Edge of Disaster (15 page)

“Darmonkey?”

“Yeah, since she called me mousy and frumpy, I thought I’d get her back.”

He threw back his head and laughed.

“She’s pretty pesky, isn’t she?”

He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “You have no idea.”

“I think I do.”

“Come here.

I walked up to him and he said, “That was some kiss.”

“I know, right?”

“Uh huh. Wanna do it again? I think you sort of owe me for getting me fired up this morning and then leaving me high and dry sweetheart.”

“Is that how it works?”

“Yup. Hop on board baby.”

That’s all the inviting I needed. He toted me upstairs and I spent the next hour up there paying him back for his morning woes.

********

The next day, we went out for breakfast and then Pearce took me shopping...and I mean shopping. He took me up and down King Street and God only knows how much money the man dropped. 

I ended up getting a gorgeous gold Badgley Mischka gown that had the illusion of being sheer but was actually very modest. It had a plunging neckline and deep vee in the back but the fabric it was sewn with only made it appear to be risqué. It was eye-stopping. The sales clerk told me immediately that was the ‘it’ dress, but when I saw Pearce’s expression, I knew for certain I had to get it. He couldn’t speak.

We left there and went to several shoe stores where he bought me shoes for the ball and then a new pair of boots and pair of black shoes for work and a casual pair for anytime. Then it was jeans time. He must’ve dropped over six hundred dollars alone on three pairs of jeans.

I don’t know who had more fun, him or me. He kept making me try things on. We made several trips to the car because we couldn’t carry everything. I tried to get him to stop, but he adamantly refused. I felt like a kid in Toys ‘R Us. No one had ever taken me shopping like this. And I don’t mean to spend a ridiculous amount of money. My mom would only take me shopping every once in a blue moon, but it was only for the barest of necessities. This was fun!

Late in the afternoon, we were walking hand in hand down the street when he wheeled me into a store. I hadn’t really paid attention to where we were going until we got inside. It was a jewelry store.

I looked at him with narrowed eyes and he said, “Don’t worry, it’s not what you think.”

There was a small part of me that was a bit disappointed. I would never have told him that tough.

“You need jewelry for the ball sweetheart.”

“My dress has so much gold on it I don’t think I need a necklace.”

“I agree. No necklace. But earrings. Plain. Understated. And a bracelet. Gold obviously.”

“May I help you?” the sales clerk asked.

“Yes. I’d like to see some diamond earrings please.”

“Certainly. What cut and size sir?”

“Round, and at least a carat.”

“Pearce!” I exclaimed.

He looked at me and said, “Indulge me Alexia.”

So I sat there as he looked over the selection and haggled and finally decided on a lovely pair of two carat diamond earrings. Then he wanted to look at diamond bracelets. The clerk, now knowing what his tastes and spending range was, brought out some exquisite pieces, but I was so uncomfortable now, I was squirming. He rifled through all the pieces and wasn’t satisfied with any of them. Now, all the clerks were bringing things for him to look at. Large bracelets and small ones, everything you can imagine. He chose one and we went in the back to draw up the legal papers on the purchase and the declaration of value for insurance purposes.  I refused to look at the price because I knew if I did, I’d be afraid to wear the damn thing. We finally left and I hung my head as we did so.

We made our way back to the car in silence, and when we slipped inside, he reached over and said, “Talk to me. Now Alexia.”

“That stuff in there isn’t me Pearce.”

“The bracelet, the earrings or both.”

“Both.”

“The earrings are lovely and will look beautiful on you.  You need to try them on before you judge them. The same with the bracelet.”

“Why did you buy them? I don’t need them.”

“You don’t have to take them. I just thought that they’d be perfect on you.”

“It’s not me Pearce. I don’t wear jewelry. I don’t really care for it.”

“Tell you what. Try the bracelet on with your dress the night of the ball and then decide. If you still don’t want it, I’ll take it back, okay? But can I clue you in on a little secret?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“When I was looking at those bracelets, the only thing I could think of was you being naked and wearing only that while you were on top, riding me. Will you at least do that for me one time?”

