Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
Something soft and warm rubbed circles across the back of her hand, pulling her from the dark. Quiet voices filtered through the annoying beeping. She turned her head toward the sounds.
“She’s waking up.”
Her whole body ached, and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep. It took considerable willpower, but she pried her eyes open, then had to immediately squeeze them shut.
“Kill the lights,” the same husky voice said.
The room dimmed. She opened her eyes and focused on the face next to her. Chestnut-brown hair and a square jaw slowly came into focus.
“Sam?” Someone squeezed her hand.
She knew that voice. “Liam?”
He smiled and nodded. “How do you feel?”
“Everything hurts. What happened?” Her mouth was dry, and her throat ached.
“What do you remember?” His brows dipped.
She searched her memory. “I remember you dropping me off this morning.” There was more, she knew it, but she couldn’t quite grasp it.
“Nothing after that?” Lieutenant Fischer stepped into her line of sight.
What was he doing here?
She shook her head, and sharp pain cascaded through her head. She grimaced.
“It’s okay. Just relax.” Liam squeezed her hand.
“I’m just so tired.” She closed her eyes.
“I’ll be right here when you wake up,” Liam whispered before she drifted off to sleep.
“Sam, sweetheart, can you wake up for me?” a soft, feminine voice asked.
Sam turned her head and opened her eyes.
“There you are.” A brunette woman in hospital scrubs smiled at her. “My name is Neveah, and I’ll be your nurse tonight.” The woman looked at the machine next to the bed. “How are you feeling?”
Sam could hear whispering behind the nurse. Who else was there?
“I’m a little sore.” She vaguely remembered waking up at some point and being in pain, but right now it wasn’t as bad.
“That’s to be expected. Can you rate your pain for me on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst?”
Sam took stock of all the pain. “Um, a three. What happened to me?”
“You were putting out a fire in a commercial building, and a vent fell on you. Your coworkers got you out.”
She blinked repeatedly.
“You don’t have any serious injuries. Just a cut to the back of your head, bumps and bruises, and a concussion. We’re going to keep you overnight for observation.” The nurse took her hand. “Okay, can you squeeze my hand?”
Sam did as she was asked.
“Good.” She turned around. “I’ll let you have your places back.” She moved out of the way, revealing the people she had spoken to.
Liam stood against the wall. Flanked by the girls, his arms around their shoulders.
The nurse moved to the foot of the bed and started tapping on a wheeled computer.
“Sam.” Bella raced forward and grabbed Sam’s hand. “I’m so glad you’re awake.”
Sam smiled softly at the affection in her sister’s voice and squeezed Bella’s hand. “I love you.” Sam still wasn’t sure what she was doing in a hospital bed, but she wanted to make sure that Bella knew exactly how she felt.
“I love you too.”
“We’ll give you two some time.” Liam steered Sophia toward the door.
She didn’t want him to leave. “Don’t go.”
Liam smiled softly and released Sophia before stepping up next to Bella. “I need to go let your friends know you’re awake. I’ll be right back.”
“I can let them know if you’d like,” the nurse offered.
“Yes. Please.”
“Do you want me to let them come in one at a time?” The nurse pushed her wheeled computer toward the door. “If you’re not up for visitors, I’m okay at being the big bad nurse.” She smiled.
“I think it’ll be okay.”
“Okay, I’ll send them in. There’s a cup of water if you need a drink.”
Sam tried to sit up and grab the cup.
“Here.” Liam stepped up, grabbed the cup, and placed the straw to her lips.
The cool water was refreshing. “Thank you.” She laid her head back against the pillow.
There was a soft knock on the door before it opened, and Captain Bennett stepped inside. “Sam.”
“Hey, Cap.” Her voice was raspy.
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t worry about work. You focus on getting better. We’ll handle all the paperwork.”
“I appreciate it.”
Captain Bennett looked to Liam and then to Sam. “Is there a way I can have a word with you two. Alone?”
Her heart skipped a beat. What would he want to talk to them about?
Sam looked to Liam. He nodded, concern filling his face.
“Sophia, why don’t you and Bella go out to the waiting room with the rest of Sam’s friends?” Liam said. “I’ll be out there in a minute, and we can go to the cafeteria while they take turns coming in.”
“Okay.” Bella squeezed Sam’s hand again. “I’ll be right back.”
“I know you will.”
Sophia and Bella left.
Captain Bennett waited until the door was shut before addressing them. “The preliminary investigation on the commercial building shows it was another arson.”
“Okay.” Sam wished she could remember everything that had happened.
