Chapter Twenty-Six
OH, HOW SHE NEEDED a drink for courage! No, no, no. Diana did a mental headshake.
“Yeah, but if you get sick, I’ll never forgive myself,” Laredo grumbled as they walked across the hall.
“I’ll be fine,” she insisted with a confidence she didn’t feel.
She ached to ask if he made his decision about Lolly’s offer but held the question in. Not only because she didn’t want to sound needy but also because she didn’t want her current helplessness to affect his decision. She cared enough for him to set him free. He was a nightingale and a falcon mixed into one, and she’d never attempt to cage him.
They spotted Rachel and Tex from far away. The couple was sitting in navy-blue plastic chairs outside the room where Tex had wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulder while she worked on a tablet. As tough as Rachel seemed to be, her head rested in the crook of her husband’s neck.
I want this.
The thought was clear in Diana’s mind, making her heart squeeze with yearning. She wanted this kind of support, understanding, and unity—this kind of love in all situations. Something she’d never had, even while being married. But Rachel wasn’t a recovering alcoholic.
Not to mention Diana planned to do something Laredo would never want her to do. A lump clogged her throat.
Rachel jumped to her feet and met them. “Pat is asleep. Harris isn’t leaving her side. I identified the second number Adam called on a burner phone a week before he died, and it’s one of the nurses he worked with.”
Diana expected to stagger as if from a physical blow, but she didn’t. Adam hadn’t broken up with Jill because he wanted to work on his marriage like a part of her had hoped, but rather because he had a new fling in sight. “I assume the diamond ring was meant for her.”
How surprisingly emotionless she sounded. Not so long ago, such news would have felt like a tight noose around her neck and would’ve sent her straight to the bottle, simply to be able to breathe. Now, she resolved to move on. Once this was over, she’d sit in the company of her sadness instead of wine and process this. She’d learn to accept the truth. Sober.
One of the most addicting parts of alcohol for her was it made the lies she’d told herself much easier to believe. But the pain indicated something was broken and needed changing. If people didn’t feel pain, in many cases they wouldn’t go to the doctor and risked dying.
Now she’d have to change herself, to accept things that had happened to her without the numbing caress of alcohol. But all that would have to wait until she could make sure whoever harmed Pat wouldn’t harm anyone again.
Laredo squeezed her fingers in silent support, and that helped her breathe.
Rachel smudged the toe of a boot across the floor tiles, frowning as she traced a straight line. “I managed to log into Adam’s tablet. There aren’t many files there. But there are photos with Jill.” Her neck pinked. “Do you... do you want to see them?”
Rachel likely didn’t get uncomfortable or blush often. Diana shook her head. “I have more important things to do. If anything can point to why he died, I’ll need to see it. Otherwise, no.”
This additional discovery didn’t make her think all men cheated. She trusted Laredo. But she didn’t trust herself. At least, not when it came to her former addiction. She lifted her chin. “I’m going to visit my friend.”
“Do you want me to go in with you?” Laredo asked.
“She won’t remember meeting you at the ranch. She might be afraid of an unknown male.” She held up a hand to Laredo, offering her unspoken apology. Though she wanted him by her side, she needed her friend to be comfortable, or as comfortable as possible.
Of course, the same concern could be said for Harris, but he was there to keep Pat safe, and Diana was grateful for it. Maybe Diana had read too many mysteries where someone tried to kill a victim by pretending to be a nurse and injecting poison into the patient’s arm or IV pouch.
Her heart heavy, she tiptoed into Pat’s room.
Harris leaped to his feet and whispered, “She hasn’t woken up yet.” Then his shoulders slumped. “And she won’t know who I am anyway.”
“Thank you for all you’ve done.” She gave him a compassionate and grateful glance. Many men liked Pat, and some even professed love for her. But if Diana called any of them, she doubted they’d rush to the hospital and spend all this time near Pat’s hospital bed, guarding her sleep.
Then Diana turned to the person in the hospital bed. Her fist flew to her mouth, stifling a gasp. She had to be quiet. She recognized her best friend, but she did so with her heart rather than her eyes. Blue hair against the white pillow provided the only splash of color but also underscored the tragedy of the rest. And blue hair or not, no way could this motionless, gaunt person with circles under her eyes, a swollen lip, and blue-and-black bruises be her vivacious friend, someone filled with energy and spunk and always ready to burst into laughter.
This just... wasn’t possible.
Diana staggered like she’d done so many times when drunk, and tears burned her eyes.
Harris held her up. “Do you feel unwell?” His voice sounded worried. “Do you need me to call a doctor?”
“I’m fine. No need for a doctor.” She wanted to look away from Pat but forced herself to look. Because if just seeing this hurt Diana so much, Pat must’ve felt a million times worse. All because she’d wanted to help Diana.