I looked at him sideways and burst out laughing.

“You’re kidding.”

“Would I kid about that?”

I looked at him again and I could honestly say he was telling the damn truth.

“You mean to tell me you spent thousands of dollars so you could see me naked, having sex with you, wearing that bracelet?”

“That’s about right.” His eyes had taken on that bedroom sexy look.

“You’re kind of kinky.”

“Only with you, babe. Now can we go home so you can try on your new sex toy?”

I threw back my head and laughed really hard again.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Time seemed to be passing by at warp speed. The night of the ball arrived and I was getting ready at Pearce’s. I decided to wear my hair up in a messy bun at the nape of my neck. I was fairly good at this, but not great, so I was a bit nervous as I pinned it up. My belly fluttered as I thought of all the wealthy people I would be surrounded by tonight.  I would be so far out of my element, I couldn’t even think about it. Every time I did, I came extremely close to throwing up.

My make-up was finished. Of course I had vacillated over wearing mascara, but I still couldn’t bring myself to do it. It brought forth memories of Beavis and Butthead and that made me want to hurl too.

I stepped into my gown and then my stilettos. I said a prayer about not face planting, zipped up my dress and put my new diamond studs in my ears. The last thing I did was clasp the diamond bracelet on my wrist and I instantly felt myself become wet. That damn bracelet had become Pearce’s new toy d’choice. Every time I looked at it, my body surged with desire.

I scurried out of the room before I did something that would make us late.

I took my time walking down the stairs and when I reached the living room, Pearce turned and froze.  He didn’t move for such a long time I began to worry.

“Christ Alexia. I’m not sure I can take you anywhere looking like that.”

“Is it that bad?” He had me worried my hair wasn’t right or something was off.

“Bad? Jesus, you’re so fucking beautiful I honestly don’t know if I can keep my hands off of you. I’m not joking sweetheart. I’m tempted to tell you to go and change.”

“But Pearce, I don’t have anything else to wear.”

“Then maybe we shouldn’t go.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No, I am not kidding. Come here.”

I walked over to him and, well, he didn’t hold anything back. It was hard, fast and rough. I was thoroughly satisfied when we were done.

He rearranged my gown, making sure everything was in order and I tucked and zipped him back in. I went to the bathroom just to do a check and off we went to the ball.

********

I’d never been to such a fancy affair in my life. Pearce oozed sex appeal, dressed in his tuxedo. Justin also looked great and Terri looked perfect. She was dressed in red and with her black hair and blue eyes, her gown complimented her coloring perfectly. She and Justin made a stunning couple.

Pearce literally would not take his hands off of me. I almost had to pry them away when his father asked me to dance.  I had to lean over and whisper in Pearce’s ear, that it would be most difficult for me to dance with his father if Pearce wouldn’t let my arm loose.

Taking my hint, he relaxed his grip and off I went with Henry, praying I would smash his toes.

“Alexia, you look quite beautiful tonight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Pearce react the way he does around you.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that so I smiled.

Henry continued, “He’s not one to become so smitten with a woman. You’ve enchanted him I believe.”

I smiled again.

“Susan and I are amazed by his behavior.”

Okay, this was getting a little uncomfortable.

“May I say something Henry and I hope I don’t offend you.”

“Please do.”

“Your son is the most amazing man I’ve ever known. I wouldn’t care if he were a janitor at the local elementary school, I would feel the same way about him. I’ve begged him not to go overboard where I’m concerned because, frankly, most of this stuff makes me very uncomfortable.  I love Pearce. That’s all I wanted you to know.”

“Alexia, I already knew that honey. It’s written all over your face.” He smiled then and I felt better.  “I was only telling you those things because he doesn’t act like this with just anyone. He loves you too. It’s obvious with everything he does.”

Then I really smiled.

“I hope you two are very happy.”

The song ended and he escorted me back to Pearce, who looked to be ready to pace the floors.

“Honey, calm down. I was only with your dad.”

“Dance with me.”

“Okay.”

He took me out on the floor and after a moment I asked him, “Is there anything you can’t do?” He moved with perfect rhythm and grace.

