If Yvette wakes up and is not brain-damaged. She’s been in a coma for a long time. Her wolf was right. This was not going to be an easy fix no matter what state Yvette was in.
“We should get going.” Shawn went to Jane and his daughter half turned in Joey’s arms and then launched herself at her dad. “I love you and we’ll be back as soon as we can. Okay?”
“Okay. Joey will take care of me.” She placed her small hands on either side of Shawn’s cheeks. “I love you, Daddy.”
Jane pecked him on the cheek and wriggled in his arms as she tried to slide down to the floor, but Shawn tightened his arms around his daughter as if he never wanted to let her go. “I love you, too. We’ll be back before you know it.”
“I’m looking forward to our tea party,” Joanna told Jane as she tried to keep her emotions in check. Shawn and Jane might not have the same blood, but their bond was strong.
Unbreakable, her wolf told her.
I hope so. Joanna waved goodbye to Joey and Jane and then headed to the door.
Shawn kissed Jane one last time and then placed her down on the floor. “Be good and don’t let Joey feed you too many cookies.”
“I won’t,” Jane sang out as she followed Shawn to the front door.
“I’ll take care of her,” Joey assured Shawn as he took one last look at his daughter.
“I know you will.” Shawn nodded to Joey, turned around, and followed his mate to her car. “You’re driving?”
“Yes.” She looked at him directly. “Is that a problem? Does it dent your male ego?”
Shawn chuckled. “You can bait me all you want. I won’t rise to it.”
“Are you sure?” She arched an eyebrow. “Or is that a challenge?”
“No challenge.” He dumped his overnight bag on the back seat of the car. “I don’t mind who drives. I kind of figured we’d take turns.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She tapped the roof of her car. “Get in. We should make good time if we avoid the worst of the traffic. And my car has the kind of satnav that will tell us where that traffic is.”
Shawn got into the passenger seat. “Oh, I had no idea your car had a police radio.”
“Do you see why I picked my car for the journey?” she asked as she started the engine.
“I do now.” He sat back in his seat and buckled his seatbelt. “Thanks for this, Joanna.”
“What are mates for?” she replied as she pulled away from the curb and drove down the street.
“Was your boss okay about the road trip?” Shawn rolled down the window and looked up at the mountain as they headed out of town.
“He was when I gave Trent a brief rundown of why we’re going. Although, I did have to temper his excitement by telling him for all we know Yvette is in a vegetative state and that might never change.” She flashed him a sidelong glance. “We can trust him. He’ll keep it to himself, for now.”
Shawn nodded. “The fewer people know the better.”
Even though she trusted her boss with her life, she wasn’t ready to risk Yvette’s or Jane’s life. Once the information was out there, she had no way of knowing if it might get back to Gerald. Her boss had agreed.
As they drove onto the main road leading toward the highway, she looked in the rearview mirror.
“Everything okay?” Shawn asked as he angled his head to look out of the side mirror.
“Just being cautious.” She wanted to make sure no one was following them.
We should have taken Shawn’s car, her wolf suddenly said.
Jane winced. Of course, her car was fitted with a tracker. With the right software, they could be followed from a distance.
We’re being paranoid, Joanna told her wolf. No one aside from Fiona and Trent knows what we are doing. No one else knows that this journey is in any way connected to Gerald Comer.
Yet her unease grew. There was so much on the line here. So much that could go wrong, and the damage would taint her relationship with her mate forever.
“Relax,” Shawn’s voice comforted her, and she flexed her hands, trying to let go of the tension building inside her.
“Normally, I don’t let things get to me,” she told him. “But this is so close to home.” Her forehead wrinkled. “Even with my dad, I didn’t let it get too personal. I always managed to keep a professional distance.”
“Because this will affect your future. What happened to your father was in the past. There was no life on the line.” He took in a deep breath. “I’m no shrink but that’s how I see it.”
“You’re right. I had years to deal with my father’s death. There was a distance there. But this…” She glanced sideways at him. “I don’t want either of us to experience the same kind of pain my mother did.”
