Chapter 5 - The Call From the Ballroom
Harper walked outside, hoping fresh air would steady her.
Rain had begun falling over the hotel entrance. Guests hurried past beneath umbrellas, laughing as they entered the lobby.
Harper reached her patrol vehicle and opened the driver’s door.
She never managed to sit down.
Her knees gave way.
A hotel valet saw her fall and rushed forward. Harper remained conscious, but the world blurred around the edges.
“Call emergency services,” she whispered.
The last thing she remembered clearly was Mason running through the rain.
At the hospital, doctors began evaluating her immediately.
The boys arrived with Eleanor, who had followed the ambulance. Chloe came twenty minutes later in her wedding gown, veil, and tiara, furious that the emergency had interrupted the ceremony schedule.
She entered the room without asking how Harper was.
“You left before the photographs.”
Harper lay on the gurney, pale and exhausted.
“The boys came with me because they were scared.”
“My entire wedding is waiting.”
A doctor examined the monitor and spoke to the nurse.
“She needs an emergency CT scan now.”
Chloe turned sharply.
“How long will that take?”
“We need to determine whether her condition has become critical.”
Eleanor gripped the rail.
“Can this wait until after the ceremony?”
The doctor stared at her.
“No.”
Chloe gestured toward her gown.
“You don’t understand. Hundreds of people are waiting. Everything has already been paid for.”
Harper opened her eyes.
“With my money.”
Chloe’s face tightened.
“Not now.”
“It should have been returned.”
Eleanor stepped between them.
“Cancel the scan. Chloe’s wedding needs that money.”
Even the steady monitor seemed louder after she said it.
The nurse stared at Eleanor in disbelief.
The doctor’s expression changed from concern to anger.
“This is not a financial discussion. This is an emergency.”
But Eleanor continued arguing, insisting the family would transfer Harper to another hospital after the wedding.
The nurse moved to Harper’s tactical jacket to search for identification and medical information.
That was when she found the first packet.
ER NOW.
May you like
Then she found the bank envelope.
For Chloe’s Wedding.
