Page 23 of Jenny
CHAPTER SIX
A female voice said, “Come in.”
Jenny pushed open the door and walked into the hospital room. Beeps and blips sounded. The bed closest to her was empty but not the other.
Dare.
A tall woman with short, mahogany-colored hair blocked the view of the occupied bed. She wore jeans, a short-sleeved green blouse, and slip-on canvas shoes. Dark circles were under her puffy eyes.
“You must be Jenny.” The woman smiled. “I’m Susan. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances, but thank you for coming to see Darragh.”
Susan made this visit seem totally normal. If only…
“How is he?” Jenny asked.
“In and out. He had another surgery today. With all the hardware they’re putting inside him, he’ll be setting off metal detectors for the rest of his life.”
Dare was alive. That was all that mattered. Jenny swallowed.
She walked toward the bed where a man lay. Wires connected him to machines that made noises and lit up. An IV line went into the top of his right hand. One leg was elevated in a traction device. A cast covered part of his left forearm and hand. A white bandage concealed half his forehead. Cuts and bruises marred his face and arms. But he still looked like…
Ash.
Her heart lurched.
She did a double take. Blinked. Refocused.
Not Ash.
Dare.
A hand touched her shoulder. Susan.
“Are you okay, Jenny?”
Not trusting her voice, she nodded, even though her world had tilted off its axis and was spinning out of control.
Dare was in his mid-to-late twenties and more gorgeous than she’d imagined Ash. Even with the injuries Dare had sustained. The way his features fit together was perfect.
Her pulse took off faster than the speed of light.
This was who found her bottle? Her BFF? Her…friend?
Susan gave her shoulder a squeeze and then lowered her hand. “It’s so hard to see Darragh like this. He’s always been so active and athletic. Rarely caught colds. He played wide receiver for his junior college football team. He could have transferred to a four-year university, but after he got his associate’s degree, all he wanted to do was enlist and become a ranger.”
Like Rob—only his dream had been to be a marine.
“Honorable,” Jenny said, thinking of both men.
“That’s Darragh.” Susan’s gaze traveled from him to Jenny. “You know my son well.”
It didn’t sound like a question. For that, Jenny was grateful because she wouldn’t have known how to answer.
“He’ll be so happy you’re here,” Susan added.
Jenny hoped so. “He looks young.”
“Darragh always had such a baby face growing up. Even in high school. Now his sisters call him a pretty boy. He hates that.” Susan laughed. “Twenty-six, and his sisters can still get to him.”
