Chapter 12
Ann woke up to the soft murmur of voices. She knew that someone with a sexy, deep voice, was trying to keep quiet, but Ann wanted to be awake. She ached everywhere and it was probably because she’d slept too long.
“Don’t move!” that deep voice ordered, then she felt a soft but firm hand on her arm. “You’ll pull the stitches, love.”
“Love”? She knew that voice and it sounded like Tazim’s deep tone, but why was he using the endearment? Weren’t they enemies? Hadn’t she kicked him out of her house recently?
And stitches? Why would she have…? Trying to sit up shot a stab of pain through her chest and arm. The whole right side of her body burned. Ann was fully awake now, but she still couldn’t open her eyes. Slowly, the pain eased and she was able to relax.
“Better?” that voice asked.
Ann managed to open her eyes and found Tazim staring down at her, concern in those dark depths. The memories of…!
“What day is it?” she asked.
“Wednesday,” he told her. “You were shot yesterday.”
Archer! “I have to go!” she whispered, ignoring the pain as she struggled to sit up. But Tazim gently pressed her back to the mattress.
“Our son is safe,” he assured her. “Emily picked him up yesterday from school and he has been surrounded by the guards from the club. Emily promised to bring him to see you today.”
Ann’s expression went from terrified to relaxed.
“Good.” She sighed and closed her eyes.
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
Ann didn’t bother to open her eyes as she shook her head.
“You weren’t going to tell me that I had a son?”
Finally, her lashes fluttered open and she looked at him. She remembered the overwhelming love she’d felt for this man. He’d consumed her world five years ago. Then he’d…well, she’d discovered that he wasn’t the man she’d thought he was.
“Tazim, I don’t really know who you are, so no. I wasn’t going to tell the man who offered to share me with his friends that we’d created a child. In fact, I would sincerely appreciate it if you would forget that you ever knew me.”
“Share you…?” Tazim sputtered, rearing back with both confusion and anger. “When the hell did I say that?”
Ann squirmed, stunned by the horrified expression on Tazim’s face. But her whole body hurt now that she was awake and moving. Ann hadn’t realized that toenails could ache!
Also, she felt like she was sliding down on this stupid hospital bed. But the pain lashing her shoulder every time she shifted was too intense. Maybe if she moved just an inch at a time, she could get into a better position.
“You need more pain medication,” Tazim snapped with an irritated growl.
“I’m fine,” she lied, not wanting to bother the hospital staff. Ann was fully aware of how obnoxiously demanding some patients could be.
“You’re not fine,” he grumbled and walked away.
Ann started to call out, to stop him from bothering anyone. But he moved too quickly.
Moments later, a nurse entered the room, bustling efficiently as she adjusted the tubes and beeping machines.
“You’re in pain?” the nurse asked. Her voice was crisp, but kind and Ann nodded, unable to speak as the pain became overwhelming.
The nurse nodded and pressed a button, watched the monitors for a moment, then nodded again. “You should feel your shoulder numb in just a moment.”
Ann waited, not moving. Slowly, the pain eased and Ann blinked in surprise. “Wow!” she whispered. “That’s some good stuff!”
The nurse chuckled and handed a button to Ann. “Whenever you need another dose, just press this button. You won’t overdose on the meds because I’ve set a limit to how much you can get. But if you’re still in pain after pressing the button again, let me know. The surgeon will be in later to examine your wound. You’re being treated with intravenous antibiotics as a precaution. I need to warn you that you’re not going to be able to use your right arm properly for several weeks, so don’t try. The bullet didn’t hit any organs or major arteries, but it did some substantial damage to the muscle tissue.”
Ann heard the words, but it was hard to understand what she was saying. She kept hearing “bullet” but…why would anyone shoot her? She worked as a waitress!
The nurse straightened the sheet and blanket, checked several more monitors and wrote something down on a clipboard. “The button to call me for any reason is right here,” she explained, pointing to a red button. “I’m right outside, so don’t hesitate if you need anything.”
With that, the nurse bustled out of the room.
There was a long silence after the nurse left, but Ann felt as if she could hear her heart thudding. “Someone shot me?” she finally asked.
Tazim stepped closer, standing at the end of her bed with his hands stuffed into his pockets, an inscrutable expression on his handsome features. “You don’t remember?”
