Page 20 of Her Passionate Hero

“I don’t want to find out you were in the hospital three days after you’re out. Or, God forbid, the day of your funeral.” Her voice sounded like it had been grated through a shredder.

She pressed her grandmother’s warm hand closer to her cheek. “I’m so sorry,” her voice trembled. “Please, forgive me.”

“I’ll only let this slide because you’re hurting, but as soon as you’re on your feet, you have to put me in your phone. In the meantime, tell me what’s going on. Why does somebody want you dead?”

“What are you talking about? It must have been a gas leak.”

“I’ve talked to the detectives in charge of the investigation and Officer Robinson. They say a bomb was planted in your apartment.”

All the blood left her body. How could she be alive if her blood was gone?

“Aliana, what’s wrong? Nurse! Come immediately,” her grandmother cried, switching to English.

A nurse followed by Lottie and Ernie came into the room. The nurse immediately looked up at the monitors. “Your blood pressure has gone up significantly. Can you calm down?”

“Ernie, was my townhome bombed?”

“Yeah, Honey, it was. Do you have any idea who might have wanted to do such a thing?”

She looked down at the blanket and shook her head.

“She’s lying.” Lottie and her grandmother said at the same time.

“Yeah, I got that,” Ernie said wryly. “She does that a lot.”

“No, she doesn’t. My Aliana is a good girl.” Her grandmother slapped Ernie on his arm.

“Tell your good girl to tell the truth then. We need to capture the men who want her dead.”

Breathe and keep calm. Aliana watched dispassionately as the nurse studied her blood pressure. “It’s better.” The nurse proclaimed. “How are you feeling?”

“Do I need to be here?”

“The doctor wants you in here overnight for observation. You have a bad concussion. As long as you have someone that can stay with you, you can probably go home tomorrow.”

“She can stay with me.” Again, Lottie and her grandmother almost spoke in one voice.

“I don’t need to stay with anyone.”

“Really, where do you plan to live?” Ernie asked.

Aliana’s shoulders drooped.

“Look on the bright side Chica, you never got that cat I kept telling you to adopt.”

Aliana swallowed back bile, thinking about the cat she had stroked at the animal shelter. She had never told Lottie, but she had considered getting the beautiful Siamese, but something had held her back. It had seemed like too much of a commitment.

“We just need someone to watch over her for a couple of days. They should stay with her the entire time,” a new voice said.

Aliana looked up to see a man who she assumed was a doctor, walk into her crowded room.

“That would be me,” her grandmother said. “Carlotta has to go to work.”

“I can take time off,” Lottie protested.

“How soon before I can go back to work?” Aliana asked the doctor.

“You should be fine by next week, barring any complications,” he answered.