by R L Dunn
Eric waited for the meter to count down. "Blood sugar is normal."
"Temperature is 98.4,” a nurse read off the numbers. Another nurse returned with warm blankets.
Patrick blew out a breath. "I think she's exhausted. She hasn’t slept enough since Martin was jailed."
Eric applied a nasal cannula. "I'll stay with her. Go check on Martin."
In the recovery room, Elizabeth's eyes fluttered open. She realized she was in a hospital bed. "What happened? Is Marty okay?"
Eric smiled. "You saved his life. He’s in the ICU being monitored by Seth. You bottomed out from exhaustion and dehydration. We have a close eye on both of you. If you promise to behave, I'll wheel you upstairs, and you can nap with him."
Julian was beside her with his arms crossed, his expression stern.
Elizabeth squeaked, "Uh oh, I'm in trouble."
"Chère, you and Martin are two of the most mulish people I know. You deserve each other."
Martin tried to stretch, but the confining hand on his ankle confused him. At first, he thought he was shackled again. "Ugh."
"Martin, it's Seth. You’re in the hospital. Do not move that leg. Tell me what's wrong."
Martin tried to sit up. "Gut hurts."
Seth placed a hand on his shoulder. "Stay flat. You had a heavy-duty procedure. Scale of one to ten, describe the pain?"
"Eight. I need to bend my legs."
"Don't bend the right one. You need to let it rest."
Ian hugged him. "Welcome back to the living. If you want to stay that way, you need to listen—that word you don't seem to understand."
"How's Troy?" he rasped.
Ian sat beside him. "He's holding on. Elizabeth operated again."
"Jenner in custody?
"No, he's dead. You got him."
"Where's Elizabeth?" He took a moment to scan the room.
"Eric and Julian are with her." Ian held Martin down as he struggled to sit up. "Clear the cobwebs in your head. Elizabeth is fine. She was exhausted from the day's events and needed a nap. Eric and Julian are bringing her up to rest with you. Austin and Lola are fine—Kieran moved them to the farm. Joyce, Ruth, and our med staff are caring for them. We also moved Lissa. You need to listen to the doctors."
"Oh, God, Keys."
"We know. He's in custody." Ian continued to hold him down.
"What about Hillinger?"
"In custody. Martin, you need to heal. Tomorrow we can talk some more."
"Choudhury and Krump?" Martin pushed for information.
"We're looking for them." Ian shook his head.
Seth returned with the meds. "Eight milligrams of Ondansetron for nausea and two milligrams of Dilaudid for pain. Give it a minute to work. Try to go back to sleep."
The door to the room opened, and Julian helped Elizabeth from the wheelchair. Her composure broke as she burst into wet, sloppy sobs. "Marty." She took cautious steps toward him, and Martin opened his free arm. "I was so afraid." His arm locked around her waist.
Martin tasted her salty tears as she kissed him. “I'm so sorry for scaring you, Sunshine." Ian let go of him and escorted everyone out the door.
"So much happened, Marty. You could have died. Troy, he's still so sick. I don't know if I did enough. Steve was taking money to turn a blind eye. Lola’s with Joyce at the farm.” Her tears increased, and she started to shake.
“I’m here. Don’t cry,” he begged.
She swiped at her face before she placed a hand against his bruised cheek. “God, I don't know how to tell you this.” She wrapped her hands around herself and rocked on her feet. “I don't want you to be trapped. I...we...I'm pregnant." The words came out in an anguished gasp.
Martin's lips lifted into a satisfied smile. "I thought... I'm not trapped. I love you." He pulled her onto his bed and laced his fingers with hers.
Her breaths were coming in hiccups. "Wait, you don't understand. My body, I may not be able to carry the baby." She paled with fright.
"I don't want you in any danger. What does Lois say?"
Elizabeth swiped at her watery eyes. "I haven’t told her yet. I made Pete and Patrick keep it a secret, and then I told Julian, and then Trask figured it out."
His lips turned up; she was talking at Joyce's speed. "Don't cry." He would rather handle a firefight than her tears. "Sunshine? Shh. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together."
She lifted their interlocked fingers to her lips. "You're supposed to rest. I'm supposed to be strong." The tears dripped down her cheeks again.
