Are you okay?”
He could hear Joe’s voice, but couldn’t respond. The words Dean tried to say got tangled in his throat, and a strange gurgling emerged. He stared down at the woman, his heart pounding as if he’d just run a marathon.
No! It can’t be.
Joe clasped his arm more tightly and shook him. “Dean! Dean! I asked if you’re all right.”
He bent over and propped his hands on his knees, gulping great breaths of air in an effort to calm his racing pulse. “No, I’m not,” he rasped.
With a strangled cry, he dropped to his knees and touched the bandage that covered the wound on her head. Just a few inches and she’d be dead. And he’d run right past her when he’d rushed into the woods. Why hadn’t he stopped to see if she needed help?
She looked so pale. Blood matted her blond hair, which he gently smoothed back from her eyes. “Gwen,” he crooned. “Can you hear me? It’s Dean.”
Her left hand rested on the sheet that covered her body. He grasped it and rubbed his thumb down her ring finger. He could still feel the indentation at the base where she’d once worn a ring, but it wasn’t there now.
Ben must have seen his reaction, because he dropped down beside him. “Dean, do you know this woman?”
Guilt and sorrow welled up and flooded his soul like a tidal wave. Dean closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. “Ben, it’s Gwen. It’s my wife.”
Ben gasped and a shocked look covered his face. “I saw on her driver’s license that her name was Gwen Anderson, but I didn’t think about this being your ex-wife. You know I was in the army when the two of you married, and I never met her. In fact, I don’t think you ever showed me a picture of her.” He stared at Gwen for a moment and exhaled. “So she took back her maiden name?”
Dean swallowed and squeezed her hand tighter. “Yeah. I guess she didn’t want anything to remind her of me.”
Ben dropped his palm on Dean’s shoulder. “Man, I know this is a shock, but don’t let it throw you too badly.”
Before he could answer, Joe interrupted. “We need to get her to the hospital so the doctor can check her over.”
Dean didn’t want to let go of Gwen’s hand. It had been so long since he’d touched her, and once she regained consciousness, she wouldn’t allow him that privilege. But she needed to get to the hospital. With a sigh, he released it and backed away from the gurney so the EMTs could get her inside.
“Okay, but I’m going in the ambulance with her.”
Joe glanced at the other paramedic, who shrugged in agreement. “Okay,” Joe said, “but move out of the way and let us get her loaded. Then you can climb in with her.”
Ben patted Dean on the back. “I need to check on the search my deputies are doing, but I’ll see you at the hospital later.”
He nodded and then motioned to Emmett, who hurried across the lot, a perplexed expression on his face. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, boss. Is something wrong?”
Dean bit down on his lip and debated how much he should reveal to his foreman. After a moment he sighed. “Yeah.” He hitched in a breath. “I know the woman who was hurt, and I’m going to the hospital with her. Will you take my horse back to the ranch? I’ll call you when I’m ready to come home, so somebody can come get me.”
Emmett glanced toward the gurney, then back to Dean. “Okay. Anything else?”
“I won’t be there for the guest cookout tonight, so you’ll need to help my grandfather with it. Is that a problem for you?”
“No problem. We can handle it. But how long do you think you’ll be?”
Dean had no idea. He might not be at the hospital long. It all depended on what Gwen had to say when she regained consciousness, whenever that might be. “I’m not sure. I’ll phone and let you know.”
Before Emmett could say anything else, Joe’s voice rang out from the rear of the ambulance. “Dean, if you’re going with us, come on. We’re ready to leave.”
He nodded and climbed into the vehicle. The gurney took up more than half the space inside, and Dean squeezed in beside Gwen as Joe moved to close the ambulance door. When it was secured, he yelled to his partner, “We’re ready to go back here. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I drive?”
“No, thanks. I’ve got this,” the man called back.
Joe shrugged and tried to control the smile that pulled at his mouth. “Wilson is new, and he’s not used to navigating these mountain roads yet, but he really wants to prove himself. Still, I’m a little concerned about him taking this one. You know how those steep curves can cause a driver to lose control, and there aren’t any guardrails.”
Dean nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard some horror stories about this stretch. But if this guy is going to work around here, he’d better get used to it. No getting around the fact that we live in the mountains.”
Joe chuckled. “You’re right about that.” He picked up the blood-pressure cuff, leaned in and wrapped it around Gwen’s arm. When he’d finished the procedure, he nodded. “Looks good.”
Then he scooted out of the way, leaving Dean access to Gwen again. He took her hand in one of his and stroked his thumb across her knuckles as his other hand brushed her hair back behind her ear. For a few seconds all he did was stare down at her, quenching the longing he’d had to see her again. She hadn’t changed much in the past five years. Her hair wasn’t as long as it used to be, but still felt as silky as when he’d first met her.
Pert was the word he and her friends had used to describe her back then. He wondered if she was still that sassy girl he’d loved or if the years had jaded her as they had him.
Eight years ago she’d been an assistant to the news staff at WLMT radio in Oxford, a town near Nashville. He’d been a police officer then. He remembered so well the night he first saw her. He’d been working on a case involving a serial killer who had chosen Gwen and her friend C.J. as his next victims. Dean had found her at the radio station locked in a closet waiting for the killer who’d left her there as he attempted to dispose of her friend. When he’d opened that door and seen how terrified she was, she had become more than a victim to him.
But it was her strength afterward, her determination not to let her horrible experience wear her down, that had won him over. Her vibrant spirit refused to be dimmed, and it had dazzled him. She had stolen his heart.
They’d been married six months later. And over the next two years, even though it was the last thing he ever would have wanted, he’d succeeded where the killer had failed and crushed some of her bright optimism.
Dean should have known better than to have subjected her to the problems in his life. As much as he’d loved her, he hadn’t been able to keep the demons of his past from destroying the best thing that had ever happened to him. She’d tried to save their marriage, but at the time he couldn’t meet her halfway. Now, for some reason, he’d been given the chance to see
