Losing Ladd (18 page)

Catching up with them as they arrived
at the ambulance, Travis hovered by Felicity’s side, watching in
silence as three men hoisted the bed up and slid it into the rear
of the vehicle.

“
I’m going with her,” Nick
declared to the lead medic. Meeting no protest, he climbed into the
back of the ambulance and they closed the doors.

Felicity raced forward. “I’m her
daughter—I want to go, too!”

Securing the door shut, one of the
medics replied, “I’m sorry. There’s not enough room.”

Travis grasped her arm. “I’ll drive
you, Felicity. I’ll take you to the hospital.”

Trembling, Felicity stared at the rear
of the ambulance. It was as though he hadn’t spoken, like she took
in the closed doors with a chilling finality. Felicity cried out
beneath her breath, “I have to go. I have to be with
her!”

Travis firmed his hold of her. “I’ll
take you. She’ll be okay.”

Felicity looked up at him, a vein of
anger pulsating to life in the soft heather of her eyes. “She’s not
okay, Travis. She’s not okay!”

Chapter Fifteen

Felicity wanted to scream, she wanted
to shout, yet she could hardly move. Her mother was unconscious!
She had not responded to the paramedics. Nick was the calmest man
Felicity had ever met. Nothing ruffled him. Yet he was ruffled now,
she mused, staring in despair after the departing
ambulance.

“
C’mon, Felicity.” Travis
tugged her arm. “Let’s go. We’ll get to the hospital right behind
them.”

The
hospital
. Felicity’s breathing grew
shallow. Her mother was on her way to the hospital, yet none of it
felt real. Red lights flashed through the night sky. Firefighters
aimed arcs of water over the building, heavy streams that doused
leaping flames. Guests gathered around them, gawking as the stables
succumbed to fire.

“
She’s not
okay.”

“
She will be.”

“
They said she’s
unconscious. She might be in a coma.” Felicity felt gutted by the
words. Her mother looked dead. She didn’t move. She didn’t respond.
Not to the medics, not to Nick.

“
They’ll take care of her
at the hospital.”

“
She shouldn’t even be at
the hospital!” Felicity exclaimed. “This should never have
happened!”

Her mom would not let the animals burn
to death. They were her life. Her world. Felicity shuddered. A
horse had been burned. She’d seen it trotting out with several
others. At least Blue had escaped harm. When Travis left the
stables, Troy had grabbed her, shouted that he had Blue. Resentment
twisted Felicity’s heart. Travis had not come back for her. She was
grateful to him for saving her mother but after he rushed outside
with her mother he never came back. It was Troy who had come to her
rescue, not Travis.

Her heart split. Troy had saved her
when Travis had not.

“
We need to go,” Travis
pressed.

The desperation in his voice pulled at
her. Thoughts of her mom lying on that gurney, being whisked away
by strangers began to unravel her. Latching onto sight of Troy, her
heart started to pound. He was walking two horses around the inside
perimeter of one of the pens, calming them, reassuring them
everything was okay. The horses had been hurt. Her mom had been
hurt.

Behind them, Malcolm approached. He
was usually so easygoing and relaxed, but at the moment his eyes
were scored by concern, the blue paled to a flat gray. His
expression was hard, his posture tense. Was it a wonder? His hotel
stables were going up in flames. “Aren’t you going to the hospital
with your mom?” he asked.

“
Yes. Yes, as soon as I
make sure that Blue is okay, I’m driving over.”

“
She’s fine. Troy has her
and several others over at the paddocks.”

Felicity felt light-headed. Dizzy,
relieved, her head felt like it was spinning.

Glancing between her and Travis,
Malcolm asked, “Is there anything you need?”

“
Where’s Casey?” Felicity
asked abruptly, struck by the thought she hadn’t seen the others
since she abandoned them at the bonfire. “Are she and Cassidy
okay?”

“
They’re fine. Cal sent
them home with Annie. He’s down at the hotel now, fielding
questions and directing response teams.”

Felicity imagined the confusion guests
must be experiencing. A fire of this magnitude would certainly
undermine the “serenity” of their stay. It was unsettling,
frightening. People would want to know what was going on, if there
was any danger to them.

“
The police are on their
way now to investigate,” Malcolm said.

The fire started with an
explosion. Felicity’s chest suddenly hollowed.
Her father
.

“
I need to go,” she said,
then turned and ran.

“
Felicity!”

Travis followed Felicity as she walked
from the ER to a waiting room upstairs. It was for patients having
an MRI. He understood it was a piece of equipment doctors used to
detect brain injury. Delaney was unconscious. There was no way to
know what happened without some sort of internal scan. When he
called ahead, they said Felicity’s mom was having one, but he
couldn’t get any other information. He wasn’t family. He was a
friend, but even that was beginning to feel uncertain based on
Felicity’s attitude. It was like she didn’t want him around her,
didn’t want him accompanying her to the hospital. Which was crazy.
He’d saved her mother’s life! She should be grateful to him but
instead she was shunning him. She ran to her car and when he caught
up with her, she threw his arm from her shoulder, refused his offer
to drive. The whole scene had been insane. From the explosion and
burning stables to the crazy actions of his girlfriend, Travis’
entire world felt flipped upside down.

As they exited the elevator, they saw
Mr. Harris conferring with a middle-aged doctor wearing khaki pants
beneath his white coat, his hair graying at the temples. Mr. Harris
looked ten years older, his expression long and drawn, his black
eyes deadweight in his face.

Felicity hurried toward the men. “Is
my mom okay?”

Turning, emotion churned the depths of
Mr. Harris’ gaze. “She’s in a coma.”

“
A coma?”

“
Yes,” he replied dully.
“It’s due to the trauma done to her head.”

