Love & Redemption (22 page)

The medics exchange a glance with raised eyebrows, but the man nodded his direction. “Thanks. That does make a difference.” He scribbled something down on a notepad. “Anything else happen lately that could contribute to her loss of consciousness.”

The giant explosion and a building falling on her aren’t enough?

Gavin bit back the angry words, knowing they were doing everything they could to help her. It worried him that Shelley had passed out again. He shouldn’t have let her go back to check the bathrooms. He should have stopped her...somehow.

“No. Nothing else has happened lately.” On thinking further, Gavin shook his head. The emergency workers would think they were crazy, but it could be important. “She was shot in the chest three months ago, but she’s been fully recovered from that.”

Tabitha pressed her lips together and her eyes widened. “When you get to the hospital, the doctors there are going to need you to get her past medical records.”

He’d have to ask Nick for help there. As a fake husband or a real boyfriend, he didn’t have that information and no idea where to get it.

“Sure. I can do that.” Gavin patted Shelley’s uninjured leg, tamping down his anxiety as they raced for the hospital.

“You have to wake up, Shell,” he half whispered. “I need you to be okay. Please be okay.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Shelley’s tongue felt thick in her dried-out mouth and her head pounded. She struggled to open her eyes, squinting against the bright lights above her. She tried to focus, to remember where she was. Looking at the dry erase board on the wall that proclaimed ‘Your nurse is Mary’ finally centered her. This was a hospital.

Trying to move, her hand brushed against something soft. She looked to her side and saw the back of Gavin’s head. He sat in a chair, but his head rested against her left thigh as he slumped over the side of the bed.

“Gavin?” She reached out to stroke his head.

“Don’t do that,” a high voice whispered.

Shelley startled and whipped her head to the right. A sudden wave of nausea made her wish she’d moved slower as an older woman in scrubs came into view.

“The poor dear,” she said. “He’s been by your side this whole time and finally fell asleep. He has to be exhausted.”

“I need some water,” Shelley whispered. “How long have I been here?”

The woman sighed. “You ask that every time you wake up. You came in this morning. It’s almost midnight now.”

She filled a mug with water and brought it to Shelley’s bedside, bending the straw so Shelley could drink from it without lifting her head.

“I’m Mary, but I suspect I’ll have to tell you all this again later.” She smiled. “We’ve been monitoring you for internal damage, but I’d say you’re pretty lucky. Your only injuries seem to be a concussion and a deep bruise on your leg. You’ll have some pain, but I think you’ll be discharged in the morning if you start remembering things.”

Shelley felt alert now, but she had no clue how many other times Mary had told her this. “Was anyone else hurt in the explosion?”

“Your husband needed stitches and one other girl, but everyone else had only minor cuts and scrapes that I’ve heard of.” Mary checked the machines hooked up to Shelley and made notes on a chart. “I’ll be back to check on you soon. Get some more rest. That’s the best thing you can do for your head.”

The nurse set the clipboard on a shelf by the door and exited the room, turning off the lights directly above Shelley’s head without looking back.

My husband, huh?

Shelley laid her hand softly against Gavin’s head. He must have been exhausted. He didn’t stir at all while she talked to Mary.

It sounded like he got the old woman safely from the building, and no one else was inside. She felt stupid for going back and checking now, but everything turned out okay. At least she was alive.

Also, it felt nice to wake up and find Gavin by her side. Tony was the only person she thought she’d ever be able to count on. When he died, a part of her went with him, and she thought it would always be that way. Especially with the losers she found herself dating.

Not Gavin. A gentleman and dedicated to her...to their relationship. It was like all her secret dreams were coming true, just at a time when S.A.T.O. seemed determined to take everything away from her.

Stopping Stephen and Terrance was a worthwhile goal. They needed to be stopped. But was pursing them worth risking her and Gavin’s lives?

Shelley closed her eyes. She owed Carlie a lot. She had to stay here and finish this mission, so that Nick could stay home. Looking toward the future, however, she wasn’t so certain she wanted to date a spy. If Gavin truly cared for her, would he be willing to come to Sayle and start a different sort of life?

