Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Trinity
I open my eyes and they immediately fall closed again. My eyelids feel like lead.
“Linc?” I try to say his name, but I can’t seem to get my mouth to work like I want it to.
Though I can’t see him, I hear his voice. He’s right next to me. “Everything’s good, Trin. Go back to sleep.” A brief pause, and then, “She might need some more of that medicine; she’s waking up.”
I’m in a hospital bed. I can tell from the feel of the bed and the smell of the air around me—like plastic tubing and lemon cleaner.
“Mom, she’s awake.”
When I turn toward the voice, Dalton is sitting there, one of my hands cradled in both of his.
“Dalton.”
My eyes fill with tears. His hair is a little shorter and he has the shadow of a couple days’ beard growth, but otherwise he looks the same.
“Oh, my girl.” Our mom walks up to the other side of the bed, tears on her cheeks.
There’s a lot more gray in her hair than I remember. Her face, which was lean before, is now almost sunken, dark circles beneath her eyes.
I reach out to her. “Mom, are you okay?”
She smiles at me, fresh tears flooding her eyes. “Of course I am. Now that I know you’re okay, I’m just fine.”
She picks up a cup of water with a straw in it from the table next to my bed, holding it in front of my mouth so I can take a drink.
“Where am I?”
Dalton answers. “A hospital in Seattle.”
I have no idea what day it is. Skyler Cross’s team called for rescuers, and Lincoln and I were taken from the cabin to Fairbanks by a team of paramedics on snowmobiles. We were evaluated at a hospital in Fairbanks, where we got the bad news that we couldn’t drive to our homes because we didn’t have passports to get through Canada. There was no choice but to fly on a plane.
That was when I started to melt down inside from my anxiety, and it’s also when Lincoln gently asked me if I wanted medication to make things easier.
I asked to be sedated for the flight if possible, and it seems that the rescue team understood the assignment. I have no memory of even seeing a plane. Was I even on one?
“Did I come here on a plane?” I croak.
My brother smiles at me. “Yep. Linc said you only woke up a little bit one time. And you’re doing fine, just getting some nutrients in the IV. When you get released, Mom will drive you back to Chicago in a rental car.”
I just stare at him, still feeling woozy. “Where’s Linc?”
“He’s here in another room. They’re working on his release paperwork. Unfortunately, I can’t be here much longer because he and I have to get back to the team.”
My eyes widen with alarm. Lincoln is leaving ? And his team expects him to go play hockey?
“How long have I been out?”
Dalton checks his watch. “You got here a couple of hours ago. So not that long.”
“So...you and Linc are going to play a game.”
He grins. “Well, I will. It’s a little more complicated for Linc because he’s not on our roster right now. But our coaches and owner want him back so our doctors can take a look at him.”
I let my head fall back against the pillow. Everything happened so quickly, and then I was asleep for the rest of it. I still can’t believe we’ve been rescued and we don’t have to hike into the unknown.
“Is Karma okay?”
Mom pats my arm reassuringly. “She’s fine. I took her to live with me after the plane crash. She shredded every curtain in my house.”
I crack a smile. “Sorry. You know what they say about Karma.”
She shrugs. “We have an understanding.”
Dalton grins at her. “Meaning she doesn’t have any curtains anymore, just blinds.”
A nurse carries a huge box into the room and sets it on a chair. “Glad to see you up, Trinity. I’m going to check your vitals.”
“What’s in the box?”
“No idea. It was delivered for you a few minutes ago by one of our security guards.”
After she takes my vital signs, a doctor comes in to check me. She tells me I seem perfectly healthy but slightly anemic.
“Have a nice big steak when you leave here,” she suggests with a smile.
My lips part. “Food! I can have bread. And ice cream. I’m never eating another bite of canned tuna.”
“What can I order for you before I have to head out?” my brother asks. “Anything in all of Seattle, just say the word and it’s yours.”
My mouth waters as I think about the options. Linc and I sometimes played a game at the cabin we called “food fantasy,” where we would each think up a complete menu for a meal and vote on whose was best. Not surprisingly, it was often a tie.
“A sub sandwich on freshly baked bread. With roast beef, ham, provolone, that oil dressing stuff and pickles.”
“That’s oddly specific,” Dalton says.
“And a chocolate milkshake with lots of whipped cream. No cherry.”
He gives me a fond look and then comes over to hug me. “I’m on it. I’m so glad you’re back. We never gave up hope, but...it was getting tough.”
“I prayed every day,” my mom says. “My knees ached from praying so hard. I knew God would watch over you, though.”
The nurse comes back into the room, wearing a look of disappointment. “Hey, I just want to let you know we’ve got a lot of reporters looking for you and the other survivor. We aren’t letting them past the lobby and we don’t give away any patient information to nonfamily members. Our PR team will coordinate your releases through a private parking garage beneath the hospital. We use it to sneak high-profile patients in and out.”
I sit up in bed, running my hands over my hair. “I want to see Linc before he leaves.”
