She did as he instructed, inching her way up as he held tight to her arm with one hand. “That’s right. You’re almost there,” he said, never letting go of the corner post. Even as she made it to the door, he held on to her. “Okay. You’re in. You’re safe.”
“But you’re not. Gareth, pull yourself up before you fall.”
Without her to worry about, he was able to swing himself into position and crawl up the ninety-degree-angled balcony. Once inside he pulled her into his arms. Gareth felt her shaking against him. “You’re okay, Brooke. You’re okay.”
She ran her hand up his arm and then pulled away. Brooke held her hand up and he saw fear in her eyes again. “Gareth, you’re bleeding?” He hadn’t noticed he’d been injured. The adrenaline had taken over. “Let me look at it,” she ordered.
He turned around and heard her gasp. “Oh my God. Gareth, your shoulder is . . . oh God. It’s bad. Really bad.”
He turned back to face her. “It’ll be fine. I just need a bandage.”
Brooke shook her head. “Gareth, you need stitches. A lot of them. We need to get you to the hospital.”
“It’s not that b-b-a-a-d . . .” He tried to fight it, but he felt himself swaying. “Br-ooke . . . I”
She hadn’t known who to call but Janet. Thankfully Janet had been able to get help, but nothing had been close by, and minutes felt like hours as she kept direct pressure on his wound until help finally arrived.
Brooke hadn’t spent any time at a hospital, not for herself or anyone she knew. This was an experience she’d be happy to do without. The doctors said Gareth would be okay. But until he was out of surgery and she saw for herself, they were only words.
She couldn’t get the picture of his shoulder out of her mind. He’d lost a lot of blood. It wasn’t just a gash, it was torn open, and a piece of wood had been stuck in it. She felt queasy again just thinking about it.
“Brooke, why don’t you let the doctor look you over while we wait?” Ziva suggested.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she replied firmly. “If it wasn’t for Gareth, I’d be . . . well, I wouldn’t be sitting here, that’s for sure.” No one knew how close she’d come to dying. But Gareth risked his life to save hers. He’d promised her she’d be okay. He said he wouldn’t leave her, and she wasn’t going to leave him.
“Alex told me what happened. What a place for that truck to lose its brakes and slam into the house like that. It actually pushed the house off its foundation.”
“And us, almost off the cliff.” If Gareth hadn’t caught her when he had . . . I’d be dead.
“I can only imagine how frightening that was. And if Alex’s mother had returned home, she might not have been so lucky. The front of the truck crushed the rocking chair she sits in all the time. It really is a miracle.”
She could think of it as that, but there was a fatality, the driver of the truck. Brooke wondered if he had a family, a wife and children who were going to mourn his loss. Yes, it could’ve been worse, but Gareth was hurt and one man was dead. It didn’t feel miraculous right now.
Brooke looked at her phone. Her mother was calling for the third time. They always spoke around this time of day, when she would’ve gotten off work and settling back into her room. Not answering it was going to cause unnecessary panic. Getting up, she said to Ziva, “Excuse me. I have to take this call.”
Walking away also gave her a moment to breathe. Maybe talking to her mother about anything but the accident was exactly what she needed right now.
“Hello, Mother, how are you?”
“Brooke, I’ve been calling. You had me so worried. Is everything okay?”
She didn’t want to lie, so she kept her answer vague. “Not the best day, but it could always be worse, as you say.”
“I do. But sometimes, in that moment, it doesn’t matter. Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not right now, Mother. I’m . . . tired. Why don’t you cheer me up with one of your stories? What have you and Father been up to?”
Her mother laughed. “Your father has decided he wants to sell the house.”
“What! Wait! What made him want to do that?” Not that she spent much time there, but when she was in the States, it was where she laid her head at night. It was the place she knew she could always return to.
“You’re not going to believe this, but after all these years, your father wants to go home.”
Brooke wasn’t sure where that was, as they had moved so much. “To where?”
“Panama. He wants to slow down, relax, and spend time with family.”
“I’m his family,” Brooke said bluntly.