The ambulance had come and Mary had followed her to the hospital, staying with her in the emergency room where they both spoke to two female police officers about the attack. Then Mary had stayed with her through some tests too. After the tests, the cops had talked to them again, appearing even more serious than their first interview.
“I’m Dr. Sweet, Miss Colby. Do you remember me? We spoke when I examined you in the emergency room late Saturday night. Can you open your eyes for me?” Her voice sounded soft and safe and she spoke from somewhere above and to Summer’s right.
Her head was pounding like a bitch, just as it had been since she’d awoken from being knocked out. Opening her eyes, she gasped at a gray silhouette hovering above her.
Oh my! Things weren’t black. What the hell was going on? She could actually see shadows. She swallowed as a roll of mixed emotions slammed into her. After years of being in the land of the unseeing, she could actually make out vague shadows. Was she dreaming? Was she delirious?
“Um, I think I’m seeing something,” she blurted.
There was a gasp from Mary and the rustle of clothing. A tall shadow moved in front of her.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” the doctor asked, and Summer could barely make out a hand.
“What? Are you serious, Summer? You can see something?” Mary’s excitement was contagious and Summer was swept up in it.
“Ma’am, please. I’d like to examine the patient,” the doctor interrupted.
“So! Examine her.”
Summer smiled at the elderly lady’s huffy tone.
“How many fingers am I holding up?” the doctor prodded.
“Two fingers,” Summer said softly, not quite believing this was happening. “You’re holding two fingers up in a peace sign.”
Mary swore. The doctor chuckled.
“No way,” Mary snorted in obvious disbelief. “Well, what does this mean? Is she getting her sight back? Those idiot doctors told her after her accident she would most likely be permanently blind. So what gives?”
Summer closed her eyes, feeling the need to sift back into the familiar darkness. To check back into that safety zone she’d been languishing in. All this with the eyesight and the attacker who’d gotten away and was now free to come after her, or another woman, was too overwhelming. Too unbelievable.
She’d worked so hard to accept her world of darkness and now she was being thrust into a world of hope. She didn’t want to get her hopes up and then have them dashed. She just wanted to get out of here and get on with life.
“What exactly do you see, Miss Colby?” the doctor asked.
“Shadows. Shades of gray.”
“Colors?”
“No. Just movement and silhouettes and shapes.”
“Well, there is a lot of swelling at the base of your neck where you hit your head. Things may get better as the swelling goes down. Or things may just stay this way. I can’t tell you unless I get in specialists and run tests.”
“How can all this be possible, just from a bump to the head?” Mary echoed her thoughts.
“The body is a mystery, ma’am. Even to us doctors. I checked the report on the MRI they did and everything looks normal. I can get in touch with the doctors from your previous accident and we can compare notes to see if anything in your brain or spine has shifted. In some cases, the C1 and C2 on the spine can shift and pinch a nerve. Blindness has been reported to happen on rare occasions. In your case, maybe a disk shifted back. But something like that would have been seen on the first MRI.”
“I don’t remember the name of the doctor who treated me. My brother was in charge of everything back then.”
“Well, if you could contact him I can get things rolling. There’s something else that could have caused your blindness. Did anyone mention emotional trauma?”
Summer frowned and bit back the familiar anger at that concept. There’s no way fear of what had happened to her parents would cause her to go blind.
“It’s been mentioned.”
“PTSD can do weird things. Do you remember the accident?”
“No. I just remember when I was at my birthday party.” And she mostly remembered Nick and that scorching kiss, she added silently. Suddenly she felt warm all over at the thought of Nick.
“That’s normal for a concussion with unconsciousness,” the doctor replied.
“You haven’t answered my question. Is her vision returning?” Mary broke in.
“I don’t know. Some of it for sure but I would have to run a battery of tests. Are you up for them, Miss Colby?”
“Of course she is,” Mary snapped.
Uneasiness swept over Summer. She didn’t want to hang around here. She hated hospitals. They reminded her too much of losing her parents and losing her eyesight. She wanted out of here. Now.
“How long would she have to stay?” Mary asked.
“A week. Maybe longer.”
“I can’t stay here. I have an exhibit tomorrow morning.” That was a good excuse. Mary would understand. They were both workaholics. That’s why they got along so well. Maybe by then she’d be totally blind again anyway. Boy, she was getting gloomy, wasn’t she?
“No way, Summer. The exhibit was supposed to be this morning. Today is Monday. You slept off and on through Sunday, and you weren’t in any condition to go back to work, so I put up a notice on the gallery door that you were ill. There’s some stuff you need to know, too, about this creep who attacked you,” Mary explained.
Frustration gnawed her. This was Monday morning? Shit! She didn’t have time for this. She needed to get back to work. Things were picking up so beautifully and she had so many people interested in her stuff. She couldn’t stay here and languish in the hospital.
“Ms. Colby, I would prefer if you stayed in the hospital for at least today and tonight merely for observation. You did black out for a few minutes. Head injuries are nothing to play with. If you feel good tomorrow, I can discharge you. But I would prefer if you just rest for several days.”
Several days? Hello, she didn’t have time to rest. She’d fall too far behind if she took more time off.
