Chapter Twenty-Five
LAREDO COULDN’T REMEMBER ever being this terrified. He paced the hospital hall, the situation and the white walls making him want to howl. The twinkling silver Christmas tree in an alcove did nothing to lift his spirits, even though he’d always loved Christmas. The artificial tree gave off no pine-needle scent. Instead, it smelled like antiseptics and worry, and nausea rose inside him.
His shoulders hunched inward. He should’ve guessed things inside Diana’s house might be poisoned. How had he let her drink that tea? It was all his fault.
The footfalls made him look up.
“How is she?” Rachel, Tex, and Harris headed to him.
Laredo scrubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t know yet. How... how could I have missed it? I was supposed to protect Diana. To keep her safe.”
“It’s my fault.” Rachel hung her head. “I’m the professional here. I’m the one who was supposed to do a better job. I should’ve told her not to touch any food or drinks because they might have been tampered with.”
Tex groaned. “You couldn’t have known. Either of you. Stop blaming yourself because it’s not helping anyone.” Then he hugged his wife. “I mean, I understand your turmoil, bro. If anything happened to Rachel...” He didn’t finish the sentence, just shook his head. “We know how much you care about Diana.”
“I love her,” Laredo said simply. He had no doubts about it now, though why had it taken Diana being poisoned for him to realize it?
Harris cleared his throat. “I don’t know why you’re so surprised. It’s been clear to everyone who saw you together.”
Tex patted Laredo on the back. “Diana is going to pull through. You’ll see. Have faith.”
Laredo swallowed hard.
Have faith.
Those were the same words he’d told Diana. He prayed for her again and again, but everything inside him felt shaky. Including faith.
A petite blonde female nurse in powder-blue scrubs with a snowman pattern stepped outside the ER. “Are you the family of Diana Medina?”
“Yes,” Laredo answered before he could think about it. Because in his heart, she was his family already. He asked God for forgiveness for fibbing.
“We can only allow one person in.” The nurse’s gaze turned stern behind her glasses.
“You go.” Tex nudged Laredo. “You’re the one she’ll want to see the most.”
“Besides, I need to talk to Marina and discuss any new developments.” Rachel grimaced. “Including this one.”
Harris shrugged. “And I guess I’ll just bring everyone coffee and sandwiches from the cafeteria. Any requests?”
“No. As long as they are not poisoned, I’m good.” Tex coughed a little, then sent Laredo an apologetic glance. “Sorry, bro. Bad joke.”
Rachel rolled her eyes and bumped her fist into her husband’s forearm.
Laredo held up a hand. “Actually, if you can stop by the gift shop and pick up a balloon with get-well wishes, maybe a teddy bear, and flowers, I’d appreciate it.” He recalled Diana mentioning her favorites. “White chrysanthemums. I know I should be shopping for them myself, though.”
Harris waved him off. “Please. You can’t be in two different places at the same time.”
Laredo hurried after the nurse and nearly wept when he saw Diana alive and breathing. He rushed to her bedside and snatched her hand in his, though mindful of the IV tubes. “How... how are you?”
Her smile was weak, but it was there. Her wig was gone, and her hair fanned out on the white pillow. Her dear face was still pale, and her crimson lipstick was smudged a little, but her gray eyes lit up when she saw him. “Alive and kicking. Well, not so much kicking. Sorry I gave you such a scare.”
His eyes popped. She was apologizing to him? “Are you kidding? It’s me who should be sorry for not keeping you safe. I should’ve thought things could be poisoned. I... I’ve worried so much about you.” He breathed out. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, but it wasn’t the right time to do it when she was in such a vulnerable emotional and physical state.
She rolled her eyes. “No, you shouldn’t be apologizing. You got me here just in time. If I was alone at the time...” She paused. “I’d be dead.” Her tone was flat.
