Chapter 13
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Sammy stepped out of the ward, feeling a sense of relief and joy as she turned to Burton and Anderson.
“She’s coming along nicely.” She smiled.
“Obviously we did a full check, and that’s required the administration of more pain meds for her sake, but she’s doing a lot better.
She’ll probably be asleep again well before the doctor comes out. ”
“I need to see her,” Anderson said immediately.
She shook her head. “You can see her, but you can’t talk to her or try to force her awake,” she ordered. As Anderson was about to protest, she held up a hand. “I understand how you feel, but the thing she needs right now is sleep so she can heal.”
“That’s the number one thing you can do for her, buddy.” Burton squeezed his shoulder.
“I get that,” Anderson muttered, rubbing at his eyes.
“I understand that it’s hard right now, that you want so much more,” Sammy added gently. “You just want to know that she’s alive, that she’s cognizant, that she’s still your sister, and that everything that happened to her won’t change her.”
He dropped his hands, stared at her in surprise, and finally nodded. Burton was also watching him. “Yeah, more or less, that’s exactly what I want to know.”
She nodded. “And most of that you will get to confirm fairly quickly,” she reassured him, patting him on the shoulder.
“But still, she’s in a lot of pain. She’s come back to the surface, but we’ve had to knock her out a little bit just so she can rest to heal, to catch up to these new needs as she awakens and talks and moves.
When she comes to the next time, she’ll be a little bit better.
When she wakes up the time after that, she’ll be better still.
Just realize that this stage can take a little bit, and then there will come the realization of what’s happened to her, and that will be another adjustment. Give her time.”
“She’s right,” Burton agreed.
Just then, her phone buzzed, and she groaned. She looked down at it. “I’ve got to run.” She bolted, leaving the two men staring behind her.
Anderson looked over at Burton. “She’s quite something, isn’t she?”
“She definitely is,” he acknowledged, pride in his tone. “And she handled you pretty well.”
He nodded. “She did, indeed. That still doesn’t mean I don’t want to go in and see Talia though.”
“And you will, probably in just a few minutes, but we can’t wake her up, on purpose or by accident. That way she can stay asleep as long as she needs, so she can heal further.”
“Right,” Anderson muttered. “I heard that loud and clear.”
“Good,” Burton said, with a big smile. “It’s hard. I know that. We both know it. We’ve both been on that side where recovery seems like a very long way away. But she’s strong, and she’s done incredibly well. So, we’ll just give her a little more time to just heal a bit more.”
Just then the doctor opened the door and stepped out. “I am Dr. Mathew Cross.” He looked over at both of them expectantly, and Anderson stepped forward and said, “She’s my sister.”
“Right, okay. Her tests show that she’s doing really well at this point. We are happy with the progress and feel that she should be pulling out of this pretty fast. However, it’s important that she gets as much rest as she can.” He frowned as he looked at the two of them.
Anderson nodded and turned to Burton. “We’ll let her be.”
“And you’re maintaining security for her, aren’t you?” He glanced around, and Burton and Anderson both nodded. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”
“We’re not taking any chances,” Anderson declared.
Burton nodded. “We don’t want anything to affect her progress. She’s already been through too much,” Burton added, his tone as casual as he could make it right now.
The doctor grimaced but nodded. “That she has, but don’t bring up the attack if she does wake up, at least not at the moment.
I don’t know where she’s at for understanding what happened to her.
And bringing that trauma back could easily trigger a relapse, and we can’t have that,” he shared quietly.
“So, when she wakes, if she wakes in the next little bit, try to avoid anything stressful. I presume you’re staying,” he said, turning to Anderson.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “I’ll be here for a little bit, and then Burton will remain here.”
“Okay, good enough.” Then the doctor frowned and asked, “Wasn’t there … I feel like another man was here at times?”
“Yes, Leland,” Burton confirmed. “The three of us are taking turns.”
“Twenty-four hours a day, huh?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Exactly,” Anderson snapped, his tone hard.
Burton crossed his arms, a habit he had any time he was up against any kind of resistance. He simply wouldn’t listen to any argument on this matter.
Dr. Cross nodded. “As long as she’s getting the proper care and you don’t try to wake her, plus you call us when she is awake and needs any kind of assistance, I’ll leave you to it.
