Cutting Cords

by Mickie B. Ashling

“Most of the people who were in the teahouse were customers. The police are still questioning everyone to try to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Did they arrest that fucking gorilla who raped me?”

  “He was trapped and died in the fire.”

  “At least someone got their due.”

  I lifted my arms and saw that I’d been burned in several places. There were bright red patches of skin covered in some kind of goop and shallow puncture marks on my right arm.

  “Are those teeth marks?”

  “Where?” Cole asked.

  I’d forgotten again that he couldn’t see. “On my arm.”

  “Freddie had to grab hold of something. Don’t worry, his shots are up to date.”

  I choked on a laugh that quickly turned into a sob. Cole slid into bed beside me and held me against his chest. “You’re going to be okay, Sloan. I promise.”

  “He fucked me without a condom.”

  “I know. They’ve already given you drugs in case he’s positive, plus a tetanus shot for the knife wounds. Christ, I wish he hadn’t died in the fire. He deserved a lot worse.”

  “She’s the one who should fry.”

  “They’ll get her eventually.”

  “Thank you for rescuing me.”

  “You rescued yourself by turning on your phone.”

  “It worked?”

  “You’re here, aren’t you?”

  Chapter 19

  A FEW hours later, I awoke to the tender prodding of a doctor who looked no older than Cole. He was wearing a crisp white shirt and a scarlet Armani tie I recognized. The fact that I could think of trivia like fashion meant I must be feeling marginally better. Morphine, or whatever drug they were giving me for the pain, was making me loopy. I drifted in and out of a narcotic haze doing my best to focus on what the doc was saying. My hearing wasn’t all that great either, and I turned my head unconsciously, giving my good ear better access to his voice.

  “Good morning,” he said professionally. “My name is Isao Kimura. How are you feeling?”

  I closed my eye for a second, then opened it as realization hit. Cole wasn’t around, and I started to panic. “Where’s Cole?”

  “He went back to the hotel to shower and check on his children, but he told me to make sure you knew that he’d be back by nightfall. He hasn’t left your side since they brought you in.”

  “How long have I been here, Doctor?”

  “This is your second day.”

  “So the children are safe?”

  “As far as I know.”

  “Did they arrest everyone involved?”

  “I’m not privy to that information.”

  “Do you know anything about the kidnapping?”

  “Only what I’ve overheard from the police and Mr. Fujiwara. His ex-wife is still missing.”

  Are you fucking kidding me? How in the hell did she get away?

  “Tell me about my injuries, Doctor, starting with my eye. Why can’t I see?”

  “You might be suffering from traumatic optic neuropathy, or TON, for short.”

  “From the direct hit?”

  “Exactly. Blunt-force trauma is one way of damaging the optic nerve; however, it’s a little too soon to make an accurate diagnosis. You were unconscious when they brought you in, so there was no way for us to diagnose you by using the normal tests for visual acuity, color vision, pupillary function, and visual field. We’ve ruled out any internal bleeds with the MRI, and your orbital bone is intact. You have some burst capillaries, so there’s a reddish tint to the sclera, but your pupil responded to light, which is a good sign. The damage may be minor, even though it appears major right now. We’ve put you on some corticosteroids to reduce the swelling. Other than that, there’s nothing we can do but wait and see.”

  “Worst-case scenario?”

  “Complete loss of vision, but I’m hoping that’s not the case. You may have to wear glasses, but as I said, it’s too soon to make any assumptions.”

  I nodded. “Okay, I think I can live with that. What else is going on? I feel pain in varying degrees all over the place.”

  “You’ve suffered some second-degree burns on your arms and legs, which accounts for the blisters, and you’ve been cut in several places on your chest. There was some anal tearing but nothing too severe to require surgery. We’ve put you on postexposure prophylaxis in case your assailant was HIV positive, along with the usual tetanus shot and antibiotics.”

  “Can you test the bastard who did this to me?”

  “He’s dead if that’s any consolation, but we’ve sent his DNA to a lab for testing. The results aren’t back yet, so we’re assuming the worst and treating you accordingly.”

  “When will we get the results?”

  “It can take anywhere from thirty-six to forty-eight hours, depending on the lab. It’s been over twenty-four hours, so hopefully not much longer.”

  “So… that’s it? There’s nothing else going on that you’re not telling me?”

  “You’re lucky to be alive, considering everything you’ve been through.”

  “I know,” I said grimly. “Did you check my left ear?”

  “Is there a problem?”

  “That bastard hit me with his open palm, and something happened to my hearing. I feel like I’m underwater.”

  The doctor pulled a small instrument out of his pocket, a mini flashlight of some sort, and peered into my left ear. His disapproving grunt was good enough to tell me something was going on in there. He removed the instrument, pocketed it, and reached for my chart to scribble some notes.

  Finally, he looked at me and told me his findings. “You have a ruptured eardrum.”

  “Fucking A. Now I’m going to be deaf on top of blind in one eye?”

  “Let’s not get too dramatic, Mr. Driscoll. A ruptured eardrum is a tear in the thin membrane separating your outer ear from your inner ear. Typically, this type of tear heals itself within a few months.”