Martin let go and rubbed her back. "You are, Sunshine." Together, they fell asleep.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sunday, August 30th
Zach escorted Ragan and Martin's attorneys, documents in hand, to Martin's room. Elizabeth had left a few minutes earlier to shower and check on Troy. Ian, who hadn't left Martin's side, let them in.
"Mr. Bailey, I'm District Attorney Ragan. I want to apologize to you in person for what happened to you while in Silverton custody." Ian cleared his throat. "I need to apologize for the rush to charge both you and Dr. Reed."
Cordelia and Terrence waited for Ragan to grovel some more and leave. "How are you feeling?" Terrance asked.
"Tired of being in bed."
Seth scowled. "Too bad—doctors’ orders."
Cordelia Snow placed her hands on the bed rail. "We will discuss what you want to do about the malicious prosecution when you are fully recovered.
"Thank you. The only thing I want right now is out of here." Martin bent his left knee.
"I spoke with the state’s attorney; he will be by around noon tomorrow to take your complete statement. Your physician has not granted permission for you to speak yet," she said.
Terrence moved toward the door. "I'm going to leave you in my sister's capable hands. Mr. Wentworth, if you ever tire of working for Mr. Chase, I'd love to hire you."
"Not before I hire him." Cordelia smiled for the first time.
Ian raised his brow. "Neither of you are getting him."
"I'll visit you tomorrow, Martin. Rest," Cordelia said.
“Until tomorrow," Newsome said, and the attorneys left.
Martin coughed, guarding his gut. "Jenner hustled me out of the jail after Lampton warned him my lawyer had a tape showing the Moody triplets killing Hal and Talbot. Who told him?"
"Lampton is dead. I will try to track it down," Zach said.
Ian focused on Martin. "You okay?"
"Better now." Martin took a shallow breath. "Thanks, Zach. I'm putting this out for everyone: kick me in the ass if I complain about administrative work again." Martin laughed and groaned in pain.
Zach's eyes crinkled, and he hugged his friend. "I'll look into how Lampton knew."
Ian narrowed his gaze. "What's the plan, Seth?"
"At noon, we can sit him up a bit and see how he tolerates things. If all goes well, we’ll move on. Martin, you had an aneurysm deep in your liver; if it blew, you would be dead. No one except Elizabeth believed that aneurysm existed. She pushed herself until she found it. Don't screw this up."
Elizabeth, Patrick, and Eric went over Troy's latest test results. His fever still hovered around 103. "What are we missing?"
Patrick sighed. "We need to give the new meds some time. The steroids are wreaking havoc with his immune system, but he needs them for the cord problems and the swelling in his chest and abdomen."
Eric explained his plan, "We’ll bathe him and re-culture everything. He appears less yellow to me, and his pupils are sluggish but responsive."
She worried, "When will his family be here?"
"Kyle is picking them up any minute. Troy's dad passed away two years ago. His mom and his two sisters and their spouses are coming in from South Carolina. I spoke to his mom last night—she thought the worry was over," Patrick said.
Elizabeth wiped her face with her hands. "I don't think you ever stop worrying about the people you love. Call me right away if anything changes." She h
eld Troy's hand and closed her eyes.
Kieran walked into Martin's room where Ian and Kip were working while Martin appeared to be asleep. "How's he doing?"
"We sat him up, and he lasted about ten minutes. He managed to obtain quite a bit of information out of his captors, but nothing on the Post-its," Ian said.
"I checked in on Troy. His mom and sisters are with him. There had to be a different way…” Kieran blew out a hard breath.
"This is my fault." Martin opened his bruised eyes and propped himself up on his elbows.
"Enough, stop blaming yourselves. I'll be back later." Ian headed out, and Martin drifted off again.
Kieran and Kip were reading when Martin woke again, raising his head as much as he was allowed. "Don't ask; I feel like shit. Where are we at?"
"Lamb, Choudhury, and Krump are still outstanding. You were right about the murder video. Kyle’s gut was right too. We traced the leak to Cleo Nolan—she was seeing Lampton and got the notification while they were having lunch. She was careless. As she was leaving, Lampton made a call to Jensen. A call from Jensen went to Brynn. Seems Brynn was involved with him as well. Zach and Wes traced the calls to a burner phone found on Brynn’s body.”
