Chapter 46
Forty-Six
T he world came back into focus for Esther with a rush. The dull noise filling her ears became a roar of sound as her eyelids fluttered. Fuzzy ceiling tiles swam in front of her eyes.
Where am I? Her bedroom ceiling didn’t look like this. What was that whirring noise? And the hissing?
The feel of her own breath on her face drew her attention to the stiff plastic strapped to her face. What?—
An oxygen mask .
Everything rushed back.
The evilness in Lennox’s eyes as he aimed his pistol at Asher.
Her instinctual urge to protect him.
She hadn’t thought, just jumped.
Her hand went to her belly, feeling the thick bandages under the blankets. A heavy ache throbbed through her torso. What damage had it done? Would she ever be the same?
The door swung open, admitting sound and a shaft of light from the hallway. Through bleary eyes, she saw a nurse enter.
“Hi,” the woman whispered. She stopped next to Esther’s bed, smiling at her with tired brown eyes. “I’m Shawna. It’s good to see you awake.”
“How—how bad?” Her voice came out not much louder than a crackly whisper.
“Hang on. Let me get you a drink, then we can talk.” She still didn’t raise her voice.
Before Esther could ask why she was whispering, the nurse disappeared from view. A few moments later, the head of her bed raised, sitting her up a little more, and a set of hands holding a straw appeared in front of her face.
“Pull that mask down and take a sip.”
Feebly, Esther raised a trembling hand to bat at the mask. Her arms weighed a hundred pounds each. Somehow, she got one to her face and lowered the clear plastic. Shawna slipped the straw between her lips, and Esther took a long draw of the cool liquid.
“Not too much. We don’t want to upset your stomach.” Shawna withdrew the straw and set the cup on the rolling table beside the bed.
“Why are you whispering?”
Shawna glanced over her shoulder and nodded at something behind her. “Because that’s the first he’s slept since you got here.” She shifted so Esther could see.
Asher laid on the sofa under the window, a pillow tucked beneath his head and a thin hospital blanket over his long body.
“He passed out a couple hours ago. We’ve been tiptoeing around as we did our checks so we didn’t wake him. Though I think it might take several minutes of your IV blaring before he’d wake up.”
“How long was I out?”
Shawna glanced at her watch. “About twenty hours.”
“Twenty—” Esther’s head sank back into her pillow and she closed her eyes. “How bad is it?”
“You’re a lucky lady. You lost a bit of your liver—which should grow back or get compensated for, because that’s what livers do—and you have a hole in your right kidney, which Dr. Kerns sewed up for you. Things could have been much, much worse.”
“And the surgery took that long?”
“Oh. No. You were under for several hours, but once Dr. Kerns was sure you were out of the anesthesia, he kept you mildly sedated until rounds this morning. You lost a lot of blood, and he wanted your body to rest. Things are looking good, though.” Shawna glanced at the monitor above the head of the bed. “Your vitals have been stable since they brought you up here. And you’re awake now. How do you feel?”
“Like I’m deep underwater. My limbs are really heavy, and there’s just pressure—everywhere.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything else. But that should get better fairly quickly as the sedation wears off. How’s your pain level?”
Esther rested a hand on her abdomen. “Um, it’s okay for now.”
“Good. Dr. Kerns put in an order for a pain pump for you. Now that you’re awake, I’ll get that set up.” She pulled a pad of paper from her scrub pocket, then pressed a button on the monitor. The blood pressure cuff around Esther’s upper arm inflated.
“Okay.” Esther’s eyelids fluttered. Her energy levels were laughably low. “Is there a timeline for how long I’ll be here?”
“Several days, at least. It all depends on how quickly you recover and whether you have any complications.”
Esther willed her body to cooperate. She did not want to stay a moment longer than necessary.
The cuff released its air, and Shawna wrote down the results before tucking her paper and pen back into her scrubs. She offered Esther a sunny smile. “I’ll be back soon with your pain pump. Do you want me to lay you down some more?”
“No. I’m fine like this.” It felt better to sit up, actually. Things weren’t as stretched out as they were lying down. “Thank you.”
“Sure thing.”
Once Shawna walked out of the room, Esther took a few moments to digest their conversation and to let her mind clear a little more. She’d essentially lost an entire day. What happened in that timeframe? Did the police catch Lennox? Was Leah okay? Asher appeared fine, so at least her mad dive to save him worked.
She scrubbed at her eyes above her oxygen mask, trying to rub away some of the grittiness. Sleep still pulled at the edges of her mind, but she wasn’t ready to let it take hold again yet.
