Chapter Twelve
Horror swept through Daniel as he realized Angelique had fallen unconscious.
He was afraid to try to help her as in doing so he didn’t know if he’d hurt her more than she’d already been hurt.
And how badly was she hurt? He could see the blood on her arm and shoulder, but more horrifying was the blood on her chest, indicating that she’d been stabbed there. How deep was the wound?
Desiree continued to profess her innocence and insisted she had acted in self-defense. But Daniel knew the truth and as Desiree continued to talk, the reason for the attacks on Angelique became clear.
It was all because George often spoke highly of Angelique. It was sick and twisted and right now his biggest fear was that Desiree had been successful in her desire to kill Angelique.
Thank goodness help arrived fairly quickly.
Luke and Clay showed up at the same time that the EMTs came into the shanty.
The EMTs immediately got to work stabilizing Angelique.
Daniel watched them, his heart in his throat as they put an oxygen mask on her and got an IV going.
Then they strapped her to a board and carried her out.
“Go,” Luke said to Daniel and pointed to the shanty door. “Clay and I and a couple of the other men can get Desiree to the jail and we’ll process the scene here. You go on to the hospital. That’s where you belong.”
“Thanks. I know you all can handle things here.” With that, Daniel left the shanty and hurried after the men who carried Angelique.
How bad were her wounds? Both women had been covered in blood but it was the blood on Angelique’s chest that scared the very hell out of him. She’d been stabbed and he had no idea what damage had been done. She had to be okay, she just had to be.
It seemed to take forever to get through the swamp, but finally he was in his car and following behind the ambulance with its swirling red and blue lights and blaring siren.
She was still unconscious when they arrived at the hospital, where she was whisked away into the emergency room. Daniel checked in at the front desk and let the receptionist know he wanted to see the doctor the minute he was available.
He then sank down in one of the beige plastic chairs in the waiting room. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as his mind replayed that moment when he’d walked into the shanty and had seen Desiree on top of Angelique, her knife raised to deliver a killing blow.
Thank God, he’d entered the shanty when he had.
If he’d been a moment longer, Angelique would have been stabbed again.
With Dominique’s words ringing in his ears, he’d decided to make an impromptu visit to Angelique’s.
And thank God he had heard screaming coming from inside the shanty.
He’d been lucky that the door had been unlocked.
Had it been locked, Angelique would be dead.
Now all he could do was pray that Angelique was going to survive this night of horror. She had to be all right. She just had to be. His heart couldn’t stand it if she wasn’t okay.
A long hour passed and then another one and finally Dr. Gregory Harmon came out to talk to him. Daniel stood at the sight of the older man, who was also Daniel’s own personal doctor.
“Dr. Harmon…how is she?”
“She’s going to be just fine,” he replied.
The words caused a rush of shuddery relief to sweep through Daniel.
“She required stitches on her shoulder and more stitches due to an arm wound. The biggest issue she has is the wound in her chest. The tip of the knife managed to hit her lung. The wound is small and so it’s a wait and see situation.
I’m hoping the lung will go ahead and heal itself.
If it doesn’t, then I’ll have to go in to surgically to repair it. But right now things look good.”
“When will you know if surgery is necessary?” Daniel asked.
“Within the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours,” Dr. Harmon replied. “Needless to say she’s going to be my guest here for the next couple of nights.”
“Can I see her?” Daniel asked anxiously.
The doctor frowned. “I would prefer she have no visitors tonight. She was in a mild state of shock when she first got here, but I now have her resting comfortably and I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Understood,” Daniel said with a bit of disappointment. “Can you tell me what room she’s in so I can see her tomorrow?”
“She’s in room 103,” the doctor replied.
Minutes later Daniel stepped out of the hospital and met Dominique and Monique coming in. “Is she all right?” Monique asked urgently, tears glimmering in her eyes.
“She’s going to be just fine,” Daniel replied and then told them everything the doctor had told him.
“I can’t believe it was Desiree all this time,” Dominique said. “I would have never guessed she was behind the attacks on Angelique.”
“I never liked that woman,” Monique added. “So, we can’t see Angelique tonight?”
