Page 15 of Risky Obsession

Nurse Nalinha, according to her name badge, leaned toward me and pushed a thermometer into my ear canal. “You’re in Rosebud Hospital.”

“How long have I been here?”

She removed the thermometer, studied the reading and wrote something onto a clipboard. “You came in a few hours ago.”

“How did I get here?”

“I don’t know.” She held a cup of water with a straw toward me.

I took a large sip and when it hurt to swallow, I recalled that bastard trying to strangle me. “I need to call my captain. Captain Watts from Rosebud Police Station.”

She pressed her hand to my shoulder in a firm but forceful touch. “What you need to do is rest.”

“No. It can’t wait.”

A frown drilled across her face. “Let me see what I can do.”

“Thank you. Please, this is important.”

“The most important thing is repairing your body.” Scowling at me, she wrote something on a clipboard beside my bed.

“Yes, I know, and I will as soon as I’ve told Captain Watts about the very important police matter. I’m Detective Lacey Brooks. Did you know that?”

“It doesn’t matter who you are. You are my patient, and that means you need to do what I say.”

She left my room, and the incredible silence returned. Nine years ago, I’d spent two months in hospital after I’d nearly died. I couldn’t remember it ever being this quiet. Then again, I’d been so high on medication and completely terrified that someone was going to murder me, that I’d probably invented half the noises I’d heard.

“Knock knock.” A male voice sounded beyond the curtain. “You awake, Lacey?”

“Yes.” As I tried to pull myself up the bed, Captain Watts tugged the curtain aside and relief washed over me.

“Jesus Christ, Brooks, what the hell were you thinking, going to that place by yourself?” Watts said, shaking his head.

“It just happened so quickly, sir. I was working on a hunch and?—”

“A hunch! Fucking hell, Brooks, you nearly got yourself killed and the entire top of an island was blown sky high and that’s just?—”

“I found Chui’s accountant!” I blurted.

“What?”

“Yes. It just happened so quickly. I need to tell Aria.”

“Christ almighty. I should have known this was connected to that fucker Chui. Give me a minute.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, then paused. “Are you okay?”

“Just a few bruises and two injured fingers.” I raised my right hand. “I’ll be fine.”

He marched away, jabbing buttons on his phone. “Aria, it’s Watts. You got a minute. Yeah, I’ve got a situation?—”

His voice petered away.

Using the control panel, I lowered the bed and sat up. A dizzy spell made the room swim, and I sucked in deep breaths, trying to make my mind keep up with my eyeballs. Once that settled, I figured out how to lower the rail trapping me in the bed. Placing my feet on the ground, I gripped the IV drip and forced my body to take me to the restroom.

Every step was an exercise in agony, but my determination overcame the pain as I hobbled forward. In the bathroom, the stark fluorescent light in the small space revealed my battered reflection. The skin around my left eye was swollen, a bruise darkened my jawline, and I had a scratch along my left cheek that I couldn’t remember getting.

I was catapulted back ten years to another time when I’d fought for my life and nearly died.

How many lives did I have?