He inhaled deeply. “It’s also looking like your injury was no accident.”
Sam gasped.
Liam gently placed his hand on her shoulder. “Explain.”
“The screws holding the vent up appear to have been tampered with. It was rigged to fall.”
“Are you certain?”
“It’s still being investigated, but the brackets holding the vent up weren’t damaged.
There were no screws in the brackets or lining the floor.
Plus, there’s remnants of some type of wire in the ceiling, suggesting it was barely hanging on when the fire started.
We’ll know more soon. I just thought you two should know. ”
Bile rose in her throat. “I’m going to be sick.”
Liam grabbed the small vomit bucket sitting on the table and handed it to her. “Can I do anything for you?”
She shook her head and held on to the bucket, willing her stomach to calm. Of all the ailments out there, throwing up was the worst. She closed her eyes and focused on breathing and keeping her stomach from revolting.
“Maybe we should talk about this outside,” Captain Bennett said.
It was about her. She should argue that it be talked about now, in front of her, but truthfully, she didn’t want to know right at this moment. She just wanted to ignore everything around her. “Please.”
Liam bent down to her eye level. “I will be right outside those doors. Nothing is going to happen to you. Okay?” His face was stone. He meant what he said.
“Okay.” She leaned her head back against the pillow as the two men exited her room. Her stomach started to settle.
Another soft knock sounded on the door before Dean and Greer walked in. The worry on both of their faces was evident.
“Oh, Sam.” Greer set a change of clothes on the foot of the bed, then leaned down and gave her a hug. “You don’t know how happy I am to see your face. I brought you some department sweats for later. I know how it works and how clothes get cut off.”
She hugged him back the best she could, considering all the machines she was tied to. “Thank you for the clothes. Right now, I don’t mind the hospital gown, but I’ll eventually want to get up and not shine my heinie to the world.”
“No full moons for Sam.” He smiled. “I’ll be back when you’re feeling better.”
Dean was next. “You gave us quite a scare.” He lingered a little longer than Greer. “Cass sends her love.”
“Thank you,” Sam whispered.
“We know you need your rest, so we’re going to let the others come lay their eyes on you and then shoo them out. It’s one thing for us to be told you’re okay; it’s another thing to confirm with our own eyes.” Dean patted her hand.
“Love you, girlie,” Greer said as he backed out of the room. “We all do.”
Tears burned Sam’s eyes. They’d never openly expressed just how much they cared for one another in the past. She appreciated it now.
All of Station 4 filed through her room for the next several minutes. Her eyelids were heavy by the time the last visitor, Lieutenant Fischer, left.
Liam and the girls returned. Bella took the seat directly next to the bed and scooted it as close as she could get. Liam and Sophia took the small couch by the window.
“Get some rest.” Liam sat forward and leaned his forearms on his legs. “We’ll be here when you wake up.”
Sam nodded and let herself drift back to sleep.
Liam had remained rooted to the loveseat while Sam slept.
His mind raced with a myriad of things. His growing feelings for Sam and the fact that the fire had been set with the intention of ending Sam’s life were at the forefront.
She had grown to be so much more than just a witness.
He cared for her. More than he should as her handler.
Did that make him the best person to keep her safe, or the worst? He could argue both sides. Hopefully, that was an argument he wouldn’t need to have any time soon.
Liam’s phone vibrated in his hand.
Glover
I’m here.
While Sam had been visiting with her coworkers, Liam had made a few calls. Sam and Bella were under twenty-four-hour protection, and he couldn’t be at two places at once, so he asked Glover if she would be available to work the night shift at the hospital while he took the girls home.
Before Sophia, he would have been good to stay at the hospital the entire time. When it came to sleeping and eating, Liam could regulate his body. Now, he had another person to think about. Two people, actually. Until Sam was well and out of the hospital, Isabella was his responsibility.
He stood up and opened the door just as there was a knock.
Glover looked more tired than she had earlier. It had been a long day for all of them.
“Good evening.” She smiled at him and then everyone else in the room.
“Glover, this is Samantha. You already know Isabella and Sophia.”
“Nice to meet you.” Glover nodded at Samantha.
A look of confusion crossed Sam’s face.
“Glover is going to sit with you while I take the girls home so they can rest.”
“No.” Isabella stood up. “I’m not leaving Sam.”
“Bella.” Sam reached up and grabbed her sister’s hand. “Relax. You heard the doctor. I’m going to be fine. There’s no use in you being stuck here sleeping on that uncomfortable sofa.”