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“Only the truth, Va
“What particular brand of the truth are you referring to?” he bit out, vaguely aware that the waitress cast a concerned glance his way. Anger was making him inappropriately loud.
“I told her I didn’t think things would work out between you two. Emma seemed to agree, after she’d given it some thought.”
He froze.
“You told her . . . you didn’t think things would work out?” he finally got out in disbelieving fury.
“She wasn’t right for you, Va
“Who the hell are you to decide that? Isn’t that for Emma to decide? And me?”
“I was just trying to be realistic. I thought—”
Va
“I don’t care what the hell you thought. Emma told me you didn’t like her, but I never actually thought you’d do something this outrageous. You had no right. Stay away from her,” Va
He hung up, immune to the muted sounds of Vera’s pleas and protests.
“Emma?” Amanda called, halting Emma’s exit from the apartment. Her sister caught up with her in the front entryway. Emma looked over her shoulder, her hand on the knob. Amanda’s hair was tousled and she looked sleepy and alarmed at once. “I thought I heard you out here. You’re not leaving already? It’s not even seven yet, and I heard you up last night. You can’t have slept much. Again,” Amanda added pointedly.
“I’m sorry if I kept you up,” Emma apologized woodenly.
“Don’t worry about it. But why are you leaving so early?”
“I have some paperwork I can get a jump on at the office,” Emma said. She reluctantly met Amanda’s stare. “It’s better than just lying in bed . . . thinking.”
Amanda’s mouth tightened. Amanda knew what her sister was thinking about, but Emma doubted Amanda knew how she was feeling. At times, she just felt numb, but at other times when she wondered if she’d ever see Va
And what if that witch told him about Cristina and Laurel, despite it all? The thought made her physically ill.
“It’s just better for me to keep busy,” Emma said, feeling that wave of misery rising even now. She turned and twisted the doorknob.
“But you look so tired,” Amanda protested.
“This is better,” Emma assured before she plunged out the door.
Much better than just lying there, stewing in my misery.
Ten minutes later, she paused at a stoplight in a right-hand-turn lane, preparing to turn onto the road where her hospice was located. She’d driven briefly on this very same road on the day she’d been with Va
No, Cristina definitely had chosen to spend her last days near Va
Was embracing the pain what Va
Because when he was struggling, and I was trying so hard to keep him above the water . . . he was very afraid.
The memory of Va
Tears filled her eyes. She couldn’t seem to control them for the past few days and nights. They sprung up at the most inopportune moments.
The light turned green. She’d pull into the parking lot just past the intersection and wait until her tears had passed.
She didn’t know what hit her. One second, she’d been turning right, and the next she was jarred forcefully. She heard a loud bang, and everything went black.
Chapter 41
Va
This time, he knew what Amanda needed to hear in order to become his ally in getting Emma to talk to him, and Va
He approached Emma’s apartment and drew back his fist in order to knock. The door flew back before he’d ever made contact. Amanda stared at him, shock plastered all over her pale face.
“Oh my God, Va
Alarm roared into his awareness, making his flesh tingle. He edited himself at the last second from saying How did I know what?
“Where?” he demanded tautly instead, his buzzing, shocked brain tightening its focus on Amanda’s leggings and T-shirt, haphazard bun, and clutched purse. She was clearly ru
“North Shore Hospital. She’s in the emergency room.” He stepped back when she walked out and slammed the door. “Colin is coming to get me—”
“Emma?”
Va
“Emma?” he repeated tautly, a cascade of chills going through him. Oh no. Please don’t let this be happening.
“Yes. The hospital just called. She was in a car accident. They’ve brought her there.” Va
Oh, Jesus. He’d dared to care about her. He’d fallen in love with her. Was this the inevitable result?
“Amanda,” he shouted sharply. “What did the hospital say?”
She turned, still jogging “I don’t know anything, Va
The examining doctor said good-bye to Emma and pulled the curtain closed. She was in some kind of makeshift examining room in the emergency room, a square ten-by-ten-foot space set off by curtains, not walls. She could hear the doctor talking to Colin and Emma on the other side of the curtain, telling them what she’d already told Emma.
“She’s fine, but we’d like to keep her overnight for observation . . . just to make sure there’s no concussion. There isn’t any observable wound to the head. The air bag deployed, but she lost consciousness for nearly ten minutes following the accident. Her vitals are all good, but we’d like to watch her for the next twenty-four hours for any signs that there might have been a blunt head trauma.”
“Do you suspect there’s a brain injury?” Amanda asked anxiously.
“No, the stay overnight is just a precaution, I assure you. Your sister is going to be fine.”
“Can I see her?” Amanda asked.