Page 46 of Cold and Bitter Snow

“You’re awake!” she said, her face lighting up.

He looked out the window. It was still dark. “Hi. What are you doing here?” His voice was out of practice. He didn’t mean to sound gruff.

Siena didn’t answer but her gaze flickered to the armchair by the window. Conor saw the rumpled white blanket and pillow tucked by the armchair.

She’s been sleeping there?

The thought filled him with a strange combination of guilt and happiness.

“How are you feeling, Conor? Are you in pain?”

He purposefully ignored the question.

“What time is it?”

Siena fished out her phone from her jeans back pocket with a bit of effort. “It’s almost six a.m.”

He brought his right hand up and pointed at her head. “Are you okay?”

“No concussion. I have a hard head,” she said, smiling lightly. There were dark shadows under her eyes. It didn’t look like she’d slept much. “How are you feeling? How much do you remember?”

He shrugged then immediately regretted it. “I remember getting shot. I remember you saving my life.”

She smiled and came closer to the bed. He wished she would hold his hand, but she kept hers laced in front of her body.

“I think we saved each other’s lives.” She looked down. “I killed that man. His name was Ali.”

“Good riddance. How about Raoul?”

“You didn’t kill him. He’s been transferred to prison. I hear people from the consulate are trying to get him back to Saudi Arabia but the Swiss authorities are having none of it.”

“I have another question. What are all these flowers doing here?”

She actually giggled at that. “I was hoping you’d ask. It turns out Alma’s father is grateful you saved her life. He emptied a couple Lausanne flower stores to say thank you.”

Conor scowled. “Yeah. This is a hospital. There must be babies being born, or something?” He waved his hand at the greenery. He was suddenly exhausted.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Siena … Please stay,” he said.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

As he closed his eyes he felt the pressure on his hand as her smaller hand grasped it gently. It was exactly what he needed to fall asleep again.

#

Siena

Conor slept through the day without waking up again. The nurse told Siena it was normal—they’d given him a powerful cocktail of drugs to help his body deal with the pain and trauma.

The nurse wasn’t saying much else, regardless of how many times Siena asked. She kept insisting Siena had to speak to the doctor, but of course he was also ignoring her questions.

She sipped the cup of tea the nurse had brought her without really tasting it. Her body was still feeling the aftershock, and she imagined it would for a while.

Luc popped his head into the room. She made the universal signal for silence and walked outside to meet him. She sat outside in one of the chairs lining the corridor so she was at eye level with his chair.

“How is he?” Luc asked.