The Dangerous Curves Series

Chapter 62

Jax looked up when he heard the running footsteps. Then Annie came around the corner, pale and panting for breath. Her uniform was crumpled and stained with what looked like coffee and ketchup. She looked like hell.

“Jax!” she cried.

He glanced at Noah. King and Mac had been sitting with him for the past thirty minutes, looking at his baseball cards. They’d been playing some game where the guys asked Noah stats about different players, and Noah was happier and more engaged than Jax had ever seen him. But when he heard the panic in Annie’s voice, Noah looked tense again.

Jax got to his feet, met Sarah’s mother. He took her elbow gently.

“Let’s go talk over here, OK?” he said quietly. “Away from Noah?”

She looked at her son, blinked at Mac and King.

Jesus Christ, who the hell are these guys, and why are they all monster-sized? Also, how many tattoos do they have between the three of them?

“OK.” She lowered her voice, struggling to stay calm.

Jax walked her to the end of the hallway, sat her down. She stared at him, terrified of what was coming.

“How is she?” Annie asked.

“Not good.” Those green eyes were blazing with fury. “Dave beat her bad, Annie.”

“How bad?”

“That I don’t know. The doctor should be out soon. What I do know is that he didn’t rape her – though he seems to have given it one hell of a try.”

“She fought him off?”

“Maybe. Or maybe he panicked when she passed out.” Jax took a deep breath. “Annie, you need to prepare yourself. Her face is… is awful. You can’t even tell it’s her.”

She closed her eyes as a wave of dizziness passed over her. Jax grabbed her elbow again.

“Hey,” he said. “You OK? You want to lie down?”

“No, I’m fine.” Annie looked down the hallway. “How’s Noah?”

“He was there, but I don’t think he saw too much. Sarah told him to hide in his closet, and he had the smarts to grab her cell and call me. He knows something happened to her, but he doesn’t seem to really get it.”

“He does get it.”

“You think?”

“If Sarah’s hurt, he knows it. He always does, even if he has a hard time expressing it fully.” She glanced at him. “You know that, Jax.”

Jax sighed. “Yeah, you’re right… that weird twin thing, huh? Goddammit.”

Annie reached out to him now, touched his hand. “You OK?”

Startled, he looked down at her, and for the first time ever, he saw Sarah looking back at him from her mother’s face. They had the same eyes, he was surprised to discover, and those sweet blue eyes were now gazing at him with concern. He flashed to Sarah lying on his chest after making love, her face so loving and warm. A tightness suddenly moved up his throat, and he swallowed hard. Not trusting himself to speak, he just nodded.

“Thank you for being there, Jax. For taking care of both of my children.”

“You’re welcome.” He saw a man in a white coat talking to Mac, and he shot to his feet. “That’s the doctor.”

They hurried down the hallway, and the doctor met them halfway. Mac came with him, but King stayed with Noah. Jax glanced over to see that they were now laying the baseball cards on the coffee table, in some kind of complicated pattern or system.

“Annie Matthews?” the doctor said.

“Yes.”

“I’m Doctor Sam Innis.”

“How’s Sarah?”

“Mrs. Matthews, it’s very bad news. Do you want to sit down?”

“No.” Annie was damned if she’d hear about the end of the world while sitting on her ass. If Sarah was dead, she was going to stand and face that from the word go. “Tell me, please.”

“She has a very serious head injury, I’m afraid, and it’s caused her brain to swell,” Dr. Innis said. “This swelling is pushing down on Sarah’s brain stem, specifically on her RAS – the Reticular Activating System.”

Jax and Annie stared at him, clueless, but Mac sighed.

“What does that mean?” Annie asked Mac and Sam. “What’s a rectangular what's-it system?”

“The RAS is responsible for awareness in the brain,” Mac said. “When it’s compromised or damaged, a person is rendered unconscious. And when it’s being pushed on – like when a person’s brain is severely swollen – then the person can’t wake up.”

Jax and Annie blinked.

“I still don’t understand,” Annie said. “Sarah can’t wake up?”

“Sarah’s in a coma,” Sam Innis said. “And as long as the RAS is being pressed down on this much, she’ll stay in a coma.”