Goddess Legacy: Goddess Series Book 1 (32 page)

Then she started screaming. The pain was unbelievable. She was burning alive.

River dropped her hand, and she heard the door open. He must have left to find out why it was taking the doctor so long.

“Legacy? You to calm down,” she heard an older man’s voice say as he walked to her bed.

She tried, but she was hysterical. She just cried and cried.

“Can you open your eyes?”

She did, but they were blurry from the tears.

“Why am I hurting? It hurts all over. Adin!” she screamed, turning toward the hand he was holding again.

He put his free arm around her neck and put his head to hers. She cried uncontrollably.

“Shhhh.” Adin tried to soothe her. “What are you waiting for? Please just give her the medication.”

“I just did. I was afraid of this. We’ll give it another try in a few days.”

She whined softly as the pain lessened and she wondered if her skin was charred.

“Try to relax, sweetheart.” Adin had his hand on her face, stroking it.

Then the pain disappeared, and she fell right back to sleep.

Sometime later, she heard the monitors clearly, but didn’t hear any voices again. She didn’t hear anybody talking to her or each other. She didn’t even hear anybody breathing.

“Hello?” she tried to say, but she couldn’t even hear it herself.

She felt something in her hand. It was the same hand Adin had held, but in it was something hard, cold. She grasped it, trying to figure out what it was, but she couldn’t tell.

Then she heard the door open.

“Legacy, I’m your nurse. Can you hear me?”

She mumbled.

“Good. You’re under medication. There’s nothing to be scared about. I’m going to call Lissa. She’s here. She just stepped out for a minute. The beds aren’t very comfortable.”

“What-what time is it?” she whispered.

“It’s two in the morning.”

“Adin?”

“He left when visiting hours were over. He’s been here every day, all day. So has your other friend. You have quite the little fan club.” She chuckled. “I wish my boyfriend looked like either one of them, and girl, they both think you hung the moon.”

She wanted Adin here. She missed his hand in hers, anchoring her to realty.

“She’s awake,” she heard the nurse say. “Legacy, Lissa is on her way up.”

“’Ka-a-ay.”

She felt like she was falling back asleep, but she heard the door open again. “Legacy?”

“Hmmmm?”

“It’s Lissa. How are you feeling?”

“Tired.”

“That’s good. You need your rest.”

“I want Adin.”

“I know, honey. He’s been here, and he’ll be back in the morning.”

“No…call him, please.”

“I’m doing that now. He asked me to call if you woke up.”

She started to fall back asleep, but she heard Lissa mumble on the phone.

“She’s awake, and she’s asking for you.” A pause. “Yes.” She walked back over and put her hand on Legacy’s. “Legacy, he’s coming up here right now. You can go back to sleep.”

She must have because the next thing she realized was Adin’s hand in hers.

“Adin?”

“Yes, sweetheart. I’m here.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s about ten in the morning.”

“Did you come?” He obviously had come at some point, but several hours had felt like seconds to her.

“I’ve been here since Lissa called me last night.”

She tried to lift the hand he wasn’t holding so she could touch his face, but someone else had it.

“Who’s over there?”

“River. He’s been here every day, too. So have Calli and Lissa. Olive has visited you, too, and so did my mom. Everyone’s been so worried about you.”

“Every day? How long?” She wanted to ask how long she’d been here, but she didn’t have the strength to finish.

“You’ve been here six days. They did two rounds of heavy medication. This is the second time they’ve tried weaning you off. Do you remember the first time?”

“I remember hurting, and I remember screaming.”

“You did,” Adin whispered. “You were in a lot of pain. It was very hard for me—for us—to watch you hurting like that. Are you in any pain now?” he asked softly.

“A little. I still feel very tired.”

She felt Adin move and fidget with something on her bed. Then she heard the intercom.

“Yes?”

“She’s awake and hurting. Can you send in the doctor?” Adin asked.

“He’ll be right in.”

“You need to rest,” Adin said to her. “Your body is healing, but you seem to be doing much better this time. They’ll give you some more medicine after the doctor examines you, but it won’t be as much as before.”