His face turned very serious and he said, “Yes, I can’t marry the woman I love because she’s not ready yet.”

“Oh,” I felt my breath leave my body. “Pearce.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll wear you down eventually,” he smiled. “Like I said before, I’m here for the long run honey.”

I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him. It was probably a huge mistake, because we ended up locked in each other’s arms, making somewhat of a spectacle out of ourselves.

I whispered into his mouth, “We’re gaining an audience.”

“Aw, fuck ‘em,” he responded.

He steered me back to our table. The rest of the night was spent either joking around with Justin and Terri, dancing or having an intimate conversation in some small alcove we were lucky enough to escape to.

Terri and Justin looked like they were getting a little close so Pearce looked at me and made an executive decision to leave. We snuck out while everyone was dancing to a popular song and headed home for a romantic rest of the night that included me wearing Pearce’s favorite bracelet.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

March hit us and the weather warmed up. Spring was around the corner but it was already in the air. I’d pulled my shorts out and it was the perfect Saturday to walk along the beach. Pearce had the weekend off so we called Terri and Justin to see if they wanted to head out to the beach for the day.

We watched a group of guys kitesurfing, as the wind was strong that day. It was awesome to see how much speed they could pick up and then watch them as they flipped and turned.

We left the beach late in the afternoon and drove up to McClellanville to grab some she crab soup at the Crab Pot Restaurant. It was dark as we followed Terri and Justin home in Justin’s Land Rover. We’d taken separate cars because Justin was on call and he needed a vehicle in case he got called in to the hospital.

As we were driving, I saw a deer jump out of the woods in front of Justin’s car. He swerved to miss it but there was an eighteen wheeler in the lane next to him. I screamed as his car hit the truck and careened back into his lane, then spun out of control and rolled off the highway down an embankment, coming to a crash against a huge pine tree. It was like deja vu all over again.

I couldn’t stop screaming, “Terri, Justin!”

Pearce slammed on his brakes and had to swerve out of the way to miss getting hit himself. We finally spun out, but were unharmed.

“Alexia! Are you okay? Lexi, answer me now!”

“Yes I’m okay,” I cried. “Are you?”

“Yeah, honey I’m fine. I have to go to them. Call 911 stat. Tell them exactly what happened. Use my phone and tell them to track us by GPS. Tell them who I am. Follow me now because I’m going to need your help.”

We got out of the car and he grabbed that proverbial medical bag that all doctors must have secreted away somewhere, out of his trunk. I called 911 as we ran to the Land Rover.

“Fuck! It’s so dark I can’t see anything. Lex, I have a flashlight app on my phone. I need you to turn it on.”

I did as he asked and in the meantime I had the 911 operator on the line.

“I need your location,” the operator said.

“I don’t know it. We’re somewhere between McClellanville and Mount Pleasant. Use my GPS tracking on my iPhone.”

“Lex, shine that light over here.”

I did as he asked and Pearce was able to get to the door handle but it was locked.

“Fuck, it’s locked from the inside. Lex, go back to my trunk and get the jack or tire iron and bring the beach towels.”

I ran back and brought as many things as my arms could carry. When I returned, he wrapped the jack in the towel, broke through the window and reached through and unlocked the door. He called to both Justin and Terri but got no response. When the door opened, the light came on and there was blood everywhere. It was bad and I almost went down.

“Lex, hand me that kit.”

I passed him everything and watched him go to work. He did a quick assessment of Justin and moved to Terri. He called out to me that Terri wasn’t breathing and I needed to assist him in performing some kind of something. He put a small slit in her throat and inserted a tube and air started moving in. Then he checked both of them for bleeding. Justin had blood pumping out of his abdomen and Pearce stuck his hand straight into his belly and tried to get it to stop.

“Lexi, I need you to get close to me honey. I can’t see a fucking thing and I need that light on Justin or he’s gonna bleed out.”

He looked up at me and the look in his eyes made me want to crumble.

Dear God, please help this man save his brother.

I moved right next to him, and even though I thought I was going to pass out, and I still wonder how I didn’t, I held that light exactly where he needed it.