“No.” Shawn fell silent for a moment. “Whatever happens. However this ends. We have to promise each other that we’ll put it behind us and move on.”
Her mouth curled up at one corner as she forced herself to smile. “Maybe you should be a shrink.”
“So we promise?” he asked.
“Yeah. I promise that whatever happens, we will move past it and have a good life together. Knowing that we will each have done our best.” She arched an eyebrow. “Too much?”
“No, I think that covers it.” He nodded. “I promise.”
“And a shifter never breaks his promise to his mate.” Joanna reached across the car and placed her hand on his. “It’ll be okay.”
“It will.” Shawn rubbed his thumb over the back of her fingers and warmth flooded through her. As the miles wore on and their destination grew closer, Joanna let her mate’s presence soothe her.
We will get through this together, her wolf said.
By the time they reached their destination, Joanna was ready to believe it.
“Okay, we take a left here and the hospital is down a side road. There.” Shawn pointed to a small building. Nothing like the hospitals in the city which was a sprawling mass of buildings. This hospital was small, intimate.
Expensive, her wolf added.
Fiona must have a lot of treasure to afford a place like this for years. Joanna’s thought trail went a little further, exploring the terrain a little more. Why would she spend so much money on this place for a woman she barely knew?
Guilt? Her wolf was following the same thought trail.
What does Fiona have to feel guilty about? Joanna mused as she parked the car and switched off the engine.
The answers lay inside the building before them. Answers that would have ramifications on Shawn’s life and his relationship with Jane.
“Do you want me to go in alone?” Joanna half turned in her seat to look at her mate. Shawn was staring at the hospital, not attempting to get out of the car. Did he have second thoughts?
“No, let’s do this together. Every step of the way. No secrets. Even imagined ones.” He pressed his lips together, his shoulders tense.
“Agreed.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and rested her hand on the arm rest “One step at a time. But the first step is that we have to get out of the car.”
“You noticed my reluctance.” He gave a short, humorless laugh. “Until we go in there, until we see Yvette and talk to the doctors, everything is normal, my life, Jane’s life.”
“But as soon as you go inside, things change. Either way, things change.” Joanna leaned across the car and kissed his cheek. “Life changes all the time. Usually, they are only small changes that we don’t see. But then there are the big suckers. And you have to deal with them.”
Shawn nodded. “I never really put myself in my patients’ position before. This is how it must feel before they come in for a diagnosis. Before they receive test results, they can live in a bubble where everything is fine.”
“But they are still sick. Not hearing the results doesn’t make things go away.” Joanna pointed at the hospital. “Yvette won’t go away. She’s in there and we have to go talk to her.”
Shawn nodded. “I know. I just wanted to
savor this moment.” His chest heaved. “Okay, now I’m ready.”
With that, her mate got out of the car. She walked by his side toward the hospital. Both knowing this would be a major test for their new relationship. Together, they would find a way out of the other side.
Chapter Thirteen – Shawn
“Hello, I’m Dr. Shawn Bradford and this is Detective Joanna Hargreaves. We’ve come to visit Penelope Lincoln.”
“Oh, yes. We received a phone call to say you were on your way.” The receptionist smiled brightly, although there was a hint of suspicion in her eyes. “You just need to sign here. And I’ll need to see some ID.”
“Sure.” Shawn and Joanna both showed their IDs and signed the visitor book.
This is risky, his cougar licked his lips nervously. There will be a record we have been here. What if someone here does know who Yvette really is and this all comes crashing down?
We don’t have a choice since I don’t have a fake ID. Shawn forced himself to appear relaxed and smiled at the receptionist who wore a name badge with Kelsie emblazoned on it.
“Thanks for your help, Kelsie.” Shawn placed the pen down on the countertop and smiled warmly.
“No problem.” Kelsie inspected the visitor book. She was very thorough, that was for sure. Thorough and efficient. The best qualities of a receptionist.