“I want to leave now please.”
“Well, as I said I would prefer you stay, but I can’t see anything wrong that would prevent you from leaving. You must promise that you will rest if I let you go earlier.”
“Sure. I can do that.” Like not.
“I’ll leave you a script for painkillers for any headaches that may linger. I do suggest followup with the eyesight. In the meantime I’ll get the paperwork going and when the nurse gets a chance she can remove you from the IV and she’ll let you know when you’re free to go.”
“Thanks for all your help, Doctor,” Summer replied, feeling a rush of relief sweep through her at getting out of here. She didn’t want to be a sitting duck here for the guy who’d attacked her. She just wanted to go and hide somewhere and immerse herself in her work and forget what had almost happened.
She was surprised that Mary didn’t protest as the doctor left. But when the door to her hospital room closed, the elderly woman dug in her heels.
“You should reconsider. You should get to the bottom of what’s going on with your sight, honey.”
Summer opened her eyes again. A shadowy figure stood there. It was unbelievable. She was actually seeing Mary. Or at least her shadow. She was just as petite as she’d imagined and just as fragile looking. Emotions shifted over her again. God, this was unbelievable.
“We can’t tell my brother what happened with this guy or with my sight. He’d come over and be my babysitter and have me up to my eyeballs in doctors forever.”
“Too late. I called him shortly after we got here. Figured he should know. He’s already sent someone. According to the nurses, your bodyguard has been sitting outside your hospital room since late last night waiting to talk to you about the attack. He’s quite the babe. That’s what you call sexy hunks these days, isn’t it? Babe? If I were ten years younger, I
’d be after him myself. Although he’d still be younger than me, but I was a pretty good cougar in my day.”
Summer couldn’t help but laugh.
“You? A cougar, Mary? I thought you were married four times.”
“I guess I never mentioned all my husbands were younger than me?”
“Um, no.”
“Well, I don’t brag about my conquests, sweetie. The younger ones were easier to teach than the old dogs.”
“Let’s not mention this vision thing to the guy my brother sent, okay? I don’t want word getting back to Ryan and him getting his hopes up for nothing.”
“Sure thing, sweets. Whatever you want. You know how I always side with you over him. He’s too pushy. Too nosy. And I don’t like the way he treats you. You’re a grown woman, not some helpless little kid.”
“Okay, okay, enough about Ryan. Please?” Talking about him always made her too edgy. After she’d become blind, he’d supported her financially and mentally until the point where he’d started to smother her with his overprotectiveness. Truthfully, she was surprised Ryan hadn’t shown up as her bodyguard instead of sending someone else. She just hoped she could convince this guy that things were fine and she didn’t need his protective services. Although it would cost her an arm and a leg, she would just have to hire someone on her own until the creep was caught. The last thing she wanted or needed was for her brother to be taking care of her again.
The mattress shifted beneath her as Mary sat down and then a warm hand shifted over Summer’s. Mary squeezed her fingers gently.
“I’m glad you’re all right, hon. I went almost mad when I saw that creep lift you up. I thought you were dead. It’s a good thing I came back when I did because I just remembered I’d forgotten to lock the door behind me when I left. It’s all my fault. I’m so sorry, honey. But I had the cops on the phone so fast it made that son of a bitch’s head spin. And then I blasted him with the mace and he ran.”
“I’m glad you didn’t get hurt, Mary. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if something happened to you.”
“Ah, hon. No need to even think about what might have been. Live in the present. Remember? That’s what I always say.”
Mary went silent and Summer got the feeling something else was going on. Her assistant always got quiet when she was pondering something and didn’t quite know how to express it. She’d done that for days before suggesting that Summer open up her own gallery, which had turned out to be a fantabulous idea. She’d done it again when she’d tried to set her up on a blind date with her grand nephew, which hadn’t worked out at all. The guy just wasn’t into blind women and she wasn’t into freshly divorced men who whined about their ex-wives on a date.
The silence continued until anxiety clutched her chest and her head was throbbing up a storm.
“What’s wrong?”
Mary chuckled. “You know me too well, don’t you, sweetheart?”
“Good news or bad?”
“Hmm, I would say both. What do you want to hear first?”
“The good news. I could use some that’s for sure.”
“Well, the good news is the cutie pie outside your door.”
“Mary, C’mon. You already mentioned the guy.”
“Did I? Oh okay, well the good news is he’s a devilish hunk and I am talking hunk!”
The pain in Summer’s head merely increased.
“I thought you said he was a babe. Now you say he’s a hunk. Which one is it?” she muttered, trying to humor her friend. But after that blind date fiasco with her grand nephew she just didn’t trust Mary in the dating or guy department.
“He’s both rolled into one.”
Silence again.
Summer inhaled slowly and closed her eyes, which were starting to hurt.
“The bad news?” She may as well hear it now.
“I have to agree with your brother. You need to have this bodyguard with you until the creep is caught.”
Her anxiety piqued and her mouth dropped open in shock. Mary was siding with Ryan?
