As if someone had injected ice into my veins, a disturbing chill shot through me and I sat up straight. “You mean, she could still be out there now?”
Bryce nodded.
“But what if she goes to Mitch and Deanna’s? What if she tries to hurt Jessica? I don’t even know if they’re still with her or if-”
“Sshh,” Freya said, taking my hand. “They wouldn’t leave her with anyone they didn’t trust completely. She’ll be fine.”
“Do they even know it was Jen who did this? Because if they don’t know then-”
“They know,” Bryce interrupted, reaching for my other hand. “I told them because I wasn’t sure if she’d go there. The police were sent there too, and Freya’s right. Mitch and Deanna wouldn’t leave her with anyone they didn’t trust. If they can’t find anyone, one of them will stay behind with her.”
“They should both be here! What if… what if something happens to him and they’re not here?”
I stood up, the blanket dropping to the floor. The room swayed in front of me. My head was still pounding, my throat burned from throwing up, and my stomach felt empty. I didn’t even know why I stood. Where would I go? What could I do? I just wanted this nightmare to be over. I wanted to be at home, snuggled up beside Radleigh, safe in the knowledge that Jessica was tucked up in her crib and we were all where we belonged. I wanted peace, but all I had was gut-wrenching fear and endless questions nobody knew the answers to.
Nobody had come out of Radleigh’s room yet. The wailing alarms had stopped, but nobody had come out. Did that mean they were still working on him? Or did it mean….?
“Leah!”
Deanna’s voice brought me back from my thoughts, and I ran towards her and Mitch, tears running down my face. They both wrapped me up in a hug. “Is there any news?” Deanna asked.
“No,” I croaked out. “Nothing. Dee, is Jessica…?”
“She’s fine, sweetheart,” Mitch said. “We called Richard to take care of her, and the police are at our place too. If Jen is still around, she won’t get anywhere near. Truth be told, I don’t think she’d be stupid enough to go there.”
“So… they still haven’t found her?”
“Not as far as we know. But they will find her. We gave them all the information we have and I’m sure Bryce did too.”
“I did,” he said. “Not that I had much. I was too focused on Radleigh.”
“They’re sending some people here shortly to talk to everyone,” Deanna said. “But until then, how do I find out how my son is?”
“You can’t,” I said, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. “They won’t tell us anything.”
As my gaze rested on her, I saw her eyes were red and watery, and her face was as pale as everyone else’s in the room. She nodded. “I suppose they have to do their jobs. Let’s just give them a little longer. No news is good news right now.”
Although that cold weight remained in my stomach, having Mitch and Deanna there settled me a little. My friends were amazing, but like I’d earlier wanted Jessica by my side – and still did – I needed a connection to Radleigh, and they provided it. Mitch especially. He sat beside me and held me close, my head on his shoulder as silence fell over the waiting room. Occasionally someone would get up to make a cup of coffee, but mostly, all that could be heard was the sounds of our breathing.
My sense of time got lost as I waited. The police came to ask some questions. They spoke to Bryce, Miguel, Jude, and Cody, but when they tried to talk to me, Mitch politely told them they’d need to try again later. There was nothing about the incident I could provide because I wasn’t there, so speaking to me could wait. They still hadn’t found Jen yet, but the police did tell us that she wasn’t at the hotel she’d been staying in. They had located Jayden and Harley with the friend of Jen’s she’d left them with multiple times when she was last in town. Mitch and Deanna had provided the police with that information, and thankfully, the boys were fine.
Bree arrived at some point. She hugged me then took a seat beside Jude. I appreciated her being there almost more than everyone else because I knew how she felt about hospitals, and since it hadn’t been too long since she’d been in there herself, it must have been difficult to be back again.
It was somewhere around three a.m when the doctor who had picked me up from the floor earlier came into the waiting room. His face was drawn and he had dark circles under his eyes. As one, Mitch, Deanna and I got to our feet
as he approached.
My heart started to hammer and I gripped Mitch and Deanna’s hands.
“Are you Mr McCoy’s parents?” the doctor asked.
“Yes,” Mitch said, reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m Mitch, and this is my wife, Deanna.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Dr Morgan.”
“What’s the news? Is my son going to be okay?”
Dr Morgan gave a weak smile. “We believe so. Your son was extremely lucky. The knife wound was pretty deep, and if it had been less than half an inch in the wrong direction, it would have punctured a major organ. He has suffered a great deal of blood loss and we had to perform emergency surgery to repair some of the tissue around the wound. If it wasn’t for the fast actions of Mr Warren and the quick arrival of the ambulance, I’d be standing here telling you a different story.”