less.
When Xavier arrived with her friends, he
explained the situation to them and abruptly left. They would care
for her now. He could see the depth of their love for and loyalty
to her in their eyes. It made him respect her even more. With one
last glance, he said a silent goodbye.
Mandy woke and instinct told her she was back
in that hospital room. Before she could scream in terror, she
forced herself to remain calm and rational while she tried to
convince herself it was just a nightmare.
The pain told her it was not a nightmare, this
was really happening. Her head and face were in excruciating pain
but she still felt it could not be too serious. She was leaving
right that moment too! Mandy hated hospitals and with good reason.
When she tried to move her hands, they felt heavy which alarmed her
until she realized Emmitt and Hunter were on either side of her
holding them in their own hands.
The sight of her two best friends at each side
of the bed flooded her heart with warmth as if generated by the sun
and spilled over into a tremendous love for them both. She had so
many questions and her head now hurt like someone had bashed it in
over and over again.
When she tried to remember what happened to
her, all she managed to remember was small flashes of Jett holding
her, smiling at her and not leaving her side. The last flash must
have been wishful thinking, since Jett was nowhere to be
seen.
Exhausted and in pain, she reached for the
call button and pushed it. Too late, she realized she pushed the
morphine pump button, not the damn call button. Before she fell
back into a deep sleep she heard a whisper in her ear, "dream of
me, tigress.…" in her ear and felt a soft kiss on her forehead,
combined with the scent of Drakar Noir men’s cologne. She could do
no more at that moment except smile and whisper, "I will," as the
morphine pulled her back into the bliss of darkness once
more.
Three
MANDY WOKE AGAIN with a start. She was still
in the hospital room. It really had not been a dream after all.
Visions of her last lengthy hospital stay flooded her mind with the
force of a tidal wave. She looked frantically around the white
sterile room which smelled strongly of antiseptic and found Hunter
and Emmitt talking quietly on the other side of the room. Deep
worry and lack of sleep had aged their faces. Good lord, how
long have I been unconscious?
"What––happened?" Mandy croaked, her throat
was as dry as the Sahara desert. She made hand motions of putting a
cup to her lips when she caught Hunter's eye.
"Oh thank God, you’re awake! You’re really
awake sweetheart!" Hunter's husky voice sounded
overjoyed.
"We were worried you wouldn’t wake up girl,
that the damage to your brain was too bad! The doctor warned it was
a possibility." Emmitt said full of relief.
"So not helping dear." Hunter
growled.
Talk later dammit, I need a drink! "Thirsty!" Mandy croaked out again and glared at her friends.
Hunter rushed to her side with a glass of ice water and a straw.
After drinking two glasses of ice water down, Mandy's throat felt
somewhat normal again. "What happened to me? What am I doing in a
damn hospital? I’m leaving right now!" Mandy hissed in confusion
and anger.
"Calm down sweetheart and I’ll tell you what I
know!" Hunter said calmly, trying to reassure her. He waited until
Mandy calmed down a bit. "Now, if you’re ready to relax and shut
up, I’ll tell you." Hunter stood over Mandy from the side of her
bed, his arms crossed over his chest like a scolding school
teacher. He waited until Mandy relaxed back onto the bed and
nodded. Only then did he smile, sit beside her on the bed, hold her
hands in his and continued. "You had only gone around three or four
miles when Jett found you. He was driving along when he saw you run
right into a low lying branch, flip over it and land on your head
on the cement. It clearly won the fight and you ended up with a
fractured skull, forehead and eye socket.
Learning to Kill: Stories