the bed lifted, and he held his breath until a wave of pain passed. He stared at the package in my hand.

“I can take it back home, Ethan. You can open it there. I just thought you might—”

“Please, Auggie, bring it here.”

A moment of pure terror passed through me as he reached for the large envelope. What if it was bad news? What if Veronica had returned some precious gift Ethan had given her? I knew nothing about her and my intuition might have been completely wrong.

Ethan stared at the front of the envelope and rubbed his finger over the handwriting on the label. Then almost as if he was pulling off a bandage, he flipped it over and ripped it open. He reached inside and pulled out a handwritten letter and a second envelope. He opened it and pulled out two plane tickets. He read the tickets and looked up at Dalton and me. “They’re tickets to Mexico City. She knows I’ve been dying to go there.” He took another deep breath and opened the letter. My intuition had not failed me. Dalton motioned toward the door with his head. We left Ethan alone with his letter.

“Do you think your dad is still in a room?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Don’t know. He was this morning, but he was waiting to be released.” He pulled the folder of insurance papers out from under his arm. “Let’s take this to the admittance office first. I’m just not in any hurry to see him at the moment.”

The clerk glanced up from her work and smiled brightly at Dalton. “Hi, my brother, Ethan North and my father, Thomas North, were admitted here yesterday, and I believe you needed some insurance paperwork.”

The clerk looked puzzled as she took the folder from Dalton’s hand. “Let me pull up their files, but I don’t think we needed anything.” She rolled her chair to her computer and tapped away on the keyboard. She stared at the computer monitor a moment and then rolled back with folder in hand. “We didn’t need anything. Your father had his card with him when they brought your brother in. That was all we needed.”

Dalton stared hard at the folder for a second. “Thank you,” he said. “Can you tell me my dad’s room number?”

She glanced at the screen. “The doctor signed his release, but you might still find him in room 203.”

Dalton turned and walked away as if he’d completely forgotten that I was with him. His shoulders were rigid and as I caught up to him I could feel the rage shooting off of him in sparks.

“Everything all right?”

He looked down at the folder in his hand. “No.” It was obvious his leg pained him, but he strode with purposeful, angry steps down the hallway to his dad’s room. I quickly went through what had just happened at the admittance office to understand why his mood had changed so drastically. Professor North had sent me to his home to fetch insurance papers that he really hadn’t needed.

Pieces of the day began to come together in my head, but the obvious conclusion that kept creeping into my thoughts was too horrid to consider.

We reached the room, and I hesitated, thinking I should stay out in the hall. But then I willed myself in behind Dalton. I had to know the truth.

Professor North looked even worse than he had the day before. A large bandage crossed his forehead, and he looked much older sitting in the hospital chair with his head in his hands. He glanced up with watery eyes as we stepped into the room. Even in his weary state, it didn’t take him long to notice Dalton’s face.

“Dalton, is everything all right? Is Ethan—”

“Ethan is fine. No thanks to you,” Dalton said coldly.

“Dalton, I’m not in the mood to deal with you this morning. I need to go home and shower. Then I’ll drive back here myself.”

“How long have you been planning all this?”

Professor North stiffened. “What are you talking about?”

“Question was simple. How fucking long have you been planning this?” Dalton threw the insurance folder at his dad, who flinched as if he’d thrown a fist at him. The papers fluttered to the ground.

Professor North’s gaze flitted anxiously to the door as if he expected people to be standing in the hallway eavesdropping. “Take me home, Dalton. Here’s not the place. I’ll explain things there.”

“Can’t imagine what you could possibly say that would explain any of this except if you finally admit that you’ve lost your fucking mind.”

“Maybe I have, Son.”