"Anything else?"
Kieran passed Martin a tablet. "We secured the explosives and discovered another Post-it wall. Those notes are the closest thing to a clue."
"I think these are dates, but these other numbers make no sense."
Elizabeth and Julian joined them. "Hey, Seth, how'd he do?"
"Ten minutes, Beth."
"Five minutes too long." Elizabeth noted Martin's pale color and the patina of sweat on his brow. She scanned his latest vital signs. "What are you looking at?"
"Hailey kept two walls of these. We’re trying to decipher her code." Kieran handed her the tablet.
Elizabeth sat on the bed to examine the code. Martin watched the thousand-mile stare grow on her face. "Sunshine, each one has a date and time. I think the colors refer to different things—sets of people?"
Elizabeth opened her phone. "Do you have some paper?" Kip handed her a pen and pad. She jotted some notes. "They’re medical records codes. These are drugs. T40 is heroin. T43 is methamphetamine. S06 is death. We need to find ones with...T46. That's Flecainide."
Kip and Julian each scanned through their files. "Here, Beth." Kip moved from the corner of the room.
"I think 518 must mean me—that’s my birthday. Krystal Slater must be 1119 if these other numbers are the date and time," Elizabeth said.
"Chère, here's another one, a T46, the 518 and 1213." Julian showed her.
Tears fell down Elizabeth's cheeks when the date connected. A woman with a deep voice. "I trusted her. I trusted Steve. How could I be such a fool?" She hopped off the bed and ran from the room.
Martin tried to catch her, but Seth held him back. "Go," Martin yelled. Kieran, Julian, and Kip were fast on her heels.
Elizabeth hit the corridor one step ahead of her pursuers, shaking with rage. The ICU doors opened, and Louella Miranda was accompanying a cardiac patient onto the unit.
"How could you?" Elizabeth screamed, her blood roaring in her ears.
The two women faced off in front of the nurse's station. "What's wrong, Beth?" Louella spoke calmly.
"Stop lying. I know. The prisoners. Me. Why?" Her hands clenched and unclenched.
"Why? A simple risk-benefit analysis. Rid the world of the undesirables and make a fortune." Louella’s eyes darkened.
"And me? Why was I so undesirable?" Her chest heaved with each breath as she stood inches from Louella.
"You were in the way. Uncontrollable. You wouldn't mind your business. Steve tried. Pietra tried. Randy tried in his irritating way, and I tried. You were so dogged in your ideology of ‘everyone deserves the best.’ The world doesn't work that way." Her tone was cold and businesslike.
Kieran, Julian, and Kip skidded to a stop. Elizabeth was between Louella and them. A critical patient and staff were also in their direct line of fire. Seeing them coming, Louella grabbed Elizabeth and pulled her against her, pressing a pair of scissors against Elizabeth's chest. "Let her go." Kip leveled his gun at Louella.
"I'll let her go when pigs fly!" Louella's face contorted with rage. "If I go down, so does she."
Elizabeth had a baby to protect. Louella was momentarily distracted by the arriving hospital security. Realizing Kip's pen was still in her hand, Elizabeth jammed it into Louella's leg. "Pigs fly." She broke free.
Louella howled and scrambled to catch her, swinging the scissors wildly. Martin stepped from behind Elizabeth and fired one shot, dropping Louella where she stood. Kieran kicked the scissors clear.
Martin sagged to the floor, dripping with sweat. "How, Marty?” Elizabeth dropped to her knees beside him.
Julian and Seth returned Martin to bed. Assured he didn’t undo his liver repair, she let him explain how he managed to get behind Louella.
“Seth leaned over me to hold me back. I sat up and grabbed his gun. Sorry, Seth. At that point, he couldn’t do much to stop me. When you stabbed her, I moved behind the desk, coming out on the other side.”
“Marty, you do realize you could have killed yourself?” She climbed on the bed and straddled his hips, carefully taking his face between her hands and peppering him with kisses. “I need you. We need you. You have to rest. I love you.”
“Elizabeth Reed, I need you and love you too." Martin pulled her head close and kissed her into silence.