“Now it’s okay, sweetie. There really is a good reason why I had to agree with him over this. I—”
“You agreed with my brother?” This was unbelievable! “You hate him. You two never agree on anything. What did he do? Break your arm?”
She heard Mary sigh, felt her squeeze her hand again. “We don’t want to lose you, Summer. There’s stuff that you need to know and this fellow your brother sent will explain it all.”
“To hell with explanations. I want to go home, Mary. I need to get back to my work!” Summer tried to sit up and pain slashed through her head. She flopped back onto the bed again.
“Headache, love?”
“A good one,” Summer admitted, feeling a bit queasy at the intensity.
“I’ll catch a nurse and get some of that painkiller the doctor mentioned. Be back in a few minutes. Sit tight.”
When Mary left, the room fell into silence and in seconds a creepy uneasiness splashed over her again. No, not uneasiness, it was fear. Dread at the thought of that creep coming into her room and finishing what he started. She wished she could just pretend the attack hadn’t happened, but she knew that wouldn’t happen. She was too spooked.
A cold shiver sliced through her at how close she’d come to being that man’s victim. Oh boy, was she ever going to feel safe again? Or would she end up a frightened person jumping at every little noise as she’d done after the car accident that killed her parents?
Maybe Ryan’s idea of a bodyguard wasn’t so bad?
She closed her eyes and breathed in slowly, hoping to chase away the despair racing through her. The last thing she wanted was to start living in fear again. Those days of blackness following the accident had screwed with her confidence and self-esteem. She hated the sympathy and pity people showered her with. She’d started overreacting to it. Shutting out her friends. Most of all she had shut out Nick.
She hadn’t wanted him feeling sorry for her, so she’d asked him to please leave her alone. Told him there could be nothing between them. That she’d only been teasing him that night when he’d kissed her. He’d taken her suggestion to leave her alone because Ryan had told her, Nick returned overseas to his job as bodyguard.
That’s when she realized she was the one throwing the biggest pity party for herself and as long as she continued, the walls she needed to break down would only get thicker, until they prevented her from regaining her independence. Yes, she was blind, but that hadn’t stopped her from attaining her goals.
Determination slashed through her fear and Summer forced herself to smile. She would not allow some lunatic to take it all away from her. Sure, she was angry at this interruption in her life, who wouldn’t be? But she had to stay strong and deal with what was happening. She also needed to get herself ready so she could get out of here.
This time around, she moved gradually into a seated position, relieved to discover the pain in her head didn’t get worse as it had before when she’d sat up too quickly. Nor was there any sensations of dizziness. Slowly, she swung her legs over the side of the hospital bed. Reaching out, she groped for her cane, using the vague shadows as a guide.
She realized when she faced to her left, things got brighter and warmth splashed against her face. It looked like a square of lighter gray and excitement burst through her.
A window and sunshine. This is so cool!
It was at that moment she sensed someone had entered the room. She’d been so engrossed in looking at the window, she hadn’t paid attention to the soft swish of the door opening. Ordinarily it wouldn’t have alarmed her, but whoever had entered was just standing there. Just like that creep the other night.
Oh my God.
Her heart snapped into a mad pounding and she fought down the panic. Had the man found her here? Had he come to finish the job? Was he going to try to chloroform her again? Kidnap her?
Where was her cane? The nurse’s bell? Her pager?
Shit!
How could she make herself such an easy target?
Her head throbbed harder. She clutched her hands into fists trying to think about self-defense techniques. Last time her panic had not allowed her to think clearly. This time she would be prepared. She would fight and she would dig out his eyes if she had to.
Her panic increased but then a very intriguing scent drifted past her nostrils. This wasn’t the same guy. But it was a guy. She could tell by his aftershave. He smelled nice. Of leather and spice. And power.
Summer swallowed past her suddenly dry throat. There was only one guy she knew who smelled this good and he hadn’t bothered with her for almost ten years. It couldn’t be him. Could it?
A weird fluttering feeling slashed through her tummy at the thought Nick Cassidy might have the balls to finally show up. Slowly, she turned her head and made out a dark shadow. A very big, tall shadow.
No, it couldn’t be Nick. It was just wishful thinking. Maybe she desperate for a knight in shining armor?
“May I help you?” she asked.
“Hi, Summer.” His deep voice drifted over her in a soothing growl. “I would have knocked but your friend said you were awake and to go straight in.”
“Nick?”
Her heart fluttered in excitement. Was it really him?
“Long time no see. How’ve you been?” he asked in a casual tone. He sounded as if they were mere acquaintances and not old friends. It’s not like they were lovers or anything. She’d just had a huge crush on him and shared one knee-knocking kiss, and then when she’d kicked him to the curb after she’d become blind, he’d dropped out of her world and broken her heart.
“I’m fine. And you?”
“Been good. Heard you ran into a bit of trouble,” came his smooth reply.
Irritation sliced away her tummy butterflies. Of course, he was here because Ryan had sent him. Not because Nick gave two shits about her.
“Yeah well, I’m sure the police can handle it. Feel free to tell my brother I don’t need his babysitting services. I’m quite fine.”
Whispers of Winter: A Limited Edition Collection of Winter Romances Page 46
