Clinging to Dylan, Alex watched as Daniel was rushed away to the emergency room. She stood unmoving for a long time just staring at the doors through which he had been taken. She then looked around for a place to sit. Seeing a row of chairs on the far wall, she took a seat, Dylan beside her. And that’s when the guilt hit her. This was all her fault. If she had not ignored her better judgment and let Dylan go riding, Daniel would not now be fighting for his life. If he died, she would never forgive herself.
Alex wasn’t even aware she had started crying again until she felt a tear fall on her hand. She looked down at Dylan, who was staring at the doors to the emergency room with a terrified expression on his face. She pulled him into her arms and pressed her face against his hair.
“He’s going to die. I know it,” the boy whispered.
“No, honey, don’t think that. You have to believe that Daniel is going to be all right.”
Dylan began to cry. “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry I didn’t come back when I was supposed to. I didn’t look at what time it was, and then it got so dark, and the wind started blowing, and I got a flat tire. I’m sorry. Daniel got hurt because of me.”
“Shhhh. Don’t say that, Dylan. What happened isn’t your fault. Things just happen.”
“I prayed to God that you and Daniel would get married so that he’d be my father,” Dylan confessed, his face hidden in his mother’s shirt. “And now he’s going to die.”
Something that felt like a cold iron fist squeezed Alex’s heart cruelly. Her throat caught on a sob. “Oh, Dylan,” she whispered hoarsely. She couldn’t believe how much this was hurting. She hadn’t felt this much pain since her mother died.
Holding each other tightly, mother and son waited in silence for word of Daniel. After what seemed like an eternity, Doctor Watson came out. Alex and Dylan immediate stood.
“How is he?” the redhead asked, terrified beyond reason over what the answer might be.
The doctor motioned for them to resume their seats. She sat on the other side of Alex. “I’m afraid that it’s serious, Alex. When the tree hit him, it fractured the skull. Because of the severity of the blow, it caused the brain to strike against the inside of Daniel’s skull with enough force to cause bruising, which is called a contusion. It also caused hemorrhaging.”
“What does this mean? What can you do?” Alex asked, fear gripping her like a vise.
“Right now, we need to closely monitor him. We’re hoping that the bleeding will stop on its own so that they don’t have to go in to stop it with surgery.”
“Will there be . . . impairments?” Alex managed to ask.
“We don’t know, not yet. But I’m afraid that is a possibility.”
“What about his back? You said that there might be damage.”
“By some miracle, the spine and spinal cord were not injured, but there was an injury to his left kidney. He’s been taken into surgery to repair it.”
“What are his chances?” Alex asked, not certain if she wanted to hear the answer.
Doctor Watson shook her head. “I can’t say, Alex. There are so many factors and unknowns to consider. It’s possible that Daniel could regain consciousness and be out of the hospital in a couple of weeks, or. . . .” Her voice trailed off.
Alex’s chest tightened painfully. She knew what the “or” meant: that Daniel could die. “I-I have to call Kevin and tell him what’s happening, and I need to call Daniel’s parents,” she said, feeling numb. A few hours ago, she had been dreaming of Daniel kissing her again, and now he was lying on an operating table, possibly dying.
“I can call them, if you’d prefer,” the doctor offered.
“No, I’ll do it.” She looked around, not really seeing anything. “Where’s a phone?”
Doctor Watson reached into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. “Here. Use this.”
Thanking her, Alex dialed the number to Hope’s police station. The call was answered before the first ring had even completed.
“Alex?” came the anxious voice of Kevin Mitchum. “How is he? How bad is it?”
“It’s . . . it’s not good, Kevin. He. . . .” Suddenly, Alex couldn’t talk anymore. Doctor Watson gently took the phone from her hand and explained the minister’s injuries to Kevin. The cop listened to her numbly. He couldn’t believe this had happened. He couldn’t believe that there was a very real chance that Daniel, the person who had been his best man and had married him and Molly, would die.