Pity, it means that if anyone does ask about us, she’ll be able to describe us thoroughly and efficiently, his cougar complained.
She won’t have to, Shawn replied. There are cameras in the reception area.
“Can you tell us which room Penelope is in, please?” Joanna asked in her best detective voice. Shawn smiled, she sounded just like the detectives on TV. Professional and no-nonsense. Although, she did manage to smile.
Kelsie pressed a button under the counter. “Someone will be here in a moment and they will show you to Penelope’s room. We don’t allow people to roam the hallways alone.” There was a smile attached to the comment but there was a lack of friendliness in it.
Maybe she has trouble with authority, his cougar suggested.
“Thanks, Kelsie.” Shawn tried his winning smile, adding in an extra dose of warmth. “We’re sorry to trouble you.”
Kelsie sighed and looked up at Shawn. “I’m a little unsure as to why Mrs. Turner has requested a second opinion. We have the best doctors here. They take exceptionally good care of the patients.”
Mrs. Turner? How many aliases does Fiona have? Shawn’s cougar asked.
“Oh, that is not being disputed,” Joanna assured Kelsie. “We’ve been asked to come and visit Penelope as a routine inquiry. It’s procedure.”
“Oh.” Kelsie nodded, slightly mollified. “Here’s Samantha. She’ll show you to Penelope’s room. I’ll message Dr. Howarth, she can let you know all the details and changes in Penelope’s condition.”
“Thanks, Kelsie.” Joanna smiled warmly. “You’ve been such a great help.”
“You’re welcome.” Kelsie switched her attention to her computer screen while Shawn and Joanna were met by another nurse.
“Hello, I’m Samantha and I’ll take you through to see Penelope.” She smiled and turned and walked away, heading through double glass doors before taking a left and heading down a corridor. At even intervals along the corridors were closed doors, each with a small round window in them.
“Thanks, Samantha.” Joanna arched an eyebrow at Shawn and inclined her head. “Ready?”
Shawn nodded, even though he wasn’t sure he was ready to meet Yvette
Most of the rooms were inhabited by patients. Some were elderly, possibly convalescing after a hip replacement or some other procedure. The hospital was clean and seemed to be staffed with plenty of nurses. He had no concerns for Yvette’s treatment and welfare.
“This is Penelope’s room. I don’t know what you have been told but she briefly opened her eyes a couple of days ago. The doctors weren’t sure if it meant she was regaining consciousness, so they did some tests.” Samantha opened the door and went inside. She paused, holding the door open for Shawn and Joanna.
“And what did the tests show?” Shawn asked, itching to get his hands on the chart at the end of the bed.
“That there is increased brain activity. The doctor can tell you more.” Samantha indicated to a couple of seats to the side of the bed. “You can sit and wait. It might be good for you to talk to Penelope. We do like to assume coma patients can hear and are aware of their surroundings. So when we are in here, we talk to Penelope. I think it puts her at ease.”
“We will,” Shawn’s voice hitched as he spoke. “It must be terrible to lie in a bed and know there is someone else in the room but not know who they are.”
“Exactly.” Samantha beamed widely and looked Shawn up and down. “The doctor will be along shortly.”
Samantha backed out of the room and left them alone with Yvette. Neither Shawn nor Joanna moved closer to the bed. There was something eerie about being in the same room as a person who may or may not be aware of your presence. A person who lay so still they might be asleep. A person who might never wake up.
Shawn moved first, jerking himself out of his reverie. “Hello, Yvette.” He approached the bed and sat down in the chair nearest the bed. Joanna followed, her eyes fixed on the still face of Yvette.
“She looks so pale.” Joanna sat down next to Shawn and reached for his hand. Whether to give comfort or receive it, he couldn’t tell.
“So frail.” He rubbed his hand over his eyes, surprised at the wave of emotion that swept over him. He was usually exceptionally good at keeping his emotions compartmentalized, but he was finding it impossible to detach himself from the situation.
“It’s so sad,” Joanna whispered. “Yvette has missed out on so much.”
