Forever Santa Read online

  “You could put tape that glows in the dark on the edge. Then I’d know where to put my feet.”

  Trent thought about that and decided it was a good idea. They had a pile of wood left over from the barn conversion. He could use his new polishing tool to make it look real pretty, or give it a quick coat of varnish if Gracie was looking for something less fancy.

  Gracie patted the white folder on her knees. “Our daughter looks amazing. She’s real, Trent. Not just a line on a pregnancy test kit. She’s alive and growing inside of me.”

  “I didn’t think she’d look like a baby,” he said. “I thought she’d be a little blob of cells. I can’t believe we made her.”

  “She’s our own little miracle. Did you notice anything about her due date?”

  Trent stopped for a red light and grinned at Gracie. “Yeah. It’s mom’s birthday on June 20. She’ll be hoping our little girl wants to stay inside of you for a couple of extra days.”

  “Do you want to go and see your mom now? We could show her the photos?”

  Trent looked outside. It was dark, almost pitch black beyond the beam of the headlights. Snow had just started falling and he hadn’t liked the look of the clouds when they’d left the hospital. “I don’t know, Gracie. It’s getting worse outside.”

  “We could stay with your mom for the night? Jordan’s on the ranch so he could look after the cattle.”

  The traffic lights turned green and Trent accelerated slowly through the intersection. His mom knew they were having the scan today. She’d be excited to see them, excited to see the photos of her first grandchild. “Okay, we’ll go and see…”

  A flash of light lit the inside of the truck. Trent turned his head just as Gracie screamed. Shit! He jammed on his brakes, pulled on the steering wheel, but the lights kept coming.

  Everything seemed to slow down. Gracie grabbed the door handle, holding on tight. The folder she’d had in her lap flew across the cab, scattering photos everywhere. He felt a jolt, heard the squeal of metal as it folded in on itself, crumpling beneath the weight of another vehicle.

  The airbag flew out of the steering wheel, smacking his face like he’d hit a brick wall. Glass shattered and something hit his head. The truck kept moving, kept spinning.

  Then there was silence, an unholy wait for something else. He heard someone moan, blinked away the water dripping over his eyes. He lifted his hand to his head, wiped away the water and looked down at his hand. It was red. Blood.

  He turned toward Gracie. She was slumped over her seatbelt. “Gracie?” She didn’t answer. He tried to move, tried to get closer to her, but something locked him in place.

  His door opened. Cold air flooded the cab. It cleared his head, made him even more worried for Gracie and their baby.

  “Stay there, man. We’ve called for an ambulance and the police. I’m turning your engine off.”

  “Gracie. My wife. I can’t…” He tried to move again, tried to get to Gracie.

  “She’ll be all right. Don’t move, the ambulance won’t be far away.”

  “You don’t understand. She’s pregnant. We’re having a baby.” He felt a sob wretch itself from deep in his chest, felt grief tear through him. He couldn’t forgive himself if anything happened to Gracie. To their baby.

  “I’m going to close your door and get in the back seat.”

  Trent didn’t understand what the person was talking about. He heard people shouting, the groan of metal. Another door opened.

  “Okay, man. We’re going to hold your head still.”

  “No. You don’t understand. Gracie. Look after Gracie.”

  “We’re getting there. Pete’s going to hold your head. I’ll help your wife.”

  Trent heard someone moving in the backseat, a muffled curse. Two hands reached around the headrest, holding his head.

  He heard someone gasp. It was Gracie. She was alive.

  He tried to turn his head. “Is Gracie all right? What’s happening?

  “Stay still,” another voice said. “They do this in the movies, in case you’ve got head or neck injuries. Your wife will be all right. I can hear the sirens.”

  “She’s breathing, man. Got some color in her face.”

  Trent closed his eyes and moved his hand, tried to find Gracie. He felt her sweater, squeezed her arm. He waited, squeezed again. She didn’t move. He started crying, sobbing.