He shuddered. “No! No.” He squeezed her fingers, needing the tangible reassurance that she was here, that she was alive. A lump grew in his throat. “We’ll find who did this to you. Well, I probably won’t figure it out, but I have all faith in the brilliance of you, Rachel, and Marina. My brothers and I are just providing the muscle while you have all the brains. And heart.” He glanced back at the door. “Well, Rachel provides muscles and combat skills, as well, and I’d like to think we all have heart, too.”
The corners of Diana’s mouth lifted, but her eyes remained sad. “I just... I just hope to see Pat again.”
“Mom has a prayer chain for that. Several, actually.”
“You have an amazing mom.” Something flashed in her eyes. More sadness? Wistfulness? From what little he’d learned about Diana’s mother, she seemed colder than Christmas in Alaska. “And she raised amazing sons, which is no wonder.”
As much as he enjoyed basking in her praise, he needed to know. “What did the doctor say? And can I do anything to help you feel better?”
“You’ve done a lot already. Um, the doctor requested my stomach to be pumped.” A blush colored her cheeks. “She also prescribed IV saline solutions for hydration and ordered labs. We don’t have the lab results yet. But my vital signs are stable. And I feel much better now. I can talk and think normally.” She swallowed, her gray eyes gleaming beneath unshed tears. “You got me here just in time. You saved my life. You’re my hero.”
His chest puffed, and he liked being her hero way more than he could express. But he’d much rather she were safe and happy. He wanted to tell her so many things, so he searched for the right words. Too bad he couldn’t borrow some of Saylor’s talkativeness.
“I... I can’t lose you.” Any words seemed inadequate to express how he felt. “You... you mean so much to me.”
Her eyes brightened, but she didn’t say the same things back. His heart dipped. Were his feelings not reciprocated?
His phone signaled an incoming text, and he ignored it at first.
“It might be something important,” she whispered.
What could be more important than talking to her and looking into her eyes? But she had a point because it could be news about her best friend.
He fished the phone from his jeans. Harris texted he was waiting outside with the gifts.
“I’ll be right back.” Laredo stepped outside.
Harris stood there, hugging a giant pink teddy bear with a bouquet of chrysanthemums, and a large pink-and-blue balloon floated above him. The bouquet’s aroma edged out the faint scent of antiseptics. “I figured this was a priority before coffee or food.”
Laredo accepted the gifts. “You figured right.”
Hurried footfalls announced Rachel and Tex’s arrival. “Wait!” Urgency raised Rachel’s voice.
Laredo tensed. “You have news.”
They nodded.
Rachel lifted her phone. “Remember how Marina continued calling all the hospitals here twice daily in case Pat or someone like her was brought into one of the hospitals?”
Laredo could see where this was going, and yet he held his breath, having difficulty believing it. “Yes.”
Lord, could this be...?
Rachel brightened. “Someone matching her description and her photo is in the hospital. In this hospital.”
He rubbed his forehead. Sure, he was thrilled Diana would see her friend and they might find the culprit behind this all, but a lot of this didn’t make sense. “Why didn’t she let anyone know she was alive? And where was she all this time? And why?”
“She has amnesia from a head trauma. Looks like she was hit on the head with a blunt weapon, beaten, and dumped in a forest. She only remembers coming to her senses in the forest and walking for a while, then stumbling onto a hunting cabin. She survived all this time on the soup cans and granola bars stored in the cabin and used the woodstove to warm up. Today, the hunter found her there. One of her wounds got infected, and he insisted on taking her to the hospital. She’s being treated with antibiotics right now.”
Okay, that answered some of his questions, but it still didn’t make sense. And if Pat didn’t remember anything, that meant the culprit remained unknown. Diana remained in peril.
Laredo went cold. “Why didn’t she walk to the road? Surely, someone would’ve stopped and gotten her to the hospital right away.”
“Though Pat couldn’t remember anything, she had the primal fear that her life was in danger.” Rachel’s eyes darkened. “Most likely, still is.”