The movement made her slide down the mattress a little, increasing the ache in her back. Shifting, she only made it an inch before agony zinged through her side and her ribs. A grunt of pain escaped her, and she clutched at the sheets, waiting for the wave to pass.
Maybe she should hold off on moving until Shawna hooked up her pain pump. The backache wasn’t that bad, all things considered.
“Essy?”
Asher’s deep, sleep-roughened voice penetrated the pain waves. She looked over to see him sit up. A moment later, he stood and crossed to her side.
“Hey.” He skimmed her hair back from her forehead. His touch did more to banish the pain than any amount of willpower. “Welcome back. Do you need me to get the nurse?”
“No,” she managed to push out. The pain was receding. “I’m all right. I wanted to sit up.”
“Do you want me to help?”
She rolled her head. “I’ll wait until I have more pain meds on board. Shawna was just in here. She said she’ll be back soon with a pain pump.”
His head bobbed a moment before he yawned. “Oh, sorry.”
Esther squinted up at him. “How much sleep have you had in the last few days?”
He waved a hand. “I’m fine. I slept at the farmhouse. It was fitful, but I’m sure I got plenty with all my naps. There wasn’t much else to do.”
“And since then?” She noticed even through her foggy brain he’d left that part off.
Asher lifted a shoulder. “A couple hours. But stop worrying about me. How are you?”
“Tired. Sore. But I’m fine.”
He snorted. “No, you’re not.” He wrapped one of her hands in his. “Why did you do that, Esther?” One hand went to her face. His fingers skimmed her cheek as he brushed at her hair again. “I can’t lose you.”
A lump formed in her throat, choking off her words. She forced her dry mouth to swallow, but it only allowed a whisper to emerge. “I can’t lose you, either.”
The door cracked open with a soft knock.
Esther glanced over and saw Detective Stroud poke his head into the room.
“Can I come in?”
She pressed her lips together, wishing he’d waited just a little longer. What felt like a precious moment with Asher had slipped through her fingers with his arrival.
“What’s up?” Asher straightened, but didn’t let go of her hand.
Stroud came inside. “I got a hold of the prison housing Vanessa Burnwell.” He turned to Esther. “And I was hoping you’d be awake.” He offered her a kind smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. “Welcome back to the land of the living. How are you doing?”
“I’m all right. Who’s Vanessa Burnwell?” She frowned, not recognizing the name.
“I’ll get to that. How much do you know about what’s happened since yesterday?”
“Nothing. I just woke up a few minutes ago.”
His face pulled. “Okay. Let me give you a quick rundown.”
Esther’s eyes widened as he went through all that had occurred. What stuck out, though, was that Lennox got away. She’d nearly died, and he was still roaming around out there. She understood why Asher let him go and was grateful he’d stayed to help her, but it stuck in her craw that the man had slithered away. Why couldn’t he have tripped on his way out the door and smashed his head into something hard?
“So, this Vanessa woman is the key?” she asked.
“Possibly.” Stroud tipped his head briefly in acknowledgment. “We won’t know until we talk to her.” He turned his attention to Asher. “Her attorney agreed to a video interview this afternoon. I’m not sure how much we’ll get from her. He won’t let her implicate herself in any wrongdoing. But nonetheless, I’m here to extend an invitation for you to sit in and watch the conversation. You’ll be in the room, but you can’t ask questions.”
Esther looked at Asher. She could see he didn’t like the idea of being sidelined, but there was little he could do.
He nodded once. “Fine. What time?”
“We should head out in the next few minutes.”
“Okay. I’ll find you.” Asher’s gaze flicked to the door.
Stroud backed toward it. “Five minutes. I’m leaving then, with or without you.”
“I’ll be there.”
The detective tipped his chin, then turned and left.
Asher squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to leave you yet.”
“It’s fine, Asher. I’ll just sleep, anyway. You’d just sit there and stare at me being unconscious.”
A smile flirted with his mouth. “I’d probably sleep too.”
She chuckled, then winced. “Ouch.”
“Sorry. I’ll do my best not to be funny for a while.” He brought her hand up and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles.
“It’s fine.” She gave him a soft smile. “Laughing isn’t comfortable, but I enjoy your wit.”
He ran a thumb over her cheekbone, staring down at her with a tenderness in his eyes that warmed her insides. “I’m quite happy you’re still here to do that.”
Esther lifted her free hand, grazing his forearm with her fingers. “Me too.”
He tugged her oxygen mask lower and leaned down to brush his lips over hers. “I need to go. We’ll talk more later?”
She nodded. “I’ll be here.”