Chapter Four #2
Dr. Kelly looked him over from head to toe. “I heard you didn’t cooperate with putting on a hospital gown.”
“It wasn’t necessary to be examined.” A kind nurse gave him scrubs and a towel so he could change out of dirty clothes and freshen up. “How’s Olivia? Is she awake?”
“She’s awake and talking.”
Relief poured through him. “I want to see her.”
Holding up a hand, Dr. Kelly strode closer. She looked at the pulse oximeter on his finger. “Ninety-five percent.” With a nod, she removed the device. “If you’re feeling okay, you can take—”
Eli already had the oxygen mask off, pulled the IV needle from his arm, and started for the door.
“She’s not in the ER anymore,” Dr. Kelly said, bringing him to a halt. “She was moved upstairs.”
He spun around and looked at the doctor. “What’s wrong with her? I thought you said she’s awake.”
“She is, but she needs further treatment and we’re going to monitor her for overnight. You took in a lot of smoke yourself. We’d like to keep you as well.”
“If she stays, I stay.”
“That’s not generally how it works.” Dr. Kelly smiled. “Ms. Adani mentioned she needs to call someone important and didn’t want us to do it for her. She needs to speak with you first.”
Call someone important.
Like a boyfriend?
They never had the talk. If she was dating a guy, a real significant other, she would want him to be here. “What room is she in?”
“It can be a little tricky to get there. It’d easier if I take you to her.”
Eli grabbed his dirty clothes that were in a plastic bag and followed Dr. Kelly out of the room. He’d left his gun in a locked box in his truck, but he felt like he was missing an appendage without it.
The doctor led the way to the second floor and took him down a long corridor in a section of the hospital where tests were conducted. She pushed through a set of double doors and turned down another hall.
“She’s in there,” Dr. Kelly said.
The sign on the door read Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Unit.
Dr. Kelly pulled two disposable booties from a nearby box on the wall and handed them to him. “You’ll need to put those on before you go inside.”
He slipped the shoe covers on over his boots. “Why is she in there?”
“Ms. Adani will have to explain. You can go inside.”
Putting his hand on the door, he hesitated. “How long does she have to be in there?”
“Two hours. We hope that’ll be enough.”
Enough for what?
He didn’t bother to ask. He’d save his questions for Liv, provided she felt like speaking.
Eli pushed through the door.
In the middle of a small, white-tiled room was a one-person unit. A clear tube. Liv was inside, lying down on an inclined cot, propped up on pillows, with a blanket covering her. An attendant stood in front of a control panel with rotary switches and tiny red reflector lights.
Liv’s gaze found his and she smiled at him. His heart leaped for joy and every thought in his head vanished.
Her face was clean but her complexion ashen. She appeared exhausted, with dark circles beneath her eyes, and vulnerable, wearing the hospital gown and stuck inside that tube.
“In order to talk to her,” the attendant said, “you’ll have to use the phone, which is connected to speakers inside the HBOT unit. I’ll be right out in the hall if you need me.”
As the attendant left, Eli strode over to the oxygen unit that was a smaller version of a recompression chamber. He imagined it worked, in principle, in a similar way.
Eli picked up the black phone. “Hey.”
“Hey.” She gave him another bright smile that almost made her look well, like she only needed a little rest.
But if she was all right, then she wouldn’t be in the oxygen unit.
“Are you okay?” they both asked in unison.
He smiled while she laughed.
“You go first,” she said.
“I’m fine.”
“Really?” She sounded doubtful. “The doctor wasn’t allowed to say anything. Please tell me the truth.”
“I’ve never lied to you. They want to keep me overnight. Simply to monitor me.”
“Same.”
He sighed. “You and your double standards.” She expected him to be completely honest. In return, he got fragments of truth.
Never lies, but what she chose to disclose was always carefully chosen.
It was a byproduct of being an intel officer for too many years.
He didn’t even think she could help it at this point. “Why are you in that tube?”
“I had to see a specialist. He was concerned about carbon monoxide poisoning.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “This was his recommendation. I should be discharged tomorrow.”
That was fantastic news.
He hated the fact he couldn’t touch her. Hold her. He put his hand up to the glass.
She pressed her palm to the other side. “Thank you for getting me out of there.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long to find you.” He was still kicking himself for not staying with her in the hotel.
“But you did and I’m okay.” Her voice softened. “Can we talk?”
His heart sank. “You’re not all right. Whatever is wrong, you can tell me.”
“The doctors think I’m going to be fine. Okay?”
He nodded.
Olivia hesitated. “I want to talk about us.”
No matter what she had to say, he was ready to listen. She had almost died, nearly missed the chance to tell whatever had been on her mind.
He braced himself. “Yeah, sure.” Maybe it was for the best they were separated by glass. If he could touch her, he might not be able to let her go.
“This thing between us has been going on for a long time.”
It was hard to pinpoint exactly when it’d started.
Perhaps after the first briefing she’d given to his team, and they had spoken alone.
Had a charged conversation that bordered on flirty, a current lacing the words that buzzed beneath his skin, threatening to disrupt his composure.
Maybe it was when he returned from a deployment in a danger zone, and they’d shared a titillating look.
Or after they kissed. Or once they broke the rules irrevocably and slept together.
Their hot-and-heavy fling, which violated all the rules, lasted six months. Until her ETS—end of time in service. She was recruited by Aegis and moved back home to Colorado. They stayed in contact. Each time they met, picking up where they left off.
“But it’s not sustainable,” she said. “It’s not a real relationship. I need a partner who wants to build a life with me. I need more.”
“If you’ve met someone, it’s okay. No matter what, we’re friends. That’ll never change.” But it’d change everything else between them. Everything else for him. “I’ve always said it was fine if you ever needed something permanent with a guy who could give it to you.”
She dropped her hand from the glass.
He did the same.
“And you’d really be fine with it?” she asked, softly, not looking at him. “Me moving on with someone else?”
Heck no, but he’d have no other choice. Liv was like the sun, brightening his world. Warming far more than his bed but also a part of him that only lit up when she was around. With her, he remembered he was still alive.
No one wanted to lose the sun. Or stop it from shining.
His darkness would inevitably snuff out her light. Everywhere he went, he brought tragedy. He was grateful she’d survived him this long.
Tonight, he nearly lost her. No way was he going to continue pushing their luck.
“I won’t stand in the way of your happiness. I can do what’s necessary,” he said. “Give you this, anything you need.” Anything to protect her. Even if it meant protecting her from him.
“If only that were true.”
But it was. “No strings. That’s true,” he said, and her gaze flickered to his.
His heart shattered at the look of utter disbelief on her face.
“You were always free to do what you wanted with whomever. Any guy would be lucky to have you as a partner. I always knew this day was coming. Now that it’s here, I won’t complain about it.
” A sadness akin to grief welled up in him. “That was the deal.”
He snapped his mouth shut, his teeth grinding together, smothering the words roiling in him. Smothering the plea that wanted to slip out. It’s sustainable. The weeks apart. The fleeting dots of a relationship connected with phone calls and texts. He clenched his jaw, swallowing the lie.
She deserved more. Deserved someone who could give it to her.
And she certainly didn’t need to get any closer to him. If anything, she needed to get as far from him as possible.
Olivia lowered her head. “Duly noted,” she said, as though this was a business meeting and not the end of life as he knew it. “There is something else I need to tell you. The reason the specialist wanted me to be in this contraption.”
Stiffening, he gripped the phone tighter in his hand. “Are you sick?”
“I’m pregnant.”
The words hit him like a sucker punch to the chest.