Shawn squeezed Joanna’s hand. “Perhaps one day she will get to pick up the pieces.” He’d never hoped for anything more. On the journey here, part of him wished that Yvette would never wake up. Never have to face the pain of knowing she missed out on so many years. Yvette not waking up would be easier for everyone. Jane would never know where she really came from. Was it easier for the big questions to remain unanswered?
Was it right that Fiona kept so much from us? his cougar asked.
Whatever Fiona did, I am convinced she did it for the right reasons, Shawn replied. Whether it was right or wrong, we might never know.
“Hello.” The door opened and a female doctor breezed in. “I’m Dr. Howarth. I’ve been Penelope’s doctor for the last three years.” She walked up to the bed and touched Yvette’s hand. “Morning, Penelope. I’ve got some good news.”
“You have the test results?” Shawn asked eagerly.
“I do.” She raised her left hand containing a clipboard and leafed through the pages attached to it. “The tests show increased brain activity. A lot of increased brain activity. These results indicate that Penelope is beginning to come out of her coma. Which has surprised us all.”
“Do you have any idea when she might wake up?” Joanna asked. “We came to see if she might be able to give us any information on the attack that left her so…damaged.”
“The brain is a strange and mysterious thing,” the doctor began. “We don’t really know what has triggered Penelope to wake up. We don’t know why now. We don’t know if this is a blip and she might slip back under.”
“What you mean is you have no idea when or if Penelope might regain consciousness,” Joanna said.
“Exactly.” Dr. Howarth smiled. A smile Shawn recognized. It was the same one he’d used several times throughout his career. One filled with pity for the relatives of a loved one he could not promise them he could save. “We can only wait and see.” Her eyes shifted to the young woman lying in the bed. “And even if she does wake up, we don’t know what she’ll remember. We don’t know if she will ever walk and talk again.”
“We understand,” Shawn said hoarsely. “May I look at the charts?”
“Of course.”
The doctor handed them over with some reluctance.
“Is there anything we can do while we’re here?” Joanna asked.
“Talk to her. Let her know you are here. Beyond that…” She reached out and curled her fingers around Yvette’s. “We can only hope.”
“You must be busy. Perhaps Detective Hargreaves can talk to Penelope while I just look over her notes,” Shawn suggested.
“Sure. As I said, the more stimulus Penelope receives, the more chance there is that something will stimulate her brain and help her wake up.” Dr. Howarth shrugged. “But like I said, there are no guarantees. As you must know yourself.” She gave Shawn a cursory glance as he leafed through Yvette’s charts. “Everything is in order.”
“It looks very thorough,” Shawn said easily.
Joanna reached into her pocket and pulled out a card. “If there is any change, could you contact me directly, please?”
Dr. Howarth took the card and looked at it closely. “You’ve come a long way to visit a woman who has been in a coma for so many years.”
“I really want to know what happened to her.” Joanna glanced at Shawn before she added, “It’s a cold case and Mrs. Turner contacted my department to update us that there had been a change in Penelope.”
“I see. I wish I could give you more cause to hope she is waking up.” Dr. Howarth’s hostility weakened. “At least she’ll get to hear your voices. She rarely gets any visitors. No real family as far as I am aware.”
Joanna gave a brief smile. “I hope you understand I cannot talk about the case. Penelope’s safety is our paramount concern.”
“I understand.” She glanced at the card once more. “I’ll call you directly if there is any change.”
“Thanks.” Joanna turned her attention back to the young woman in the bed. “There is one thing…”
Dr. Howarth came around to the side of the bed where Shawn and Joanna were seated. “Anything I can do to help.”
“When she spoke, what did she say?” Joanna asked.
“Spoke? Oh yes, Penelope did mumble something.” The doctor glanced toward the door. “At least, Samantha said she did.” She shook her head. “It might have been nothing, just a reflex. Penelope has been here for a long time. We don’t understand exactly what cognitive damage has been done.”
Shawn Spring Shifter Seasons Page 9
