She jumped at the sound of her name. Her eyes had been closed in anguish as she prayed, bargaining with God to spare Cage's life. She had expected to see a doctor bending over her in commiseration. Instead the man who had addressed her was wearing a police uniform.
"Yes?"
"I thought it was you," he said. "I'm Deputy Rawlins. I spoke to you on the phone."
She rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "Of course. I remember."
"And this here's Mr. Hanks. It was his family Cage saved." For the first time Jenny noticed the man standing slightly behind the deputy. He stepped forward, his overalls and brogans a jarring contrast to the modern sterility of the hospital corridor. His eyes were red with tears and his balding head was humbly bowed.
"Saved?" Jenny mouthed. Very little sound came out. "I don't understand."
"His wife and kids were in the car that was stalled on the tracks. Cage came up behind them and pushed them off. He barely got them out of the way in time. 'Course, the engineer had seen what was happening and had slowed the train down as much as he could, but there wasn't time to stop it." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "It's a good thing he hit on the passenger side and damn lucky for Cage he wasn't in his Vet. That would have been squashed like a bug."
Cage hadn't tried to take his own life! He had roared away from her angry and hurt, but it had never been his intention to kill himself. What a fool she had been to even suspect that.
A fresh batch of tears streamed down Jenny's face. He had been trying to save other lives. If he died, it would be as a hero and not as a suicide. She looked up at Mr. Hanks. "Is your family all right?"
He nodded. "They're still shaken up, but thanks to Mr. Hendren, they're alive. I'd like to tell him myself how grateful I am. I pray to God he pulls out of this."
"I pray so, too."
"You know," Hanks said, lowering his head and shaking it sadly, "I've always thought bad things about Cage Hendren, because of the stories goin' around. His drinking and women and all. I've seen him ripping around town in his fancy cars, driving like a bat out of Hades. I thought he was a damn fool to risk his life like that." He sighed. "Reckon I've been taught the hard way not to condemn a man I don't know. He didn't have to run up on that track and knock my wife's car out of the path of that freight train. But he did." His eyes began to fill again. Embarrassed, he covered them with his hand.
"Why don't you get on home, Mr. Hanks," Deputy Rawlins said kindly, laying a hand on the man's shoulder.
"Thank you, Mr. Hanks," Jenny said.
"For what? If it hadn't been for my sorry ol' car—"
"Thank you anyway," she said softly. Hanks gave her a solemn, encouraging nod before Rawlins led him to the elevator.
The nurses's prediction that they would soon hear something about Cage's condition proved to be false. Jenny sat alone in the waiting room. No one came out of the operating room to report on Cage.
She had been there for almost two hours when the elevator doors opened and Bob and Sarah rushed out. Their eyes were frantic, their faces wild with worry and ravaged with renewed grief.
Jenny watched them stop at the nurses' station and identify themselves. They got the same polite, tepid reassurance from the nurse that she had. Leaning into each other for support, they turned toward the alcove. When they saw Jenny, their footsteps faltered.
At first Jenny's eyes indicted them. You didn't love him, but now you come to weep over his deathbed, her expression said.
But she couldn't incriminate them without incriminating herself, too. If she hadn't been so frightened of what it would mean to her placid life, she would have faced up to her love for Cage years ago.
And today, today, when he had needed to know that he was forgiven and that she loved him, she had rejected his apology. The irony of it was, he had been apologizing for making love to her, for giving her the most splendid night of her life. And she had refused to accept it! How could she blame the Hendrens for their shortsightedness when hers had been so much more hurtful?
She stood and extended her arms toward Sarah. With a glad cry the older woman staggered forward. Jenny hugged her hard. "Shh, Sarah, he'll be all right. I know it."
Hiccupping on every other word, Sarah explained where they'd been. "We drove out of town to visit a sick friend. When we got back, the sheriff's car was parked outside our house. We knew something terrible had happened." Together they sat down on the sofa. "First Hal, now Cage, I can't bear it."
"Would it matter to you so much if Cage died?"
Jenny couldn't believe she had so boldly asked them the question uppermost in her mind. They looked back at her through stricken eyes. Knowing she should go easily on them in the face of tragedy, she nonetheless could find no mercy in her heart. If cruelty would wake them up to the shabby way they had treated their son, then cruel she would be. She was fighting this battle for Cage.
"I don't think Cage believes that you would care."
"But he's our son. We love him," Sarah cried.
"Have you ever told him you love him? Have you ever told him how much you value him?" Bob lowered his eyes guiltily. Sarah swallowed hard. "Never mind answering. As long as I lived with you, you never did."
"We … we had a difficult time with Cage," Bob said.