“The doctor has said no visitors for the night, but I’m sure you’ll be able to see her first thing in the morning,” he replied. “When I called you both to let you know what had happened, I didn’t know you wouldn’t be able to see her.”
“We just appreciate you calling us,” Dominique replied. Her eyes also shimmered with a hint of tears. “Thank you for saving her, Daniel.”
“We love her so much,” Monique said.
“I… I love her, too. That’s why I went to the shanty this evening…to tell her again how much I love her,” he confessed.
He cleared his throat, surprised by the wealth of emotion that suddenly threatened to overtake him. “Anyway, I’m just on my way back to the shanty to clear it since it’s a crime scene again.”
“Keep loving her, Daniel,” Dominique said softly. “She deserves the love of a good man like you.”
Minutes later as he drove back to the shanty, he thought about Dominique’s words. What Dominique didn’t realize was he couldn’t stop loving Angelique even if he tried.
He was in too deep, and her name had become permanently etched into his heart, into his very soul. He’d pour his heart out to her tomorrow and the day after that. He’d tell Angelique how much he loved her for however long it took.
But maybe Dominique was wrong and Angelique truly didn’t love him.
Doubts took up residency in his mind. Maybe he could pour his heart out to her for a hundred days and she still wouldn’t accept his love because she didn’t want it, because she really didn’t love him.
With this depressing thought in mind, he pulled up at the swamp entrance and headed in to the shanty.
They worked processing the scene at Angelique’s place until after midnight, even though there wasn’t much of anything there to collect.
Pictures were taken, and then Daniel spent some time cleaning up the blood from the braided rug.
The last thing he wanted was for Angelique to come home and have to see the blood spilled.
He found her purse in the corner of the sofa and grabbed it. She would probably need it before she left the hospital. Finally, he locked the shanty door and walked out to his car.
Driving home, the moon was nearly full overhead and his thoughts were consumed by Angelique and how close she’d come to death on this night.
Once home, it took him forever to get to sleep. Images and emotions from the night played in his head…in his heart, keeping sleep at bay. He wasn’t sure what time he finally fell asleep. But despite the long night, he was at the hospital by eight the next morning.
The hospital hallways smelled of fresh coffee and breakfast foods as he strode to her room. He turned into room 103 and there she was…looking small and vulnerable in the big hospital bed.
“Daniel,” she said with a wan smile.
“Well, you look better today than you did last night,” he said and pulled a chair up to her bedside.
“I wish I could say I feel better today, but I have pain where I didn’t even know I had body parts,” she replied.
The white bandage on her arm reminded him of the last time she’d sported such a bandage. Both injuries inflicted by Desiree at different times. Although he couldn’t see it, he also knew she had another bandage on her shoulder and one on her chest wound as well.
The thought of her wounds made him angry as hell. He would have never thought of Desiree being the perp in the attacks against Angelique. If Desiree hadn’t been caught in the act, she would have gotten away with murder.
“I hate it that you’re in so much pain,” he said.
“The good news is the doctor tells me my lung is healing itself and I probably won’t need any surgery,” she added. “They pulled me off the oxygen early this morning.”
“That’s great news,” he replied. “I brought your purse from your shanty.” He set it on the foot of her bed. “I figured you might need it while you were here.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.” She stared at him for a long moment and her eyes began to tear up a bit. “You saved my life, Daniel. She was going to kill me, and if you hadn’t stopped her when you did, she would have succeeded.”
“Hey, no tears allowed.” He reached out and drew her hand into his. “All’s well that ends well, right?”
“Right,” she replied with a small laugh. “We Santori women are a tough bunch.”
“Thank God. And Desiree is going to jail for a very long time,” he said. There were so many things he wanted to say to her, but for the moment he stayed professional.
“Unfortunately, right now I need to get an official statement from you. Are you up to doing that now?” he asked.
She nodded. “Okay, might as well get it over with.” For the next fifteen minutes or so she told him about Desiree coming to visit and then pulling a knife.
Daniel occasionally stopped her to ask a question, and then she finished up with her on the floor and Desiree on top of her.
He was just about to spill his heart to her again when a hospital aide pushed in a cart with her breakfast tray on it.