  “Calm down. Take a deep breath. It’s going to be fine. The police and the paramedics have arrived.”

  “Gracie…”

  “I know, man. You’re worried about her. Take another deep breath, yeah, that’s it. In and out.”

  He held onto Gracie’s sweater, scared that if he let go he’d never see her again. He heard his door open. Felt cold air on his face.

  “Hi, I’m Janet. I’m a paramedic. Can you tell me your name?”

  Trent opened his eyes and stared at the woman’s face in front of him. “Trent. Trent McKenzie. I’m okay. You need to help Gracie. My wife.”

  “She’s pregnant,” said a voice from the back seat.

  “Another paramedic’s helping Gracie. I need to see how you’re doing.”

  Trent waited while she ran her hands down his body, grunted when she pushed against his stomach.

  “Okay, Trent. I’m going to put a brace on your neck and get you ready for the ambulance.”

  He saw someone move on Gracie’s side of the cab, heard softly spoken words that he didn’t understand. She still hadn’t said anything. “How’s Gracie?”

  Janet looked across the cab. “We’re looking after her. Hold still while we get this brace on.” She looked at the person behind him. “I want you to hold Trent’s head steady while I slip the brace around his neck. Are you ready?”

  The paramedic moved. He heard Velcro being pulled open, felt the stiff support of the brace.

  “We’re going to take you to the hospital now, Trent. Gracie isn’t quite ready. We’ll transport her in another ambulance.”

  “No…I can’t go without her. She’s my wife. I can’t let her…” Panic raced through him. He needed to stay with Gracie, make sure she was okay. He couldn’t leave her here…

  “Trent? It’s me. Dan.”

  The paramedic had disappeared and his friend, Dan Carter, leaned in the truck. Dan was the Deputy Chief of Police.

  “It’s okay, Trent. I’ll stay with Gracie. As soon as she gets to the hospital I’ll come and find you and let you know how she is.”

  “I can’t leave her.”

  “I’ll be with her the whole time.”

  Tears streamed down Trent’s face. He gave Gracie’s arm one last squeeze before letting go. “I love you, Gracie.” The words choked out on a sob. Before he could take another breath, he was carried out of the truck and strapped into a stretcher.

  The doors of the ambulance closed. He’d never prayed as hard as he prayed now. He prayed for Gracie, for their baby daughter.

  He prayed they were both still alive.

  Chapter 11

  Trent stared at the ceiling in the hospital. The doctors had poked and prodded him, x-rayed his neck, chest, and abdomen, stitched the gash on the side of his head. He knew Gracie had arrived in the hospital, but no one hold told him anything else.

  “Trent?”

  He heard Amy’s voice before he saw her.

  “What happened?”

  He swallowed the lump in his throat and wiped his eyes. “We had a car accident. I don’t know where Gracie is.”

  She looked at the nurse hovering beside him, then squeezed his fingers. “Has anyone called your family?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I’ll talk to your mom. I spoke with your doctor and they’re going to take the neck brace off soon. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “Look for Dan Carter. He was at the accident. Said he’d stay with Gracie and let me know how she is.”

  “Okay. I’ll look for Dan.”

  He heard the curtain around his cubicle
open and close as Amy left. The nurse disappeared and the curtain opened again.

  “Oh, Trent. How are you feeling?”

  His mom’s voice opened a floodgate of tears. “I don’t know where Gracie is.”

  “It’s okay.” She kissed his cheek and held his hand. “I saw Amy on the way in. She’s going to find her. What happened?”

  Trent thought back to what they’d been doing before the accident. “We were coming back from our appointment, talking about the scan. We’re having a little girl, mom.” He tried to stop the tears rolling down his face, but they kept coming.

  His mom wiped his face and nose. He took a deep breath and tried to remember what came next. “We stopped at a red light. When it turned green I didn’t go fast. The road was slippery and it had started snowing again. A bright light filled the cab. Gracie screamed. I tried to stop, tried to get out of the other vehicle’s way, but it kept coming.”

