When they were done, Shelly asked, “How do the stitches look?”
“Nice and clean,” the nurse said. “Let me get a small towel, and we can pat that all down and then bundle up your hair and get the rest of you dressed.”
And that’s what they did. By the time Shelly wore a new hospital gown and was back in bed, she was shaky and teary. She’d only just gotten under the covers, when a knock came at the door.
“Come in,” she said softly, hoping her head wouldn’t hurt. A head poked around the corner. She smiled. “Hey, Shane. How are you?”
“I’m fine,” he said. “The question really is, how are you?”
“Well, I just had a shower.”
“How about a cup of coffee?” he said, waggling his eyebrows.
She stared at him. “You know how much I love you already,” she said, “but if you bring me coffee …”
He nudged the door open wider with his shoulder and stepped in, holding two big mugs.
She cried out in delight and slowly shifted her position, so she leaned up against the headboard. She accepted a cup from him gratefully. “There’s nothing quite like that first cup in the morning,” she said, “particularly after a crappy night.”
“How was your night?”
“I kept waking up from the pain,” she admitted, “but the doctor says I’m doing fine.”
“Perfect,” he said.
“How long am I here for?”
“I’m not sure yet,” he said. “We’ll have to hear from the doctor first.”
“Well, I can hardly sit here at the US Navy’s expense,” she said, “when I could go home to recuperate.”
“It’s a little more complicated than that,” he said. “Until we actually capture this guy, you’re still in danger.”
She stared at him in shock and then sipped her coffee. Her mind raced, as she thought about the implications. “You know, if I still had a job,” she said, “I would have lost it by now.”
“Not necessarily,” he murmured. “These are extenuating circumstances.”
She groaned at that. “What about your sister?”
“No word yet,” he said, his tone grim.
“They’ll want to trade. You know that?”
“I know. In fact,” he hesitated and then said, “the kidnapper just reached out.”
“And?”
“They want Aleah in exchange for my family.”
“So, two in exchange for four. That’s hard too.”
“Very,” he said. “Of course her father has also reached out, with his utmost thanks, but now suddenly is getting cagey and denies having my sister. We can’t rule him out of any of this mess either, since he’s the one who has taken so many lives to get his daughter back already. The fact that Aleah wants nothing to do with him is telling as well.”
“No happy ending for her in this, is there?”
“It’s hard to see how,” he said. “I’m not exactly sure what the answer is for any of us at the moment, but I will promise to keep you safe. You and Aleah and the baby.”
She stared at him, knowing that he was making the promise to the best of his ability, but this scenario could be way past anything he could do. “I think we need to find the guy who kidnapped her,” she said, “and figure out how to get your sister back safe from whoever the hell has Prissy and her family. Then, at some point, you’ll have to deal with the father.”
“I know,” he said, “and I’m not looking forward to any of it, but—”
“But you will,” she said gently, “because it’s what you do.”
He laughed. “It is what I do. I just hadn’t expected it to become quite so personal.”
“That’s life,” she said. She looked down at the coffee that was almost gone and asked, “Any chance of some food to go with this?”
“I can go to the kitchen and see,” he said, hopping to his feet. “Finish that, and I’ll bring you another one.”
She beamed at him. “Thank you.” And then she stopped and said, “Oh, my goodness. What about Aleah? How is she? What about the baby?”
His expression changed into a look of wonder. “She had a little girl this morning.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” she said, then frowned. “I slept through that.”
“Maybe that was one of the reasons you kept waking up,” he said. “Maybe your subconscious was figuring that out.”
“Have you seen her yet?”
“Not yet, she’s asleep,” he said. “I’ll stop by after this.”
“Well, go say hi to her and then see what you can rustle up for food and more coffee.”
He nodded, leaned down, kissed her gently on the cheek, and said, “Stay safe.”
“Am I in danger here?” she asked in a small voice.
He shook his head. “No.”
“You realize that’s what you said at the hotel too.”
“Yeah, don’t remind me. I’m really sorry about that. And don’t worry. MI6 is pretty upset about the whole deal. They’re scrambling right now, going through the cases that guy was on for the last ten, twenty years, wondering just how much damage he’s caused.”
“Can we find answers to some of the outstanding questions through investigating his life?”
“They’re looking into it, and our guys are as well.”
“Well, I hope so,” she said. “I’m pretty well done with all this.”
He looked at her, smiled, and said, “And what will you do when it’s all over?”
“I have no clue,” she said, “but it did occur to me that it’s a gift in a way. I get a chance to reset my life and to figure out what I want to do and to make a decision. It might even help making my new life happen.”
“In what way?”
“I wasn’t really that happy in New York,” she said. “I found it difficult to meet people. They weren’t terribly friendly. It’s superbusy, superfoggy, and I just wasn’t that happy.”
“So back to California?”
“Maybe,” she said, “but to one of the smaller towns back off the coast.”
“You tell me where,” he said, “and I’ll help you make it happen.” And, with that, he disappeared.
She stared in his wake for a long moment. He’d always been a good friend, and she was just starting to realize that what they had was actually way past good friends. Maybe it had been a case of not the right time for them yet, but maybe it was now.
Shelly settled back in bed and smiled at the idea of a little baby girl being saved at the same time. And Shelly closed her eyes and dozed off to sleep once again.
Shane walked to the nurse, still carrying the two empty mugs, and asked, “Any chance I can see Aleah?”
“I’m not sure if she’s awake yet,” the nurse said, bouncing to her feet, “but let me check.” She disappeared, in a much happier mood this time than the last time he had asked. She came back with a bright smile, so he figured he’d get the go-ahead.