The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set by Olivia Jaymes

christ, I would. This shouldn’t be happening. I’m a fucking cop. We always talked about if and when something happened to me. But Alyssa? Shit, this is just not supposed to be happening. It’s supposed to be me.”
    “I wish it was neither one of you.”
    Hank’s head fell back against the wall and he stared up at the ceiling. “If…when she gets better I’m going to offer her a divorce.”
    “What the fu–? Listen, you’re reacting to the stress. Alyssa loves you and doesn’t want a divorce. Hell, I admit I wasn’t sure in the beginning but I’ve seen you two together and I’m convinced. She loves you. You both can work this out.”
    Slumping forward, his elbows on his thighs, Hank shook his head. “She deserves a better man. I’ve done nothing but hurt her since she came back. Do you know what she asked me this morning?” His voice filled with remembered pain. “She asked me to tell her I loved her. I fucking refused, Seth. I was mean and nasty and basically told her to leave. That’s not a man that deserves a woman like Alyssa.”
    “I don’t think she wants anyone else, buddy,” Seth said grimly.
    “I’m afraid I’ll just end up hurting her again.”
    Seth squeezed Hank’s shoulder. “Just don’t do anything rash, okay? Think things through. You could end up losing Alyssa, Luke, hell, everything.”
    Before Hank could answer, the double doors swung open and a tired looking doctor dressed in green scrubs walked toward them. Hank rose from the chair on shaking legs while Seth stood next him.
    “Mr. Dixon? I’m Dr. Talbot.” The doctor’s gaze flickered over to Seth. “I’d like to talk to you about your wife.”
    “You can talk in front of Sheriff Reilly. He’s my friend.”
    “Fine.” The doctor nodded and consulted the clipboard in his hand. “Your wife has a nasty concussion, two cracked ribs, and a broken arm. She also has multiple cuts and contusions, one of which required stitches on her forehead. Basically she’s going to feel like hell for awhile.”
    “She’s going to be okay? Is she awake?” Hank’s throat had closed up with the onslaught of relief at the doctor’s words.
    “She’s banged up but she’s going to be fine. She regained consciousness briefly in the exam room and asked for someone named ‘Luke’. Is that you? We need your permission to operate on her arm so it can heal correctly. I have the forms right here. After that, she’ll be in recovery for several hours before being transferred to a hospital room.”
    “Luke’s our son.” Hank reached for the pen and forms the doctor was holding out, trying to push away the disappointment that she hadn’t asked for him. She wouldn’t after the way he’d treated her this morning. He’d talked about how he couldn’t trust her, and now she couldn’t trust Hank to be there for her when it really counted.
    He was a lousy husband.
    “The surgery is going to take a couple of hours and add on the recovery time, well, you might want to go home and get some rest. She probably won’t wake up until the morning.”
    This clown thought that he was going to leave his wife while she was in surgery?
    “I’m staying.”
    The doctor’s expression betrayed no surprise. “The surgeon will come out when he’s done and let you know how it went. Once she’s in a regular room you can be with her.”
    Turning on his heel, the doctor disappeared back behind the double doors. Seth gulped down the last of his own coffee and tossed the cup into a garbage can.
    “If you give me your keys, I’ll go by your house and get you a change of clothes. I know one of the emergency room doctors here who can probably find you a place to take a shower.”
    Hank nodded and pulled his key ring from his pocket, his thoughts on Alyssa. She’d looked so fragile as he’d held her hand in the ambulance.
    “Thanks. I owe you one.”
    “You’ve saved my bacon a time or two,” Seth snorted. “Let’s call it even. I’ll be back as soon