  He blinked back more tears and took another deep breath. “I don’t think Gracie was breathing. I tried waking her up, but she didn’t move.”

  “It will be okay. Amy will be back soon. She’ll tell us how Gracie is.”

  He couldn’t talk, couldn’t tell his mom what he feared the most, in case saying it made it come true.

  The curtain moved again. The doctor that had been looking after him smiled at his mom. “I’m Clarissa.” She looked at Trent and frowned. “I’ll take your brace off now, Trent. You’ll feel a lot more comfortable without it around your neck. Tell me if you feel dizzy.”

  He felt the tug of the plastic as the doctor pulled the Velcro straps apart. She lifted the brace away from his neck and he tried moving his head.

  “That’s it. Go gently.” She watched him move his head, then handed him the remote control for the bed. “I want you to push the button at the top. It will lift the bed upright so that you’re in a sitting position. Don’t go too fast, just nice and steady.”

  Trent did as she asked. He didn’t care a damn about being careful. He needed to find Gracie, only no one seemed to know where she was.

  The doctor pulled a clipboard off the base of the bed and made some notes on his chart. “You’ve got a lot of bruising across your chest and pelvis from the seatbelt. Ibuprofen should take care of most of the discomfort. You’ll need to see your doctor in seven days to get the stitches taken out of the cut on your head.” She wrote down something else, then looked at his mom. “We’re going to keep Trent in the hospital overnight as a precaution. We cut his clothes off him when he arrived. Do you have anything he could wear tomorrow?”

  “Trent and Gracie keep a spare set of clothes at my home, just in case...” His mom wiped her eyes. “I’ll call Jordan. He can pick them up on his way into town. I’ll be back soon, Trent.”

  His mom disappeared behind the curtain and the doctor pulled a chair close.

  “I want to tell you about Gracie.”

  Trent’s heart felt as though it had stopped beating. “Is she all right?”

  “Amy gave me a call before I came in to see you. Gracie’s in a stable condition. I want you to remember that when I tell you everything else.”

  Trent nodded. Tears filled his eyes again. Gracie was alive, she hadn’t died. They could work through everything else.

  “Gracie hit her head on the side column of your truck, which knocked her unconscious. On the way into the hospital she regained consciousness. She’s broken two ribs and has a punctured lung. She’s in surgery now. The surgeons are inserting a small tube between her ribs to remove the air that’s pressing on her lung.”

  “She’s going to be okay?”

  The doctor nodded. “It will take a few weeks, but she’ll make a full recovery.”

  “And our baby?” He held his breath waiting for the news he didn’t want to hear.

  “She’s doing fine. The doctors that were looking after Gracie did a quick ultrasound before she went into surgery. They want to do more tests later, but for now everything is okay.”

  “Thank you.” Trent didn’t know what else to say. He thought he’d lost Gracie and their baby and the weight of that grief was still pressing down on his heart.

  The doctor pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. “Amy said to tell you she’s waiting upstairs with Dan. They’ll come down and see you once Gracie’s out of surgery.”

  The curtain opened and his mom came in. “Gracie and the baby are alive, mom. It’s going to be okay.”

  She burst into tears and hugged him close. He melted into her arms, let go of the helplessness and desperation filling him until he couldn’t think straight.

  While he’d been lying in the hospital he’d realized something important. After everything that had happened he’d never had so much to lose, or so much to live for.

  Trent opened his eyes and frowned. He looked around the hospital room, stared at the exit sign glowing above the door. Gracie was sound asleep in the bed beside him, her small body hardly making a bump in the blankets.

  He sat up slowly, wincing at the pain from his seatbelt bruising. Except for the occasional patient bell and the sound of Gracie’s pump, the ward was quiet. He stared at the pole beside Gracie’s bed. A bag of saline and another of antibiotics were slowly being dripped into the catheter on her hand.

  “Trent?”

  He rubbed his hands over his eyes and stumbled to her bed. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

  “Sore.” She gripped Trent’s hand. “Is our baby all right?”

