Page 35 of Nowhere to Hide

“You find this guy, Stone.”

“I will.”

I nodded and opened my eyes until I found the horizon line and my breath evened out.

“Then I’ll keep her safe until you do.”

CHAPTER 8

CILLA

The room wasdim when I resurfaced again.

I squinted at the clock on the far wall. Five o’clock. I’d say a.m. based on the light in the room, but the blinds were drawn, leaving me in the dreamy half wakefulness of the really good drugs they kept pumping into me.

I shifted under the blankets and felt the familiar tight numbness of my first night in the hospital.

Suddenly the memory of pain and blood came screaming back into my consciousness. I tried to sit up and sensors started beeping. A nurse bustled in and that was when I noticed a uniformed cop sitting in the corner.

A nurse hurried in. “How are you doing, Priscilla?”

I licked my lips against the dryness. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t try to sit up just yet.” She reached for the remote and slowly lifted the head of my bed. She held a cup with a straw in front of me and I took a grateful sip.

She flicked the sheets back to check my dressing and quickly tucked the bedclothes back around my legs.

The cop stood, his hands locked together in front of him.

“Officer, she’s in no condition for you to be questioning her.”

His jaw flexed, but he nodded.

I didn’t recognize him, but I did want to help. I brought a shaking hand up to take the cup from the nurse. “I can talk to him if he needs it.”

The nurse had kind eyes and a firm mouth. “Are you sure?”

I nodded.

She sighed. “Make it quick. She needs to rest.”

“Thank you, Rachel.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She patted my arm and handed me the remote. “Hit that bell if you need to be saved.”

The cop sighed. “I’m not going to interrogate her for God’s sake.”

“Be sure that you don’t. She’s had two surgeries within the span of four days.”

“Four days?” I frowned. “How?”

“We kept you sedated to make sure you didn’t pull out your stitches again.”

I frowned. “I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s all right. You’ve been through a traumatic ordeal.”

My eyes burned and I drank again. I felt muzzy and all I wanted to do was roll over and sleep more. “Thanks for helping me.”