‘Will he die?’ Abigail whispered.
Mercy almost said no, but she wouldn’t lie to Abigail. Too many people had. ‘I hope not.’ She tucked a stray hair behind Abigail’s ear. ‘Papa is a strong man.’ Totally true. ‘He loves you very much and will fight to stay with you, but if his body is hurt too badly . . .’ She sighed and, tugging her hand free, pulled Abigail into her arms. The little girl came willingly, sliding her arms around Mercy’s neck and fiercely holding on. ‘If he doesn’t wake up, it won’t be because he didn’t want to stay with you forever. Does that make sense?’
A slight nod, but Abigail was trembling. Crying. Oh, baby. ‘I’m sorry, Abigail. I’m so sorry.’
Abigail shook her head. ‘You didn’t shoot him,’ she said into Mercy’s neck.
No, I didn’t. ‘There’s sorry-apologize and sorry-sorrowful. I mean the second one.’
Another slight nod. ‘Can we go in now?’
Mercy pulled back, wiping Abigail’s wet cheeks with her thumbs. ‘My mama used to dry my tears like this,’ Mercy whispered. ‘Then she’d kiss my forehead. Can I kiss yours?’
Abigail leaned forward, presenting her forehead, which made Mercy smile as she kissed her. ‘Your papa would be so proud of you right now. You are a very brave girl.’
‘You are, too. You helped save your friend. She told me.’
Farrah and André had returned to the Sokolov house to rest and be taken care of by the Sokolov horde. Farrah had texted Mercy that she felt right at home. ‘Farrah is my very best friend. Of course I helped to save her. That’s what you do for the people you love.’
‘Like my papa saved you.’
Mercy swallowed hard. ‘Yes.’ And by extension, he’d saved Rafe, which guaranteed him a place at the Sokolovs’ table forever. If he wakes up. Please wake up, Amos. Abigail needs you.
I need you.
‘Will he be . . .’ Abigail’s body went rigid. ‘Will he have blood on him?’
Mercy’s heart crumbled. ‘No, sweetheart. He’s all cleaned up. But he has a bandage on his throat and there are machines and tubes that will look scary.’
Abigail nodded stoically. ‘Miss Irina told me. She said he has a tube that helps him breathe.’
Mercy kissed Abigail’s forehead again. The girl’s skin had gone clammy with fear. ‘That’s true, and I won’t lie to you, it’s really scary. I . . . I was scared, Abigail. I still am.’ Which was why Rafe hadn’t left her side in Amos’s ICU room. He was waiting for her there now, elevating his leg in the room’s recliner.
‘You’re scared he’ll die?’
Do not lie to this child. ‘Yes,’ Mercy whispered. ‘But I have hope, so you should, too. And, Abigail, if being here at the hospital is too scary, and you want to go back to Irina and Karl’s house, you can do that. No one will be upset with you. Especially your papa. I promise.’
Abigail’s jaw set stubbornly. ‘I want to see him.’
‘Then we will.’ Mercy stood, took Abigail’s hand, and hit the ICU admittance buzzer with her other hand.
Poor Rafe. Mercy hurt a little, but Rafe was in serious pain. One of the doctors had checked him out when they’d arrived at UC Davis, worried that Amos’s tackle had reinjured tendons that had been shredded by a bullet six weeks ago. From the expression on Rafe’s face when he’d thought she wasn’t looking, he was afraid of this, too. It would put him further back on his PT rehab schedule, which meant even longer before he could be a cop again.
If he ever could. Mercy had felt the anxiety coming off him in waves and it broke her heart. But it was time to shift her worry over Rafe to Abigail as a nurse opened the ICU door to take them to Amos’s room. They’d had to get special permission, but Irina had worked her magic and they’d been allowed an hour. Squeezing Mercy’s hand hard, Abigail walked into her papa’s room, pressed close to Mercy’s side.
Rafe looked up with a tired smile. ‘Hi, Abigail.’
Abigail nodded, her eyes fixed on Amos in the bed, on the way his chest rose and fell, powered by the ventilator. Her lips moved, but no sound emerged and she was even paler than she’d been before.
Mercy moved closer to the bed and took Amos’s hand with her free one. ‘Abigail’s here,’ she said quietly. ‘She is so brave, Amos. You’ve raised her well. You’re a good papa.’
‘Can he hear us?’ Abigail whispered.
Mercy smiled down at her. ‘Maybe. But in case he can, let’s let him know we’re here, okay?’
Abigail joined Mercy close to her father’s bedside. ‘Hi, Papa. I’m . . . here. I’m here, Papa. I hope you can hear me.’
‘I think he can,’ Rafe said softly. ‘When I had my surgery and was recovering, I could hear Mercy talking to me.’
Abigail lifted her gaze to Rafe, who sat on the other side of the bed, studiously avoiding Amos’s face, half-covered with the ventilator mask. ‘What did she say?’
‘She mostly read to me, I think.’
Mercy was surprised. ‘You heard that?’
‘I did. I don’t remember exactly what you read, but I’d hear your voice and it gave me something to hold on to.’
‘It was an astronomy book.’ Mercy sat in the chair next to Amos’s bed, biting back a sigh of exhaustion. ‘Come, Abigail.’ She patted her knee, relieved when the girl sat in her lap easily, resting her head on Mercy’s shoulder. ‘It was the only book that I had in my purse at the time. I’d bought it for my brother John’s daughter. She wants to be an astronaut.’
Abigail looked up at her. ‘What’s that?’
Ignoring Rafe’s stunned expression, Mercy answered levelly, because she knew exactly what Abigail hadn’t been taught – and what lies she’d been fed. ‘It’s a person who goes into space. A few men went to the moon, but that was long before I was born. I think even before your papa was born.’
Abigail’s lips pursed. ‘That’s not true. My teacher said it wasn’t true, that it was a movie, made in Hollywood. That the government lied.’
‘What else did she say was a lie?’ Mercy asked patiently as Rafe gaped in astonishment.
‘Phones. Oh right. They’re true.’ Abigail’s brow scrunched, the little girl in deep thought. ‘Bigfoot? One of the boys in school said Bigfoot hides in the forest.’
Mercy couldn’t contain her laugh. Across the bed, Rafe was biting back a grin. ‘Well,’ Mercy said, brushing Abigail’s hair from her face, ‘I’m not so sure about Bigfoot. He’s probably not true. But astronauts are totally true. I’ll get you some books so you can read about it for yourself.’