At that moment, she didn’t need a drink for courage any longer. This was it. She had to bring her plan to life. A tear escaped, and she wiped it away fast with her sweater sleeve and held the rest at bay. Pat couldn’t see Diana crying.
Pat’s eyes fluttered open, and she shirked away from Diana. And she’d never shirked away from anything before. And right now, she couldn’t move much with her right hand in a cast and her left wrist bandaged. “Who are you? Why are you here?” Her voice, usually loud and daring, emerged as barely a whisper.
Diana stepped in front of Harris, who edged out of the room.
The fear in Pat’s eyes nearly undid Diana. With her insides shaking like red jelly on the tray nearby, she slumped onto the nearest chair. “I’m your friend, Diana Medina. We’ve been friends since we were little.”
“Friends?” Pat narrowed her eyes. Not trusting a stranger, and it was understandable.
“Yes.” Diana showed Pat her ID first, then pulled up photos on her phone, ones where they were together. With so many of them, even those she’d scanned from print photos in the past, her phone memory was about to give up. “Here. That’s you and me. Here we are at nine. Here we are at thirteen on my birthday. Here we are by the swimming pool. Here we’re together at school. We had many classes together.” She scrolled through photos not only to trigger Pat’s memory but also to prove who she was.
“That’s... that’s me?” Pat’s gaze was uncertain, her posture shy and awkward beneath that faded hospital gown. Gone was the confident woman Diana knew so well.
“Yes. That’s you.” Diana scrolled through more photos, now of them grown up. Pat was laughing or smiling in many of them, so filled with life and joy.
“I can’t remember anything. Well, anything before I was hit on the head.” Pat’s bandaged hand flew to the bruise on her cheek while her lower, still-swollen lip trembled. “I don’t know who did this to me. Or why. And... and if she or he might return.”
Diana’s hand fisted, but she uncoiled her fingers one by one. She couldn’t let Pat see her angry, either. “My friends and I will find out who did this and bring that person to justice. I promise you. You’re safe here. We’ll keep you safe. Several people are near your door at all times, and one of them is a professional bodyguard. Once you’re released, you’re welcome to come home with me to recuperate. I’m a nurse, and I’ll take care of you as long as needed.” Of course, if Diana managed to stay alive. But she didn’t need to give her distraught friend that little detail. “You should regain your memory in time.”
“It’s like all of it is a fog. Who am I? I mean, the doctor told me my name, and the police came to talk to me. But I was no help. I can’t even remember who I am.” Pat’s brown eyes were huge and bottomless.
Diana leaned to her best friend, the one who’d encouraged and supported her so many times. The lump in her throat grew, and she swallowed hard around it. “Who you are is the most incredible, the most wonderful person I’ve ever met. You wouldn’t just light up the room wherever you went, you’d light up the entire street or more. You were like a power station.”
That elicited a feeble chuckle.
Diana’s heart squeezed again. “People are always drawn to you. You’re spontaneous, fun, cheerful, optimistic, and a true sunshine to be around. You’re supportive and encouraging. And you love trying new things.” Diana was careful not to use the past tense because, once Pat recovered, she’d be all those things again.
Because Pat had to recover.
Diana sent up the most heartfelt prayer of her life.
Pat blinked. “That’s all me? I mean, I’ve seen the mirror. And frankly, I don’t feel too spontaneous, fun, cheerful, or even optimistic. And no way am I a true sunshine to be around.”
“It’s all you. And you’ll be your true self in no time.” Diana prayed for that again.
The heavy footfalls made her wince and stumble onto her feet, shielding Pat. Laredo and his family wouldn’t let anyone suspicious here, right?
A burly male nurse entered the room. With his hulk and large brown beard, he’d look like a lumberjack if not for cheerful Christmas-tree-patterned scrubs—or maybe all those cut-down fir trees on bright-red sleds made him look more like a lumberjack. “Oh, good. You’re awake. I’m going to call the doctor.”
Soon, Noah strode fast into the room and introduced himself, then whispered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been hiding like a coward. I just felt like I needed to run away.”
Diana shook his hand, taking stock of the man’s slumped shoulders, his prematurely gray hair, and the permanent desolation in those eyes weighed down by wrinkles. His fancy burgundy tie hung slightly crooked, and a tan line marked where his wedding band used to be. The birthmark above his eyebrow matched his father’s. Yep, she should’ve recognized it earlier than she had. At other times, she’d see another person who’d made his parents proud, unlike her. Now she just saw a person who needed her compassion. Well, as soon as he was off the suspects’ list.
“Me, too.” She felt the need to run away, too, or in her case, to drink herself into oblivion.
