Chapter 126

The faint smell of bleach was familiar to him now. Hospitals always seemed to smell that way. Like refrigerated bleach. Spencer and Sabrina sat on either side of him. Spencer was still, like a statue in a park. The only signs of life Will could even detect was an occasional blink and his shoulders moving with each breath. How could someone be so still? Sabrina on the other hand was a fidgety mess. Her legs bounced, and she wrung her hands together. A violent shiver would run through her body from time to time.
“Are you cold?” he asked. His voice was like a thousand shattering plates in the silent waiting room. Sabrina jumped, clearly startled. “Sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. I get really jumpy when I’m nervous. Yeah, I guess I am a little cold.”
“Here,” Will shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it around her shoulders.
“Thanks,” she gave him a tight smile and her small hands clutched it close to her body.
Spencer looked over at Will, the first time he’d moved during their wait. It was eerie. Like a mannequin come to life.
“Are you okay?” Will asked him.
“Are you?” Spencer asked back. On their way to the hospital, they had received a call from Captain Whitlock. He gave them the details of what had happened after the press conference.
“I’ve sent the name of the hospital to your phone, Spencer,” the captain said. He was panting as though he’d been running.
“What happened?” Sabrina asked.
“It was bad. Really bad.”
“What was bad?” Spencer asked.
“The trace led us to a decoy spot. Will’s ex-wife was there. It was a trap, I think, to lure him there. She was… not okay.”
“Was?” Sabrina picked up on his use of past tense.
“Nothing gets past you, huh? She um… confessed to being part of the kidnapping plot before she um… shot herself. In front of him.”
“Fuck,” Sabrina whispered.
“’Fuck’ is right,” the captain lamented. “He was in a bit of shock. I wouldn’t be surprised if he somehow still thinks this is his fault somehow.”
“What do you mean ‘still thinks’?” Spencer asked.
“The stuff she said to him… it wasn’t good. She got in his head, I think. He may seem fine. But he’d hurting. I know what he said, about her being nothing to him now. And she very may mean nothing to him… but something like that… it does things to you.”
Looking at Will now, it was hard to tell what turmoil could be going on his mind. All he could see now was worry. No one talked to them, no matter how much of scene Will made. The hospital staff, and the police, threatened to have him removed if he had one more outburst.
So, the three of them sat there waiting. Every second that went by was another eternity.
“Will,” Spencer said when he didn’t answer. “Are you okay? Captain Whitlock told us what happened—”
“I’m fine,” Will cut him off. “I’m fine. It’s fine.” The way his eyes steeled over let Spencer know to drop the subject.
Captain Whitlock couldn’t come to the hospital, at least not yet. He was assisting them in an unofficial capacity when they began, but now he had to turn over everything to the official investigation. It was a lengthy process with tons of paperwork involved. He promised them he would be there as soon as he could.
This wasn’t supposed to get this big, Will thought. He never imagined that this situation would run so deep. If he hadn’t been so wrapped up in Grace and his own drama, he would have seen the issues going on within his own company. Things had been weird for a while, but his focus had been elsewhere. But never again.
“Excuse me?” A nurse walked up to them. The three of them shot up as she approached. “I’ve been authorized to give you an update. Miss Royce has bruised and broken ribs, and a broken ankle. She’s got extensive bruising from being beaten. She’s suffering from severe dehydration and there is evidence of a concussion. She is out of surgery now and is expected to make a full recovery.”
“Oh, thank God,” Sabrina whimpered.
“And Emma?” Will asked.
“Miss Wells has several lacerations along her chest and arms. Most of them were shallow, but there were a few deeper ones that caused some concern. She shows some signs of beating and there is evidence that she was drugged. The most concerning is the acute mastitis. The infection is being treated with antibiotics. And… she is also expected to make a full recovery.”
Sabrina collapsed into Will’s side and wept tears of joy. Spencer felt as though ice had been encasing him, and it finally able to melt.
“Both are out of surgery,” the nurse smiled. “Miss Royce is awake if you’d like to see her. Miss Wells is still asleep. I will alert you once she wakes.”
“Oh yes, please!” Sabrina jumped. “Take us to see her.”
“She’s okay,” Will repeated, almost in a daze. “She’s really okay.”
“Yes, she is,” Spencer said. “Thanks to you. You did what you had to do. And thanks to that, to your instincts, they’re safe.” He put his hand on Will’s shoulder. “Come on.”
They walked into Jess’s room. There were bandages all over here. Her right leg was propped up on a small mountain of pillows. Her head was thrown back, like she was looking at the ceiling. Her curly hair was matted and bunched up underneath her, and her glowy, caramel skin was gray and pale. But she was alive, and she would be okay.
“Jess!” Sabrina wailed and ran towards her friend. She threw herself on to the bed, and Jess groaned.
“Watch it,” she chuckled through the pain. “I’m still delicate.”
“Delicate, my ass!” Sabrina wiped her tears away. “I know you fought like hell.”
“I did,” Jess smiled. She looked up and saw Will and Spencer standing behind Sabrina.
“Jess, you know Will,” Sabrina said. “This is Spencer. He helped us.”
“Nice to meet you. Wish I looked a little better. I’m normally a lot cuter than this,” she winked.
“Wow,” Sabrina laughed. “Already flirting? You don’t waste any time, do you?”
“Hey, I could have died. Kind of puts into perspective how fragile life can be. You need to shoot your shot whenever you can.” Her attitude shifted as she looked at them and took her own words in. “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t asked Emma to involve you in my problems, this wouldn’t have happened.”
“Don’t,” Will said. “If it weren’t for you, I probably never would have discovered all the shit he was doing. In truth, it’s my fault. I was his target all along. This wasn’t anything but some crazy family drama and you got innocently swept up in it. I want you to know I’ll be paying for all of your medical expenses. And your father’s. I’ll also assign my legal team to your father’s case and get justice for the family of the killed worker.”
“Oh my God,” Jess gasped. When she first met Will, he was an arrogant playboy. But now… he was a knight in shining armor. “You don’t have to do all that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Thank you,” Jess smiled at him, her chest swelling with gratitude. “Have you guys been able to see Emma yet?”
“She isn’t awake yet,” Spencer answered.
“Oh,” Jess hung her head. “Is she…”
“She’s going to make a full recovery,” Sabrina said. “Like you.”
“She was such a badass,” Jess smiled. “No matter how crazy things got, she never stopped fighting. I have to admit, there was a while there where I thought we wouldn’t make it. She um… got slashed up pretty bad. I think, had it been me, that I would have just quit. I might have if I had just been me. But when Emma got roped into this, I knew I couldn’t.”
Will flinched at Jess’s words. He knew who it was that had slashed Emma up. And by the way that Jess was looking at him, she knew too. The past 24 hours were probably the most tumultuous of his life. Of all of their lives. They all felt as though they’d been awake for days, living through a nightmare they couldn’t wake from. The ordeal would scar them all in different ways and they would all begin to move on at their own pace.
“It’s going to be a rough go for a while,” Sabrina said to her friend, placing a tender hand on her shoulder. “You know that right?”
“I do,” Jess sighed.
A rough go, Will scoffed to himself. It was all he could do keep from spiraling into his own abyss. The last image of Grace would be forever burned into his mind. Whether that would destroy him or further fuel him was yet to be seen. But he was sure of one thing. This nightmare isn’t over.