Page 99 of Protecting Bianca

“Thank you. I promise.”

I hugged the woman and nearly kissed her, too.

“She’s in room 105,” she called out after me, chuckling. “Man’s lost his mind.”

I did. I lost my mind and my heart, too. It belonged to Bianca and started beating faster the closer the numbers got to 105. Running past the other rooms, I stopped abruptly when I found hers. My heart thumped in my chest and all the hard work I’d done in the car to keep my emotions in check went out that emergency room door when I saw her.

An oxygen mask covered her nose and mouth and an IV jutted from the vein in her left arm. A consistent beep sounded from the monitor next to her bed. A blue and yellow light flashed but nothing seemed urgent. The room smelled stale, not pungent, but it made my stomach turn. That and the paleness ofher skin next to the white bed sheets. She looked like a ghost and my breath caught at the thought that she was not asleep but…

No.The monitors worked quietly. She was not dead. She was alive and here with me. My eyes stung, and I sniffed once.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Pulling up a chair next to her bed, I covered her hand with mine and watched her sleep.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Her hand was warm and felt as soft as velvet. I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes.Thank you.

So many times in my life, my world took an unexpected turn that I’d almost expected this scenario to turn out differently than it did. But it hadn’t.

Footsteps came up behind me, and then I heard Will’s voice. “The nurse said she’s going to be alright. They will give her oxygen for the rest of the night and will wait until she wakes up to make sure there aren’t any side effects from the drug she’d been given.”

I swallowed the fury that rose in my throat. “What about Tagert and Walsh?”

“Chaudhary has them both in custody. We are going through all the video surveillance and computer records now.”

That was usually my job. “I’ll work on it later tonight.”

“Go home and get some rest. You don’t want to be a mess when she wakes up.”

“Why hasn’t she woken up yet? Is Towers awake?”

“He’s in and out of consciousness.”

“She hasn’t moved.”

“She is resting. She’s been through a lot.”

I nodded, but wasn’t convinced.

“Go home. Get some rest.”

“No. I’m not leaving until she wakes.”

Will put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll keep you posted as soon as I have some news.”

“Thanks.”

I listened to his footsteps as they receded down the hallway. Then I closed my eyes and dropped my head onto the bed rail. “Sleep, Bianca. You need your rest. Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

I caressed her hand with my thumb and listened to her breathing, the sounds of the room dulled my worries.

Beep… Beep… Beep…

Bianca

It was hard to breathe. My lungs burned as I gasped for air. Darkness engulfed me like a thick veil over my eyes, and my body shivered from the cold.

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