“That’s what I want,” she whispered, stroking his hair, “but it’s not fair to push my dreams on you.”

At the rate things were going, maybe she’d better just focus on them both finishing this mission alive.

***

Gavin woke to sunlight streaming into Shelley’s hospital room. He had a horrible kink in his neck and the cut on his cheek throbbed in time to his heartbeat.
Must be time to find more pain meds.

He sat up, rolling his neck to loosen it, and his eyes lit on Shelley’s bright blues. Her bright smile tugged at his heart, making him want to collapse with relief. There was sense in her gaze this morning.

She held her hand out to him, and he took it in his.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Probably better than you.” She glanced at his face. “You look like you lost a fight.”

Gavin gingerly touched the bandage covering his stitches. “Kind of feels like it.”

“If you look that rough, I’m afraid to get near a mirror.”

“You always look beautiful.” He squeezed her hand. “I’d like to kill Paul right now, though, and maybe beat myself up a bit, too.”

“Yourself?” Shelley pulled her hand away, shaking her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I shouldn’t have let you go back inside. I should have made you come with me and Iris.”

“Shouldn’t have let me?” Shelley’s eyebrows rose, and Gavin realized what he said.

Gulping down nerves, he quickly shook his head. “You know what I mean. It was too dangerous. Do you remember what happened? Why didn’t you come out?”

“It was weird. The door was stuck, like someone locked it from the outside or something.” She sighed. “The only thing I could figure out is maybe that guy who came out of the men’s room did something to it, in the hopes of getting me to go back inside.”

Gavin tried to remember where the stranger had gone after helping Iris outside. “I don’t remember seeing him after the explosion. You think he really did something?”

“Maybe. Maybe it was just dumb luck. If he was the one that brought the bomb in, maybe Paul offered him extra if he could find a way to make sure I died. It’s possible.” Shelley sighed. “Do you know if they’ve figured anything out about the bombing yet?”

He should have known she’d ask. Shelley stayed mission oriented, even when faced with catastrophe. Maybe it came from having to adjust her plans so often when people let her down. She always kept her mind on the ultimate goal.

“I haven’t even talked to Jenessa since they pulled you from the building,” he admitted. “After I got my stitches, I went to check on Iris and made sure she was okay. I made a trip to the store, but then they called and said you had moved to a private room. I’ve been here since.”

“Watching over me.” Another smile graced her lips.

At least he did something right. Gavin scooted his chair closer to the head of the bed and leaned down until his face was inches from hers. “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” He pressed a soft kiss against her mouth and ran his fingers across the side of her face. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. I can’t take it.”

Shelley nodded. “I promise. We’ll stick together.” She wrapped her arms around his back and strained up for another kiss.

Gavin closed his eyes, kissing her deeply. He hoped she meant they would stick together forever. After almost losing her yesterday, he didn’t want to be without her ever again.

***

A different nurse than Mary went over Shelley’s discharge papers, explaining what symptoms to watch out for and when she should return to the doctor. Gavin had disappeared for a few minutes, but returned in time to wheel her to the hospital doorway where a taxicab awaited them.

“I checked on Iris and left my phone number,” he explained while helping her buckle up. “They still don’t know where she belongs, but they’re checking all the nearby nursing homes for missing people.”

“That’s about all you could do. You saved her life, Gavin.” Shelley fought off a grimace as she shifted in the seat.

Her leg ached horribly and the pain flared with the slightest movement. The doctor had explained the bruise was to the bone, which would take some time to heal. She wouldn’t be able to fight for a while, so hopefully Paul held off before his next attack. At least the doctors determined she didn’t have any internal bleeding. Shelley knew she’d been extremely lucky to come out of this with as little injury as she had.

She took Gavin’s hand. “So, out of this whole ordeal, you got a fake wife and a fake grandma?” She grinned. “We should just start picking the people we want for family. Maybe that’s a better idea.”

Gavin’s forehead wrinkled. “Speaking of family, I have something to tell you.”