It would be much more convenient if she were down among the general patient population of the hospital instead of up here,” he noted, frowning at the empty ward on the fourth floor.
“Not exactly sure why she was put here.”
“I don’t think it matters. For the moment, having a lot fewer visitors for her is a good thing,” Anderson pointed out.
“We can’t be sure that her attacker won’t come back again to finish the job,” Burton clarified.
The doctor shook his head. “Anybody who does something like this to a woman with triplets? … Wow. What has the world come to?”
“It’s come to complete shit, that’s what,” Burton muttered, as the doctor walked away, already talking on his phone.
Anderson turned to Burton and whispered, “She’s doing fabulous. I’m so damn glad she knew me.”
“Yeah, she’s doing great. Even the doc said so,” Burton told his buddy. “And I’m absolutely delighted for her … and for you. This is what we’ve been waiting for.”
“I know I can’t do it, but I already want to race home, grab the babies, and bring them back here because I know that’ll be key for her healing.”
“Of course it’ll be key, yet we need the doctor’s permission,” Burton told him, with a grin. “Talk about triggering a response that they may not be prepared for.”
“I know. She’ll want to go home immediately once she’s fully awake.”
“Particularly when she finds out that the three of us have been handling the baby care,” Burton teased, with a guffaw.
“And we are handling the babies just fine,” Anderson declared, with a note of pride. “She might not have that much faith in our abilities, but I do.”
“Yeah, now,” Burton added. “Thankfully none of that teething has come back again.”
“Right, but you really shouldn’t say that out loud,” Anderson said, frowning. “Man, you are just tempting fate. According to the women, teething is a nonstop thing from this stage onward.”
Burton shook his head. “Pamela and Sammy both warned us that, from the time the first tooth comes through, it’s like, what? Eighteen months or something until they get twenty or so teeth,” he muttered, shaking his head. “That’s just wrong.”
Anderson winced. “Have you ever seen an X-ray of a baby’s skull?” he asked, followed by a laugh. “I mean, it’s like some sort of alien lives inside their head with so many teeth.”
“But none of that is important right now,” Burton stated.
“So tell your sister that you’ll be back soon, and then maybe stop in at the sheriff’s department and see if you can talk to your brother-in-law.
Just confirm he’s still in lockup. The last thing we want is for that asshole to know she’s awake. ”
“Yeah, right. Wondering if Tim was down here earlier, we do need to figure out if he has a brother.”
Burton frowned. “And getting those adoption records unsealed is a bit of a challenge. Yet knowing that he’s adopted means everything’s changed. For all we know, he could have any number of other siblings.”
Anderson turned to him. “I thought Levi was checking into that. I haven’t heard from him. I know it takes longer with adoptions involved, but I’ll call him and will let you know if they found anything.”
Burton added, “Sammy and I both were pretty-damn sure we saw Tim—or Tim’s lookalike—here at the hospital earlier today, just before you arrived. … So I’m hoping Levi got us clearance to see the security footage from the hospital soon.”
Anderson’s gaze hardened. “How the hell is it that we don’t have access to that shit already?”
“Well, unless you want to start working for Levi, I’m not sure how to expedite that,” Burton said, with a mock smile.
“Apparently he can get access to all kinds of stuff we aren’t privy to.
As much as that’s frustrating, it’s also a damn-good thing that we’re friends with him, so we can get at least some access. ”
“Right,” he muttered, with a headshake. “I guess we should be thankful for the small things in life.”
“You’re definitely supposed to be grateful for even small things.”
“But that’s a pretty big thing,” Anderson pointed out.
“Absolutely.” Burton nodded.
“I’ll text Levi for a status update and also head down to the station real quick. Then I need to go home so Leland can get some sleep, before he returns to relieve you later on, and start the cycle all over again,” he muttered, with a snort.
Burton nudged his longtime friend to the door. “Go say goodbye to her, then I’ll take over, and we’ll see you later.”
He watched as Anderson walked over, leaned down, gave Talia a gentle kiss on her cheek, and whispered something in her ear. Taking one long last look at her, he shook his head, smiled up at Burton, and vowed, “I promise, one of us will be back.”
With that, he turned and headed out the door.