“Thank you, Doctor. I’ll pass the word on to everyone. I got the phone number for Daniel’s parents. Could you give it to Alex?”
“Certainly.” The doctor pulled out a pad from her pocket and jotted down the number.
“Please keep us updated on Daniel’s condition,” the cop requested.
“I will, Kevin.” Doctor Watson disconnected the call. She knew that this was going to hit everyone hard. The entire island had come to love Daniel Cooper, and the knowledge that they might lose him was going to be tough to take.
She looked at Alex and Dylan. Seeing the deep grief in the woman’s eyes and the fear and terrible sadness in the boy’s, she knew that they would be hit hardest of all if the minister died.
“Alex, are you sure you don’t want me to call Daniel’s parents?”
The redhead shook her head. “I need to be the one.” She glanced at Dylan. “Could you, um, take Dylan to a vending machine or something for some juice?” Alex felt as if she needed to be alone to make this phone call.
“Of course.”
“Dylan, honey? Why don’t you go with Doctor Watson and get something to drink,” Alex said to her son. “I have to call Daniel’s mom and dad and tell them what happened, but I’ll be here when you get back.”
Dylan watched his mom in distress. Her eyes were red from crying, and her voice, normally firm and steady, was trembling. He had only been six when his grandmother died, but he still had memories of hearing his mother weeping uncontrollably in her bedroom and crying at the funeral.
He had understood only a part of what Doctor Watson had said about Daniel, but it had been enough to know that there was a good chance the minister would die. He didn’t want Daniel to die. Daniel was his best friend in the whole world. He wanted him to be his dad so that they would be family and would be together forever.
On impulse, Dylan threw his arms around his mother’s neck. She hugged him tightly.
“I love you, sweetheart,” she murmured.
“I love you too, Mom.”
Placing a kiss on his forehead, Alex let him go. She watched as he went with the doctor down the hallway, then she looked at the phone in her hand. Getting up, she found a quiet place with no one around, then, with shaking fingers, dialed the number for Daniel’s parents.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Cooper?”
“Yes.”
“This is Alex Stone. We met on Hope Island. I own the inn.”
“Yes, Alex, I remember you,” Daniel’s mother said, an odd note in her voice. “What can I do for you?”
“There’s. . . .” Alex’s voice failed. Clearing her throat, she fought to continue. “There’s been an accident.”
There was an awful moment of heavy silence on the other end, then, “Daniel? What’s happened to my son?”
“We had another storm. Daniel was struck by a falling tree. He’s in the hospital.”
“How bad is it? Please tell me,” Bonnie pleaded, tears evident in her voice.
“He has a head injury, and some broken ribs. He’s in surgery to fix damage to his kidney. The doctors . . . they don’t know if. . . .” Alex couldn’t say anymore. This was ripping her apart inside.
“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Bonnie said in a trembling voice.
Alex told her which hospital, then disconnected the call. She walked back to her former sitting place and waited for her son to return, her heart aching.
Bonnie Cooper hung up the phone, her mind filled with the image of her son. ‘Please, dear Father, not my baby boy,’ she prayed. She then ran down the hall to where her husband was working in his home office. She threw the door open. Reverend Cooper took one look at his wife’s tear-streaked face and immediately stood.
“Bonnie, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Daniel, Cliff. He’s been in an accident. He’s in the hospital. We have to go there.” The last words were spoken in a tone of terrible desperation.
The news hit Cliff Cooper with crippling force. No! This couldn’t be! Not his son! “James!” he cried. A door opened to reveal the reverend’s right hand man. “Daniel’s been in an accident. Have the chopper fueled and ready to go immediately.”
The man quickly left to make the phone call.
Cliff turned back to his wife. “Bonnie, how bad is it?”
“It’s bad, Cliff. I could tell by Alex’s voice.”
“It was Alex who called? Why wasn’t it the hospital?”
“I don’t know.”
