Love on the Horizon (A Northern Woods Novel) (9 page)

“Oh, it was nothing, really. I
came looking for Jake a while back. I knocked on Nick’s office door, and he
welcomed me in. He’s a very affectionate man.”

She seemed to have a very pleased
expression on her face, and Mariah’s mouth dropped open. She was too stunned to
cry.

“I don’t know what you’re talking
about, Anya, but I think perhaps we should leave.”

“Don’t you believe me? I only
thought it would be best if you knew how your husband really is. I was also
with him when he had the flat tire.”

Mariah was speechless. She looked
up, and as their eyes met, she felt a shock run through her.
Was that why
Nick had taken so long to return?

“Please Anya; I’d like to go
home.” She stood and fumbled with her coat. Anya tried to help her, but Mariah
pulled away from her and walked toward the door. Anya placed a twenty-dollar bill
on the table, and with a look of triumph, she followed her out.

Anya helped Mariah into the
passenger seat, then went around to the driver’s side and climbed in. She
looked over at her.

“I’m sorry, honey. I didn’t mean
to cause any trouble.”

“Please take me home. I’m not
feeling well.”

“Okay, I’ll have you there
shortly, hold on,” she replied with a smile and stepped on the gas pedal a bit
too hard. The car plunged forward, slid on the gravel, spun in a circle, and
flew into the ditch on the opposite side of the county road.

Mariah screamed in terror. Seven
months pregnant with twins, she’d had to push the seat back to ride
comfortably, and wasn’t able to use her seatbelt. She held her arms across her
stomach to protect her babies
.
When the car dove into a small tree, her
head hit the dashboard. She was unconscious when the impact threw her back into
the seat, her face resting against the door.

Anya leaned forward and whispered
in her ear, “Don’t worry Mariah, I’ll take extra good care of Nick for you.”

Chapter
Fifteen

A witness who’d been exiting the
café, dialed nine-one-one. When the ambulance arrived, they placed Mariah on a
gurney and rushed her to the emergency vehicle.

The police had obtained all of
the information they needed from Anya. They informed her that they understood
the gravel was what caused her automobile to slide, but even though there was
no other car involved, they’d have to wait and see if Mariah was okay. The
officer told her they’d be in touch and then called for a tow truck. They
pulled her vehicle from the ditch, and she was able to drive it home. The only
damage was to the bumper.

Nick was in his office when the
phone rang.

“Nick, I’m very worried about
Mariah,” Bess said.

“You mean she hasn’t returned
yet? She should have been home over an hour ago. I’ll be right there.”

When he stepped out of the stable
and dropped the latch on the door, he looked up and saw a police car entering
the long drive. It was Officer Burt Bedford from the Pinewood Hills Police
Department. Nick and Burt were on the high school football team together. He
pulled into the lot and got out of his car. Nick walked over to meet him.  

“Hi Burt, what brings you here?”
he asked, his mind a mixture of hope and fear.

“It’s Mariah. There’s been an
accident. You need to get over to the hospital right away. I’ll drive you,
buddy.”

He rushed into the house,
explained the situation to Bess, and asked her to stay with Nicky. “I don’t
know how long I’ll be.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll stay as long
as you need me. I brought clothes over last week, to be prepared. Nicky and I
will be fine. Call me as soon as you have some news. I’ll be very worried.”

“Thanks, Bess. Please be extra
careful when you leave to pick him up from preschool. Also, don’t tell him
anything; just say we went out for dinner.”

Nick grabbed the thermos Bess
filled with coffee and hurried out the door. Burt was waiting in the car.

* * *

Jake left work early and had been
watching for Anya. He had no idea what may have happened to her. He was about
to pace with worry, when she finally pulled into the driveway. He saw the front
end of her car, grabbed his jacket and ran out to meet her.

“What happened, honey, are you
okay? Did you call the police for help?”

“No, no policeman. I’m fine. Some
person must have run into my car again, while I was shopping,” she replied, a
deep scowl on her face.

“Well, I’m not about to call the
insurance company. I only have you covered for liability anyway,” Jake said. He
shook his head in disgust. She keeps having accidents and doesn’t tell him.

“What does that mean?” Anya
asked, with a worried look.

“It means they’d only pay for the
other person’s car, but not your own.”

“Oh,” Anya said softly. “You want
dinner now?”

 “I’ve already eaten some of the
leftover stew. I was beginning to get worried about you, Anya. Why are you home
so late?”

“Just walk around stores,” she
told him.

“Would you like me to heat some
stew for you?” Jake asked.

“No, I’m not hungry, just tired.
I get ready for bed now.”

“Okay, honey. I’ll put the car in
the garage, and then I’ll be in. Zak is sound asleep in his room.”

Jake knew she was pretending to
doze off. He watched while she tried to relax and breathe slowly. It made him
very angry that she refused to speak with him. She finally dozed off and he
went to the family room and tried to sleep on the couch, but couldn’t stop
thinking about how Anya did nothing but roam around the malls and spend money.
When she was home, she spent most of her time on the computer and seldom
bothered to clean the house. Dirty dishes were always stacked in the sink, and
she never bothered to vacuum the floors. She hadn’t even attempted to scrub the
bathrooms since she and Zak arrived.

He’d finally dozed off when he
awakened to a loud knock at the door, followed by the sound of the doorbell. He
looked at the clock while he leapt from the sofa, pulled on his jeans, and
rushed down the hall. It was ten p.m. A police officer stood waiting on the
porch.

“May I help you?” Jake asked when
he opened the door.

“I’m Officer Bedford from the
Pinewood Hills Police Department,” he said, and showed him his badge.

“Please come in,” Jake replied.
He moved to the side of the entryway and opened the door wide.

The officer informed Jake of the
accident and gave him the few details he had of the injured passenger.

