“That may be, but I can’t al ow you to upset her in her condition. I wil cal security and have you escorted out of the hospital if you insist.”
“Fine. What the hel do I care? Damn girl’s nothing but trouble anyway.”
Gracie waited for her father to leave before she opened her eyes. Her gaze clashed with the doctor’s, and she saw sympathy there. She’d seen that look before. First on the teachers’ faces during her school years and later on her boyfriends’. She hated that look.
The elderly doctor took her wrist and looked at his watch. After a moment, he smiled, kindness in his brown eyes, before writing something in her chart. “So you decided to stop playing possum, huh?”
Gracie tried to sit up and regretted the action instantly. “Ouch.”
“You have a fractured wrist and lots of bruising. Thank God that’s al you ended up with, considering.”
She remembered then. “My car.”
“Is probably totaled,” he said, compassion clear in his expression. “Did you have insurance?”
“Yes. And I wasn’t playing possum . . . exactly.”
“Wel , young lady, you’re very fortunate. The outcome could have been much worse. Your seat belt and airbag saved your life. The good news is you wil mend, and you can buy a new car.”
“I can leave then?”
He patted her hand. “Let’s wait until tomorrow. I’d like to do a few other tests to be sure everything is okay.”
Damn, she hated hospitals. The last hospital she’d been to she was ten years old, and her grandma had lain there dying. Gracie had been too young to understand why her grandma couldn’t just wake up and come home. After she’d passed, Gracie had been left alone with her father. Her mother had never been in the picture. She had no memories of her at al . Her father never let her forget how grateful she should be that at least he’d stuck around.
“In the meantime, there are a few people who want to see you,” the doctor said, interrupting the train wreck of her thoughts. “A Cherry DuBois and Wade Harrison. Ring any bel s?”
“Cherry’s my boss, and Wade is . . .” She stal ed out. What was Wade?
“A friend, yeah, I figured that out by the way he was carrying on in the hal . He’s none too happy to be kept outside the room. He rather insisted on seeing you immediately.”
She smiled despite her aches and pains. “Persistent. Yes, that’s Wade.”
“Would you like to see them? They’re pretty anxious about the accident. I don’t think Wade is going to be convinced you’re alive until he sees you with his own eyes.”
“Of course. Thank you.” Then another thought occurred. “Wait, who told them about the accident?”
“You asked us to cal your boss. Don’t you remember?”
She shook her head. “I remember driving home from work, but nothing much after that.”
“A hit-and-run.”
Gracie tried to remember, but her mind was a blank slate. “Someone hit me then took off?”
He nodded, his eyebrows scrunching in anger. “It happens more than you’d think.”
“I wish I could remember. It’s so strange. I just remember getting in the car and starting out of the parking lot.”
“Don’t force it; you’l remember soon enough.” He paused a moment, then said, “You were in shock when the paramedics brought you in, but you did ask someone to cal Ms. DuBois. I believe she notified your friend and your father. Speaking of which, when your father returns would you like to see him as wel ?”
She knew what he was asking. Say the word, and she wouldn’t have to deal with his drunkenness. She sighed, wishing she’d gain a damn backbone for once. “It’s fine, doctor. I’m used to him.”
“If you’re sure.” He stepped away from the bed and went out the door. Seconds later, Wade strode through it, his expression set in hard lines.
When he looked at her, he stopped and cursed.
“Do I look that bad?”