"Doctor Lander?"
"Yes, you can call me Mick. Were you the one who phoned me?"
"Yes, I am. Emily fell back to sleep. She hasn't been out of surgery that long so she's still pretty sedated."
"I'm going to go see her." Mick walked off and headed inside the hospital room. Parker walked behind him.
Mick bent down and kissed her cheek, while Emily slowly opened her eyes and gave her best attempt at providing a smile.
"Hey, Mick."
"Emily, what happened to you?!"
"Just a small tumble down some steps at my grandfather's house."
"How did you fall?"
"Remember me telling you about how Davis Enterprises stole my grandfather's property?"
Parker cringed but remained quiet.
"Yeah, I remember."
"Parker Davis was forcing me to move, and originally he was giving me a week. He shut off all the utilities at the house. I hadn't gotten around to finishing all the rooms because I didn't want to leave. But then he changed his mind and told me I had to be out the next day, which would have been today. I packed the last box and started to take it downstairs. There wasn't any light in the house, making it too dark to see the steps. With the awkwardness of the box, the darkness, and my blurred vision from tears, I fell."
Mick spun around, quickly putting two and two together. "You're the Parker who called the office?"
"Yes, but--"
Mick slammed his fist in Parker's face, knocking him back against the door. The staff appeared quickly and security wasn't far behind. They were both escorted out of the hospital. Once outside, Mick cocked his fist back again.
"Wait! Look, I don't want to get in a boxing match with you." Parker knew he could have easily brought the man harm.
"This is your fault, you bastard! You have hurt that woman more than anyone ever has..."
"I was an arrogant fool, that's for sure. I was only thinking about making a lot of money and did everything I could to get the project started on that land. I'm the one who found Emily at the bottom of the stairs and called an ambulance. I went to the house to tell her I was sorry. But I was too late. I'm giving Emily her grandfather's land back. She doesn't have to move."
"When did you decide to come to your damn senses?! When it was too late, that's when!"
"It doesn't matter when. I'm having the papers sent to me and I'm getting my lawyers to draw up another set. I'm going to sell it back to Emily for a dollar." Parker could taste blood in his mouth from his swollen lip.
"She's a good person. I've known her since she was a kid. What you pulled was unforgiveable."
"I know this already. We need to have our focus where it should be. Emily didn't just break her arm; she might have nerve damage in her right hand. The doctors won't know for a bit."
"Emily's right handed. If she can't practice anymore she'll be devastated. You can go on home, and I'm not sorry about the punch in the mouth. You totally had it coming. I'm going back inside if they'll let me. You can go back inside that hole you and your company crawled out of." Mick turned and walked away.
Chapter 6
Parker drove back to the property with his mind a thousand miles away. He wished he could swap places with Emily. Mick was right; she didn't deserve any of this. It wasn't his brother's fault either. He had no one to blame but himself. Had he not been so hell-bent over having the upper hand, Emily wouldn't be lying in a hospital bed. He knew how to succeed in the corporate world and demolish the competition. Luring investors wasn't a difficult task, especially when his reputation was solid. He knew how to wine, dine, and brush elbows with the elite. His social skills outside of the business world, however, totally lacked.
The inside of the RV had been ransacked by God knows what kind of animal. Unfortunately, he'd left the door partially ajar, and it had been stocked with food. There were definitely well-fed creatures running around. Parker, not wanting anything else to have to deal with, turned to walk back to his car. He certainly couldn't sleep in the RV tonight. He'd have to stay at the motel. The house loomed there like a big black mark on his conscience. Parker found himself walking past his car, around to the back of the house. The door displayed its damage where he'd kicked it in. I hope the animals didn't have a good time in here as well. There was no evidence of unwelcomed visitors other than himself. With his head spinning, he went to the couch and sat down. Parker closed his weary eyes. He had to somehow make it up to Emily. Looking at all the evidence of someone he'd forced to pack in a hurry made him sick. Look what I've done...
***
The next morning, Emily ate a pretty healthy breakfast. The closest she got to actually eating had been the fish that fell to the ground. Bastard! There was a knock at her door, bringing her out of her hateful thoughts.
"How's the arm feeling?"
"Pretty sore."
"We did an open reduction on your humerus, the long bone in your arm. We had to go inside and put it back together with pins. The surgery went well, and we don't anticipate you having any complications from that. My concern, though, is the length of time that pressure was on the nerves from the misplaced broken bone. When we get the swelling a little more under control, we'll have a specialist come and take a look."
Emily only nodded. Nerve damage...right hand...
Parker didn't mean to fall asleep on the couch. The sun coming through the window brought him out of a deep sleep. He certainly wasn't going to get anything accomplished to help Emily by sitting on his duff. The first thing he needed to do was to get some calls made.
Parker arranged for the RV to be removed from the property. He offered them plenty of money to clean it up, repair the tire, and deliver it to his brother's address. Surely Russ and his family could use a forty foot RV. That, or they'd kill him. Next, he checked on the status of the paperwork he needed. He was promised to have the file in his hands before morning. The utilities were back on and a repairman was working on the installation of a new back door. Parker went outside and sat on the swing. He was saving the most dreaded call for last.
"What the hell's going on, Parker?" Russell didn't attempt to hide his irritation.
"This deal has been a nightmare, that's what."
"My phone's been ringing off the hook. The investors aren't happy about this."
"They never invested anything. Their loss was zero. Let them bitch if that's what they need to do. I've made each of them good sized cash piles in the past. I'm not worried about it."
"So you're going to give this Emily Carson back her property?" Russ shook his head in disbelief.