Ben pressed his lips together and nodded. “Fine. We’ll see if she’s still alive by morning.” He turned on his heel and paced back to the group.
Eli crushed the flimsy water bottle in his fist and threw it to the ground. If Ben was proven right, that Julia died because Eli couldn’t defend her in his weakened state, he didn’t know if he could ever forgive himself. He needed space and time to think.
Hopefully, this remote location wasn’t exactly what the hit man was hoping for.
NINE
While waiting for a response to their knock at the door, Julia could hear a trickle of water moving over smooth river stones at the small creek that wound its way around the fairy tale log cabin. If only that had been the body of water she’d been thrust into.
Laura Solan, Dr. James Solan’s wife, opened the door and immediately gathered Julia into a warm hug and in that moment, Julia broke down. Laura squeezed her tighter, smoothing her hand over her dry, crusted hair in an effort to ease her sobs. In that hold was everything that Julia missed from her mother. The sweet, tangy smell of perfume. The quiet, calming, swooshing of Laura’s heartbeat in her ear.
“Sweet Julia. What a day you’ve had.” Laura eased Julia back and placed a lightly fisted hand under her chin to lift it up. “You’re safe here. We’re going to take good care of you.”
Laura’s tender light green eyes offered the dose of compassion that Julia needed. Laura brushed her reddish brown bangs from her eyes and offered an open hand to Julia. “Come in. James, they’re here!”
Julia felt Eli’s hand rest in the middle of her back and edge her into the foyer. His touch lingered far beyond the steps she needed to take, and when he withdrew it, it felt as if a small hole opened in her chest.
“I can’t thank you enough for taking us in,” Julia said.
“If I can say anything, it’s that this tragedy happened at a good time. I’m off for several days and there’s nothing I’d like to do more than to take care of you and your friends.”
The three of them were standing in the magnificent entryway when Dr. James Solan walked toward them. Julia’s eyes were drawn to the three-level open foyer with windows that held a magnificent view of the mountains. The Solans’ home was situated in a valley surrounded by the tall granite peaks Colorado was known for.
“Julia, I’m happy to see you again so soon, but not under these circumstances.” He reached his hand out and shook Eli’s hand. “Why don’t you and I—”
Eli coughed into his hand, and Julia’s nursing intuition threw up a red flag.
“This is Agent Will Sullivan,” Eli said.
James shook his hand, as well. “Will, it doesn’t look like you need to freshen up, so I’ll put you in the kitchen with some fresh coffee.”
“Is there a couch I could crash on for a few hours?” Will asked. “I’ll be our night watchman.”
“Absolutely,” James said. “I’ll show you to a quiet spot and then, Eli—you’re with me. Looks like your head needs a few stitches. After that a hot shower and dry clothes. You look to be around the size of one of our two sons, and we’ve got some boxes with his old clothes that we never got around to donating. Won’t be perfect, but at least something better than what you’re wearing.”
“And you’re with me,” Laura said to Julia. “In the master bath. Big Jacuzzi tub waiting for you and then a nice hot meal.”
Her generosity brought more tears to Julia’s face, and she allowed Laura to take her like a child anywhere Laura wanted her to go.
Up the curved staircase and into a master bedroom that filled half the top level. A two-sided fireplace was situated between the master bedroom and the bathroom, and Laura had turned it on to warm the bathroom.
Laura motioned to the things that she had set aside for her. A lush navy blue towel. Several options of body washes and shampoos. She laughed to herself. “A girl can never have too many choices, right?”
Julia smiled. She’d met Laura on a few occasions during parties that the emergency medicine doctors would host at Christmas. Laura was the epitome of a soft place to land. Julia yanked a tissue from a nearby box and covered her eyes.
What a mess I am! The first ounce of kindness that someone shows me and I’m ready to fall to pieces. I’m an ER nurse. I’m used to handling a crisis without being so emotional. What’s wrong with me?
Laura motioned to have her sit with her on the side of the tub, and she wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Julia, do you need to talk?”
At first, all she could do was cry. How could she explain what she felt? Was this what her life was going to be like from now on? Never being able to have a place she could call home again? Was the existence she’d had before, depending only on herself and living completely isolated from everyone except her grandfather, really living?
“Things are such a mess,” Julia said.
Laura rubbed her shoulder. “If even half of what James told me has happened, then you have every reason to be crying your eyes out. Has someone really put a hit out on your life?”
“I can’t help but believe it’s true because ever since I was taken into protective custody, all these strange events have been taking place.”
“Did you know Eli before this happened?”
Julia tapped her heels against the side of the tub, her feet still wet and sticky from her dunk in the river. How to answer that question? It was clear that Eli had been significantly involved in her past as far as the Hangman’s case was concerned. Did it go beyond that? The flashes she began to have seemed like memories cresting the surface of her consciousness. Was Eli the trigger? Or was it just the trauma of what she had lived through that caused her normal defense mechanisms to break down and the events to surface?
“He was the detective on my case after my accident.”
“It was hardly an accident. You were almost murdered.” Laura sighed. “It’s just this look he has in his eye whenever he glances your way. Even in the few moments I saw him with you, I could tell he didn’t want you out of his sight.”
