Dallas sighed and took the seat next to Katie. Her long blond hair hung straight nearly to her waist. She pulled a scrunchy out of her jeans pocket and drew her hair into a loose ponytail. Shadows stained the pale skin under her green eyes.

“Me, either,” Dallas admitted. “I’m just so grateful I was running late yesterday morning. If I hadn’t been I would have missed the phone call from the police.”

Dallas was in a master’s program at UCLA. She and Josie shared an apartment on the west side of Los Angeles.

David, the oldest of the Fitzgerald children, walked over and joined the conversation. He’d flown to the west coast with Katie. “It shouldn’t be much longer,” he said.

Katie knew he didn’t have any special information. He was just trying to make them feel better. Which was more than Aaron was doing. Her father stalked through the waiting room announcing to everyone who would listen that he planned to sue the pants off the driver responsible for almost killing his daughter. So far, Katie had managed to say out of his way.

“What about Robin?” Katie asked Dallas. Robin was Suzanne’s other daughter from her first marriage.

Dallas shrugged. “I’ve contacted the Navy. They’re getting her the message and seeing about emergency leave.”

Katie nodded. Robin was a helicopter pilot. Sometimes her assignments took her out of the country for months at a time.

“Did you see Josie before they took her into surgery?” Katie asked her sister. “Was it really bad?”

Dallas swallowed. “It looked pretty awful, but I don’t know how much of that was actual injury and how much was bruising and all the blood.” She glanced at Aaron, who was on the far side of the room, then lowered her voice. “She was kind of out of it and kept asking for Del. I didn’t know what to do.” Dallas shrugged helplessly. “Should I call him?”

Katie didn’t have an answer. Del was Josie’s ex-husband. They’d been divorced nearly two years. “Do you really think she wants him here?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then let’s wait and ask her.”

David changed the subject. “What do you know about the accident itself?”

“Not much,” Dallas said. “The delivery truck that slammed into her car was going fast. I heard the police talking about checking the brakes. They think they might have failed.”

A woman in green scrubs walked into the room. She looked weary but pleased. “I’m Dr. Owens,” she said, taking a cup of coffee offered by a nurse. “Are you the Fitzgerald family?”

Aaron approached the woman. Katie cringed, wondering if her father would demand to speak to a man, but he surprised her by nodding respectfully at the surgeon. “How’s my little girl?”

“Lucky to be alive,” the doctor said bluntly. “Josie sustained serious injuries during the car accident. She was in the driver’s seat, and the impact was on the left side of the car. So she got the worst of it. Fortunately her upper body was spared major injury. All her organs are functioning well. The primary damage is to her left leg and her face. Her right leg sustained some injury, as well.”

Katie took Dallas’s hand and squeezed. David leaned close and hugged them both. The doctor continued speaking.

“Today’s surgery was only the beginning. We’ve started putting her back together, but she has a long road to recovery in front of her. There will be multiple surgeries to repair her leg and her face.” Dr. Owens paused. “When we’re done with the reconstruction, she’ll look different. Structural bones were severely damaged. As for her legs-with a lot of work she should walk again. As I said, she’s lucky to be alive. You should be grateful for that. But please understand she’ll never be the same again.”

Aaron pulled the doctor aside and spoke in a low tone. Katie didn’t even try to listen. Her mind couldn’t grasp all that she’d heard. “But she’s going to be fine, right? That’s what the doctor said?”

“Sounds like it,” David said reassuringly.

“She’s going to be in rehab for months,” Katie murmured, more to herself than anyone else. “Maybe longer. I’ve worked with these kinds of injuries. Recovery is slow and painful.”

A.J., the second oldest of the boys and Josie’s twin, looked as if he’d been the one hit by a truck. He kept shaking his head, saying he didn’t believe it. Katie wished that Suzanne could have come out to be with them, but she was at the ranch with the two youngest children.

“She’ll be fine,” Dallas said with forced cheerfulness. “Josie is tough, you know that. She won’t let this get her down. She’ll fight as long and as hard as she has to.”

“Absolutely,” David agreed. “All she needs is someone to tell her no, and she’s off and running. You know how stubborn she is.”

Katie nodded, but inside she wasn’t so sure. David and Dallas didn’t know what Josie was facing, while Katie had experienced it through her patients. Dr. Owens had been right when she’d said that Josie was never going to be the same again.

