Page 32 of The Pawn

Ifire that damned nurse. Send her out of the house in the middle of the night. Fuck her. Fuck her! I could fucking kill her.

Allegra lies on her back on the bed, just how I laid her down. The fingers of her good hand are twitching, though, her face tightening, lips moving soundlessly. I trapped here inside her nightmare. Another nightmare. This one may not leave her missing a finger, but it will leave scars all the same.

Fuck.

I shouldn’t have sedated her. I broke my promise again. I failed her again.

Fuck!

I pull her to me for the hundredth time. I whisper to her that I’m here. That she’s not alone. She’s unresponsive though. He body limp in my arms. Does she hear my words? Feel my embrace? I hold her tight to me. Maybe she can hear me in there. Maybe she can know she’s not alone.

Hours pass, each minute feeling like an eternity. I don’t sleep. I won’t. I won’t break another promise. I hold her until the light changes from purple to yellow and the sun feels warm on my skin.

I watch her, touching her cheek, each bruise I see making me hate myself a little more.

Someone knocks softly on the door. I check the time. Nine o’clock. I get out of the bed, scrub my face, five o’clock shadow quickly turning into a full beard. I push a hand through my hair and pull on a T-shirt. I stripped it off last night to hold her to me. Skin to skin contact. I’m not sure it helped though. When I open the door, I see the doctor followed by another woman. A different nurse.

The doctor wishes me a good morning although her smile tells me she’s wary. She glances over my shoulder at the sleeping Allegra. “I’m sorry about the nurse,” she whispers. “It won’t happen again.”

I nod, exhausted. “Coffee,” I tell the soldier behind her.

“Yes, sir.”

“May I see her?”

I move to let her enter. “Don’t wake her. She’s finally quieted.”

The doctor looks Allegra over. She’s careful not to wake her. She checks the bandage. It’ll need to be changed, but I tell her I’ll do it later after Allegra wakes. She wants to argue with me that I should let the nurse handle it, but I trust myself more than I do any nurse. When she’s finished, she promises once more that this one won’t fall asleep. She leaves and I tell the nurse to wait in the kitchen until I need her.

I’m about to return to the bedroom, coffee in hand, when my phone rings. It’s Angelo.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Amal and Daniel Lombardi just turned up.”

“Where?”

“Florida. They’re with Lombardi’s mother.”

“So their grandmother?”

“It would appear so.”

“Why haven’t we looked there? Why don’t I know about her?”

“They’re estranged. Have been since Malek turned eighteen. It’s the first time she’s meeting her grandchildren.”’

“Hm. Let’s keep eyes on them.”

“Already done.”

“Anything on Malek?”

“Not yet. You know I’ll call if there is.”

I disconnect and return to the bedroom coffee in hand and sit down on the chair to watch her. I sip my coffee and consider this development.

Almost an hour later, Allegra begins to stir. My heartbeats pick up in anticipation of her waking. Allegra’s eyes flutter open. She doesn’t move at first just lies there looking up at the ceiling. I stand to go to her. When she sees the movement, she startles, her entire body suddenly on full alert, eyes locked on me.