Two days later
Word came from the PA next door that Troy had awakened. Elizabeth ran from Martin’s room to Troy’s, quickly washed her hands, and put on a fresh gown. "Troy, I’m Beth Reed. Do you remember me?” Troy gave her a thumb up. “Are you in pain?” His thumb pointed down. "The mountain is smaller." He blinked and triggered the vent. She borrowed Jon’s stethoscope and listened to his chest.
Kieran wheeled Martin inside. This was the first time he'd seen Troy since the day Troy went undercover. With assistance, Martin stood and leaned over his friend. He kissed Troy's forehead and whispered, "I'm so sorry."
Troy managed to lift his hand against Martin's battered cheek. His fingers moved slowly and steadily: YOU GET HIM.
"No." Martin's voice cracked. "YOU got him."
The next morning, Martin looked at Patrick for support in being discharged. "Don't ask me. I can't discharge you until your surgeon concurs."
Elizabeth looked at the Chases. "I'll recommend Patrick discharge him if he follows the rules. Ian and Kieran, he needs to rest at least two weeks. Short walks, showers only, no exercise, no driving, no more shooting, and no vigorous sexual activity." Elizabeth ran down the usual list by rote.
Ian cocked his head. "Sweetheart, I can order him to follow five out of six of those rules. The last one is up to you."
She realized what she said and blushed. "I want to visit Troy one more time today, then we can go home. I'll be back."
"I'll stay with Troy. Kip and Bruce are on his door. Behave, please." Martin's laugh followed Kieran out the door.
Chapter Thirty-Four
When Ian and Julian helped Martin out of the Navigator parked in front of the farmhouse, he breathed his first easy breath in days. His parents ran down the steps to hug him and Elizabeth. Julian assisted Martin up the steps while Austin stood waiting in the entryway. The two brothers embraced, words unnecessary.
"Come, both of you, sit," Pete directed.
Jamie joined the group with Lola dressed in a pink onesie, booties and a matching hat. He placed her in Martin's arms. "Daddy, someone wants to see you."
Lola's head turned. He would swear she gazed at him and smiled. "Did you smile at me or is that gas?" He brought her closer to his face. Lola cooed and smiled again. The knot in his gut eased. Martin's eyes, glossy with tears, focused on Elizabeth.
Martin and Elizabeth turned in early. Elizabeth urged Pete to take the night off, keeping Lola in the bassinet next to her side of the bed.
&n
bsp; "Hey, gorgeous." Martin stared at Elizabeth leaning over the white lace-covered bed watching Lola sleep. Elizabeth wore a silk dressing gown that matched her eyes. He opened a drawer and pulled out a pair of pajama bottoms. "My mom thought of everything, huh? Come to bed." Martin cuddled her lithe body against his, and soon her breaths grew slow and even.
He lifted his laptop from the floor and put on headphones. All of Talbot's memory cards were converted to a download. Martin had some unanswered questions. He started with the file dated January eighth, the day of Alma Reed's funeral. The grainy video played.
Talbot poured a drink and sat in the same place he died. Elizabeth, dressed in sweats, walked into the room carrying the metal box that held their letters. She dropped it onto the coffee table. "How could you?"
"Elizabeth, baby girl, how could I what?"
Bastard, you had the callousness to ask, Martin thought.
"Why? Why was it so awful for me to love Marty? You hate me so much?" Elizabeth was shaking.
"Now, Elizabeth, you were too young to understand the way the world works. That boy couldn't give you the life you were destined for."
"Destined for? You gave me a life with a man who hurt me every day we were together. A life devoid of love. Filled with obligation to two men who mocked me. How dare you? You, a man who flouted your marriage vows every chance you got. I won't be part of that destiny anymore." She grabbed the box and left the view. Moments later there was a loud bang from a slamming door.
Martin fast-forwarded.
Clay Jenner joined Talbot. "I'm sorry about Alma. She was a decent woman. I didn't expect you to call today; I figured you’d be spending time with Elizabeth."
"Alma got even in the end: she saved everything. That woman and her morals. She left a gift for Elizabeth."
Clay poured a huge tumbler of scotch. "What gift?"