James came back in a moment later, saying that the pilot was readying the helicopter.
“I want you to call my doctor and tell him what’s happened,” Cliff instructed the man. “Have him call the hospital and find out what Daniel’s condition is. I want him to get whatever specialists Daniel needs, the best people he can find.”
Bonnie told James which hospital Daniel was in. A while later, someone else came in to say that the helicopter was ready to go. Cliff and Bonnie hurried to it, both of them praying that, when they arrived, they’d find their son alive.
Kevin left the police station and headed toward the Widow’s Walk. He knew that many of the islanders were gathered there waiting for word of Daniel. As he walked, other people noticed him and followed, being able to tell from his manner that he had news. The cop walked in the door of the inn, and every pair of eyes turned to him.
“May I have your attention please? I just talked to Doctor Watson. Daniel is in surgery right now because of damage to his kidney. She says that the head injury is pretty bad. They . . . they don’t know if he’s going to make it.”
Expressions of horror and anguish filled the faces of the people present. Anxious whispers arose.
“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Ruby asked, crying.
“We can all pray,” Father Mac said quietly, receiving nods of agreement from quite a few people. “I will be in the church for the remainder of the afternoon and the evening in case anyone would like to talk. Everyone is welcome, not just my parishioners.”
Gradually, everyone left until only a few remained, talking amongst themselves quietly. Molly stood behind the counter, wiping glasses that were already clean, trying to keep herself busy. Boris came up to her and laid a hand on her arm. He looked down at her with gentle, compassionate eyes.
“Daniel will be all right, Molly. He is strong man, healthy, though Boris thinks he is too skinny. And he is man of God. Who better to have on his front?”
Not bothering to correct him, Molly gave the Russian a weak smile. “Thanks, Boris.”
“Boris will go fix chocolate cake. Chocolate make everyone feel better. And when Daniel comes home, I will make another chocolate cake just for him.”
“He’ll like that. I know he likes chocolate.”
As Boris disappeared into the kitchen, Kevin came behind the bar and pulled his wife into his arms. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he said. “I know that accidents happen, but, for some reason, I just never thought that it would be Daniel.” He leaned against the bar. “I just can’t get the image of him underneath that tree out of my mind. I really thought he was dead, Mol.”
Molly took his hand in hers. “I wish I could be there for Alex. If Daniel doesn’t make it, it’ll tear her apart.”
“It will everyone. Daniel’s come to mean a lot to everybody on the island. He’s done so much for Hope, helped so many people.”
Molly nodded. “But none of them are in love with him.”
“What?” Kevin said in surprise.
Molly looked up at her husband. “Alex is in love with Daniel, Kevin. She won’t admit it, not even to herself, but she is. I can see it in her eyes whenever she looks at him. If he dies. . . .” Her voice halted, and she wiped away a single tear that had escaped.
Kevin pulled her close. “He won’t die, Mol. He’s going to make it. We have to believe that.”
Father Mac said goodbye to yet another islander who had entered the church to talk. Over the last two hours, nine people had come to express their thoughts and fears over Hope Island’s minister. Some had been fellow Catholics, others were from Daniel’s church, and one had been a woman who practiced no religion at all. Every one of them had talked about how much they cared for Daniel. In the space of a year, Daniel Cooper had captured the hearts of virtually every soul on Hope, and he had done it just by being the kind of man that he is. Father Mac knew that the whole island would mourn his death.
The priest thought back to his own role on the island before Daniel arrived. He knew that he had not been what one would call a friend. He’d had parishioners, people whom he called on as part of his duties as a priest, but there had been very few people whom he could truly call friends, not among the residents of Hope Island.
But then Daniel came along and taught him that it was all right to be not just a priest to his parishioners, but a real friend too. The minister showed him that it was all right to have friendships with women, that his vow of celibacy didn’t forbid that. The priest now deeply treasured his friendship with Ruby and some of the other islanders. He felt more a part of Hope than he had in many, many years. And he had Daniel to thank for it.
