Chapter Three
STRUGGLING TO THE surface of consciousness, Elias lay unmoving. Without opening his eyes, he assessed his surroundings and his own body. Something was wrong, but what?
He breathed deeply, analyzing the scents assaulting his nose. He recognized the pungent aromas of powerful cleansers, rubbing alcohol, sickness, and death. The scent of cinnamon and chocolate didn’t fit, yet they were close and brought with them a sense of comfort and safety. Where was he?
Elias also realized someone was holding his hand. None of his teammates would hold his hand. One of Artemis? The only person he wanted to hold his hand was Iona. But was she the one?
If Iona was beside him, the only logical place where all those things he’d noticed fit was in a hospital. That meant he was injured.
Someone squeezed his hand. “Elias, can you hear me?”
Iona.
“It’s Iona. You’re in the Vanderbilt recovery room. You had surgery to remove a bullet from your shoulder. Grant is here with me. You’re safe. We’ve got you.”
All the tension left his body in a rush. Now he knew opening his eyes and acknowledging he was awake was safe.
He blinked and looked into Iona’s gorgeous brown eyes. “Hey.” His voice came out more of a croak than his natural baritone.
She smiled. “Hey. Do you want water?”
He gave a slight nod, then shifted his gaze to Grant. Elias gave a slight chin lift to express his thanks for watching over him and Iona. She might not realize what Grant was doing, but Elias’ teammate understood how he felt about Iona. He’d had to fight to protect Rayne not too long ago.
“Welcome back.” Grant studied his face. “Your color is better than it was an hour ago. You’re making progress.”
“Prognosis?”
“You’ll live.” Iona raised the head of the bed slowly, then held the straw steady for him to sip water. “The doctor should be here any time to give us a report on your surgery.”
Fun. Not. He turned his head to show he was finished with the water for now. “Thanks.”
Grant, who’d been watching the activity outside Elias’ cubicle, straightened. “The boss is here.”
Not surprising. When one of his operatives was injured, he came to check on them personally and help with security.
When Iona loosened her grip on his hand, he refused to let go. For now, he held on tight. Soon, he’d have to let go of her permanently for her own safety.
She looked at him, curiosity in her eyes.
Brent Maddox, the Fortress Security CEO, arrived, preventing Iona from asking him questions. “You look like two-day-old roadkill, Knight.”
His lips curved. “Thanks, boss. You always make me feel better about myself.”
“That’s me. I’m a ray of sunshine.” He turned to Iona. “What’s Knight’s prognosis?”
“Don’t know yet, sir. The doctor should be here soon.”
Grant looked over his shoulder. “Doc Forrester just arrived.” He moved aside so that the doctor could enter the small area.
Forrester pulled up short. “Whoa. It’s a little crowded in here. Mr. Knight should only have two visitors in recovery.”
“No problem. I’m here to see you,” Brent said. “What’s Knight’s prognosis?”
“He’ll make a full recovery following physical therapy.”
Thank God. Elias breathed easier. At least he wouldn’t have permanent damage from the bullet.
“How long will he be out of work?”
“Four to eight weeks. The length of recovery depends on how well Mr. Knight cooperates with the physical therapists.”
Brent smiled. “Don’t worry. He’ll be a model patient. Won’t you, Knight?”
“Yes, sir.” One to two months out of work? How would that affect the special assignment Brent had planned to send him on?
Forrester’s eyebrows rose. “Do you have questions for me, Mr. Knight?”
“Will I lose any mobility in my arm?”
“You shouldn’t. Doing your exercises and cooperating with the physical therapists is your best defense against losing mobility.”
“Then I’ll be back to normal in a few weeks.”
The surgeon smiled. “That’s the spirit. Now, one of your friends needs to wait outside the recovery room. I’ve already requested orderlies to transport you to your room. We need to monitor you for twelve hours. If we don’t see signs of infection, we’ll release you tomorrow morning. Sound good?”
