Rejected Heiress, Reigning Queen novel Chapter 142

Carter carried Emma up the mountain path, listening to her recount the wild experiences she'd survived abroad.

"I remember another time I was kidnapped. I had to jump right into the ocean. I thought I was a goner for sure."

She casually listed off her near-death encounters, but Carter's eyes only swam with deeper heartache.

Trying to distract him, Emma kept talking almost the entire way. It wasn't until she spotted the warm glow of the camp's lights that she finally let herself sink into Carter's chest and drift off to sleep.

When she woke up, she was already in a hospital bed.

Even outside the luxurious VIP suite, Julian Vance's deliberately hushed voice drifted through the door.

"You knew Emma was just in an accident yesterday, and you still had the nerve to take her to a racing track today? Did you forget how she was harassed at your last race? What the hell is going through your head?"

"And you! Why didn't you go inside with her? What were you doing standing around outside?"

"A strained scapula, abdominal contusions, severe lacerations all over, and a horribly sprained ankle. You two are unbelievable. I step away for a few days, and this is how you take care of her?"

Emma gripped her IV pole with her good hand, unable to lift the other due to the torn muscles in her shoulder.

She limped over to the doorway. The moment she pulled the door open, the hallway went dead silent.

"Did I wake you?"

Carter instinctively stepped forward to take the IV pole, but froze obediently after receiving a lethal glare from Julian.

Julian took the pole himself, looking at her with deep concern as he gently guided her back into the room. "Your ankle is in bad shape. Stay off it as much as possible. I'll have someone bring up a wheelchair."

Emma shook her head to show she was fine. Right now, she cared more about the kidnapping.

"How many of those guys did you catch?"

Julian's lips thinned into a grim, serious line.

"We nabbed seven or eight outside the track, but the crew on the mountain got away."

"These aren't amateur thugs. The semi-truck driver who caused the crash and the driver of the crushed sedan had nothing in common except that they were both drowning in tens of thousands of dollars of debt. However..."

Emma sat obediently on the edge of the bed and watched Julian lead Travis out of the room.

Carter went to pour a glass of water. "Are you hungry? Martha dropped off some food earlier. I can heat it up."

"Mr. Harrington knows how to work a microwave?"

Emma looked up at him, genuinely surprised. Percy had once mentioned that the Harrington boys had never even seen the inside of a kitchen growing up. Carter actually knew how to heat up food?

"I just learned."

Carter turned to head to the kitchenette, but Emma stopped him.

"I'm not hungry. There's something I need to talk to you about."

Carter paused, giving her his full attention. Emma lowered her voice.

"Can you look into a place in Garrison City called Peacehaven Hospital?"