“He’s doing a job. It’s nothing more than that.”
A coy smiled played on Laura’s lips. “Julia, it’s so much more than that. It’s the same look James gave me when I knew he fell in love with me.”
Julia’s heart skipped a beat. The word so foreign in her mind when all she’d felt was lost love over the past couple of years. Her parents. Nearly losing her career.
“We can contemplate all that when you’re rested.” Laura reached behind Julia and turned the water on. “I’m slightly more round and shorter than you are, but this pair of sweats should get you through the night at least. When you come down, leave what you’re wearing in here and I’ll run it through the wash and have it ready for you by morning. All I want you to do tonight is eat and sleep and not get up at any particular time. Nurse’s orders.”
Julia smiled. If she was one—she had also better listen to one. Though Laura’s specialty had been the neonatal ICU.
“Lotion and a hair dryer are by the sink. New toothbrush and toothpaste, as well. Living up here, you never know who’s going to stop in stranded with few if any of their belongings.” She stood. “It’s been a long time since I’ve gotten to chat with you. I always felt like you were the kind of girl who could be the daughter I never had, and I know you lost your own mother, so take this with the love it’s meant to convey.” Laura ran her fingers through the water, testing the temperature, and then adjusted the knobs slightly. “I know things have been hard for you, Julia, but there are people here to help you. You are not going to go through this alone. I won’t allow it.”
All Julia could offer in response was a tired smile. “I can’t thank—”
“Saying thank you is generous and not necessary. James says you’re family and you can stay here as long as you need to.”
<
br /> And with those words she left Julia alone.
Julia stood in front of the mirror. Her clothes, now dry, stuck to her in a wrinkled mash of crusty fabric. Her hair was matted with leaves, and branches stuck in the tangles. She reached her arms out, noting the deep purple bruises that dotted areas on her lower forearms. Nothing that wouldn’t heal. Nothing that would leave a scar.
At least a physical one.
She brushed her fingers over the scars on her neck, new tears coursing down her cheeks. Would she ever stop crying? The scarf she’d been wearing was long gone. Both of Eli’s shoes were claimed by the river. Though the act was generous, the clothes that Laura had left her were not going to cover up what she most wanted to hide. Even when her clothes were washed, these scars would be exposed. People would see. People would ask her. She’d have to share her story.
Would that crush her or save her?
* * *
The table was set to evoke peaceful solace. Eli felt almost human. The expected muscle soreness hedged with a hefty dose of ibuprofen. Dr. Solan had numbed up the cut on his forehead, washed it out and closed it with five stitches. He was clean and dressed in dry clothes that fit better than expected. Will, having not had a free rafting trip, remained in his business suit and sat next to Eli. Julia sat across from him in a loose-fitting pair of sweats.
Would she ever drop her hand from her throat?
The smell of bacon and earthy corn from Laura’s chowder caused Eli’s stomach to turn over with anticipation. Even the fresh, cold water was taking the edges off his exhaustion.
James sat at the head of the table. “Shall we say grace?”
Julia dutifully dropped her head. Eli looked down, his hands settled in his lap. These moments felt strange to him. He longed for connectedness—this type of connectedness. Friends and family sharing a meal together. He had family, but they were distant. Rarely did they communicate unless there was an emergency.
“Father, we thank You for keeping Eli and Julia safe today. Bless our time together. Thank You for providing Eli and Will to be watchful protectors over Julia and allow them to bring to justice this criminal who threatens Julia’s life. Amen.”
Julia repeated the Amen. Eli lifted his eyes. Laura began to scoop full ladles of the soup into their bowls. A basket of homemade white dinner rolls passed by, and Eli hoped taking three wouldn’t seem too aggressive. Next was the soft, real butter that he slathered on, followed by cherry jelly.
If only all was perfect.
What Eli couldn’t deny was the ceaseless tightness and pain in his chest. Between each bite of chowder he coughed. At one point, he brought a clean white napkin to his lips and hacked into it. Bringing it away, he noticed a slight pink tinge.
Julia glanced his way at just the right moment and saw it, as well.
“James,” Julia said, motioning to Eli. “Can you check Eli out? I think he might be getting some fluid buildup in his lungs.”
“What?” Eli shook his head in defiance. “Really, I’m fine. Just coughing up some of that extra river water that’s camped out. Nothing to worry about.” Again, he was racked by a coughing fit.
James stood from the table. “Nonsense. I think Julia’s excellent nursing judgment is at play here. Come with me.”
Will clambered to his feet. “Eli, seems like a good time to do a perimeter check.”
“Good idea.” Eli stood, as well. “A terrific meal, Laura. Thanks so much for making us feel so welcome.”
James motioned for Julia to follow. “I’ll need you, too, Julia—an extra set of medical hands will be nice and Laura tends to freak out about any patient over ten pounds.”
Laura rolled her eyes. “And you tend to freak out at anything less than ten pounds, so we’re even. Take Eli up to the loft. All your medical gear is up there and it’s where I was going to settle Eli and Julia for the night anyway.”