Ann thought back to the last moment she could remember. Everything was still pretty fuzzy, but slowly, images flashed back into her mind. “Some woman, that reporter,” she whispered, her head aching with the effort. “There was a reporter with me. She was asking questions about the investigation in Kentucky.” She opened her eyes and looked at Tazim. “The reporter from the news, the blond one?”
“Cindy Liptiz,” Tazim confirmed. “She was injured as well. But the bullet just skimmed over her arm. No real damage to her except for a bit of grazed skin.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “She’s all over the news right now saying that she’s onto a big story and someone shot at her to shut her up. She’s vowed to keep investigating and uncover the truth.” He made a disgusted sound. “She’s also apologizing to you, on the air, for putting you in danger.”
Ann snorted. “Nice of her to apologize directly to me.” She squirmed again, relieved that the movement wasn’t also paired with a stabbing pain this time. Whatever medicine the nurse had shot into her IV made it so that she could adjust her position. “So what’s the story she’s working on?”
He shrugged, still searching her face for signs of discomfort. “From what she told my security team, she was trying to ask you about the woman who came out of the barn last week. Do you remember her? Apparently, she’d been badly abused by the Howell guy who’d been all over the news lately.”
Ann thought about the afternoon she’d been shot. She’d been in a rush, needing to run some errands before picking Archer up from school.
“From what I can remember, this reporter, Cindy Liptiz, walked up to me just as I was getting into the car. I don’t recall the questions she asked me because….” Ann paused, squinting as if she could see the images in her mind now. “I can’t remember everything, but there was a loud noise and then I felt the pain.” She lifted her eyes to look at Tazim. “I don’t remember anything after that.”
“Do you have security cameras at your house?” he asked.
She bit her lower lip. “No, I know that I should, but I try to put as much money as possible towards Archer’s college fund every month.”
His lips compressed for a moment, then he shook his head. “You don’t have to worry about that any longer.”
Ann took a breath to ask him what he meant by that when the door to the hospital room opened and a blur of a happy-boy streaked across the room. “Momma!” Archer cried, climbing on to the hospital bed without concern for the tubes or buttons before crawling up her legs to get to her.
Ann was grateful to have the pain medicine going through the IV. She was able to pull her son on to her lap with her uninjured arm, kissing the top of his head.
Looking up, she noticed Hendrix and two more of the club’s security guards were standing in the doorway.
“Thanks Hendrix,” she called out, giving him a wave.
“We’re right outside, Ann,” Hendrix called back. “We’ll take him back to the club in a few minutes so that you can get some rest.”
Ann knew that Archer would need to stay with someone, but her heart ached that she wasn’t capable of taking care of her own son. She looked down at him, laughing at his eager expression. “What did you do today?” she asked.
Ann heard a chuckle, then looked up to find Hendrix and the other guards shaking their heads.
“I got to ride a donkey!” Archer announced gleefully.
Ann’s jaw dropped. “Please tell me that you didn’t ride Horace!”
Archer grinned, his dark eyes bright with mischief. “I did! He didn’t want me to, but I gave him lots of apples and carrots. Then climbed the fence and…he let me get on his back! He didn’t run away like Emily said he would. He just ran around the barn area and let me hang onto the fur on his neck.”
“That’s called a mane,” Ann explained patiently, chuckling at the thought of her rambunctious son charming the grumpy old donkey.
Archer repeated the word and Ann knew that he was memorizing the sounds. She also suspected that he would research what a mane was for, unwilling to know the word and not the reason for a donkey needing a mane.
“What did you have for breakfast?” she asked.
For the next five minutes, Archer told her everything he’d done, seen, and eaten that day. As she listened, Ann was painfully aware of Tazim standing in the corner, watching them. She didn’t look at him, afraid she might see the longing in his eyes.
But as she listened, Ann knew that she wasn’t being fair. Tazim was Archer’s father. Tazim deserved to know his son and Archer had longed to learn more about his father’s identity. The other kids in his preschool all had dads and Archer had noticed the lack of one in his life.
“So…” she started to explain. “Remember when I told you that your father lived in a country really far away?”
“Yeah,” Archer replied, his head swiveling over to the man in the corner. He pulled away from Ann, his sturdy little body leaning against Ann’s leg and his dark eyes moving over Tazim’s features. “Are you my dad?” he asked. “You look just like me.”