Sassafras Summer by Carol Owen

Author:Carol Owen [Owen, Carol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, contemporary, summer, small town
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2018-02-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Dorie was fast asleep Saturday morning when Jackson leaned over to kiss her.

“Don’t get up,” he said. “Winston and I have an early tee time. See you later. Go back to sleep.”

She turned over to bury her face in his pillow, where it still smelled of him. She smiled in satisfaction and slid back into her dreams. When she woke up, it was almost ten, but nothing urgent required her to get up. She stretched her arms over her head. It was a luxury to be able to sleep in.

The phone on the bedside table rang, and she reached over for it.

“Dorie, it’s Winston.” His voice grated with tension.

“What happened? Is Jackson okay?”

His silence frightened her.

“I think he’s had a heart attack,” he said finally. “While we were playing. The ambulance took him to the ER at Memorial in Chapel Hill.”

“But he’s all right?” she asked, scrambling out of bed.

“I don’t know. I think you should get here.”

“I’m on my way.”

She grabbed some clothes without noticing what she put on and ran downstairs. Annie was in the kitchen, in her running outfit of T-shirt and shorts, drinking a cup of coffee.

“Jackson’s in the ER at Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill.” Dorie yanked her car keys out of her bag.

“I’ll go with you,” Annie said.

“Meet me there. Call Jax first, please, and let him know Jackson might have had a heart attack.”

The twenty miles to the hospital seemed endless. Dorie went as fast as she dared, hoping a cop would come along and clear the way for her. Walking into the ER felt like walking into a prison. She had to pass through security and turn over her purse to a policeman for inspection. She spotted Winston sitting in the waiting room and hurried over.

He was sitting with his head down, a picture of dejection. Dorie put her hands over her mouth, her heart pounding.

“Winston.” It came out as a croak.

He jumped to his feet.

“How is he?”

“I don’t know anything,” he said. “They’re doing tests.”

“What happened?”

“He didn’t feel good. Said he was tired. I thought he looked kind of gray. I told him we should stop, and he should sit down in the shade somewhere, but he wouldn’t quit. Then, he just sort of collapsed. I don’t mind telling you, it scared the crap out of me.”

“Has anyone been out to talk to you?”

He shook his head. “Nobody.”

“I’ll see what I can find out,” she said and went to the admitting nurse, sitting behind a glass panel. She gave her name and was buzzed through. She followed directions that took her down a long hallway lined with people lying on beds on one side, with cubicles on the other side, curtains closed or pulled back. She saw people young and old, black and white and Asian, some crying, some calling out. Medical personnel everywhere. Controlled bedlam.

She took a deep breath. She should be used to all this from her training, but this felt different. This time it was Jackson. She found him in one of the cubicles, hooked up to an IV and a heart-rate monitor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.