  “She’s fine.”

  Tears filled Gracie’s eyes. She was trying so hard to be brave that it brought tears to his eyes. “Let it out, Gracie. You’ll feel better.”

  “I can’t cry. It hurts too much.”

  He curled a strand of hair around her ear and smiled. “I’ve done a lot of crying for both of us. I love you so much, Gracie. I thought you were going to die.”

  “I’m too tough to die,” she whispered.

  She didn’t look tough at the moment. She was small and pale, so fragile that he was scared she’d never be well again.

  “Can I have some water?”

  Trent reached for the cup beside her bed and held her head while she took a small sip. “Mom thought you might want this.” He took the lid off the lip balm his mom had left for her.

  She reached up and spread it on her mouth, sighing in relief. “That feels better. How are you feeling?”

  He held Gracie’s hand and almost wept when her fingers curled around his. He remembered sitting in the truck, her unconscious body slumped in her seat.

  “Trent?”

  He took a deep breath and smiled. “I’m fine. Nothing a few days won’t fix.”

  “Did anyone call my dad and Kristina?”

  “I called them when you got out of surgery. The airline was able to change your dad’s flight. He’s arriving this evening.”

  Gracie looked confused. “What’s the time now?”

  He glanced down at his watch. “Four o’clock in the morning. It’s Christmas eve.”

  Gracie wiped more tears off her face. “We could have died.”

  “But we didn’t. We’re here for a reason, Gracie. It wasn’t our time.”

  She tried taking a deep breath, but groaned softly instead.

  “Do you need more pain relief?”

  “No, I’ll be okay. I just can’t breathe too deeply. I don’t remember anything about the accident. What happened?”

  “Dan came and saw me while you were in surgery. The other truck went through a red light. It hit the back of our truck on your side and the impact spun us around. The driver of the other truck had a few cuts and bruises. They’ve gone home.”

  “Why did they go through the red light?”

  “The driver was talking on her cell phone. She didn’t see the lights change. Before she went home she came and saw me, apologized for what happened.”

  “She must feel terrible.”

  Trent held back saying what he thought of the woman. She’d not
only been on her phone, she’d been speeding. With the roads covered in ice and more snow falling, she shouldn’t have been driving anywhere near the speed she’d been going. He’d never felt so angry in his life.

  Gracie moved a little in bed. “I guess this means you won’t be getting your favorite person wrapped in a red bow for Christmas.”

  “My favorite person is still alive. That’s the best Christmas present I could ever get.”

  “You say the sweetest things, Trent McKenzie.” Gracie closed her eyes and sighed.

  He leaned across the bed and kissed her forehead. “I love you, short stuff.” And before he’d finished pulling a chair across to her bed, Gracie had fallen asleep.

  Chapter 12

  Gracie looked up from the book she was reading and listened to the commotion in the hallway. It was five o’clock in the evening. Almost twenty-four hours since they’d had their accident.

  The day had passed in a blur. Between the constant checks the nurses did on her catheter and pump, a blood test, and another ultrasound of their baby, the room had been more like Grand Central Station than a hospital room. Trent had been discharged earlier in the afternoon and he’d gone back to his mom’s house for a shower.

  The noise coming from the hallway was getting closer and Gracie tried to figure out what was going on.

  Jordan stuck his head around the doorway and grinned at her. “Close your eyes, Gracie.”

  “What are you…”

  “Just close your eyes.”

  She didn’t trust the smile on his face, but closed her eyes anyway. There couldn’t be that much mischief he could get up to in the hospital.

  She heard Trent giving directions. Heard someone bump into something. There was a soft swishing sound, then a thud. She didn’t have a clue what was happening, but she could almost guarantee the nurses knew nothing about it.

  “Keep your eyes closed. We’ve got some tidying up to do.”

  Someone shushed Jordan and he laughed.

  After a few minutes she said, “Can I open my eyes now?”