“I’m right here with you Pearce. You just tell me what to do honey and I’ll fucking do it.”

I shined that light on Justin and Pearce slid his fingers inside of him and seconds later the blood stopped pumping out.  “I got it,” he called. “Now babe, I can’t move. I’m locked here until the medics arrive. You gotta check Terri’s breathing. I’ll help you with whatever needs to be done, okay.”

“On it, Doc.”

I moved to the other side of the Land Rover on auto pilot and looked at the tube and reported back to Pearce that the air was still flowing.

“Lex, lift up her eyelids and shine the light into them. Tell me what happens to her pupils.”

“They got smaller.”

“Both of them?”

“Yep.”

“Good.”

“Now what?”

“I want you to see if she’s bleeding anywhere like Justin was. If it’s blood that’s just coming from a wound it’s okay. If it’s pumping or spurting out, that’s not good. That’s what you need to look for.”

“On it.”

“Lex? Don’t move her. Protect her head, neck and spine, okay?”

“Yep.”

I ran my hands along her body as best I could without moving her, but I didn’t see any major blood gushing from anywhere.

“Pearce, I think she’s okay. Her leg doesn’t look good though. It looks sort of twisted or something.”

It was lying at an awkward angle that wasn’t normal.

“I agree and I saw that. Lex, you’re doing great honey.”

“When is that fucking ambulance gonna be here?” I asked, frustrated.

“Soon honey.”

I held Terri’s hand and squeezed it. I felt my tears dripping down my face but I wasn’t going to stop for anything.

“Pearce, do you think they’re gonna make it?”

“Babe, this is the golden hour. When critical injuries occur, the first sixty minutes are the most important. You assess and treat the most life threatening and go from there. That’s what we’re doing.”

“What if we’re missing something?”

“I don’t think we are Lexi.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep. Come over here.”

I ran back around to him and he told me to go back to the car and make sure the emergency flashers were on. I did and they were. When I was up there, I thought I heard sirens in the distance. I ran back down to him and he was still sitting there with his fingers in Justin.

“I think I hear them.”

We just stared at each other in the dim lighting of the wrecked Land Rover. I wanted to wake up from this horrible dream and run my hands through Pearce’s hair and for once be the one to tell him it was going to be fine and this was all just a nightmare. I found I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his and I knew in that instant that I couldn’t live without him...ever...for a minute.

“I’ll marry you Pearce. You name the day and time and I’ll be there waiting for you.  I’ll be there till the end.”

The ambulances were finally there and the area was swarming with medics. They shoved me out of the way and I walked back up to the highway and leaned on Pearce’s car as I waited to hear the news. I knew I’d have to drive because he’d be riding in the ambulance with Justin. I didn’t think he’d move his hands until they got Justin in the trauma center and then of course Pearce wouldn’t be able to operate because he was a family member and all.

It all hit me then and I got sick, violently sick. I started shaking from my fingertips to the ends of my toes. The tears poured down my face and I couldn’t seem to get a grip on my emotions. I was breaking down. I was shivering with cold so I wrapped a beach towel around me, not even noticing it was covered in blood.

It took me a few minutes before I felt the arm around me. I was still shivering so badly I didn’t know what to do with myself.

“Alexia, it’s me, Henry. We got a call from the hospital.  Alexia, I think you’re in shock honey.”

I put my arms around him and just cried. I tried to tell him what happened but it all came out sounding like Greek or something.

He tried to calm me down but I was so upset by the enormity of what had taken place, that I was inconsolable.

Susan was there too and she was doing her best to help.

Then I heard his voice, Pearce’s voice in my mind, and I remembered how calm he was as he instructed me on how to do everything. I started taking deep calming breaths and in a little while, I felt my wits returning to me. It took a few more minutes, but I finally got over the hump.

“God, I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I got all crazy on you.” I rubbed my hands together, trying to bring some warmth into them.

“Your adrenaline surge had you going and when it stopped you’re now experiencing the back side of it.  I think you’re in shock over all of this. Let’s head to the trauma center now.”

“Pearce’s car?”

