Page 44 of Hacker Revelation

“Yes. Can I see Kat?”

The doctor let out a sigh. “How about we go talk in a room?”

Kat’s family and friends were all around me. Anything the doctor had to say could be said in front of our family. “We can talk here. Is my wife okay.”

He eyed me for a second. “Kat is out of surgery and in recovery. Her recovery is going to be long and hard. We had to remove her gallbladder and part of her liver. The bullet hit her pelvic bone and traveled upward. It did a lot of damage on its path. She will be fine in a few months. Until then, she will need to rest.”

“I want to see her now.”

“Kat will be out for a while, maybe days. She hit her head hard. Go home, take a shower, and have a night’s rest.”

I thought the doctor had better let me see my wife or I would knock his ass down and look in every room until I found her.

“I don’t care. I want to see her now.”

He finally nodded at the nurse next to him. I grabbed Sophie’s hand and followed the nurse. I knew she wanted to see her sister as badly as I needed to see Kat.

The nurse opened the door to Kat’s room. The sight in front of me hit me like a freight train. Kat had a white gauze bandaged wrapped around her head. The machines made the only noise in the room. Sophie rushed to Kat’s side, grabbed her hand, and cried.

I took Kat’s other side and couldn’t hold back the tears. I had almost lost my wife a second time.

* * *

Kat

I had been in the hospital for four days. Antonio hadn’t left my room. The farthest he’d gone was to the bathroom. I loved my husband to death, but he needed to go home, shower, and have a good night’s sleep.

Juan and his men were in jail or dead. We didn’t have anything to worry about anymore. Antonio and I had talked about that night, and we each had different parts that scared us. My heart still pounded when I thought about someone breaking into our house with Ant home. He could have been hurt. Antonio had had to see my almost-lifeless body.

“Honey, go home tonight. Jacob will be right outside the door. No one will come after me.”

Antonio shifted in his chair. “I’m fine where I am.”

Jesus, I was married to the most stubborn man alive. “I need you to go home and grab me some clothes to wear out of the hospital tomorrow. While you’re there, take a shower and a nap.” When it looked like he was about to argue again, I begged. “Please. I’ve worn the plaid hospital nightgown long enough. I don’t want to wear any hospital clothes home.”

“Fine.” Antonio leaned down and brushed his lips against mine before he left the room.

I reached for my phone to work on my missed messages. Each day, they piled up. I had a missed text from Sophie. Attached to the message was a picture of FBI Director Westblack standing next to crates of military-grade weapons.

When I went to click on the link, my stomach growled.

I texted Jacob, who stood guard outside my room.

Can u get me something to eat?

I heard the ding on his phone, and his reply came back immediately.

I can’t leave. I will have Antonio grab you something.

“No!” I yelled from my room. Jacob appeared in the doorway.

“Please run down to the café and get me a sandwich. Nobody will kidnap me in five minutes.”

He looked at his phone and typed out a message.

Someone approached Jacob from behind. He was so quick I didn’t have time to yell for Jacob to turn. The masked man drove a needle into Jacobs neck and pulled his limp body into my hospital room. With the door closed the intruder dropped Jacob to the ground and put a hand over my mouth before I could scream.

“Where is she?”

---