Diana’s eyes went huge. She couldn’t believe her ears. She wanted to hear this news so badly for so long, so was it real? Or was her imagination playing tricks on her? Or worse, was it some horrible aftereffect of being poisoned if some harmful chemicals hadn’t been flushed from her blood?
She’d been on such an emotional roller coaster lately. No, not a roller coaster, more like going from hot to cold, jumping from the equator to the North Pole and back. “Pat is alive? Are you sure?” She hugged the giant soft teddy bear tighter and breathed the chrysanthemum aroma.
Different emotions assaulted her. It had taken her being between life and death to realize she loved Laredo. Well, she’d realized it earlier, but she’d now admitted it to herself. And all his caring attention, including her favorite flowers, made it sink in deeper. She’d never had a teddy bear as a child, and Adam had never gifted her chrysanthemums.
At the time, she’d thought maybe she hadn’t deserved it. Now she knew she did. And it took knowing a man like Laredo for her to learn her true value. Not the value of what she could be. Not her supposed potential. But what she already was.
She saw much more than compassion in his blue eyes. Care, admiration, and maybe even love. That set her diluted blood on fire.
Machines beeped near other beds behind green curtains. The footfalls of medical personnel tromped past, and a low voice explained lab results to a patient somewhere to her right. Her head pounded, her arm hurt from the needle pokes, and her hair felt like a bird’s nest—one belonging to a bird that needed to take lessons on how to make nests. So it was difficult to feel romantic. Yet this was the most romantic and probably the happiest moment of her life so far.
Could she finally get her true self back if she could stay alive long enough? More importantly, could she get her best friend back? Adrenaline and hope pumped in her veins as she attempted to sit up.
Laredo sent her an apologetic gaze. Then he plumped the pillow and helped her sit up. “Um, no. I’m not sure. But the blue-haired Jane Doe looks like her photo. I don’t want to give you false hope, though.”
His proximity and fresh aftershave scent wreaked havoc on her senses, and she struggled to keep the latter in check. She mulled over everything he told her. “She might still be in danger. Once whoever did this finds out they didn’t finish the job...” She shuddered.
He gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Rachel is standing guard near Pat’s room. Rachel won’t let a mosquito fly there unnoticed. The police talked to Pat and took her statement. But it wasn’t much, considering she didn’t remember much.”
The trauma her best friend had gone through churned bile inside Diana. All for what? And Laredo and his family had been put in danger multiple times.
Diana’s hand fisted. It all had to stop. She’d do everything to bring the culprit to justice, even if it meant risking her own life again. Because she had zero proof of her suspicions. “What about the police investigation?”
An officer had visited her for a statement and permission to enter her house and do a search.
Laredo frowned. “They are running tests on the tea in your house and other food, as well, and sweeping the house for fingerprints. Of course, Tex, Rachel, Harris, and I have given our statements and submitted our fingerprints for comparison.”
“I’m sorry I dragged you into all this.” The old habit of feeling like a burden, of nearly having to beg for care and attention died hard. Before, only her best friend and wine had given her all the attention in the world.
“You didn’t drag me into anything. I’m happy to be there for you. I’m thrilled you’re alive and you’re here.” He coughed a little. “I don’t mean here in the hospital. I mean here on this earth.”
“Same,” she whispered. With her emotions raw and exposed, she let it slip, “I’m thrilled you exist.” Had she said too much? Then she sensed he needed to tell her something else. “Is there more news?”
“Yes. Tex went to continue to search for Noah. He found him at the house of the last person on Jill’s list.”
Her heart jumped. “He did? What did Noah say?”
Laredo’s frown deepened as if he hated to burst her hope bubble. “Noah swears he didn’t know what happened to Pat, that she was safe and sound when they made it back. I have no clue what my brother told him, but Noah is now back at the hospital and attending to Pat. Noah said Pat was scared of a new assault and screamed that she wanted to leave, so they had to give her tranquilizers to calm her.”