  “So I won’t be deaf?”

  “No, unless you injure it further by sticking in foreign objects like a cotton swab or a paper clip.”

  “Who does that shit?”

  “Children do it all the time, and grownups will do anything to get to an itch.”

  “Gotcha. How soon can I get out of here?”

  “Another forty-eight hours should do it.”

  I nodded. “Will you let me know about the HIV as soon as you hear?”

  “Definitely.”

  “Thank you, Doctor.”

  “Try to get some rest, Mr. Driscoll.”

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ll rest a lot easier after I see the lab result.”

  “I understand.”

  The clinical assessment of my condition was reassuring. Despite the ongoing fear of being infected by Kouki, I was buoyed to hear that most of my injuries would heal in time. My eye was still questionable, but I was hopeful, and no matter what the outcome of the HIV test, lying on a cold slab beside the bastard who’d torn me up wasn’t a good alternative. Life was always preferable to death, and I’d fought like hell to save mine.

  I dozed on and off for most of the day. During my waking hours, I was given soup and crackers to try to build up my strength. I was more than a little pissed that Noriko had managed to escape and a lot worried that she’d circle back to get her revenge. That bitch wasn’t going away quietly, and somehow I knew this wasn’t over yet.

  Cole and Freddie showed up around five. I was sitting up and alert for the first time since I’d checked into the joint. My pooch had clearly seen better days, and I felt sick to my stomach knowing he could have been toast in his effort to save the day. He had a few bald spots where the flames had eaten through his fur, and the skin was bright red and covered with some sort of ointment. He had an inflatable e-collar to prevent him from licking off the goop and making his injuries worse.

  Yet despite it all, Freddie’s tail wagged like crazy as soon as I called him to my side of t
he bed. “Such a good dog,” I murmured, rubbing his ears and patting his head. “Thank you for rescuing me, buddy.”

  “What about me?” Cole asked. “Don’t I at least get a thank-you kiss?”

  “Get over here, you dope.” I looped my arm around Cole’s neck and brought him down to eye level. I kissed him lightly on the mouth and pressed my forehead against his. “Thank you,” I whispered, kissing him one more time. We stayed like that for a few seconds, breathing into each other’s face. Would I ever tell Cole it was his image that kept me going through that dark night? I’d never have been able to pull off the bullshit sex act if not for him. And what did that say about my feelings for Trent?

  We separated, and Cole pulled up the chair he’d familiarized himself with over the last twenty-four hours and sat down beside me. He never let go of my hand, though.

  “Tell me exactly how you found me, Cole. I want to hear all the details,” I prompted him.

  “When neither you nor Freddie came back after chasing after that goon, I had the people at the restaurant show me the way you’d gone. We found Freddie on the floor. He’d been knocked out and was revived after we poured water over his face.”

  “That bastard kicked him so hard I’m surprised his jaw didn’t break.”

  “Thankfully, it hadn’t. As soon as he came to, he headed back down the hall and began pawing and whining at the exit door. That was when we realized you’d been abducted.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I took a cab back to the hotel and contacted Adachi the minute I got to the room.”

  “How did you find him?”

  “He left his card, and I asked the concierge to call.”

  “Good thinking.”

  “He came over as soon as he heard my story and told me that he’d come to the conclusion that Noriko’s family had planned the kidnapping. During the course of his investigation, he’d learned that the okiya was heavily in debt and bills weren’t being paid. They were about to default on their loans, and the residents would be evicted. It was obviously a last-ditch attempt to save face. What we weren’t sure of was Noriko’s involvement.”

  I snorted in derision. “She planned the whole thing, Cole. Not only that, she had illusions you would remarry once this was over.”

  “What?”

  He was practically in tears by the time I finished recounting the conversations I’d had with the cunt while I was her prisoner. “She wasn’t serious about killing you, was she?”

  “Cole, not only was she serious, she also asked her flunky to make me suffer. The bitch despises me.”

  “How the fuck could I have been so stupid?”

  “More important is how we can outsmart her this time?”

  “Well, you already did that by turning on your phone. The cops picked up your signal immediately.”

  “You have no idea what I had to do to get to that point.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Maybe some other time. Right now, let’s figure out what to do about Noriko.”

  “I’ve hired two nannies to watch the boys until we can go back home.”

  “That’s a good start. How are they?”

  “No worse for wear. If their mother was with them the whole time, they probably didn’t even realize they were in another country.”

  “Well, that’s one less thing to worry about.”

  “Yes, they’re in good hands at the moment.”

  “What about police protection?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Is someone watching them?”

  “I believe the cops have the hotel under surveillance.”

  “You believe?” I shook my head. The guy had no clue how desperate and dangerous Noriko had become. “Cole, I need a phone.”

  He looked quite smug when he pulled a brand new iPhone out of his pocket. “I figured you would need a new one since the fire burnt yours to a crisp. They’ve transferred all your data off the cloud.”

  “Thank you, Cole. That was very thoughtful.”

  “They gave me a lot of grief about loading your information without you around, but after the police told them about the fire, they agreed to do it. It’s password locked, so I hope you remember yours.”