But he was not the only person who had been changed for the better by Daniel Cooper. The most notable change was in Alex. For years, Alex had often displayed an acerbic, unfriendly, distrustful attitude toward strangers who came to the island, with the exception of tourists. There were times when she had been downright rude. But since Daniel came and their friendship began to grow, that attitude had gradually disappeared. She now welcomed virtually all newcomers warmly.
Daniel Cooper had been like a breath of fresh air on the island, blowing away years-old hostilities, misconceptions, fears, and sorrows. No other islander had done so much for so many in so short a time.
Father Mac rose from the pew and approached the altar. Kneeing before it, he began to pray for the young cleric who had touched the lives of the people of Hope Island.
The surgery had been successful, and the minister had been place in a room in the ICU. Alex now stood before the door of that room. She had tried to get the hospital to allow Dylan to see Daniel, but they had stood firm on their policy of no minors in the ICU. Doctor Watson was now sitting with Dylan in the waiting room.
Slowly, Alex pushed the door open and went inside. The moment she saw Daniel, it felt like someone had torn her heart out of her chest. He lay still in the bed, his face nearly as white as the sheets. His head was swathed in bandages, and he was hooked up to several monitors. A tube led from his mouth to a respirator.
Tears springing again to her eyes, Alex turned at the sound of the door opening. A doctor walked in.
“Why is he on a respirator?” the redhead asked, her voice high-pitched with distress. “He was breathing all right before. What happened?”
The doctor made a calming gesture. “Mister Cooper’s breathing became erratic several times during surgery, so we thought it best to put him on a ventilator as a precaution.” He studied her face. “Are you Mister Cooper’s wife?”
Alex shook her head. “I’m a friend. And it’s Reverend Cooper,” she corrected.
“I apologize.” The doctor held out his hand. “I’m Doctor Harding. You must be Alex Stone. Lily told me about you.”
“Lily?” Alex inquired, then realized that he was talking about Hope Island’s doctor. Though the woman had been their doctor for nearly three years, almost everyone on the island still addressed her as Doctor Watson. It was odd to hear someone call her by her first name.
“Yes. Lily and I went to medical school together. She ended up becoming a GP, while I went on to neurology.”
“You’re a neurologist? How bad is the injury to Daniel’s head? Doctor Watson said that there was bleeding in the brain.”
“Reverend Cooper’s injury is serious, but I’ve seen a great deal worse. We’ve been monitoring the hemorrhaging, and it appears to be stopping on its own.”
“Then he’s going to be all right?” Alex asked, feeling relief sweep through her.
“I’m sorry, but there are things you need to understand. Any injury to the brain is serious and potentially life-threatening. Though Reverend Cooper has a chance at survival, a chance, in fact, of making a complete recovery, he’s far from being out of danger.”
Alex felt her relief shrivel and die inside her. “How long before we know if he’ll be okay?”
“There’s no telling. He could wake up tomorrow and be out of here in a week or he could remain comatose for weeks, even months, or longer. I’m sorry to be so blunt, but it’s best that you know the truth.”
Alex nodded. Her eyes went to Daniel. She wanted to pull him into her arms, hold onto him and never let him go.
The doctor checked the readings on a couple of the monitors, then left. Alex sat in the chair beside the bed and took Daniel’s hand in hers.
“It’s me, Daniel,” she said, her voice shaking. “I don’t know if you can hear me or not, but I need to tell you how much what you did means to me. You saved Dylan’s life. There’s nothing I can do that will ever repay you for that. I’ll thank you forever for it. But you have to be here for me to thank. You can’t leave us, Daniel. You can’t leave me. You have to live.” The last words were spoken in a whisper as the tears began to fall again.
The door opened again. Alex looked up to see Daniel’s parents. The faces of the two people lost all color upon seeing their son. Bonnie Cooper’s hands flew to her mouth, her eyes filling with tears. She quickly came to Daniel’s bedside and took hold of his hand.
