The Boss Project by Vi Keeland

The guy stood and walked over. He looked hesitant. “I’m Amelia’s flight instructor, Aaron.” He turned to the nurse. “This is Amelia’s fiancé.”

The nurse frowned and shook her head. “Can I see some ID from both of you, please?”

I again pulled my license from my pocket, while the guy standing next to me shook his head. “I don’t have anything on me. I leave my wallet and phone in a locker when I do lessons.”

The nurse ignored him. She typed into her computer, and then her eyes moved back and forth from the screen to my ID. “I’m sorry, Mr. Crawford. There seems to have been some confusion.”

“Whatever. I don’t care. Can you just tell me how Amelia is?”

She nodded. “Of course.” She started to speak but then stopped and looked over at Amelia’s instructor. “Can you excuse us, please?”

“Oh… Yeah, of course.”

Aaron walked back to the waiting area. The nurse lowered her voice. “How much do you know so far?”

I shook my head. “Not a damn thing.”

She nodded. “Okay. Well, Ms. Evans was brought in following a small-plane crash. She suffered serious injuries to the head and spine. The head injury she sustained is sometimes called a hinge fracture, but it’s basically a fracture of the skull. We were told by the crew that brought her in that the top of the aircraft collapsed on impact, so that’s possibly what caused the injury.”

I raked a hand through my hair. “Jesus Christ. Is she going to be okay?”

The nurse’s face was solemn. “The impact has caused swelling in her brain, and the doctors are working on relieving some of that. The next few hours are going to be crucial. She also suffered a few broken vertebrae, which the doctors will treat if they’re able to stop the swelling.”

“If…they’re able to stop the swelling? What happens if they can’t?”

The nurse shook her head. “It’s imperative that they do, Mr. Crawford.”

I felt like I was in a dream after that. The nurse kept talking, but her words sort of floated through the air around me, unable to sink in. When she was done, her eyes darted over my face.

“Are you okay?”

I shook my head. “How long will she be in surgery?”

“It’s hard to say. But she has an amazing team of doctors working on her. She only went in about fifteen minutes ago. I’ll go back in a little while and see if they can give me any update, okay?”

I nodded. “Okay. Thanks.”

She motioned to the waiting room. “Why don’t you take a seat? Ms. Evans had some jewelry and personal items on her when she came in. We removed them in case of swelling. I’ll go in the patient safe and get them for you, and you can sign for them. I also have some paperwork you can fill out for her.”

“Okay.”

Even though she’d told me to take a seat, I stood at the desk after she disappeared, trying to make sense of everything. After a while, I remembered Amelia’s flight instructor was here. Maybe he could tell me something more. So I walked over. But just as I started to ask him, the nurse came with a Ziploc bag and some papers clipped to a clipboard. Looking down, she lifted the top page.

“Okay, so I have here that we collected two necklaces and one engagement ring.” She held out the bag to me. “I just need you to double-check what we’re turning over to you and sign for them at the bottom of this page.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

She passed me the clipboard and a pen, along with the baggie. I scribbled my name and handed the papers back to her before looking down at the bag.

“Thank you.” She nodded. But as she walked away, I lifted the Ziploc to see what was inside. There were two necklaces I recognized right away. But the engagement ring…was definitely not hers.

The nurse was already halfway to her desk, so I called after her. “Hang on a second.”

She turned back. “Is something wrong?”

I shook my head. “This isn’t Amelia’s engagement ring.”

Her forehead wrinkled. “I took the jewelry off of Ms. Evans myself.”

“Well, this isn’t her engagement ring.”

The flight instructor stood. “It’s Amelia’s ring.” He frowned. “Just not the one from you. That’s the one from me.”





CHAPTER 20

Evie



On Saturday morning, I slept later than I wanted to. Merrick was already showered and dressed, drinking coffee in the kitchen when I walked in. He held up his mug and smiled.

“Morning, sleepyhead.”

“I can’t believe how late it is—almost seven thirty. Why didn’t you wake me? Kitty can be discharged as early as eight.”

“She called this morning. She developed a fever last night, so they’re doing some bloodwork now to make sure it’s not an infection.” He shook his head. “If she gets out today, it’s definitely not going to be early. So I figured I wouldn’t wake you.”

“Oh no. That’s not good. An infection after surgery can be serious.”

He nodded. “Hers is a low-grade fever, right at a hundred. The nurse made the mistake of telling Kitty that some people can go home if the fever is very low. But someone her age they usually keep to monitor.”