Diana resisted the urge to grind her teeth. “We wasted all this time searching for him. And I’m not sure whether I fully trust him to take care of Pat. He might say he tried to hide because he needed to get his bearings, but is it the real reason?” Worry slammed her, and she ached to run to Pat.
“Noah let Harris stay in the room while Pat is sleeping. I’ve never seen my little brother cry, even when he broke his arm. Until now. Noah keeps popping in to check on her. Harris will remain right by her side, and Rachel will stay near her room at all times. Tex brought them all food and coffee and is by Pat’s room now, as well. She’s as safe as we can make her.”
But was it safe enough?
“Thank you.” As grateful as Diana was for Laredo’s family, they were strangers to Pat now. Once she woke up, she might be confused and terrified, not knowing who she was or what happened to her. Feeling alone in the world. Diana couldn’t let that happen.
“I need to see her.” Determined, she peeled away the blanket and swung her legs to the side of the bed. The world wasn’t moving in front of her, so it wasn’t so bad. “She... she’ll need me.”
“It might be better to wait until the doctor releases you. Besides, you’re still hooked up to the IV.”
“Right.” She should’ve noticed a tiny detail like needles poked into her arm and tubes connecting to an IV pole. “I mean, you’re right about the IV. I need to call the nurse to unhook me.” Too bad she hadn’t been taken to the hospital where she worked, because she could call in some favors with the staff. But her hospital was further away, and time had been of the essence. More determination infused strength in her weakened body, even though a crash would surely follow such an adrenaline spike. “Because if not, I’ll walk with the IV pole to wherever Pat is.”
Tsking, he shook his head. “Are you sure about this?”
“I’m a nurse, a medical professional. I know what I’m doing.” She hoped. She reached for his hand. Deep down, she suspected he knew she’d crawl on the floor to her friend if she couldn’t walk there. Just like she’d crawl through the desert to Laredo if he were sick and needed her.
“Medical professionals are notoriously bad patients.” His blue eyes softened, showing he only argued because he worried for her.
Tears filled her eyes. “That’s my best friend. Imagine if something like this happened to one of your brothers. What would you do?”
“I understand.” His eyes darkened. “Are you okay going there in a wheelchair?”
It would be easier for sure. But she’d taken the path of least resistance so many times, be it with Adam or with alcohol. It was time to show that shiny like-the-IV-pole backbone. “I don’t want her to worry. Even if she doesn’t know who I am. And I know she’s asleep now, but she might wake up by the time I get there.”
His lips tipped up. “Would you at least lean on me?”
She conceded. “Yes.” As much as she respected her parents’ accomplishments, she now knew it was okay to lean on someone. She wanted to lean on someone and was beyond grateful she had such a person in her life. Her heart shifted. However long Laredo was going to stay in her life.
He called for the nurse to remove the IV.
“I’ll sign whatever papers you need me to sign. And I can get the lab results later, right?” A plan was forming in Diana’s mind. First, she needed to check on Pat, comfort her, and assure her friend she had somebody to rely on.
“Yes, but you shouldn’t—” The blonde nurse in the snowman-patterned scrubs frowned.
“Thank you. I appreciate your concern. I’ll be in this hospital for a while. If I feel worse, I’ll make sure to call for help.” Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best time to show a freshly polished backbone, but experience proved too many people took shyness for weakness.
Seconds stretched, and the conversation with the doctor who arrived immediately wasn’t easy. Her vital signs were fine, so soon enough, Diana hobbled toward the elevator with Laredo’s help and then onto a different floor. She was still dizzy, or maybe it was because his arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. He made her go weak in the knees, and she wanted to believe that was the reason she felt weak.
Yet for the first time in decades, she was grateful to be able to rely on someone without reservations. To know that, unlike Adam, Laredo would never use her weakness to his advantage.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
That made what she was about to do after the visit to her best friend so much more difficult. Even reckless, and unlike Pat, Diana had never been the reckless type. But was there any other way? That person needed to be stopped.