Page 49 of Belgian Betrayal

Fearghas and Catya flanked her, holding her hands as the doctor spoke.

“Your father came through surgery all right. I was able to stop the internal bleeding, but he lost a lot of blood. Fortunately, the bullet missed more than it hit. His major organs, like his heart and lungs, escaped injury. Still, he will need time to recover. We want to keep him at the hospital to observe his progress as long as necessary until we are sure he is recovering well.”

“Thank you,” Madison said. “May I see him?”

“Yes, you can see him,” the doctor said, “but he won’t be awake.”

“I understand. I just want to see him.” Madison looked at Fearghas and Catya. “Is it okay if my friends come with me?”

The doctor nodded. “Yes, but you can only stay a few minutes. Do you have a place to stay?”

“We’ll make sure she does,” Fearghas said. “Thank you for all you did for her father.”

The doctor gave them a brief nod. “It is my job. A nurse will show you to his room.” He turned and left.

Moments later, a nurse showed them to the room where Atkins lay on a hospital bed hooked up to an IV, monitors and a cannula feeding him oxygen.

Madison went to her father’s side and took his hand. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “You’re going to be all right. We’re going to be all right. Now, hurry up and get better. I can’t lose you like we lost Mother.”

Catya slipped her hand into Fearghas’s and leaned against him as they stood watching Madison with her father.

“We need to get to Brussels,” Fearghas said softly.

Catya squeezed his hand. “No, we need to be here. That girl needs someone with her until she knows her father’s going to be okay.”

Fearghas nodded. “I know.”

“I’m just as worried that the people who did this won’t pay for the damage they’ve done.”

“We’ll find them,” Fearghas said, his jaw tightening.

Madison placed her father’s hand on the bed beside him and joined Fearghas and Catya as they left the room.

“We should get a hotel room for the night,” Fearghas said.

Madison shook her head. “I want to stay here. At least until I know he’s going to be okay.” She looked up at Fearghas, her eyes filling with tears. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

Fearghas pulled the girl into his arms and held her as she cried. “It’s terrifying being abducted and held hostage. You’ve been through a lot.”

She shook her head. “I was scared, but I knew my father would find me. No. I’m more terrified of losing him. After losing my mother, he’s all the family I have.” She pressed her face against Fearghas’s chest, soaking his shirt with her tears.

He patted her back, his gaze meeting Catya’s.

Catya wrapped her arms around Madison from behind.

They held the girl between them until her sobs subsided.

Fearghas guided the girl to a seat and pressed her into it. He sat on one side of her and Catya sat on the other, each holding one of her hands.

Exhausted from all she’d endured, Madison soon nodded off, resting her cheek against Fearghas’s shoulder.

Catya continued to hold Madison’s hand, her gaze on the girl and Fearghas.

“You’d make a good mother,” Fearghas whispered.

Her brow wrinkled. “How do you know? I’ve never changed a diaper on a screaming baby.”

“You care about the innocents.”

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