Seven Days Grace (A Grace Rose Novel Book 1) (25 page)

‘
Don
’
t worry about little Alice. She has more presents than she needs. I
’
m taking some of them to the local hospital for the sick kids. Anyway
,
they gave me your phone and when someone called
,
I answered it. The paramedics got your bag from the car
,
managed to get the phone
,
out of the holder on the dash I
’
m guessing
,
and brought it in with you.
’

‘
Where
’
s my phone?
’

‘
The last thing you need to be doing is making calls. You have to rest
,’
Jake said.

She gave him a look which made him hand the phone to her.

‘
It was on the bedside table all along
,’
he said.

‘
Oh great
,
it
’
s dead. I need a charger.
’

‘
You need rest
,’
Jake and Joy said.

‘
Jake? How did you know I was in hospital? How did you know it was me in the accident?
’

‘
After I
’
d checked my phone and received missed calls from you
,
I tried to call you back several times. The phone repeatedly said the service was unavailable. It must have been dead. I tried a few more times and still couldn
’
t get through.
’

‘
So
,
how did you find me?
’

He was silent.

‘
Jake?
’

‘
Ah
,
when I couldn
’
t get through to you
,
I called your office and someone said you were still at the RAAF. As time ticked by and it was getting dark
,
Christian called Kate as he thought she might know where you were.
’

Although her brain wasn
’
t functioning normally
,
a gut feeling told her his answer was skewed. She dropped it for now.

Joy came to his defence.
‘
I think the phone died after I spoke to the nurse. I tried to call back and couldn
’
t get through either. Nick probably saw his car in a heap on the news which serves him right.
’

Joy had told Grace for years she was grateful she had seen through his flash car
,
good looks and charm unlike other women. Right now
,
Grace was
,
too.

The door thrust open again and Kate came in. She ignored everyone in the room and rushed to Grace
’
s bedside
,
scanned every inch of life-long friend and then immediately burst into tears.

‘
Oh Grace
,
I don
’
t know what I would have done if something had happened to you. Was it the accident in the tunnel the one you were in? I should have been here sooner
,’
Kate said.

‘
I
’
m going to be alright. Nick
’
s car
’
s a write-off and I
’
m still breathing.
’
Now was not the time to tell Kate the whole story of the events leading up to the accident.

Kate let out a sigh of relief.
‘
It
’
s good you were in Nick
’
s car and not your antiquated chugalug. Those air bags probably saved your life.
’

On being reassured several times that she was still in one piece
,
Grace watched as Kate surveyed the room. Joy and Jake were both staring at her.

‘
Hi
,’
Kate said in a sheepish voice.

Everyone started talking at once. Grace lay quietly watching it all. Kate greeted Joy and then said hello to Jake. She said how great it was to see him again. She looked at Grace and gave her a wink and did the eyebrow thing. Grace wanted to roll her eyes but it hurt too much. The three guests – Jake
,
Joy and Kate – remained with Grace.

‘
I saw Nick hurrying down the corridor as I came in
,’
Kate said.

There was a moment
’
s silence before Grace said
,
‘
He fired me.
’

‘
What? Is he crazy? Oh
,
Grace
,
the guy
’
s done it this time. And after I said the other day he wouldn
’
t ever fire you. Great
,
me and my big mouth
,
again.
’

While Grace tried to softly give a roundup of Nick
’
s fly in fly out visit
,
it was Joy and Jake who launched into the episode of Nick
’
s tirade
,
informing Kate of his unsurprising self-motivated objectives.

‘
Oh
,
Grace. I think you
’
re the lucky one. I still have to put up with him
,’
Kate said.

The hospital room door flew open again.

‘
Right
,
everybody out. Visiting hours are over and there is far too much noise coming from this room. This patient needs rest and she needs it now
,’
the matronly nurse stood her ground
,
arms folded across her well-endowed chest and individually stared at each person in the room
,
finishing with Grace.

No-one dared argue with her and slowly Kate and Joy
,
after they said goodbye and get better soon
,
began to vacate the room that was now sunny from the large easterly-facing windows.

