Chapter 40
Deputy Luke Hale stepped off the elevator beside Dr. Vivian Calder, the fourth-floor corridor full of low voices and rolling carts. Hospital lighting bathed everything in the same tired yellow.
Luke still felt like the new guy.
His first official day on the job at Jackson County Sheriff’s Department had been the day after Sara Parker vanished.
Welcome to Sylva. What a way to start.
Since then, everything had blurred into chaos—suspects, long nights, radio traffic. A department he still wanted to belong to… once things got back to normal.
Deputy Jenkins stood sentry outside Room 412, coffee gone cold in his hand.
“There he is,” Jenkins said, straightening. “Sheriff said you’d be taking over.”
Luke nodded. “How is she?”
Jenkins blew out a breath, glancing through the narrow window in the door.
“Whatever they drugged her with before dumping her in that bed—it’s hanging on.
Squad brought her in through the ER a little after ten.
She hasn’t made a peep since they rolled her up from downstairs.
Vitals are holding. Doc says it’s gonna wear off slow. ”
Dr. Vivian Calder stepped closer to the glass, taking a measured look at Sara. “Pulse ox?”
“Ninety-eight with supplemental,” Jenkins said. “BP’s stable. They’ve got her on fluids and something mild to keep her from snapping awake in a full panic.”
Calder gave a short, satisfied nod. “Good. I’ll need to observe her once she starts cycling in and out of sleep. For now, the best thing we can do is keep the environment controlled.”
She looked at Luke. “You’ll be on that door?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Then no one comes through but me, her attending, her mother, and her sister,” Calder said. “If anyone questions that, you send them to Director Tucker or Sheriff Scott.”
“Understood.”
Jenkins handed Luke the clipboard and surrendered his post. “She stirs, she goes right back under,” he said. “You’ll hear it if she starts climbing. The monitors don’t lie.”
Luke clapped his shoulder. “Go home, Jenkins. Get some sleep.”
“Wouldn’t mind forgetting today ever happened,” Jenkins muttered, managing a tired half-smile for Calder. “Doctor.”
When he was gone, the hallway settled into its strange hospital quiet—never truly silent, just layered noise under the lights.
Luke shifted his weight, looking through the window.
Sara lay pale against the white sheets, IV line taped neatly at her hand. No bruises visible. No restraints. Only the neatness of someone who’d been arranged and left behind.
He’d seen her around the department before. In uniform. In passing. Quick and sharp when she spoke. The day he had his interview, he had noticed her pretty green eyes and the sprinkle of freckles on her nose.
Now she looked smaller.
Too still.
And yeah—she was still pretty, even like this—which made him annoyed at himself for noticing.
Calder watched him watching her. “You know her well?” she asked.
“She’s one of ours,” he said. “That’s enough.”
Calder accepted that with a small nod. “I’m going to check in with her attending, then meet Parker’s family. If she wakes and escalates, call for me. Otherwise, keep your presence steady and calm. The first face she recognizes needs to be controlled, not panicked.”
“I can do steady,” Luke said.
“I’m counting on it.”
She moved off down the hall.
Luke took his seat beside the door, where he could see both the corridor and the bed through the narrow glass. Boots planted. Hands loose. The long watch settling into his bones.
For a while, nothing moved.
Then her fingers twitched.
Sara’s Room
The first sound was little more than a murmur of a word.
“…no…”
A sour taste filled her mouth. Her wrist throbbed where the IV pulled. Blankets bunched between her fists.
Luke was up and at the door before he realized he’d moved. He cracked it open, stepped inside, staying clear of the bed.
Sara’s head rolled against the pillow. Her chest hitched, picking up speed.
Then—
Her legs jerked hard beneath the sheets. The monitor screamed.
“Don’t—” she rasped, eyes still closed. “Don’t make me… I’m done… please…”
Her hands clawed at the blankets, dragging them up like a shield against something only she could see. The IV line went taut.
“Parker,” Luke said, voice low and even. “Sara. It’s Deputy Hale. You’re in the hospital. You’re safe.”
Her legs kicked again, body fighting ghosts that weren’t there. The monitor leapt higher.
“No more,” she choked. “No more… writing…”
The word hit him cold.
“Sara,” he said, closer now, movements deliberate. “I’m going to touch your wrist so you don’t rip that line out. That’s all I’m doing.”
He caught her forearm gently, enough to keep the IV intact.
She bucked hard, eyes squeezing shut.
“You’re not there,” he said. “You’re not in that room. You’re in Sylva. Harris Regional. You’ve got law on your door. Burke’s here. You’re out.”
Her eyes flew open.
Wild.
Disoriented.
“YOU?” she gasped, panic flaring before recognition could catch up.
Luke stepped back instantly, hands raised.
“All right. Okay. I’m backing off. You’re safe. Nobody here is going to hurt you.”
Her breathing came fast, ragged. The monitor spiked again.
The door swung open.
A nurse hustled in, eyes on the numbers. “Heart rate’s spiking.”
“You’re in the hospital,” the nurse said gently. “Harris Regional. You’re safe. This isn’t where you were.”
Sara’s throat worked. “This… isn’t… his room?”
“No, ma’am.”
Tears filled her eyes; she blinked them back hard.
“I don’t know him,” she whispered, eyes flicking to Luke. “Why is he in here?”
Luke stayed back. “Name’s Luke Hale. I’m on your door. I thought you were going to rip your IV out.”
“I don’t want him touching me.”
“You’ve got every right,” Luke said. “Won’t happen again unless you’re in danger.”
The nurse adjusted the pump. “This’ll help take the edge off.”
Sara stared at the ceiling. “How long… was I gone?”
“Long enough,” Luke said. “But you’re back.”
“Why’d he bring me back?” she whispered. “What is this to him?”
Luke’s fingers curled. “I don’t know. But he doesn’t get near you again.”
“Deputy Hale.”
Calder stood in the doorway now.
“We’re going to pause,” Calder said. “Deputy, hallway. A moment.”
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” Sara rasped.
“We won’t,” Calder said gently.
Luke backed out, staying in her sight until he reached the hall.
Hallway
Calder eased the door mostly closed, leaving a slim gap.
Up close, her eyes were razor-sharp.
“You were about to tell her things she’s not ready for,” Calder said quietly. “That’s how you fracture recovery before it starts.”
“She’s asking questions.”
“She’s in survival mode,” Calder said. “If she learns too soon, it will collapse her—emotionally, cognitively. She’ll go right back into that room in her head.”
Luke swallowed. “So I hold the line.”
“You hold the line,” Calder confirmed. “Be the calm she doesn’t have yet.”
He nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”
“For what it’s worth,” Calder added, softening, “she asked who you were. She didn’t assume you were him. Right now, that’s more trust than most victims in her position can manage.”
Luke wasn’t sure it felt like a win.
Calder slipped back into the room.
Luke returned to his chair, eyes on the window.
“Nobody’s getting past that door,” he murmured.
Not while he was breathing.