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CHAPTER TWENTY
SIERRA SAT IN her hospital bed and stared out the window. The little health care unit on Kangaroo Island was lucky enough to be situated on the main road through Kingscote, directly across from the strip of beach and the ocean. Sierra stared at the ocean, not really seeing it. Her mind kept replaying those last five seconds of her encounter with Evan. Over and over.
His fat fingers tight around her throat. Gasping for air. No air in her lungs. Black spots in front of her eyes. She was going to pass out. To die.
Her fingers finding the gun. Grasping the barrel and swinging it up in an arc above her head. Firing the gun. The sound had nearly deafened her, left her ears ringing for hours afterward.
Blood. All over her. Splattered across the tall fronds of grass around her head. Evan’s weight landing on top of her. His fingers loosening their grip. She could breathe again. Sweet, clean air poured into her lungs as she gasped and gasped.
Then the horrible reality of what she’d done sunk in and she’d screamed, pushing and clawing at the hideous heavy weight of the man on top of her, pinning her down. All she knew was she needed to get away from him, away from this place.
But when she tried to get up, to walk, a pain so great she nearly vomited, shot up her leg. Her ankle. It was probably broken. So instead she crawled on hands and knees. Away. Away from him and his sick twisted reality. Away from what she’d done.
She didn’t know how far she crawled—it felt like a hundred miles, but was probably only a few hundred meters—before she came upon a large fallen log and could go no further. So, she sat there and waited. Waited for either Evan to come and get her, to end this once and for all, or for rescue. She wasn’t sure which would happen first.
Finally, Reed had come. Like a bright beacon into her dark world. And she’d cried like a baby on his shoulder.
The gunshot sounded again in her head, like the ringing of a bell. A bell that sounded the end of everything.
“Hi, darling. You’re finally awake.”
Sierra swiveled her head and watched her mother hurry into the hospital room. Aileen came over and kissed Sierra’s cheek.
“You’ve been asleep for hours. But I didn’t want to wake you. Sleep is good. It’s a healer.” Aileen smiled at her daughter, but Sierra could see the lines of worry deepening around her mother’s eyes.
“Hi, Mum.” She smiled, a warm, welcoming smile. It was good to have her mother here.
“How’s your leg this morning? Better?”
Sierra thought about that for a second, her eyes going to the series of lumps under the white blankets. The cast went all the way from her toes right up to her knee. She gave her toes an experimental wiggle. Yes, it was feeling good this morning. Probably something to do with all the drugs the doctor had prescribed. “It is better, yes,” she replied.
“That’s good, because the doc said he was going to discharge you today.”
“Great.” But Sierra wasn’t sure if she really felt great about that bit of news. Did she want to go home? Was she ready to go home?
As if reading her mind, her mum continued, “And I’m going to stay for as long as you need me, so don’t worry about coping by yourself. I’m going to do lots of lovely home-cooked meals. We need to fatten you up.”
Sierra opened her mouth to argue. And closed it again. It was a bad habit of hers, always wanting to be so independent. So alone. It was lovely to have her mother here, and Sierra admitted it might even be nice to have someone pander to her every need for a few days, at least.
“Thanks, that would be great.”
Aileen had arrived late last night, on a chartered flight from Adelaide. When she’d appeared at the hospital, Sierra almost wished she hadn’t come, because at first she’d been beside herself with worry, constantly asking strings of inane questions, frequently leaning in to touch her daughter, as if to make sure she was real, and refusing to leave when a nurse or doctor wanted to consult with Sierra. But she knew it was all because her mum had been terrified. Terrified of what Sierra had done. Terrified of what the outcome might’ve been.
“Hi, Sierra.” The hesitant voice had both women turning their heads in unison to see who was standing at the door.
“Blake. Hi.” Sierra kept her tone cool, but she could hardly ignore the huge bunch of roses the young man held in front of his chest. There was an awkward silence as Blake continued to stand in the doorway, which her mum finally filled with her usual chatter.
“Blake, is it? Nice to meet you.” She reached out and beckoned him into the room, but not before pursing her lips in Sierra’s direction and lifting an eyebrow. “Let me take those.” Whipping the flowers out of his hands she almost pushed him closer to the bed. “I’ll go and find a nice vase to put these in.” Then she was gone, leaving her alone with Blake.
“I heard what happened…What you did. Jesus, Sierra, look at you. You’re…” Blake seemed to search for the right words, but couldn’t find them and instead shoved his hands in his pockets. “You’re a hero. Did you know that?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she retorted with a snort. She was no such thing.
“Yes, you are. But that’s not actually why I came. I wanted to make sure you were really okay.”
“Thanks, Blake,” she replied, voice softening. He was really worried about her; she could see it in his furrowed brow. How could she have thought he might ever want to hurt her? He was just a young guy who was passionate about his work and passionate about life, and he liked to wear his heart on his sleeve. That was all. She was stupid to have thought otherwise.
“And I also wanted to apologize. I realize I might’ve been a bit over the top with my…ah…advances.” He wouldn’t meet her gaze, and glanced behind himself quickly to make sure they were still alone. “I guess I just didn’t want to take the hint that you weren’t interested in me.”
