He stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder, a sympathetic look on his face. “It’s Megan. She’s been in an accident. Of sorts.”
I blinked at his words. The colors in the fluorescent-lit room were more vibrant than they should’ve been, the sounds outside the room louder and clearer. The sight of law enforcement in the room pulled the knot in my stomach so tight it was close to bursting. “What do you mean an accident, of sorts?”
Cal sighed and put the other hand on my other shoulder and shoved me down into a chair, then took another chair nearby for himself.
I looked over at him. “Well?”
“She was found by an elderly couple who pulled over to see if she needed help. They found her on the ground, unconscious, with blood pooled around her head.”
“No!” I shook my head as if that act alone could stop the words from penetrating my brain, could stop them from being true. “Shit,” I muttered as a picture coalesced in my mind. “That guy who helped her change her tire?”
The detective in the suit gave a sympathetic nod. “We had the car towed for evidence. The techs are checking the lug wrench, doors, and steering wheel for prints.” He didn’t need to say that the rain would make getting any type of forensic evidence difficult, but we both knew it was true.
I nodded at his words, but my focus was on something, someone, more important. “And Megan? She’s okay? Tell me she’s all right.”
Cal took a step forward and put a reassuring grip on my shoulder; the move kept me grounded. “She took a pretty nasty crack to the head and she’s going to have one hell of a headache for a few days. Possibly a concussion, but we won’t know until she’s conscious.”
Unconscious. That wasn’t good. “How long has she been out?”
“A few hours now, I think. She was unconscious when she was found. When did you speak to her last?” I told him and he nodded, knowing just as I did that wasn’t a good sign. “Her vitals are good, so it’s just a matter of getting her to wake up.”
I nodded at Cal’s words, knowing they were true. But in this moment, I had great appreciation for the part of my job I liked the least—dealing with worried and scared family members. “Thank you, Cal.”
“No thanks necessary. I’m going to get an hour or two of sleep in the on-call room, but I’m here for the duration. I’ll be handling Megan myself. She’s in good hands with me, Casey.”
“I know.” Cal was good at his job, and he’d known Megan as long as I had. He gave cared about her.
Cal nodded and let out an exhausted sigh. “You should get some rest tonight, Case. After you talk to the officers, go home and come back in the morning with fresh clothes for Megs. If anything changes overnight, I’ll give you a call myself.”
I nodded even though chances were slim that I would get any sleep tonight, or the next few nights until I saw my wife’s big sage-green eyes and her lush pink lips tugged into my favorite, flirtatious grin.
“I’ll go home and change, but I’m coming back—and don’t try to talk me out of it. I’ll be at her side until she wakes up.”
His lips tugged into a crooked grin and shrugged. “I figured you’d say as much. Gus is already at your place packing a bag, so at least grab some food and I’ll let you know when we have her settled into a room.”
I nodded and watched Cal leave the room before I turned my attention to the two men who needed answers.
“I don’t know much. I was on the phone with Megan when the guy pulled up. I told her to be careful and she ended the call, eager to get the tired changed and get out of the rain.” After her words about treating the asshole like a psycho killer, I wanted to wake her up and yell at her. “I got her a dash cam, maybe that has something useful?”
The detective nodded and scribbled something on his little black notepad. “Does it require a password?”
I nodded and gave him the information he needed. After ten more minutes of what seemed to me like irrelevant questions, they let me go and I made my way across the hospital parking lot on shaking legs. I locked myself inside my car and let out a scream of frustration, of anger at the unfairness of it all.
But life was never fair. I knew that better than most. Perfectly healthy people died on the operating table every day. Bad people survived while good people didn’t. It was never about fairness.
It just wasn’t.
Feeling angry and worried and powerless, I called my parents and told them about Megan.