“Okay,” she said, a little strangled.

“How do you feel?” Adin asked while River stroked her arm.

“Like I got hit by a train.” She grimaced.

She heard the door open. Her eyes were still closed.

“Legacy, I’m Dr. Sutherland. How are you feeling?”

“Not good. It hurts to move.”

“We’re going to put you on a morphine pump now, so you can disburse the medicine when you need it. You’re still going to feel pretty tired. I want you to sleep as much as you want today, but when you’re awake, try to stretch out in the bed. Tomorrow, we’re going to try and get you up and around. Depending on how well you do tomorrow, you may be able to go home in the afternoon.”

“Okay.”

“Can you open your eyes for me?”

She opened them slowly, but squinted. The light in the room was too bright. The doctor turned off the overhead light, and she was able to open her eyes a little more. Then he took his light and looked into each of her eyes. Her eyes felt puffy and sore, like she’d spent the day watching sad movies.

He continued examining her, so she turned her head and looked at Adin for the first time. His eyes were red and swollen too. But he looked like he had been crying for days. He looked so tired and weak.

“You look sad,” she whispered to Adin as she faintly rubbed her thumb on the side of his hand.

He sighed, and fresh tears formed. “It’s been a long week,” he breathed.

She tried to smile at him. “I’m sorry you had to go through this.” And she was sorry. She didn’t want him hurting, no matter how much pain she was in.

He smiled, but his eyes were still gloomy. “I’m sorry I couldn’t take your place.” His tears spilled over.

The doctor rubbed her shoulder and that hurt. “Do you know what happened to you?”

“Um, I remember being at work. The roof was leaking, and I was mopping.” She turned her head to look at River. He looked just as bad as Adin did. She sighed and looked at the doctor. “Then I remember being here and screaming.”

She remembered more than that. She remembered everything, but she didn’t want River to hurt anymore than he should. She could tell he had beaten himself up enough already for their fight and for his mother’s involvement. And Adin was apparently trying to be understanding of River and let him stay, so she didn’t want Adin to know about the fight she and River had been having when the lightning struck. Adin’s leniency would vanish, and even though he looked as if he could barely stand, he’d probably find enough strength to throw River right out of the room with his bare hands.

“You were struck by lightning. You’re very lucky,” the doctor continued.

She nodded slowly.

“Hit the call button if you need anything,” the doctor said as he and the nurse vacated.

She yawned.

“You should try to go back to sleep,” Adin whispered.

And she did. She slept peacefully with both her hands being held. She didn’t dream or feel any pain. She was happy to have both Adin and River here with her. She didn’t like the fact that she wanted River here, but she didn’t argue with herself. She didn’t have the strength to fight off the bond that was there. She was just glad Adin swallowed his pride and allowed River to comfort her too. She woke up sometime later and heard Adin and River whispering.

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you,” Adin said. “What I am saying is you’re done.”

“I won’t allow that.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“Neither does she.”

She heard enough to understand what the topic of their conversation was—her.

“Stop fighting,” she breathed as she turned her head to Adin and opened her eyes.

He straightened in his chair, stroked her head, and looked at her apologetically. “I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t.” She looked over at River. “Be nice.”

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

She looked at the ceiling and slipped both her hands from theirs.

“What are you doing?” Adin asked.

She didn’t say anything, she just stretched her arms over her head, stretching her back and pointing her toes. She winced.

“Okay, that’s good,” Adin said.

“No.” She shook her head. “How do I get the bed up?”

“Here’re the controls. This one’s up, and this one’s down. Just be careful.”

Adin and River both stood up and watched her face as she set the bed in a more upright position, leaving it slightly reclined. She winced a few times, and they both put hands on her shoulders. She took a deep breath.

“Adin, I can barely lift my legs.”

“That’s because you’re still sedated. You’re not supposed to get up right now.”

“I’m not trying to get up. Can you just move my legs around for me?”

“Sure,” he whispered.

Adin stuck his hands under her blanket and lightly grabbed her ankle with one hand and put his other hand under her knee. He moved her leg back and forth and around in circles. Then he did the other leg. “Is that good?”