Jake lingered.
‘
I need a couple of minutes and then I
’
ll be gone
,
I promise.
’
He gave the nurse his biggest smile and pleading eyes look.

‘
Make it quick
,’
the nurse said and left the room.

Jake pulled a chair closer to Grace
’
s bed. The two gazed at each other in silence for a short time before Jake picked up her hand in both of his.
‘
Nick
’
s behaviour is appalling.
’
Grace was quiet.
‘
Are you going to tell me what actually happened?
’

Grace turned her head to look away from the glare of the windows where the sun streamed in the room due to the open curtains. Her head hurt and she was glad everyone was gone. Jake closed the curtains to dull the brightness and returned to her bedside. Grace had silent tears streaming down her face.

He manoeuvred his arms through the wires and cords attached to Grace and leaned forward and pulled her to him
,
resting her head on his shoulder and holding her in a bear hug without squeezing too tightly. She sobbed for a long time and he held her until she had no more tears left. She lay back on her pillow and he passed her a box of tissues.

‘
I
’
m unemployed
,’
she said through tears.
‘
Why are you laughing at me?
’

‘
I
’
m not laughing at you but how can you worry about your job when you could have died in an accident?
’

‘
What about The Voice and the story? What now?
’

‘
Worry about getting yourself better. You
’
ve been through a serious ordeal.
’

‘
I don
’
t know why you have appeared in my life again but I
’
m happy you
’
re here
,’
she sniffled
,
blew her nose and failed at holding back more tears.

Jake cradled her in his arms again and the nurse came to the door. She opened it slightly and when she saw the pair
,
she gave a knowing nod and closed the door.

‘
I can
’
t get myself together and I hate crying.
’

‘
It
’
s healthy to have a good cry. You
’
ll feel much better when you
’
ve let it all out.
’

The nurse returned with two orange juices and asked Grace if there was anything she needed. Grace said no and thanked her. After she left
,
Grace dried her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths to calm down.

She smiled at Jake
,
‘
Thank you.
’

After another pause
,
a flash of concern passed across Jake
’
s face.

‘
What
’
s wrong?
’
Grace asked.

‘
I saw the chase on the news. I couldn
’
t know it was Nick
’
s car and they don
’
t release names of accident victims until they
’
ve double checked all details. Oh
,
Grace. Your life is not worth this story. Where did he chase you from?
’

Grace blurted out the whole story. The flight in the Hercules
,
how she had tried to call him
,
her call from The Voice and their brief meeting which resulted in another package and her subsequent drive from the north side of the city through the tunnel. Then the final piece of the story was the larger than life Hummer
,
it had stuck to her like superglue and eventually drove her into a concrete wall like she was
papier mâché.

‘
This is my fault.
’

‘
Why is it your fault? It
’
s not
,
Jake.
’

‘
I should have been available when you tried to call me. I was stuck in stupid meetings and had left my phone on my desk. When I tried to call you back your phone was either busy
,
out of range or rang out. I even tried your office. I ran a search on Google and found your number and they said you weren
’
t there. I should have been available and I wasn
’
t. This wouldn
’
t have happened otherwise. I could have raced down to take pictures of The Voice.
’
He paced around Grace
’
s bed.
‘
And you wouldn
’
t be lying here in hospital after having almost died if I
’
d been there with you.
’

‘
Jake
,
you
’
re being too hard on yourself. No-one knew this was going to happen. Who knew Sleen would stoop to such lows? Anyway
,
we don
’
t even know if it was him but the last thing The Voice said to me was
,
‘
Don
’
t trust Sleen
’,
like he does every time and then
,
as usual
,
he vanished.
’

‘
Yeah
,
however
,
if I
’
d taken your call I still would have been there like we planned.
’

‘
It happened quickly
,
I didn
’
t have time to think and you wouldn
’
t have had time to get to North Sydney anyway
,’
Grace begged him with her eyes not to punish himself any longer over her accident.