“There was a passenger?”

“Yes, a female. A pregnant woman
was rushed to the emergency room at the hospital here in Huntington.”

“Is she going to be okay?”

“We have no information at this
time. I wanted to make sure your wife arrived home safely.”

“Yes, she arrived an hour ago.
She was very upset. She’s sleeping now. Do you need to speak with her?”

“No, we’ll be in touch. Have a
nice evening.”

“Thank you, Officer.”

Anya kept still and waited
quietly. Jake stood next to the bed and gently shook her shoulder. She turned
over and looked into his eyes.

“There was a police officer here
looking for you. He wanted to make sure you made it home. Why did you lie to
me, Anya? Why didn’t you tell me the truth about the accident?”

“I’m sorry. I did not know. I thought
Mariah would be fine when the people took her away. She will be okay?”

“I don’t know. The officer heard
only that she was not yet awake. Go to sleep now. I’ll call the hospital and
try to find out.”

Anya wept aloud and he sat down
on the bed next to her.

“Jake, it wasn’t my fault. I
pulled out of parking lot. Mariah grabbed steering wheel. She cause accident. I
don’t want her to hate me, so I didn’t tell policeman what she did.”

He held her in his arms while
heavy sobs wracked her insides, and he gently rocked her. She took deep breaths
until she was able to raise her head. He pulled away and told her he’d return
to bed shortly. He watched as her body slumped in despair and she curled into a
fetal position and cried herself to sleep. He decided he needed a good strong
shot of whiskey.

* * *

Burt pulled the police car up to
the emergency entrance, and Nick quickly climbed out. He entered through the
automatic doorway and felt nauseated from the heavy reek of antiseptic. He
dodged a gurney heading down the hallway. When he reached the nurses’ station,
the loud click-clack, click-clack of the wheels kept him from hearing what the
nurse at the desk was saying over the intercom.

She looked up, as though she’d
been expecting him. When he stepped up to the desk, he heard over the loud
speaker, “Paging Dr. Wisenberg, paging Dr. Wisenberg, stat.”

“I’m Nick Colburn. My wife,
Mariah Colburn, was admitted about an hour ago.”

“Yes sir, the doctor will be out
to speak with you in a moment. I had him paged. Please fill out these forms
while you’re waiting.” She slid three pages across the desk.

“Is this necessary at the moment,
Ma’am? I really do need to speak with the doctor.”

She spoke calmly, with a warm
smile, her heart going out to him. “I’m sorry sir, but yes, they are necessary.
The doctor will need your signature to perform the surgery.”

“Surgery?”

“Here comes Dr. Wisenberg now,
Mr. Colburn.” She nodded her head toward the doors that read, DO NOT ENTER, and
they opened with a loud swoosh. Nick turned and saw Dr. Wisenberg quickly
approach him. He led Nick over to the far corner and indicated a chair for him.

“Hello, Nick.” The doctor pulled
his chair around to face him and sat down.

“What happened to her, Doctor? Is
she going to be okay?”

“She’s in a coma. We have to do a
C-section. The babies are determined to come into the world, even though Mariah
isn’t quite ready. I need you to sign the papers, so we’re able to proceed with
the surgery immediately. The twins aren’t going to wait.”

“You haven’t answered my question,
Doctor,” Nick said, while he quickly signed the consent forms. “Will my wife be
okay?”

“I’m sorry, Nick. We won’t know
anything until she comes out of the coma. I hope it will be soon. I wish I
could tell you more. Now I’m going to go in and save those little girls of
yours and do everything I can to keep Mariah comfortable and pray that all goes
well. Wait here in the waiting room; call your family and friends to come here
to be with you. I’ll return to talk immediately after the surgery.”

Dr. Wisenberg stood, and laid his
hand on Nick’s shoulder. “We’ll do our best, Nick.” He then turned quickly and
walked back through the swinging doors.

Chapter
Sixteen

Nick was in the waiting room with
Mariah’s parents and all of her siblings. Art and Lillie arrived, along with
Garrett and his wife Kim, who entered directly behind them.

“How you holding out Nick, any
word yet?” Art asked, and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“No. Not a thing.”

Nick sat with his elbows resting
on his knees, looking down at the floor. “I can’t believe this is happening. I
haven’t spoken to the police. They seem to be holding back the details. I knew
Anya was not one to be trusted. I want to know exactly what happened.”

“Don’t worry about that right
now. Let’s just get through this first.” Art didn’t want Nick to lose control
of his anger right now, and he knew he would, once he saw the police report.

Dr. Wisenberg suddenly appeared
in the doorway of the waiting room. He walked over and placed his hand on
Nick’s shoulder with a smile.

“Congratulations. You have two
beautiful daughters, spunky as can be. They’re only seven weeks premature and
appear to be very healthy. The first to enter the world weighed in at four pounds
nine ounces and the second at four pounds seven ounces. Identical twins, Nick,”
he added with a grin and patted him on the back. “The nurses are cleaning them
up right now, and you’ll be able to see them in a moment.”

“Really?” He chuckled softly then
laughed aloud. “Identical twins?”

“Sure looks that way,” the doctor
answered and smiled at Nick’s reaction.

“How is Mariah, Doc? Is she
awake?”

“She’s still in a coma, but
showing signs of improvement. The nurses are moving her into ICU right now. 
You’ll be able to visit her shortly. We’ll have the twins in the nursery, for
the time being. They’re doing just fine and seem to be very healthy. When your
wife awakens and can be moved into a private room, the twins will be
transferred to the room with her.”

“The babies don’t need to be
placed in incubators?”

“So far, no. They seem to be just
fine, but they’ll be staying here with your wife for a couple days. That’ll
give us time to keep a close watch on the three of them.”