“Okay.” She releases me. “We’ll meet you at the hospital.”
“You don’t have to,” I say, and she just looks at me.
“Casey Christopher Barnes, don’t you dare tell me what to do.” I know I’m not going to win an argument when my mother uses my full name. It also doesn’t help when she folds her arms over her chest because then you know she’s waiting for a fight.
“I’ll see you there.” I lean down to kiss her on the cheek before turning to get into the ambulance. I watch as they take her blood pressure, but the whole time, she doesn’t stir. “Is that normal?” I ask, sitting next to the paramedic. “I mean, for her to be out for so long?”
“It depends on how hard she hit her head. It could be a number of things. But it could be that her body has gone into shock,” he says, and I just nod, taking her hand in mine. Her soft, small hand with perfect fingers, the same fingers that I held when we walked out of the bar last week.
“You want to hold my hand, cowboy?” she said with a glimmer in her eye.
I didn’t answer her then, but I would answer her now. I bring her hand to my mouth, whispering, “I want to hold your hand, darlin’,” then kiss the tips of her fingers.
Ever since she came to town, I’ve wanted to touch her all the damn time, and I even kissed her a couple of times. Each time, it was harder and harder not to keep kissing her. I have been itching to do so again. I try not to touch her as often as I want, knowing that one touch will not be enough. But something about her just makes me do things that I know I shouldn’t. Having her in my house and all around me means the little touches happen anyway. Even though I try not to think about it now. Feeling her hand in mine, I wonder why I haven’t done it more.
“We are five minutes out,” the driver says. When we get to the hospital, everything happens so fast, and I don’t know where she’s going. Two nurses and two doctors are waiting there for us, and they take her out so fast, I have to run after them. When they rush past two swinging doors, one of the nurses stops me from entering.
“You need to stay here, and I’ll come out as soon as I know something,” she says, and I’m about to walk past her. “I know you want to get in there, but all you’ll do is get in the way. She is in the best hands right now, so let them do their job. I promise you that I will let you know when we know something.”
“She’s been unconscious this whole time,” I say. She nods, then turns to walk back through the doors. I look through the little glass window as she runs to the room where they have taken Olivia. I stand here, and my eyes don’t move from the room where I know they are working on Olivia.
“Any news?” Kallie says from beside me, and my head just shakes. I don’t even know how long she’s been standing there.
“Nothing,” I say, but my eyes don’t move. “They said when they have an update, they’ll find me and let me know.”
“She’s going to be fine.” She puts her arm through mine. “She’s the strongest woman I know.” I don’t agree with her; she’s more than the strongest woman. She’s the most thoughtful also. She does little things just to help, like making sure the coffee in the barn is started for me when I get there. She just has this energy, and you just want to sit with her and let her talk to you, or just sit with her on the swing and watch her watch nothing.
“Hey.” Hearing Jacob, I turn to look at him, and then back again to make sure I didn’t miss anything.
“Hey,” Kallie says to him. She slips her arm out of mine, then goes over to Jacob and looks up at him. He leans down, kissing her on the lips. “Did you find out who the guy was?” she asks. I’ve been waiting to hear that answer.
I turn now, looking at Jacob who just looks at me. “We got his name, but he lawyered up the minute he got in the car. Grady found his car, and he was not a rookie, that’s for sure.” I can see there is more he wants to share, but he doesn’t.
We don’t say anything else as we wait at the doors, each of us in our own thoughts. I don’t know how long we stay here, but when the doctor comes out of the room, he walks straight to the doors. He looks at Jacob, who nods at him, and then looks at me. “I think it’s best if we talk in private.”