“Yes, sir. Thanks.”
“Grant, you and Iona stay with him.” Brent followed the doctor out of the cubicle.
Soon, the orderlies arrived and transported him to his room on the fifth floor. By the time they’d transferred him to the new bed, Elias was ready to puke. He remained stoic until the orderlies left.
Iona studied Elias. “You look pale.”
“I need a soft drink.”
Grant’s eyes narrowed. “You won’t barf, will you?”
“I won’t if you bring me a soft drink pronto.”
His friend held up his hands and backed toward the door. “I’m going. I’m going.” He hurried out of the room.
A moment later, a nurse walked in. “How are we feeling, Mr. Knight?”
“Like I’m going to hurl any second.”
She handed Iona a small plastic container. “Here. Keep this ready to use in case Mr. Knight needs it before I return.”
“Our friend went to get him a soft drink.”
“Good. That’s a start. I’ll check with the doctor to see if he’ll prescribe anti-nausea medicine.” She left the room.
Feeling miserable and desperate not to barf in front of Iona, he said, “You should wait outside with Brent.”
She shook her head. “You need help.”
He scowled. “I can take care of myself.”
“When you haven’t had major surgery, sure.”
He finally sucked it up and told her the truth. “I don’t want you to see me puke.”
“Too bad, Elias. I’m not leaving. Besides, I’ve helped every one of my teammates when they were sick or recovering from surgery. I won’t fall apart or get sick myself. I’ve got this.”
Why couldn’t she understand he wanted to keep some dignity around her, but if he was sick, well, nothing was normal about that. Man, he hated anesthesia. It always made him sicker than a dog. “Iona, please just go. Leave me some dignity. I’m begging you.”
“You can handle it, Knight.”
Even as miserable as he was, Elias’ temper flared. “Why are you being so stubborn?”
“I’m taking your mind off your stomach.”
He stared. Why didn’t he think of that? Iona wasn’t one to insist on having her own way when she’d been asked to leave.
She smiled. “Gotcha.”
“Yeah, you did.”
Grant returned with a soft drink in a green can. He broke the seal on the bottle and set the lid on his rolling table. “I called Violet. She recommended this one. Try it.”
Iona unwrapped a straw and dropped it into his soft drink. She held it to his lips.
He sipped the cold drink. Oh, man. The drink tasted so good. He sipped more. Within minutes, half of the drink was gone, and his stomach had settled down. Thank goodness.
Elias sat back and burrowed deeper into the pillow behind his head. “Thanks, Grant. That did the trick.”
The nurse tapped on the doorframe and entered the room.
She had a hypodermic needle in her hand.
“You’re in luck, Mr. Knight. The doctor had already given orders for you to have anti-nausea medication, so I didn’t have to contact him.
” She uncapped the needle and added the medication to his IV line.
“The med will make you drowsy, all right? Don’t fight it.
Your body needs rest to heal. If you need anything, press the red button. ”
After the nurse left, Iona moved a chair closer to Elias’ bedside while Grant moved a second chair to the foot of the bed so he could see both Elias and the door.
Elias watched Iona for a beat, then made a decision he knew he’d regret. He scooted to the far side of the bed.
Iona frowned. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like?”
“Are you expecting someone to join you?”
“Yeah, you. Come up here, Iona.”
She was shaking her head before he’d finished his sentence. “The nurses won’t like it. Besides, you just had surgery. I’m sure you’d be more comfortable without me beside you.”
“You are dead wrong.” He patted the space beside him. “You want me to rest, right?”
“Of course.”
“I won’t rest unless I’m positive you’re safe.”
“And you’ll rest if I’m beside you?”
“Now you’re catching on. Come to me, Iona.”
“For a few minutes. I don’t want the nurse to throw me out.”
“She won’t.” He looked at Grant.
His friend nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”
Iona carefully stretched out beside him on top of the covers. “You’ll tell me if I hurt you?”
