Free This Game Called Life (Kingdom Book 4) by Theresa L. Henry Page B

own businesses to take care
of, so his time was limited. However, it seemed to him that his wife was even
busier than him.
    It was his
birthday. After pampering him for the entire morning, Aviva left the house to
attend a meeting. Before she left, she showed him images of the new Broadway
musical producer she was going to meet. Looking at the photo of the handsome
man, Jason had almost insisted that he go with her. That he was experiencing
feelings of jealousy had nothing to do with Aviva, he trusted his wife. It was
other men he didn’t trust.
    That she knew they
had a dinner engagement, and she hadn’t called, and he couldn’t reach her
worried him. Something didn’t feel right. Just about to call Aviva for the
umpteenth time, Jason’s phone rang. Grabbing it, he spoke into the mouthpiece.
    “Aviva?”
    “May I speak to,
Jason Kingdom?” Came an unknown voice.
    “Who the hell is
this?” Holding the phone away from his face, Jason looked at the screen in an
attempt to identify the caller. The number showed up as private.
    “Are you Mr. Jason
Kingdom?”
    The man’s
avoidance pissed Jason off. He didn’t know why he was so reluctant to answer
the callers’ simple question. All he knew was that a feeling of dread was
settling over him.
    “This is Jason
Kingdom,” he finally confirmed.
    “Mr. Kingdom, my
name is Detective Saunders–”
    “What the hell is
going on here?” Jason broke in before the man could complete what he had to
say.
    “Sir, if you would
just hold on a minute, I’ll fill you in.”
    “I repeat, what’s
going on?” Jason’s heart rate had sped up so much he was having difficulty
breathing. The only thing his mind was capable of doing was repeating the words don’t say Aviva , over and over again, in its reluctance to hear her
name mentioned over the phone.
    “Sir, there has
been an accident...”
    Jason remained
silent through the detective’s pause, refusing to assist the person he knew was
the bearer of bad news.
    “Mr. Kingdom, are
you still there?”
    “Tell me.” All the
anger went out of Jason’s voice as he steeled himself for what he was about to
hear.
    “Sir, your wife
has been in an accident. Her car went off the road somewhere around 5:00 pm this
afternoon.”
    “Where is she?”
    After the
detective informed him of Aviva’s whereabouts he hung up the phone, no longer
interested in anything else the man had to say. His only intention was to get
to her as quickly as he could. He didn’t want to know anything else. The
irrational part of his mind didn’t want to hear what the man had to say; nor
did he want to think about what he would find when he arrived at the hospital.
    Jason walked
through the door of the hospital alone. At no point in his mad dash across the
city did he think about calling anyone for support. Aviva was his wife and his
responsibility. Never once did it enter his mind that the rest of his family
would want to know that she had been in an accident.
    Hesitating outside
her hospital room, one of his hands made contact with the cold steel of the
door handle. His other hand remained locked at his side, fisted with tension.
As he vacillated, his senses were assaulted by the antiseptic smell he had long
associated with hospitals. A deep breath later, he pushed open the door.
    Aviva was lying
motionless on the bed and Jason almost lost his mind. A few giant steps were
all it took to bring him to her side, and to realize her chest moved up and
down in a regular fashion. There was also an absence of equipment and tubes
normally associated with someone in a critical condition, which did nothing to
lessen his worry.
    Resting his
shaking hand against her pillow for balance, Jason carefully kissed her cheek.
Just then the doctor and nurse walked into the room.
    “Mr. Kingdom, I’m
doctor Park.”
    From his inclined
position, Jason turned and looked at the man standing at the end of his wife’s
bed. Whatever the doctor saw in his visage caused him to take