Page 57 of See You Soon
"Is Damon okay? Has he been rescued?" Her question confuses me and I'm unsure of how to answer. She's frantic and demanding. I change my gaze from the tv to her. Her eyebrows are furrowed and worried. I glance at the monitor and her heart rate is rising again.
Oh, no. What do I do?
Who's Damon?
"I'm sorry Violet. I don't know who that is. Who is he?"
"He was with me! We were together, kidnapped together! Please tell me he's okay, please." She rasps at me, angry. Her fear quickly turns into anger and I'm completely thrown off by her mood change.
"I'm sorry I'll try and get some information about him. Is that okay?" I ask, standing up from my chair.
"Please. He was with me... he... he was with me." Her voice trembles and I know she's about to start crying. She looks down at her hands, fidgeting with her fingers.
I nod and take off towards the ER desk. My steps are fast and heavy. They purposefully placed Violet in an ICU room in front of the nurses' station desk where most of the staff hung around most of the time.
There were two hostages?Where was he? And why wasn't he here?
Doctor Diaz is sitting in a chair, studying his computer monitor, most likely reviewing lab or radiology results. He takes one quick glance at me and he's so deep into his work, I know he doesn't have time to talk. Doctor Diaz is extremely passionate about his job. Once he was in this mode of concentration, there was no interrupting him.
He reaches for the sedative medication that was sitting by his keyboard and hands it to me. I shake my head at him.
"No, it's not that. She's been calm... it's just that she's mentioned a name. Damon. She says he was with her, together. Do you know who that is by any chance? Or where he is?" I ask, tip-toeing over the ER desk.
It seems like my questions snap Doctor Diaz out of his concentration and looks over to me like I said something familiar. He sighs.
"Yes. I do actually. One of the Navy SEALS filled me in on the current situation since Violet was a wreck when she came in. And when I say that, I mean she kept mentioning someone named Damon. We were all confused so Mr. Rider disclosed it with limited staff members. Rider's team saved Violet. The same mission that almost got Mr. Rooker killed. Damon was taken hostage along with her. Unfortunately, he's still out there. She was the only one they were able to rescue. A group of special operations personnel is still working on getting him back. But that's all I know. These missions are super sensitive so… please keep your discretion." Doctor Diaz finishes, rubbing his temples.
I gasp. Holding my hand to my mouth. Doctor Diaz nods to me, frowning, before returning to the computer screen. Pure shock gnawing at my body.
Danny was on that mission? Is that how he got his gruesome injury on his back? Is that where he was going next?
He saved Violet.
The thought of him leaving on the same mission that almost got Rooker killed shakes me to my core. I feel tethered to him knowing he's my first… he's a jerk buthe's my jerk.Why does he consider himself a villain? Danny saved this woman's life.
But now that he’s cleared, he's leaving again.
A thousand questions come flooding into my head and I'm slowly digesting my feelings. The stress I was feeling in that moment, all I could do was close my eyes, tight. If this is the way they had left Violet, I can't imagine how they have Damon. I don't want to imagine.
I have to go back into that room and let Violet know what I was told and I wasn't sure how she was going to take it. I take a deep breath, throw my head back, and look at the ceiling.
I was already falling so hard for Danny. Knowing now… what he was doing, I was painting horrible pictures in my head about what his missions were like. This was his reality. The thought of him leaving tomorrow was making me sick to my stomach.
I tried my best to relax before going back into the room with Violet. Rocking on my heels, taking deep breaths, attempting to think positively about the rest of my shift. Before I went back into the room I thought of the one thing I could probably do at this moment to make her feel better. To try and distract her from her dark thoughts along with mine. It was not much at all but I had to do something. I walk to the supplies closet and get a hair brush. There were always some hygiene tools around. I close the supply closet door that's seconds away from the nurse's station and head back toward Violet's room. It was a slow night in the ICU so I have time. I can't bring back Damon for her. I can't magically heal her trauma and make her forget about the sinister evil she went through, but I can do this.I can brush her hair.
I walk back into the room, slowly, and start removing the restraints from Violet. I want her to know that I trust her to not hurt me and she could trust me as well.
"Wh— what are you doing?" Violet asks me. As soon as the first restraint lets loose, she holds her wrist to her chest, massaging it.
I go over to her other side, doing the same. I look at her, my bottom lip twitching out of sorrow.
"Damon is still out there. I know you don't want to hear this, Violet. I wish I had more of a positive update and I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you had to endure such terrible things." I study her, holding the hairbrush to my side, standing. She's looking back at me and her eyes get glossy.
I let her sit with her thoughts silently. She holds her knees to her chest, looking back at the TV. I start gnawing at the inside of my cheek.
"May I?" I plead, lifting the hairbrush in the air next to my chin.
She looks at me, pausing. I could feel her pain with just the look she was giving me. Then, she nods. I walk to her, getting behind her so she could keep watching the TV show. I part her hair in two and start with one side, brushing ever so gently. Her hair was so badly knotted.