“You won’t. Now close your eyes and your mouth so I can take a nap.” Even though he was teasing her into doing what he wanted more than his next breath, Elias knew Iona could use a nap, too. She drove herself harder than she pushed her team when they were training.
He’d wanted to hold her in his arms since the day he met her, but he hadn’t found the courage to approach her for a date in all those months.
That made him the biggest sap in the history of saps.
After all, the worst that could happen was that she turned him down.
Women had rejected him before, and he’d survived.
But this was different. She mattered to him. A lot. Iona turning him down would kill something inside him. He didn’t want to look too deeply into what that something might be.
Elias slid his uninjured arm around her shoulders and settled Iona against his side. At first, she held herself stiffly until the warmth of his body seeped into hers. Soon, both of them were drifting off to sleep. Knowing Grant and Brent had them covered, he allowed himself to let go.
When someone knocked on the door later, he opened his eyes, wishing he had a weapon on him to protect himself and Iona.
Brent opened the door and stuck his head into the room. “Another nurse to check you out.”
Lovely. Not. Man, he had to go home in order to rest at all.
The nurse, who looked about as old as his kid sister, checked his vitals and recorded all the information in a laptop, and left. Satisfaction filled him. His vitals were normal, and she hadn’t said a word about Iona sleeping beside him.
Elias looked at Grant, who signaled that all was well.
Good. Perhaps Iona would get the rest she needed.
The dark circles under her eyes and the obvious fatigue weren’t lost on him.
She pushed herself too hard without giving her body time to recover.
He ought to know. He was guilty of the same thing.
Elias turned his head toward Iona and rested his cheek on top of her head. What he wouldn’t give to hold her with both arms. Unfortunately, his injured shoulder prevented that for now.
The night passed with a nurse coming in every hour to check his vital signs.
That didn’t surprise him. What did surprise him was Iona sleeping through every check.
He hoped she subconsciously knew he was safe, that Brent and Grant would die to protect them, and maybe knew he would die to protect her in a heartbeat.
Near sunrise, Iona stirred and opened her eyes. “How are you?”
“Better. No more nausea, and the nurses seem pleased with my vitals overnight.”
Her jaw dropped. “The nurses have been in this room?”
“Every hour.”
“That can’t be true. I would have heard them.”
“He’s right.” Grant sat up. “A nurse came in every hour to check on him.”
“How did I miss that? I should have woken up.”
Elias squeezed her shoulders briefly. “If anything had happened, you would have reacted instantly. However, you knew Brent and Grant had the watch, and you could sleep.”
“Did you?”
“I’ve never slept better in my life.” Truth for the lady despite his need to hide other things from her. It didn’t matter that he’d slept in one-hour increments. He’d slept less than that and kept going. Interrupted sleep with Iona against his side was a gift he’d never forget.
She stared, suspicion clear on her face.
“I’m telling you the truth.”
Another brisk knock on the door interrupted them. Grant was on his feet in an instant. He relaxed when the hospitalist strode into the room.
Within ten minutes, he’d signed off on Elias leaving the hospital with the caveat that he return to an ER if he experienced one of a list of problems. Soon, the nurse arrived with his discharge papers and encouraged him to rest when he got home.
Right. As if he’d be able to rest and relax while knowing someone hated him enough to shoot him.
He frowned. Why didn’t the shooter finish the job? Elias hadn’t been able to defend himself. Did someone interrupt him?
When the nurse finished her litany of instructions and warnings and left the room, Elias sat up with the help of Iona and Grant. He swung his legs over the side of the bed.
“I brought your Go bag.” Grant set the bag on the bed beside Elias. “I’ll give you a hand getting dressed since you can’t use that arm yet.”
This was going to be one big pain. “Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it.” He glanced at Iona. “I’ll see you in a couple of minutes.”
Before she reached the door, another brisk knock made her pause. Brent walked into the room, his expression grim. “We have a problem.”