But clearly, neither of their escape routes brought anything good.
His attention switched to Pat, as it should have. He went over her long list of injuries but said she should recover in time. “You’ll have to stay in the hospital longer to receive IV antibiotics and because we’re awaiting more test results. Later, you can be released into someone’s care, but you’ll need to continue taking antibiotic pills and receiving proper wound care. Your arm will be in a cast for weeks because your bone was broken. It had started healing, but based on X-ray results, it was growing back wrong. We had to rebreak it.”
Diana shuddered. Rebreaking. Poor Pat. It didn’t matter that Diana had to do the same with her soul recently because she’d been healing wrong.
“Will I get my memory back, Doctor?” Pat’s unsure whisper was so unlike her usual vibrant voice.
“There’s no guarantee, but it should happen eventually and might happen gradually.” Then he rubbed a hand over his jaw, and his shoulders slumped further. “I’m so sorry I dragged you into that trip to Port Sunshine. It’s all my fault.”
Pat blinked again. “What trip?”
Noah scrubbed his hands over his entire face and probably wanted to hide behind his hands like Diana had done in childhood. “Maybe this will jog your memory. Weeks ago, I... I knocked over and broke a statuette. Inside was a diamond ring I never gifted my wife. I confronted her, and she said she didn’t know anything about it. But I know her. I could see she was lying. She panicked and wouldn’t look at me. I remembered rumors about her and Adam—um, Adam was Diana’s husband, in case you don’t recognize his name, Pat. Back then, I’d discarded them as rumors. But after discovering the ring, I looked into the trips she took to Port Sunshine, South Carolina, and found out Adam took a trip there at the same time. I... I just needed to know. And I needed someone to go with me before I chickened out.”
“But why didn’t you talk to me instead of Pat?” Diana gripped the chair’s sharp edges. All this could’ve been avoided.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Noah ducked his head. “Adam often said his wife was weak and emotional. He said he had to carry the weight in the family. He also complained about his wife’s best friend Pat, who grew up with her. He said Pat could be like a torpedo and also spoke her mind. I figured she was exactly the person I needed to help me. I–I didn’t know it would end like this.”
“Did we... did we get proof of the infidelity?” Pat’s gaze moved from Noah to Diana and back.
“Yes.” Noah’s jaw set tight.
“I’m sorry, Diana.” Pat’s mouth twisted. “Did Adam beat me up in revenge, then?”
Diana shook her head, her fingers clutching those hard corners. “No. My husband has been dead for a year.”
“Then I don’t understand. Who did this to me?” Pat blinked at Noah. “Your wife?”
Noah flinched. “She has an alibi. Besides, she’s not capable of something like this.”
“Well, you didn’t think she was capable of infidelity, either, or you wouldn’t have married her, right?” For the first time, Pat’s voice strengthened.
“She has an alibi,” Noah said again and held up both hands. “And no, I’m not her alibi.”
“Okay, returning to the previous question. Who did this to me, then?” Pat rubbed her forehead with her bandaged hand.
Diana straightened her back to its full capacity. “I intend to find out soon—no matter what it costs me.”
Maybe the steel in her voice made Noah look at her with surprised admiration. “Adam was wrong about you, wasn’t he?”
“He was wrong about many things,” Diana said. But she suspected it wasn’t why he was killed.
Once Noah needed to examine Pat, Diana left the room. Laredo and his family waited outside.
Harris rushed to her. “How is Pat?”
“She has a difficult healing journey ahead, but with time, she should make a full recovery.” Diana relayed a short version of the conversation.
His eyes brightened. “We’ll do whatever we can to help her. I already talked to Mom. She said to bring Pat to the ranch once she’s released—if Pat agrees, of course. I imagine it’ll be difficult for her with her arm in a cast and her bandages needing changing, and so on. We’ll help her recover.” Then the tips of his ears pinked. “Please don’t worry. I’m not going to take advantage of the situation. I won’t make any unwanted advances. I just want Pat to get better.”
The lump in Diana’s throat swelled, but for a different reason. She’d never known people like this existed. “I don’t know what to say except thank you. All of you.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Laredo opened his arms to her.
She walked into his embrace and stayed there for a few blissful moments. He was right, and neither one of them needed to say anything. Instead of a conversation of words, it was a conversation of souls. Her heart was beating for him. Even if he were to be another man she’d have to surrender to his career.
She also knew he wasn’t going to like what she was going to say. It might even cost her a future with him.
She eased out of his embrace. “We need to talk.”
Harris let out a low whistle. “Nothing good ever starts with those four words.”
The image of Pat, forlorn and hurting, made Diana gather her resolve. “Including this. You’re not going to like this conversation.”