Dalton walks over to the doorway of my room. “I’ll tell him. I’m going to see him now and I’ll order your food.”
“Hey, before you go, will you open that box?”
“Yep.” Dalton goes over to the box and tears into it the same way I remember him opening boxes when we were kids.
He pulls out a small jar of face cream and a card. “Seems to be full of toiletries. Someone’s trying to tell you you stink, Trin.”
“La Mer!” The sight of my favorite moisturizer sends a wave of longing through me. “Please, can I smell it?”
Wrinkling his brow, he brings me the cream and the card. “Have at it, weirdo. I’m going to get your food.”
I open the envelope and take out the card inside it.
Dearest Trinity,
I cried grateful tears when I heard the news you’ve been found and you’re okay. We miss you greatly here at the office. You have a job here always, but take the time you need before you come back. I’m sending a few essentials. Call when you can.
Gloria
“From my boss,” I tell my mom. “Will you show me what else is in there?”
It’s been so long since I’ve been around beauty products that I’d forgotten how much I love them. I ooh and ahh over the assorted shampoos, conditioners, body washes, lipsticks and other items. There’s even a plush pale-purple robe and slippers.
“Do you think they’d let me take a shower?”
Mom asks the nurse, who helps me get into the bathroom with my IV pole for a one-armed shower. It’s glorious. I lather my body and hair several times, deep condition my hair and exfoliate my face. Gloria even made sure I had a fresh toothbrush and toothpaste. So when I walk out of the bathroom, I’m clean and moisturized from head to toe. I feel like a new person.
“That was heaven,” I say, assuming my mom is still in the room.
Instead, it’s Linc who stands up from sitting in the chair in the corner, his lips quirking up in a smile as he looks me over in my purple robe and slippers. “You look cute.”
I stop brushing my wet hair and just look at him for a few seconds. We haven’t been apart for very long, but it feels like we have.
He showered, too, and his face is clean-shaven. He’s wearing a pair of surgical scrubs.
“I wanted to see you before I leave,” he says, his expression turning serious.
My heart sinks. I knew this had to happen, but it feels more alarming than I thought it would.
“I have so much to say that I don’t even know where to begin,” I say. “And also, I have nothing to say. Is that weird?”
The corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles. I’m going to miss those crinkles. “Not at all. I feel the same way. I got your number from Dalton, though, so obviously, I’ll call you.”
I nod, looking at the ground and then back up at him. “Does he...know?”
He shrugs. “He pretty much guessed when the doctors had to forcibly remove me from your room when we got here, but we didn’t talk about it a lot.”
“You’re doing okay, though?”
“Yeah. Everything’s a little overwhelming, but...I’m good. How about you? Any aftereffects from the sedation?”
“I am pretty tired. But I’m going to wait for my sub sandwich before I go back to sleep. If you hear a woman orgasming loudly on your way out here, that’s me when I take my first bite of bread in three months.”
His eyes twinkle. “I definitely know what that sounds like.”
There’s a flip in my stomach. I have so many questions, but I can’t ask any of them. Someone knocks on the door and Lincoln calls out. “Give us a minute. Almost done.”
He comes over to me. “I have to go. The team sent PR people and it sounds like getting out of here is going to be a thing. We’re going to have a blond intern from the hospital leave with us, so hopefully the reporters will think it’s you and leave.”
I won’t let myself cry. This should be a moment of celebration, not a time for tears. This is everything we wanted—we were rescued. But deep down inside myself, in a place I don’t want anyone to see, it feels like a part of me is about to walk out the door.
He steps forward to hug me, and I fly into his arms. He holds me tightly, sighing heavily.
“I’ll miss you, Trin.”
“I’ll miss you, too.” So much for not crying; my tears are leaking onto the shoulder of his scrub shirt.
“I’ll call you soon. And if you need anything, anytime, call me.” He takes a half step back, cradling my face in his hands. “Tell me you’ll call me, even if it’s two in the morning and you just want to ask what flavor of Oreos you should eat.”
I smile through my tears. “The ones with the chocolate stuffing are the best. I dream of a world where I can get double-stuffed chocolate stuffing. And yes, I’ll call. Same goes for you, okay?”
He leans his forehead against mine. “Yeah. And about the guy who was stalking you...I hired a private detective agency to follow him around the clock for a while. I don’t want either of us worrying about that on top of everything else. If he tries to get close to you, they’ll intervene.”
Either of us . How did I not immediately fall for him?
“I don’t know what to say, Linc, other than thank you.”
The knock on the door is louder this time. He glares at the back of the door.
“You better go,” I say.
He kisses my forehead. “I’ll call you. Get some sleep. After your sandwich.”
I nod and he steps away. He takes my hand and squeezes it, holding on until he has to let go as he walks toward the door.
“Bye, Trin.”
I hold up a hand. “Bye, Linc.”
He walks out the door, closing it behind him. I sit down on the edge of my bed, reality setting in.
Lincoln’s gone. Our cabin fling is just a memory now.