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A blurred figure placed their hands on her arm. “You’re safe.” The voice sounded familiar. Slowly, the person came into focus. It was Sam. Why was she here?
“Sam?” It was painful to talk. She sounded like a frog croaking. Anne’s heart raced. Her body started trembling. Memories came back to her and flooded her mind in one painful flash after another. A man attacked her. He tried to take Silas, then darkness.
“Silas?” She tried to sit up, but bile gurgled in her gut, and she lay back. “I have to save Silas.”
Sam rubbed her arm. “Silas is safe. He’s at my house with Alex,” she replied gently.
“I hurt.”
“I know, sweetheart, I know.” Sam took her hand and carefully sat next to her on the bed. “Everything is all right. You don’t have to worry. You’re safe. Silas is safe.”
“What happened?” Anne struggled to understand. She tried to focus on Sam, but one eye didn’t open completely. Thankfully, the light was low and didn’t hurt her eyes.
Sam sighed. “You were attacked in your house. Silas called me. Joe, Danny, and I went over. We called 9-1-1 and secured the house.”
“Why?” Anne’s voice sounded weak and needy, and she hated it.
“Don’t know, but we’re going to find out.”
A figure stood in the doorway. Anne’s heart beat relentlessly.
Was the man back? No, a nurse walked in. A nurse?
Anne glanced around. Damn, she was in the hospital. It made sense now what the unidentified scent she smelled was—antiseptic. An IV was inserted into her arm.
“Oh good, you’re awake.” The nurse smiled at her, fluffed the pillow, and checked Anne’s pulse. “Rest. You’ll be out of here before you know it.”
Anne could only see her out of one eye. “Am I losing my eye?”
“What?” Sam reached over to hold her hand. “No, sweetie. It’s just swollen. The man hit you.”
“The doctor will be in shortly to give you an update,” said the nurse as she left the room.
Anne lay back. Her energy was dwindling, but she had to get out of here to protect Silas.
The little boy had enough bad experiences without this happening. Silas must be so worried. Would social services take him away, claiming Anne couldn’t keep him safe?
No, she wouldn’t let that happen.
“Sam.” She reached out and grabbed Sam’s arm. “Promise me that you won’t let anyone take him away from me.”
“Sweetie.” Sam’s voice cracked. “No one is taking him away. I promise. My friend on the police force talked to Silas. I promised to watch him. Everything is okay.”
Another figure at the doorway. This time, it was the doctor. Sam got up to leave, but Anne asked her to stay.
The doctor checked her over and asked about her pain.
“You’ve got a concussion, so we’ll keep you another day. The swelling in your eye will go down, and there doesn’t appear to be any permanent damage.” He wrote something on the clipboard in his hands. “Right now, you need to rest and focus on getting better and going home. Okay?”
Anne nodded. What else was she going to do? She couldn’t take care of Silas right now, so she would have to depend upon friends to help.
Now that she was fully awake, Anne became aware of the hum of voices and footsteps outside her room; a loud moan from the room next door or across the hall—she couldn’t tell; the flickering of the overhead light and the smell—the scent of sickness and fear.
She wondered what was going to happen when she went home. Could she go back to her house and feel safe? For that matter, would she ever feel safe again? Would Silas?
And who was that man, and what was he looking for?
* * *