Standing idle, Travis wondered what
could have caused her head injury. The beam hadn’t hit them. Had
she hit her head against the stall? Had it happened when he tackled
her to the ground? He moved his gaze to the open doorway, his
thoughts going to Felicity and Mr. Harris. The two people closest
to Miss Delaney were hurting. Had this been his fault?

“
She’s critical,” the
doctor added. “We’re keeping her overnight.”

Felicity fell back a step.
“Overnight?”

Exchanging a glance with Mr. Harris,
the doctor seemed hesitant, but Mr. Harris nodded. “Your mother has
some swelling in the brain. We need to watch her for a few days
before deciding what to do.”

Felicity gaped. “A few
days?”

“
It might resolve itself
sooner,” the doctor replied quietly, “but it’s a wait-and-see
proposition. We’re doing everything we can to relieve the pressure,
but we’ll need to monitor her progress. Hopefully, surgery won’t be
necessary.”

Felicity nearly buckled. Travis
reached out for her, but she collapsed into Mr. Harris who wrapped
an arm around her body, hugging Felicity to him. “Don’t worry.
She’s in good hands.”

Travis thought Mr. Harris sounded like
he was in some kind of daze. He seemed distant, detached. Was he in
shock? Had he mentally checked out?

“
You’re welcome to wait
here,” the doctor told Felicity. “But like I was telling your
father, it could be some time before we know anything.”

“
He’s not my father,”
Felicity murmured abruptly.

“
I’m her stepfather,” Nick
corrected, a sweep of concern coalescing in his gaze. Was he
bothered by Felicity’s hasty clarification?

The doctor seemed to take it in
stride. “I see. Either way, you’re welcome to stay. I’ll let the
staff know you’re here.”

“
Can I see her?” Felicity
asked.

“
Of course. I’ll ask the
nurse to let you know when she’s settled. Though I want to caution
you—she won’t be able to respond but she might be able to hear you
and understand what you’re saying.”

Nodding, Felicity tightened her hold
on Mr. Harris.

“
I understand this is the
result of a fire.” Lines rippled across his forehead as he
instructed, “I wouldn’t make any mention of the fire while in her
presence. Do not discuss the events of the evening. Her stress
should be kept to a minimum.”

Because she could hear them, Travis
mused, unsettled by the notion. And it would upset her. As the
doctor left, Mr. Harris and Felicity walked to the waiting room.
There was no goodbye, no acknowledgement of his presence. They
simply walked away from him like two zombies. “Felicity,
wait.”

They turned but Felicity didn’t make a
move toward him. She stood clinging to Mr. Harris like some kind of
lifeline.

Mr. Harris let go of his hold. “Take
your time,” he told her, his voice devoid of emotion. “I’ll let you
know if anything changes.”

Felicity’s gaze trailed him inside as
though she longed to be with him. Returning her focus to Travis,
she crossed her arms and looked at him expectantly. Her hair was a
spray of frizzy curls around her face, her cheeks and forehead
shone with baked-in perspiration. Both of them smelled foul, the
sterile environment no match for the rank scent of smoke. But worse
than her looks was the cutting edge in her gaze.

“
Felicity, I’m sorry about
your mom. I’m sorry about the fire, but I’m glad you and Blue are
okay.” Visibly struggling against tears, Felicity zipped her mouth
tightly closed. Travis scraped a hand through his hair, frustration
filing through him. “Felicity, what’s wrong? What’s going
on?”

“
What do you think is
wrong?” she asked, anger wrenching her delicate features, rendering
her freckles an angry red. “My mother is lying in a hospital bed,
Travis. Horses have been injured, property has been
destroyed.”

“
I get all that, but you
seem to not want me around. What the heck did I do?”

Felicity grew rigid, her green eyes
suddenly glittering beneath the fluorescent lighting. “Why didn’t
you come back for me?”

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
In the stables, after you
carried my mom out. Why didn’t you come back for me?”

“
I did come back for you.
I searched all over for you!”

“
Not in the stables. You
never came back in to help me and Blue.”

“
Felicity, I was helping
your
mom
. I told
you to get out. I went back but they told me you weren’t
inside.”

“
You expected me to leave
my horse? Did you seriously think I was going to listen to
you?”

“
You should never have
gone inside in the first place. It was a stupid risk.

Felicity’s expression morphed into
such a hideous rejection he almost expected a fire-breathing dragon
to leap out and scorch him. “You call saving Blue from burning
alive a stupid risk?”

“
You know what I mean.”
Thankfully the corridor was empty. Travis was glad no one was here
to witness the hostility between them. “There were other people
there who could have helped. Some of the staff had returned. They
could have saved your horse without you endangering
yourself.”

“
Why? Because they’re men,
or because you didn’t see fit to save her so they had to finish the
job?”

“
Felicity. I was trying to
help your mom. I knew Troy was in there. He could get
Blue.”

She glared at him. “Don’t
you think he had his hands full? I mean—he was busy trying to
save
all
the
horses, not just mine. But he did. He saw you desert me and he
saved me
and
Blue.”

“
Desert you?” Travis bit
back his next response. Felicity was making Troy into some kind of
hero and totally ignoring the heroic act
he
performed. “The stables are
his
job
. He works
with those animals. Of course he’s going to go in after them. You
didn’t have to go in. You should’ve stayed outside where it was
safe.”

“
Safe.
Safe
, while my horse’s life is
threatened? Not a chance. I can’t believe you would even suggest
such a thing.”

And Travis couldn’t believe she was
flying out of control like this. What had gotten into her? Why was
she being so irrational? Clearing his throat, the bitter taste of
smoke an ever present reminder of the chaotic evening, he tried to
remain calm. “Listen, I don’t want anything to happen to you, is
that so bad?”