Raul and Grace exchanged worried glances across his bed, but Raul said, “You were poisoned with thallium. It’s a heavy metal that was once used in rat poison. But you’re responding well to the treatment.”
He had been poisoned. “How?”
“Mikel is working on that,” Raul said. “It can be absorbed through the skin, though.”
“How long have I been here?” Luis asked.
“You collapsed while talking to Eve about four hours ago,” Raul said. “No one outside this wing knows other than Mikel and your security detail.”
“Muy bien,” Luis said, closing his eyes in gratitude that the country was not aware of his condition…yet. Hopefully, he would recover swiftly enough to inform them after the fact.
“Do you want to go back to sleep?” Grace asked.
He opened his eyes again. “Is your mother here?”
“Yes,” Grace said. “I promised I would text her when you woke up. Is that all right?”
Longing made his heart clench. “Please ask her to come in,” he said.
“Eve may have saved your life,” Raul said, his expression intense. “She recognized the symptoms of thallium poisoning from her work with animals. She told Mikel to have the doctors test for it right away.”
“I owe her so much,” he murmured, blinking hard to fight back another damned tear. He was so weak that his emotions were controlling his body.
“She’s on her way,” Grace said before shoving her phone back into her jeans pocket. “Would you like some water?”
At her mention of a drink, his thirst rose up like a demon. “Yes, very much,” he said.
Grace picked up a cup with a handle and a straw. “Shall I hold it for you?” she asked.
Luis considered the pain it would inflict to lift his arm and decided to rely on his daughter’s help. There was a strange pleasure in that. “Please.”
She leaned in to bring the straw to his lips, taking care not to tangle with any of the lines attached to his body. The ice water tasted better than the finest champagne, refreshing the inside of his mouth and soothing his parched throat. He drank several sips before releasing the straw. “Thank you, hija mía. I needed that more than I knew.”
As Grace set the cup back on the bedside table, the door eased open.
When Eve glided quietly into the room, peace flowed through Luis like a warm tide. Her face was bare of makeup, her hair was yanked back in a messy ponytail, and she still wore the same blue dress as when she had come to his room. Now it was wrinkled and partly covered by a sweater.
She had never looked more beautiful.
“Querida!” he said.
Raul made a startled movement, and Luis realized what he had revealed to his son.
Eve did not acknowledge the endearment, but the worry on her lovely face eased. “I’m so glad you’re awake,” she said. “We were very concerned.”
He wanted to grab her hand and pull her onto the bed with him, to feel the warmth and softness of her body against his. “I understand that you saved my life by realizing that I had been poisoned by thallium. There are no adequate words to express my gratitude.”
Tears gleamed in her eyes but did not fall. “I only sped up the testing process. The doctors would have figured it out on their own.” She swallowed. “How do you feel?”
“I have had better days.” He did not want to worry Raul and Grace. “But I will recover.”
“Do the doctors know you’re awake?” Eve asked.
“I would prefer not to inform them yet,” Luis said. “Being with my family is curing my aches and pains.”
“Are you in pain? Where?” she asked, her gaze skimming over his body with renewed anxiety.
He managed a rueful smile to cover the truth in his humor. “Everywhere. Even my hair. But it is bearable.”