  “Of course I do.” I tapped in my password and got into my phone without a problem. There were several e-mails from Trent, but I didn’t have time to get into it. There was so much other shit I had to worry about. I tapped in Adachi’s number and started barking orders as soon as he got on the phone.

  “We need twenty-four-hour protection on those kids. Noriko will try to do something drastic before we leave the country. I’m sure she realizes she’ll never be able to set foot in America again. You did notify the authorities, right?”

  “Are you willing to testify that she was the one behind this?”

  “Yes!” I was screaming into the phone. “Alert the FBI, Interpol, Homeland Security, the CIA, and any other goddamn entity that needs to know. Make sure they cancel her passport or green card or whatever the fuck she used to get into the US. And get someone over to the Hyatt ASAP. Round the clock, Adachi!”

  “Sloan, isn’t this a little extreme?” Cole asked quietly.

  I grabbed his hand and shoved it underneath my gown. My chest was covered with bandages, protecting the cuts I’d sustained at Kouki’s hands. They hurt like hell when his fingers brushed against them.

  “Isn’t that proof enough, Cole? There’s nothing too extreme when it comes to your ex-wife. I’ll calm the fuck down when she’s behind bars or dead.”

  His face turned ashen. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  Just then, Dr. Kimura walked in holding a piece of paper. My heart almost stopped when I realized it was the lab report. I tried to read his face to tell if I was about to receive good news or if my life would change forever. He had that same inscrutable mask Cole assumed whenever he was in his shogun mode.

  “Good news, Mr. Driscoll. He was negative.”

  I reached for Cole instinctively and was relieved when his fingers intertwined with mine. My defenses crumbled the moment I realized I would be okay, and I let the emotion stream out of me in loud, wracking sobs. Cole slid onto the bed and embraced me protectively. Dr. Kimura quietly excused himself, and Cole never let me go. I cried until there were no more tears left. Long after the sobbing subsided, Cole remained by my side, rubbing my back and whispering endearments that I hadn’t heard in a long time.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he said reassuringly. “You’ll be just fine.”

  “Don’t leave me,” I begged.

  “I’ll never leave you again.”

  “I meant tonight.”

  “I know, Sloan. Close your eyes and rest.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me,” Cole protested.

  “You’re here.”

  “There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

  Chapter 20

  I MUST have fallen asleep after my emotional release, and I awakened slightly disoriented. The room was dark, and I could hear Freddie’s sonorous breaths coming from somewhere underneath the raised bed. Nurses were speaking Japanese in the hallway, and that’s when I remembered I wasn’t in New York. That, and the pain radiating from different parts of my body. I was still in Cole’s arms, which surprised me since the twins were now back at the hotel. He shifted position when I began to stir.

  “Can I get you anything?” he asked sleepily.

  “You stayed with me all night?”

  “I left to check on the boys, but I came back.”

  “Why?”

  “You needed me.”

  And just like that, everything changed. Thoughts of last night’s cathartic moment swirled around in my head, and the one thing that stood out was Cole telling me over and over how brave I’d been and how I’d saved the day. He’d come back to stay with me, placing my needs ahead of the children who’d been his reason for living since the idea had first been broached.
I burrowed back into the warm spot underneath his arms, too confused and in too much pain to really dwell on this latest development. I moaned rather loudly as the slightest move set off a chain reaction of pain.

  “Is there anything I can get you?” he asked again.

  “Drugs.”

  He turned and pressed a button near the bed, and a nurse in crisp white showed up within minutes. She checked my temperature and blood pressure, then gave me two pain pills, which I swallowed gratefully.

  “Christ, I can’t wait to start feeling normal again.”

  “It hasn’t even been forty-eight hours, Sloan.”

  “I’m not a good patient.”

  “You’ve been great so far.”

  “We need to get out of here, Cole.”

  “In a day or two,” he said softly. “The doc won’t release you until he gets a good look at your eye to see if there’s anything else he can do.”

  “My eye is the least of it.”

  “Try to relax.”

  “I want to go home.”

  Cole nodded. “You’re probably thinking this would have never happened if Trent had been around.”

  “Actually, I’m more concerned about getting the boys as far away from here as possible. Trent’s got nothing to do with it.”

  “This is all my fault,” Cole said. “Everything that’s happened in the last three years is entirely my fault.”

  I sighed. “I’m too tired to deal with your regrets, Cole.”

  “Nonetheless, you wouldn’t be in this position if I had listened to you from the beginning. Your instincts about Noriko were right on, and I was too arrogant to pay attention. I attributed all your doubts to jealousy, when in truth, it was your sixth sense, a biological reaction to danger. You knew, and I didn’t give you any credit.”

  “I was jealous and hurt, and instead of standing my ground and fighting for you, I caved.”

  “I didn’t leave you much choice.”

  “Noriko said I was a thorn in her side from the very beginning.”

  “When did she tell you this?”

  “Just before she asked her flunky to kill me.”

  “I’m still trying to wrap my head around that. Did she really come right out and say ‘kill him’?”