“I’ll drive it and you ride with Susan and Ava.”

I just nodded numbly and followed them.  I rode in the back of their Mercedes sedan and pieced together what had happened. I could hear Ava’s cries from the front of the car.

Susan said in a firm voice, “Ava! Stop it now. Justin is with Pearce.  He’s with the most capable trauma surgeon anywhere on the East coast of the United States.  If anyone can save him, Pearce can. Now you need to be strong.”

“Yes ma’am,” Ava cried. “I’m just so worried.

“I know, but Alexia said he got the bleeding stopped and everything else will be fine.”

“What if he has a head injury?” Ava asked.

Susan didn’t say anything for a minute but I jumped in and said, “Pearce shined the light on their pupils and he said they were normal. Does that mean anything?”

“Yes, it does honey,” Susan replied. “That’s a really good sign.

We talked like that the whole way to the trauma center at the Medical University and finally found ourselves pacing in the trauma surgery waiting room. I called Terri’s parents to tell them what happened and they were there pacing right along with us.

About three hours later, when our nerves were all but shattered, those automatic doors swung open and Pearce walked through. He didn’t say a word but his eyes darted around the room like pinballs until they landed on me and then he was in front of me in four long strides.

His voice was husky as he wrapped his arms around me and said, “Alexia.”

My heart stopped because I knew with a certainty that it was bad. I tightened my arms around him and asked, “Oh God no. Justin?”

“No, you saved him sweetheart.” Then he did the craziest thing ever. He swung me around and shouted to everyone in the room, “This woman saved my brother’s life!” Next came the kiss. I wanted to kiss him but I needed to hear about Terri first.

I pulled away from him and asked, “Terri?”

“Good too.”

Then he tried for another kiss but I stopped him and leaned my head over to the side so I could yell to Terri’s parent’s, “Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, Terri is good.” Then I let him kiss me.

When we finally broke apart, I whispered to Pearce, “You know, you’re the one that saved Justin.”

In a very loud voice, so everyone could hear, Pearce disagreed. “Alexia, if you hadn’t held that light for me to see in there, I could never have found that bleeder. It was so dark I couldn’t see what the fuck I was doing. You’re the one who really saved him when it all comes down to it. I know how hard it was for you to stand there and see all that blood and you did it without having the ground come up and slam you in the face. Honey, I’m so proud of you.”  By this time I was laughing and crying and I running my hands though his hair. Then he shouted out, “This woman saved my brother’s life!”

Okay, so now I was getting embarrassed. I just laughed it off though because I was so relieved; it was like I was slap happy.

His expression turned dark when he glanced down and noticed I was still wearing the same clothes and I was covered with blood that was now dried.

“For Christ’s sake, why didn’t anyone get you something else to put on? Look at you!” He looked at his parents pointedly and shook his head.  Then he grabbed my hand and said, “Come with me.”

He towed me behind him into the surgeon’s lounge and found some scrubs for me to put on. Then we went into another room and a nurse walked in and started giving him a hard time about me being in there and he lit into her and raked her over the coals. I’d never heard him speak to anyone like that and it totally shocked me.

He looked at me sheepishly and said, “Sorry about that. I don’t always act the asshat in here but she pissed me off. Been a little stressed. Come on babe, I want you to get out of those messy clothes. You look like you’ve been in a scene in a horror movie.”

“I feel like I have.” Even though things were better, my insides still felt like someone was playing ride the roller coaster with my stomach.

I changed and we headed back out into the waiting room.

Pearce was giving everyone the rundown on both Justin and Terri when both of their respective surgeons came in and spoke to each family separately.

“Do you want to see Terri?” Pearce asked me.

“Is she awake?”

“Not yet.”

“Then I’ll wait. Her mom and dad need to be with her first anyway. They’ve been freaking out in here.”

He pulled me next to him and we sat there for a while. Justin had some fractured ribs and some other internal injuries, along with a broken collar bone and a messed up shoulder. Pearce assured me he would be fine. He said if they hadn’t been in the Range Rover and if the front and side air bags hadn’t deployed, they wouldn’t be here right now.