“Daniel,” she whispered brokenly. “It’s Mom. Mom’s here now, honey.”
Feeling fresh tears fill her eyes, Alex looked up at Cliff Cooper. He was still standing in the doorway, his hand clutching the handle of the door. His face was that of a man whose world was collapsing before his eyes. Slowly, he came into the room to stand beside his wife.
“Daniel? Daniel, it’s Dad. I’m here, Son.”
Feeling like an intruder, Alex got up and left, certain that Daniel’s parents had barely even been aware of her presence. She went to the waiting room. As soon as Dylan saw her, he leapt to his feet.
“Is he all right? Did he wake up?”
“No, sweetheart, he’s still unconscious. His mom and dad are in with him now.” Alex looked at Doctor Watson. “Did Dylan’s x-rays come back?” The x-rays had been taken while they waited for Daniel to come out of surgery.
“Yes, they did, and everything looks fine. He was a very lucky boy.”
“It wasn’t luck, it was Daniel. If he hadn’t been there. . . .” Alex didn’t finish the sentence.
“Yes, I know,” the doctor said quietly. “Are you going back to Hope?”
“I . . . I guess we should,” Alex said, even though the thought of leaving and Daniel dying while she wasn’t there was making her feel physically ill. She looked at her watch. They’d missed the last ferry to the island for the day. The only way they could get to Hope now was to get a ride from one of the fishermen.
“Why don’t you stay in a motel tonight, Alex?” Lily Watson suggested. “Then you can go back tomorrow.”
“I can’t. I don’t have any money with me, and we don’t have a change of clothes.”
The doctor pulled out her wallet and removed a credit card from it. “I can cover it,” she said.
“I can’t let you do that,” Alex objected.
“Nonsense. You can pay me back later.” Seeing the hesitancy on the redhead’s face, she added, “I insist. You can even consider it Doctor’s orders.”
“Thank you, Doctor Watson.”
“You’re welcome, but please call me Lily. I’ve been Hope’s doctor for close to three years now. It’s time that people stop calling me Doctor Watson all the time.”
Alex nodded, smiling faintly. “But what about you? What are you going to do?”
“I’ll be staying here at the hospital. I can sleep in the doctor’s lounge or in one of the empty rooms.”
“Thank you so much for looking out for Daniel like this,” Alex said.
“There’s no need to thank me. I’d do this for any of my patients.”
Finding a cash machine, the doctor got a cash advance on her credit card and gave the money to Alex. She watched as mother and son left the hospital, fervently hoping that when they returned tomorrow, it would be to good news.
Cliff Cooper looked out at the night lights of Seattle. The only sound in the room was that of the ventilator and the beeping of the heart monitor. Though he knew they were sounds that testified to the fact that Daniel was alive, he hated them. He hated them because of what they meant: that his son’s life was hanging in the balance. At any moment, the beeping could stop and Daniel would be gone. And there was nothing he could do about it. For the first time in his life, Cliff Cooper felt utterly powerless. He’d always taken charge, been the leader, with his ministry, his family, his life. When his doctor told him he had to slow down, it had shaken his feeling of being in control, had made him realize that he needed help. Even so, his confidence that he would regain control soon returned. But, now, he had no control at all. He had no power to save his son.
Cliff turned to look at the only family he had. Bonnie had not moved from her place in the chair beside the bed. She was holding Daniel’s hand against her face. Her other hand was stroking his pale cheek. Her tears had finally dried, leaving faint trails on her face.
The minister lifted his gaze to his son’s face, and the gut-wrenching feeling hit him again. Seeing Daniel like that, his head covered with bandages, a ventilator pumping oxygen into him, was almost too much for Cliff to bear.