“Yes, thank you.” She yawned and blinked, but didn’t open her eyes.

“Legacy?” River asked.

She heard him, but didn’t have the strength to answer.

“Don’t,” Adin said. “Let her sleep.”

“Do you think we should put the bed back down?”

She wanted to stay just like this. She felt like she hadn’t moved since she’d been here, and this new position was wonderful.

“No. Just leave her be,” Adin told him.

Good. Adin knew what she wanted. Then she fell completely under.

The next day came quickly. As she opened her eyes, Adin and River were there with Lissa and Calli. She was asleep every time Lissa and Calli had been in here yesterday, so she was happy they were here when she woke up this time.

She saw Lissa standing beside Adin with a determined look in her eyes. Right. She remembered she had to get out of bed today, and it seemed as if Lissa was thinking there was no time like the present.

“Legacy, how do you feel?” Lissa asked.

“Better.”

“Good. We need to get you up and move you around. Are you ready to try?”

“Sure.”

The bed was still in the same position she put it in yesterday, so she only had to move a little to sit up completely. Adin and River had their hands behind her shoulders in case she slipped back. Adin put the arm rail down so she could slide out.

“Calli, make sure I’m not flashing everyone. Okay?” she tried to joke, but was too weak to laugh.

“Of course,” she said with a smile, came to her side, and made sure her gown was securely fastened. Adin wasn’t watching her, and she knew River wouldn’t watch either.

After she was done, Adin stood right in front of her. He put one arm around her back and the other on her waist, and he gently pulled her out of the bed while she struggled to push. Once her feet were on the floor, she held onto his arms. She felt woozy, but tried to take a step. She stumbled slightly, and Adin grasped her tighter. She heard someone rushing around the bed.

“I’ve got her,” Adin said curtly.

She looked over, and River looked panicked.

“I’m fine,” she assured him. “I’m just dizzy.”

River nodded and sadly stepped away. He didn’t go back to his spot, though. He stayed far enough away to give her some privacy, but close enough he could probably reach her if Adin’s grip slipped.

Calli followed them with the I.V. stand while she took the first few steps. After a few more steps, she was doing better. She had been watching her feet, but she felt comfortable enough to lift her head. She looked at Adin’s face, and he was watching her feet as she walked. They started to make a circle back to the bed, and he glanced at her face, probably to make sure she wasn’t hiding any pain. When his gaze met hers, she smiled.

“Does this count as dancing?” she joked.

Adin almost laughed, but with the condition she was in, he wasn’t going to. “I’d be holding you much closer if we were dancing,” he murmured.

She loosened her grip on his arms and slid her hands up to the tops of his shoulders. She wanted to wrap them around his neck, but she knew she couldn’t stretch up on her toes, and there was too much space between them for her to reach anyway.

As they circled the room, she saw a lot of flowers in here. One table had many different arrangements, and another table had several different vases filled with a dozen roses in each. There wasn’t just one color of roses either. Each of the rose arrangements contained a dozen roses dedicated to a just one color. There were a dozen red roses, a dozen white roses, and several other dozens of other colors. She smiled and sighed.

Adin froze and looked at her face. When he saw that she didn’t sigh in pain, he relaxed. “What are you smiling about?”

“All the flowers.”

“Oh.” He smiled back, and they started walking again.

“Who are they from?” she wondered. Though, she had a pretty good idea who brought the roses.

“Everybody in here. My mom, Lissa’s co-workers, and Ellen and Kate sent you some too.”

She glanced over at Calli, and she shrugged. Legacy should have known Ellen would use her near death experience as an opportunity to kiss up.

“How many roses are over there?” she whispered. She didn’t want to include everyone in the room. It felt too personal.

“Seven dozen,” Adin whispered. “One for each day. I didn’t want to throw out the old ones. I remembered the last time I tried to do that.”

She chuckled, and he smiled.

“I remember when you gave me a bouquet of colorful roses. Do you know what each of these colors represents?” she asked, glancing back at the table full of roses.