Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Merrick

Three years ago

“When am I going to see my little Amelia Earhart in action?” I wrapped my hands around Amelia’s waist. She was getting dressed to go to the weekly Sunday flying lesson she’d started a few months ago.

“You’ll make me too nervous.”

I frowned. “I’m going to call bullshit on that. You’re missing the nervous gene.”

Amelia wiggled out of my arms and grabbed a baseball hat before walking over to the mirror to position it on her head and pull her ponytail through the back. “You’ll be a distraction, and I need to focus.”

I could have argued, since we both knew she was full of shit. Ever since we’d moved in together last year, it felt like Amelia had taken up a half-dozen hobbies, none of which included me. Before flying lessons, it was sky diving and rock climbing, and before that she was flying all over the place on the weekends to play in poker tournaments. She’d always been a daredevil and an adrenaline junkie, but nothing like this.

“Don’t pout.” She walked back over and grabbed two fistfuls of my shirt. “Why don’t you do what the couple’s therapist said and get your own hobby?”

“Why don’t you do what the therapist said and spend a little time with me?”

She rolled her eyes. “We spend eighty hours a week together at the office, and we live together.”

“That’s not spending time together. It’s working and having a roommate.”

She pushed up on her toes and pressed her lips to mine. “A roommate who let you wake me up this morning by sticking your dick in me.”

I was about to remind her that it was the only time we’d had sex in two weeks, and interrupting her sleep was the only time I got from her lately, outside of discussing trades at the office. But the therapist had told us to try to avoid unnecessary confrontation, so I bit my tongue and kept things positive. “How about dinner tonight?”

“I probably won’t be back until seven.”

“It’s fine. I have a mountain of work to do at the office. I’ll make us a reservation for eight at that little Italian place we ordered from that you liked.”

She nodded. “Okay. Why don’t I meet you there in case I’m late?”

I kissed her forehead. “Sounds like a plan. Stay safe. Don’t go rogue on your instructor like you do your business partner most days.”

She finally cracked a smile. “I’ll try. No promises.”

• • •

“Would you like another cocktail, sir?”

I shook the ice in my empty glass. “Sure, why not? Apparently I need something to occupy my time.”

The waiter smiled and nodded. After he walked away, I checked my phone for the tenth time: eight thirty-five now and no missed calls. Amelia had texted around five thirty, right before she was about to go up for her lesson. She’d said they were getting a late start and confirmed she’d meet me at the restaurant. But even if she didn’t take off until six, her forty-five-minute, in-air lesson would have been done in time to get here at eight.

Fifteen minutes later, I’d sucked back my second drink, there was still no sign of her, and my calls kept going to voicemail. So I raised my hand to call the waiter.

“I’m sorry. It looks like the person I’ve been waiting for is not coming to dinner.”

“No problem. Would you like to order for yourself?”

I shook my head. “Just the check, please.”

He nodded. “Of course.”

After I signed the bill, I took cash from my wallet and tossed enough on the table to cover the hour I’d wasted. As I got up, my phone buzzed.

“About time,” I grumbled.

But when I pulled my cell out, it wasn’t Amelia’s number on the screen. Though it was a local one, so I swiped to answer anyway.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this Mr. Crawford?”

“It is. Who’s this?”

“My name is Lucy Cooper. I’m an ER nurse over at Memorial Hospital.”

I froze. “Memorial Hospital? Did something happen to Amelia?”

“I’m sorry to tell you this, but there’s been an accident.”

“What kind of an accident? Is she okay?”

“Ms. Evans was in a plane crash. She’s in very serious condition, Mr. Crawford.”

A giant lump formed in my throat and made it hard to speak. “I’m on my way.”

• • •

“Can you tell me where Amelia Evans is?” I’d paid the Uber driver an extra five-hundred bucks to blow any light he could to get to the hospital faster.

The woman behind the glass frowned. “And who are you to Ms. Evans?”

“I’m her fiancé.”

She nodded. “I was here when she came in. I think they took her upstairs. But let me check.”

She disappeared and came back a few minutes later. “May I see some identification, please?”

I pulled out my wallet and slid my license through the opening at the bottom of the glass. The woman examined it and slid it back. “Thank you. Ms. Evans is upstairs. They’re prepping her for surgery. But the gentleman who came in with her said he was her husband. They both came in via ambulance and went straight to the back, so I didn’t question it or see any ID.”

My brows pulled together. “Amelia doesn’t have a husband.”

The woman offered an apologetic smile. “Sometimes people lie about who they are so we won’t kick them out since they aren’t family. But your name is in our system as Ms. Evans’s next of kin. It’s on file from a prior admission for surgery.”