That didn’t sound good. “What?”

“Your mom gave me her number before we left their house, and I promised I would keep her informed.” He grinned a bit sheepishly. “When the explosion made national news last night, I called her.”

“Gavin! There’s a reason I keep my parents out of my life. I don’t want a relationship with them. Why did you take her number?”

“She loves you. I couldn’t just leave.”

Trying to ignore the guilt creeping through her gut, Shelley folded her arms together. “Yes, you could have. They didn’t want me as a part of their life for years. I don’t want them.”

She wished that were entirely true. Still, it was none of Gavin’s business. He shouldn’t have called.

“For what it’s worth, Janet sends her love and is glad you’re okay. I reminded her not to tell anyone who you were, so that they would stay safe.”

While she wanted to be mad at him, he was trying to help her. She didn’t understand why he felt so strongly about this, though.

“Gavin, I’ve been just fine without my parents since I was seven years old. They didn’t want me. I don’t want them now.”

He pressed his lips together, and his eyes slid past her to the traffic beyond the car. His voice was soft, hesitant when he finally spoke again, “Do you really think you’ve done fine without them?”

Of course she hadn’t. She fulfilled her Dad’s prophecy about being a slut. She went from dead-end job to dead-end job, the only thing holding her together being karate practice and shooting at the target range. Then she took up a job with a criminal, buying into his lies that she was helping people.

“My life’s a damn mess. Is that what you want to hear?”

His eyes locked onto hers. “Maybe making amends with your parents would be a good step to letting go of your anger, so that you can have a better life in the future.”

“What about you?” she challenged. “How do you let go of your anger?”

“My parents are dead.” He shrugged. “Maybe I don’t get to, but you can. I’m not saying you have to be best friends with them, but at least talk to them once in a while. You might regret it one day if you don’t.”

She knew he was right. He’d probably love a chance to talk to his parents again, and he couldn’t. Whether they hurt her, hated her for what happened to Tony, or were just indifferent to everything about her, she at least had that chance.

“I thought earning other peoples’ forgiveness was a part of my redemption,” she said softly. “Now you’re telling me I have to forgive, too?”

He pried her hand from its folded position, taking it once again in his. “Maybe the only way for us to move forward is to let go of the past. I’ll try to, somehow, if you’ll promise to give Janet a chance.”

She let herself slump against his side and rested her head on his shoulder. “You sound a lot like Carlie sometimes. I think you guys will be good friends.”

He chuckled, laying his head against hers. “So I’ll pass the dreaded best friend test? I always hate that one more than meeting the parents.”

“You’ll ace it. That means the only person you have to worry about is me, and I only have to worry about you.”

“I hope I pass your tests, Shelley.” His hot lips brushed across her forehead and he cradled her against his side. “This relationship is important. I can’t fail.”

***

They were both exhausted. While Shelley took a shower, Gavin flipped through the movies available on pay-per-view, trying to find something they’d both enjoy while he waited for their pizza to arrive.

His phone rang, showing Jenessa’s number on the screen. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Are you guys okay?” Jenessa sounded frazzled. “I went to check on Shelley, and they said she left.”

“We’re back at the hotel. She’s supposed to take it easy today, and I’m taking care of her.” Gavin wondered if Jenessa would have any complaints about that. Technically, he was supposed to be working for Nick, not playing nurse to Shelley, but money or not, he wasn’t leaving Shelley until he was sure she was okay.

“I’m headed back to the hotel, too,” Jenessa replied. “They gave me pain medicine for my cut and told me to rest. Ken and Dan are handling things with the New York FBI office. They’ll call if they need us. This afternoon, you guys rest and recover. There’s not much we can do until they sort out what happened with the bombing.”

A thread of unease went through Gavin. “What about the attack on the mall? Now would be a good time for them to try something else.”

“We’re still on high alert with doubled security, though honestly I don’t know if that will help.” She let out a heavy sigh. “Somehow, they set a bomb in the police station for crying out loud! The diamonds are secure, though. I have them locked in the safe at the hotel.”