The Good Race

Chapter 12

JACKIE SLAMMED THE Aston Martin into a higher gear and took off like a shot up the New York State Thruway. It was a beautiful, cloudless day. Danny was reclined in the passenger seat. The IV he needed for the ride hung from the coat hook. Danny hadn't wanted a medical transport if he didn't absolutely need it. Jackie had arranged pillows and blankets around him to help make him as comfortable as possible.

"Jacks," he said softly. He looked over at her with a sleepy expression on his face. She had also given him a sleep aid for the trip to make the ride easier and it was starting to kick in.

Jackie reached over and squeezed his hand. "Do you need something, Danny?"

"It's going to be real embarrassing if you get a speeding ticket with me in the car," he replied.

Jackie laughed; Danny looked frustrated. "In the interest of full disclosure, Danny," she said. He arched an interested brow in response. "My father was a legendary stock car driver. Driving fast is sort of in my blood."

"Is Ryan this bad?"

"I don't want to talk about Ryan's driving," Jackie scowled, changed lanes and raced past a car.

Danny chuckled lightly. "Faster than you, huh?"

"Don't worry," she smiled. "You'll sleep through most of the ride. Besides, I seem to remember a time when I had to reign you in."

"I'm an upstanding citizen now," he said with a yawn.

"You'll always be my bad ass." She squeezed his hand. He didn't let her pull it away, but kept a firm grip on it.

"It's a nice ride though," he said.

"You can drive it anytime you want when you're up and moving again."

"Jacks?" Danny said as his eyes closed.

"Yeah, Danny?"

"I'm faster than you, too."

Jackie scowled at him, but it didn't last long. He drifted off to sleep with a slight smile on his face. His hand went slack in hers. He was out like a light. A nuclear explosion probably wouldn't wake him up now. She felt bad about slipping him a Mickey, but she wanted him to be as comfortable as possible during the trip. She hadn't liked the idea of taking him in her car, but he was earnestly against an ambulance. He was also opposed to staying in the Grayson Falls Hospital for a short time when they got there. He told Jackie if he was only going to New Hampshire to be stuck in some other hospital then he would stay right where he was in New York.

Jackie held firm, but Danny held firmer, so Jackie ordered a hospital bed to be set up in the first floor guest room of her home in New Hampshire. She didn't like the idea of treating Danny in her house instead of the hospital where she would be spending more time, but Danny didn't like hospitals and convinced her that it would be a wonder for his morale if he wasn't stuck in a sterile and depressing environment all day. He'd been shot before and said he spoke from experience. Eventually, Jackie caved. The hospital's property backed up to her own, so she had also ordered a path cut and paved between the two buildings so she could easily get back and forth to check on him during the day. One thing Jackie hated to admit was that Danny still had the power to win her over easily.

The ride to New Hampshire was pleasant. When she agreed to take the job as Grayson Falls' only doctor, she hadn't anticipated having anyone with her. But with Danny at her side, she felt like things were falling into place. She only hoped that he'd find something that interested him there and maybe he'd stay. He made no secret—ever—of how much he hated New Hampshire. She suspected it wasn't New Hampshire so much that he hated but being stuck at Trent. If the prestigious boarding school had been in Aruba, he'd hate Aruba.