I nodded. “When her appendix ruptured last year.”

“Anyway.” She pointed to the left. “You can come on through the door. I’ll buzz you back. Then you’re going to walk straight down the hall to the elevator bank and go up to the fifth floor. The nurses at the station on the surgery floor should be able to give you an update on her condition.”

“Thank you.”

I saw a large desk right when I stepped onto the floor, so I walked over and waited for the woman in blue scrubs to get off the phone. When she hung up, I couldn’t even wait for her to acknowledge me. “I’m here for Amelia Evans. The nurse in the ER said she was in surgery. Can someone tell me what’s going on?”

“And you are…”

“Her fiancé, Merrick Crawford.”

The nurse looked over to a waiting area. There was a guy sitting by himself. He had his head in his hand and was tugging at his hair.

“Then who’s that?”

I looked over again. This time, the guy looked up. Our eyes met, and a look of recognition seemed to come across his face. That made him the only one who understood anything around here. I turned back to the nurse. “I have no idea who the hell that is.”

The guy stood and walked over. He looked hesitant. “I’m Amelia’s flight instructor, Aaron.” He turned to the nurse. “This is Amelia’s fiancé.”

The nurse frowned and shook her head. “Can I see some ID from both of you, please?”

I again pulled my license from my pocket, while the guy standing next to me shook his head. “I don’t have anything on me. I leave my wallet and phone in a locker when I do lessons.”

The nurse ignored him. She typed into her computer, and then her eyes moved back and forth from the screen to my ID. “I’m sorry, Mr. Crawford. There seems to have been some confusion.”

“Whatever. I don’t care. Can you just tell me how Amelia is?”

She nodded. “Of course.” She started to speak but then stopped and looked over at Amelia’s instructor. “Can you excuse us, please?”

“Oh… Yeah, of course.”

Aaron walked back to the waiting area. The nurse lowered her voice. “How much do you know so far?”

I shook my head. “Not a damn thing.”

She nodded. “Okay. Well, Ms. Evans was brought in following a small-plane crash. She suffered serious injuries to the head and spine. The head injury she sustained is sometimes called a hinge fracture, but it’s basically a fracture of the skull. We were told by the crew that brought her in that the top of the aircraft collapsed on impact, so that’s possibly what caused the injury.”

I raked a hand through my hair. “Jesus Christ. Is she going to be okay?”

The nurse’s face was solemn. “The impact has caused swelling in her brain, and the doctors are working on relieving some of that. The next few hours are going to be crucial. She also suffered a few broken vertebrae, which the doctors will treat if they’re able to stop the swelling.”

“If…they’re able to stop the swelling? What happens if they can’t?”

The nurse shook her head. “It’s imperative that they do, Mr. Crawford.”

I felt like I was in a dream after that. The nurse kept talking, but her words sort of floated through the air around me, unable to sink in. When she was done, her eyes darted over my face.

“Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “How long will she be in surgery?”

“It’s hard to say. But she has an amazing team of doctors working on her. She only went in about fifteen minutes ago. I’ll go back in a little while and see if they can give me any update, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

She motioned to the waiting room. “Why don’t you take a seat? Ms. Evans had some jewelry and personal items on her when she came in. We removed them in case of swelling. I’ll go in the patient safe and get them for you, and you can sign for them. I also have some paperwork you can fill out for her.”

“Okay.”

Even though she’d told me to take a seat, I stood at the desk after she disappeared, trying to make sense of everything. After a while, I remembered Amelia’s flight instructor was here. Maybe he could tell me something more. So I walked over. But just as I started to ask him, the nurse came with a Ziploc bag and some papers clipped to a clipboard. Looking down, she lifted the top page.

“Okay, so I have here that we collected two necklaces and one engagement ring.” She held out the bag to me. “I just need you to double-check what we’re turning over to you and sign for them at the bottom of this page.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

She passed me the clipboard and a pen, along with the baggie. I scribbled my name and handed the papers back to her before looking down at the bag.

“Thank you.” She nodded. But as she walked away, I lifted the Ziploc to see what was inside. There were two necklaces I recognized right away. But the engagement ring…was definitely not hers.

The nurse was already halfway to her desk, so I called after her. “Hang on a second.”

She turned back. “Is something wrong?”

I shook my head. “This isn’t Amelia’s engagement ring.”

Her forehead wrinkled. “I took the jewelry off of Ms. Evans myself.”

“Well, this isn’t her engagement ring.”

The flight instructor stood. “It’s Amelia’s ring.” He frowned. “Just not the one from you. That’s the one from me.”