Once they crested the staircase, James motioned for him to sit on the couch that sat along the wall. The ceiling, planked with simply stained pine boards, narrowed into a peak. French doors led to a deck that overlooked the gentle brook that looped through their property.
“Really, Dr. Solan. I’m fine.” Eli clenched his teeth to keep from coughing, but despite his best efforts more spasms racked his chest.
“When did you start to feel this way?” James asked.
Eli glanced Julia’s way—there was that look again. One eye slightly narrowed with a slight smirk to her face. That look was more effective at keeping him truthful than being connected to a lie detector. “Not long after coming out of the water—definitely once we made it out of the canyon.”
James pulled an orange trauma pack from the closet, zipped open a small compartment, fished out a small device and placed it on Eli’s finger. “Let’s see where your oxygen level is at.”
Julia sat on a chair across from him. “I don’t know how long he wasn’t breathing. It took less than a minute of CPR to get bring him back to me.”
Eli straightened a little bit at her statement and saw a faint rush of crimson color her cheeks. It was an odd way to phrase what had happened unless she had something beyond just a need for protection from him. Did she have feelings for him? Could she?
James pulled out a stethoscope and looped it around his neck. “Eli, you nearly drowned, and we only say that you nearly drowned because you didn’t die. The fluid in your lungs is filling up the tiny air sacks. It’s why you’re coughing so much.” He laid the stethoscope against his chest. “Take a deep breath.”
Eli complied. James frowned. The monitor on his finger began to beep.
Julia stood up and looked at the reading. “Eighty-six percent.”
James crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s not good, Eli. Even at altitude, we’d want you higher than that. Your lungs sound junky—a very official medical term for stuff being there that shouldn’t. A hospital is the safest place for you to be.”
How could he make them understand? He wouldn’t go. “That’s not possible. I need to stay here with Julia.”
James turned to Julia. “I’m willing to start treating him here if you’ll help watch over him, but I can’t stay up all night because I have to drive down to work in the morning.”
“I’ll do what needs to be done unless he gets too sick,” Julia said. “But, Eli, if I say you have to go to the hospital, then you can’t argue with me.”
For her, he was willing to do it. To be sick as long as they weren’t separated.
James faced Eli. “I work with volunteer rescue up here, so I have items on hand that will help with this problem. I’ll only institute treatment if you promise me that you won’t give Julia grief if she says you’re too sick to stay here. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Here’s the plan. A dose of a diuretic. This will pull the extra fluid from your lungs. I’ll let Julia repeat the dose one time if she feels like you need it in six hours. I’m putting you on some oxygen until your levels can be normal on room air.”
Julia motioned Eli off the couch to the bed and pulled the covers down and then arranged the multitude of pillows so he could rest with his back against the headboard. “And you’ll need to be resting. It will help your breathing if you’re sitting upright.”
Dr. Solan came up next to him and handed him a small white tablet and set a black bag on the bed that held a green oxygen bottle. Julia took a package from him that contained clear tubing.
“Take this,” James said. “It’s the medication.”
Julia extracted the tubing from the package and after he swallowed the medication placed the prongs in his nose. James turned on the tank and he felt the rush of a cool, swift stream of oxygen fill his nose. He took several deep breaths, which led to more coughing. Julia rested her hand in the middle of his chest—likely from instinct, but then it remai
ned, which caused the soft beeping on the monitor to chirp faster, his physical response to her touch betrayed by a tiny probe at the tip of his finger.
“We’ll shut that portion of the monitor off so you can get some rest,” James said.
Eli held his hand out to shake the doctor’s hand. “This is going above and beyond. I won’t forget it.”
“No thanks necessary. I’m hoping my good deeds here will convince Julia that she needs to return to the adult ER world.”
Julia pulled a chair close to Eli’s bedside. “He’ll be a good enough dose of adult medicine that I won’t feel the need to ever go back.”
Eli smiled. The best nurses always had a sarcastic sense of humor to help put the patient at ease.
“Remember what I said,” James scolded. “If you’re not better by morning you’re coming down the mountain with me, and your agency will have to send others to keep Julia safe.”
James handed Julia his stethoscope. “Listen to those lungs every few hours. If they still sound like they do now and he still needs the oxygen, then repeat the Lasix dose. We’ll have a good idea by morning if he’s going to fly or not.”
Eli saluted the physician on his way out. Which left him and Julia alone.
Julia grabbed the sheet and covered the lower half of his body. “Are you comfortable?”
More coughing. He nodded. Knife-sharp spindles of pain shot like electricity through his chest, and he pressed his arms into his ribs to counteract the pain.
When he leaned forward, she rubbed her palm against his back and briefly her hands wandered into his short lengths of hair where she massaged his neck. Too soon, she withdrew her hand, and he settled back against the pillow.
“Sorry,” she said. “Kids are put at ease more quickly with a calming touch, but it probably doesn’t translate well to adults.”
“I didn’t mind.” Was it wise for him to say that?
“Well, forgive me if I absentmindedly rustle your hair like I do my younger patients.”
This whole scenario confused him. Eli didn’t have anything left. No weapon. No credentials. The river had stripped everything from him. He felt about as naked as a man could feel. Even his own clothes were unworthy to be worn.
Fractured Memory Page 9