Late that night Katie was finally allowed in to visit Josie. Her sister was in ICU, surrounded by machines and monitors. Bandages covered her face. Her legs were in traction. Nearly every part of her was battered or bruised, and nothing was recognizable.

Katie took a seat in the plastic chair on her sister’s right and touched her fingers, careful not to disturb the IV in the back of her hand.

“Hey, Josie, it’s me. Katie. I know you’re kind of out of it, but I wanted to come in and tell you how happy I am that you’re still with us. We were all scared, but now we know you’re going to make it.”

Her heart ached for her sister. Josie had been the tomboy-running and doing. She had only two speeds in life-fast and faster. She’d always competed in sports. She taught physical education in a high school, coached, had even entered a triathlon. How could this have happened to her?

“Now it’s my turn to get all the attention.”

Katie looked up in surprise and saw that her sister’s eyes were open. They were swollen and bloodshot, but still Fitzgerald blue.

“You’re awake.”

“Sorta. They give great drugs here. I always believed in working through the pain, but this time I couldn’t do it.”

Katie leaned close. “You’re going to be okay. They told you that, right? I mean there’s going to be a lot of recovery, but you’re strong, Josie. You’ve always been a fighter.”

The bandaged head moved slightly. “The doctor said they’re going to have to give me a new face and do a lot of work on my leg. I told her to make me taller.” Her voice was hoarse, probably from the breathing tube during surgery.

Katie gave a strangled laugh and realized she was crying. She brushed the tears from her face. “You’re already a couple of inches taller than me. What more do you want?”

“I want to be six feet so I can play professional volleyball.”

It was an old joke between the sisters.

Katie smiled. “I was thinking maybe I should come out to L.A. I’ll bet I could get a great job here. Then I’d be close so I could help.”

Josie slowly shook her head. “No way. You just moved back to Lone Star Canyon with Shane. Don’t move him again. I’ll be fine. It’s almost summer. Dallas won’t have any classes then and she’ll help. You need to get your life settled, Katie. Don’t worry about me.”

Katie wasn’t sure, but this wasn’t the time to argue. She thought of another topic. “What about Del? Did you want me to call him?”

Josie shook her head again. Her swollen eyes closed briefly. “Why bother? We’re divorced.”

“I know, but Dallas said you were calling for him when they brought you into the hospital.”

“I don’t want my ex-husband hanging around. We were done with each other a long time ago.”

Katie started to disagree, but didn’t. Josie didn’t need pressure right now. She glanced at her watch. “They’re going to kick me out in a couple of minutes. You rest and think about getting better. I love you.”

“Love you, too,” Josie murmured, her eyes fluttering closed.

Katie gave her fingers one last squeeze, then left the room. As she entered the hall, she saw a pay phone. She thought about calling Del. But what would she say? As Josie had pointed out, it had been a long time. She wouldn’t want anyone calling her ex-husband if something happened to her. He’d given up his right to know anything a long time ago.

She started toward the waiting room. She was going to stay another day, then return to Texas. Jack and Hattie were taking care of Shane for her. What a blessing, she thought. At least she didn’t have to worry about him.

“Did you see her?”

She glanced up and saw her father sitting in the corridor. Aaron looked old and tired. She hesitated. They hadn’t spoken since she’d arrived. With so many Fitzgerald kids around, it was easy to avoid each other.

“She seemed in good spirits. I think she’s asleep now.”

“Hell of a thing,” he said, leaning forward and staring at the floor. “All those bandages and machines. It’s like she’s not really Josie anymore.”

“She might look different, but inside she’s exactly the same, Dad. We have to remember that.”

“Maybe.” Aaron leaned back and gazed at her. “Some guy was by earlier. He represents the company that owns the truck that hit her car. They say they’re at fault and want to make things right.” He grimaced. “How are they going to do that?”

Money would help, Katie thought. Multiple surgeries and long-term physical therapy were expensive.

“We have to take it a day at a time,” she said. “That’s what Josie will do, too.”

Her father nodded, then sighed. His shoulders seemed to bow as if his burdens had grown too heavy. “Suzanne says…” He paused. “She says that I was wrong about you. That I shouldn’t have said those things. I can’t decide. I know I don’t want you messing with those Darbys and you’re still making mistakes with Shane, but-” He cleared his throat. “I guess I’m saying you’re always welcome at the ranch. Just don’t bring any of them with you.”