For years, he and his son had not seen eye to eye. They’d argued often, Daniel’s rebelling against him repeatedly, and it had sometimes seemed as if Daniel did things just to displease him. Many times, Cliff had wondered if his son would ever amount to anything. Yet, through it all, he had never once thought about the possibility that he could lose Daniel forever. It had never hit him that something could happen and his son would be taken from them.
The door opened to admit a doctor. She came forward, her face serious but friendly.
“Hello, I’m Doctor Lily Watson. I’m Daniel’s doctor on Hope Island.”
“Doctor. We’ve been waiting for someone to tell us about my son’s condition,” Cliff told her.
“I’m sorry that no one has talked to you before now. I will try to answer any questions you have.”
“How is his condition? Do you have specialists treating him? I want the best there is for my son,” Cliff said.
“Doctor Harding is the neurologist treating Daniel. He’s an excellent doctor, top of his class in medical school. I promise you that your son is getting the best care possible.”
“How bad are his injuries?” Bonnie asked.
“They’re very serious, but he has a good chance at recovery.” Doctor Watson explained Daniel’s injuries, telling them what had been done and what treatments the doctors were recommending.
“Does he need surgery? Because if that would be the best treatment and it’s a matter of money, then you get the best neurosurgeon in the country here to do it, and no matter what it costs, it will be taken care of,” Cliff said.
“It’s not a question of money, Reverend Cooper,” Lily Watson said, her voice faintly disapproving. “I assure you that if Daniel needs an operation, he will get it, regardless of the cost. The doctors feel at this time that surgery is not warranted. The bleeding seems to be stopping on its own.” The tone of her voice changed. “Have you eaten? The cafeteria will be open for another few minutes. Perhaps you should get something.”
Bonnie nodded and stood. Though she hated to leave her son’s side, she had faith in God that nothing would happen to Daniel while she was gone.
Taking her husband’s arm, she walked with him to the cafeteria.
Alex sat on the bed looking at Dylan, who had fallen asleep moments after laying down. They had got something to eat, then went to a department store to buy a change of clothes. After that, they checked into the closest motel to the hospital that they could find. As soon as they were checked in, Alex had called Doctor Watson’s cell phone and given the woman the motel’s telephone number and their room number, asking to be notified if Daniel’s condition changed.
With all her heart, Alex wished that she could erase this day, make it not have happened. She wished she could go back and tell Dylan that he couldn’t go riding. Then, when Daniel showed up that afternoon, they would have had a nice lunch and weathered the storm together. Maybe later, she and Daniel would have had a moment alone, and he would have given her the kiss that got interrupted. It would have been wonderful.
But she couldn’t go back and change what happened. She’d have to live with the mistake she’d made and its consequences. And Daniel. . . . Alex hoped with every part of her being that he lived with her mistake too. The alternative was more than she could bear thinking about.
Sighing wearily, Alex picked up the phone again and called Molly.
“Are you all right?” her friend asked anxiously.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Daniel’s parents arrived. Dylan and I are in a motel. We’re going to spend the night and head back to Hope tomorrow.”
“I think you should stay there, Alex. I know Daniel would want you to.”
The redhead looked over at Dylan. “I want to stay, but Dylan isn’t allowed in the ICU. He has to stay in the waiting room. I can’t keep leaving him there alone. Also, now that Daniel’s mom and dad are here, I . . . I don’t want to intrude.”
“Alex, you wouldn’t be intruding. You’re Daniel’s friend. If he was awake, he’d want you to be there with him. As for Dylan, Kevin and I can take care of him.”
“I don’t know. I’ll think about it.” Alex desperately wanted to stay near Daniel, but she also didn’t want to leave her son. She just wished that there was a way for Dylan to be allowed in to see the minister.
Suddenly feeling tired, Alex got her son under the covers, then took her shoes off and slid in beside him, as she turned off the light, the terrible thought suddenly came to her that when she awoke in the morning, it could be to the news that Daniel was dead.
Turning her face into the pillow, she closed her eyes tightly against the tears that were again threatening. It was a long time before sleep finally claimed her.