eyes would destroy her.
Maddie regarded her with a disappointed expression, but said nothing.
Dana Sue sighed at her unspoken disapproval. “Okay, I’ll try him now.”
But how on earth was she supposed to tell Ronnie that his precious girl had nearly died tonight, could still die tonight? In all the scenarios she’d ever imagined for speaking to her ex again, this was one she’d never thought of. Maybe because it was so awful she’d never dared to contemplate it…or maybe because it was the one guaranteed to bring him roaring back into her life.
The ringing of Ronnie’s cell phone jarred him out of a deep sleep and a dream about Dana Sue. When he heard her voice on the other end of the line, he thought he must still be dreaming. Only dimly aware that he clutched the cell phone in his hand, he closed his eyes and hugged the pillow a little more tightly, hoping to sink back into the dream. The phone fell from his hand.
“Dammit, Ronnie Sullivan, don’t you dare go back to sleep!” Dana Sue shouted in his ear. “Ronnie, wake up! I wouldn’t be calling if this weren’t important. It’s about Annie.”
Even though her shouts seemed to be coming from a great distance, they were enough to snap him awake. “What about Annie?” he muttered groggily, digging around in the covers until he found the phone. “Talk to me. What about Annie?”
His heart was pounding in his chest as he considered all the terrible possibilities. An accident? Had those boys come back to the house and stirred up trouble? It had to be bad, for Dana Sue to break two years of silence to call him.
Dana Sue, who could talk as slow as molasses when she wanted to sweet-talk him into something wicked, could also manage to squeeze a ten-minute conversation into ten seconds when she was worked up. She was clearly very worked up. She was talking so fast he could barely pick up every fifth word.
“Hey, slow down, sugar,” he said. “You’re waking me out of a sound sleep. I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”
“It’s Annie!” she said, sounding hysterical. “I don’t care where the hell you are, Ronnie, or who you’re with, or what your priorities are these days. Your daughter needs you.”
That was all he had to hear. He could find out all the rest when he got there. With the phone clamped between his head and shoulder, he fished around in the pitch-dark room until he found the switch on the lamp beside his bed.
“I’ll be there in under an hour,” he promised, “but you’re going to have to tell me where you are.”
“At Regional Hospital,” she said, her voice catching on a sob.
His heart seemed to flat-out stop in his chest. “Baby, can you tell me what happened?”
“I don’t know. Not exactly, anyway. She had some girls over for the night. It was going to be just Sarah and Raylene, but then she decided to invite more. I’d told her that was okay. In fact, I encouraged it. It was all part of a plan, you see.”
“Sugar, you’re rambling,” he said. “Get to the point.”
“Right. Sorry. I’m just such a wreck.”
“It’s okay,” he soothed. “Just take a deep breath and tell me.”
For once she actually listened to him. He could hear her slow intake of breath, then a sigh.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
“Not really. Anyway, a little while ago one of the girls woke me up and said Annie had collapsed. Raylene was doing CPR on her when I got downstairs. I took over for what seemed like forever till the EMTs came.” Dana Sue paused, then gave a choked sound he didn’t even recognize. “I tried and tried, Ronnie, but I couldn’t wake her up.”
He was hopping on one foot, trying to pull his jeans on without letting go of the phone. “And now? Is she awake now?”
“No,” Dana Sue said. “At least, I don’t think so. I just got to the hospital. I wanted to call you before I went inside, but couldn’t get a signal for my cell phone till now.”
“It’s okay, baby. Everything’s going to be okay. It has to be. I’m on my way. Is there anybody there with you?”
“Maddie drove me over and Helen’s probably already inside.”
Now there was a confrontation he’d prefer to avoid. Those two hadn’t minced words when they’d raked him over the coals for what he’d done to Dana Sue. He knew, though, that they were exactly the support system Dana Sue needed right now. If he wanted her back, he was going to have to face them sooner or later, anyway. Maddie, at least, might be reasonable. Helen was bound to have her claws out, but so be it.
“Good,” he told Dana Sue. “And I’ll be there before you know it. I promise,” he added, knowing that his promises probably weren’t worth a hill of beans, but he didn’t know what else to say.
“Just hurry, please. I need to get inside and see if the doctors can tell me anything yet,” she said, and disconnected.
Ronnie was slower to disconnect. Well, there you go, he thought. Fate has just stepped in.
But if anything happened to his little girl, he didn’t even want to think about what the future might hold.
“Okay, I called him. Are you satisfied?” Dana Sue said to Maddie.
Her friend had stayed right by her side, almost as if she feared Dana Sue would renege on her promise to call Ronnie and tell him just how serious the situation was.
“Is he coming?” Maddie asked, following her into the E.R. waiting room, with its bustling activity, icy temperature and antiseptic smell.
“He says he is,” Dana Sue answered, not entirely sure how she felt about that. Ronnie had sounded genuinely distraught, and she had no reason to doubt that he was. She’d never questioned his commitment to their daughter, only to her. He’d stood up to Helen in court and insisted on having visitation rights. She knew how hard he’d tried to keep in touch with Annie. It must have killed him to be rejected again and again. Enough time had passed that she could almost feel sorry for him. Now, hearing his voice, needing his strength, made her remember too many things she’d been trying frantically to forget.
“It’s good that he’s coming,” Maddie said. “Annie needs both of you right now.”
“I need to see her,” Dana Sue said, heading to the desk to plead for permission to go into the cubicle where the doctors were working on her baby.
Even before she got there, Maddie intercepted her. “What you need to do is let the doctors do their job,” she said, guiding her to a seat away from the other families crowded into the waiting room. Only after she was satisfied that Dana Sue would stay put did she leave her alone long enough to let the nurse on duty know they were there.
Before Dana Sue could muster up the energy to make a desperate dash into the treatment area, Maddie was back, and then Helen came in with all the girls, explaining that
