The Billionaire's Christmas Son - Leslie North Page 0,37

see you guys.”

Jonas headed up in the private elevator and hesitated outside his grandmother’s door. Doubts reared up, larger than life. What he needed was a medical opinion. He went down the hall to a secluded alcove to make the call.

Their grandmother’s doctor was a man from town who had overseen her care for over fifty years. He was part of a team of specialists now, people coming together to help manage her cancer—and later, her pain.

Ten minutes later, Jonas was glad he called. The doctor’s confirmation it would be okay was the boost he needed to face his grandmother. He headed back down the hall, mentally preparing to face her.

His phone rang before he’d gotten halfway there, and he answered without looking at the screen. More than likely, the doctor with more to say. “Jonas Elkin.”

“Jonas, this is Mark Hollies, chief of police.”

He stopped short. A call from the chief of police was never good. “Mr. Hollies.” Jonas stepped back toward the alcove. “What can I do for you?” A thousand scenarios involving the resort flashed through his brain. Surely, nothing had happened while he was at dinner, or one of the hostesses would have come to get him.

“I’m calling in regard to an accident about thirty minutes ago.”

“An accident?” Adrenaline surged through his body, fear lodging in his throat, making it hard to ask questions. “A guest of the resort?” he asked, forcing the words out.

“A woman and a little boy.” Rachel and Scott. Blood rushed in his ears, a waterfall of life that meant nothing without them, and he struggled to hear what the sheriff was saying. “—paperwork from the resort in the car with them. She had your number on her phone, and we thought we’d start with you.”

“Are they all right?” he rasped. “Please. Tell me they’re all right.” He felt an old horror come to life—the horror of hearing the news that his parents were dead. Jonas hadn’t spent much time thinking about the world without his parents, the memories too painful. How much more so if he lost Rachel and Scott forever.

“Both of them are en route to the hospital now. They were in stable condition when we arrived on the scene, but I’m not sure how things have gone on the way in. I’m still waiting on updates,” Hollies said, his honest answer stabbing Jonas in the gut and twisting until his body screamed from the pressure. His eyes burned, and he blinked several times to clear them.

“It’s my friend and our son,” he announced without hesitation. “I’ll be at the hospital as soon as I can.”

Getting to the hospital was a process that Jonas had carried out many times, but this time, his brain couldn’t manage the overload of trying to decide what to bring. Or do. He went back to his office but couldn’t remember what he’d come there for. Halfway to the parking lot, he remembered—his coat. He’d need that at the hospital. They kept everything cold there, even in the winter. And then he had to go back for his keys.

By the time he settled himself behind the wheel, his teeth were chattering. More from shock than the cold. He needed to see them both. Needed it, like he needed air, water, and food.

The snow swirled in front of his windshield and made it difficult to see, slowing the drive to an excruciating crawl. The dancing shapes of what looked like deer on the sides of the highway forced him to tap his brakes several times. Jonas kept a firm grip on the wheel and tried not to do any heavy braking, prepared for any contingency that might arise.

An eternity later, or so it seemed, he parked by the emergency doors to the hospital and ran for the door. Inside, the woman at the desk told him where to find Scott and Rachel in the ER. A room down at the corner, with the curtains drawn over the big glass doors. He knocked and went in without waiting for an answer. There was only so much his heart could take.

Inside, Rachel sat on the hospital bed. Scott slept in a crib next to the bed. She appeared to be sleeping, but as he came to a stop—Rachel opened her eyes.

“Hi,” she said, a sheen of tears over her eyes. “I’m so glad you came for us.”

He let out a strangled laugh, then came to sit beside her. “How are you? What happened? Are you going to be all