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“Okay,” I said, and when I heard my voice shake I realized I was trembling all over with a weird rage to shake this woman until she told me my father was going to be all right. Shit, maybe Luke was right. Maybe I did have a crossed wire when it came to fear and anger. “You said you just came from surgery on him. What surgery?”
“During your father’s assault, his left eye and left ear were badly damaged. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could be done for his eye, so we had to clean out the area to make sure infection doesn’t set in. As for the ear, it was almost completely torn off, but we spent several hours reconnecting veins and nerves and a whole lot of other things, so hopefully we were able to salvage it. However, if it shows signs of necrotizing we’ll have to remove it. But at this time I feel confident that the surgery went well.”
“Jesus,” Kels whispered through short, ragged gasps while I turned my face into Luke’s neck and tried like hell not to burst into tears. “I can’t tell if any of this is the good news or the bad news.”
“I’m not going to lie to you,” Dr. Castillo said, her face full of compassion. “Your father took a hell of a beating. In addition to the head trauma, he’s got a couple broken ribs and a bruised trachea, a broken nose and a bunch of teeth knocked out. But he’s got strong brain activity, and his vitals are good. He’s breathing on his own, and all his reflexes respond well to stimulus, so he’s not in a coma. He’s clearly someone who takes care of himself and works out, so he’s in great shape for a man his age. Yes, he lost an eye, but he’s improving by the hour. We’re keeping him sedated for now, but in the morning the neurologist working this case will want to see where your father is neurologically, so we’ll be tapering him off sedation fairly soon. If things go well, you might be allowed to see him tomorrow, but for now I suggest you all go home and get some much-needed rest. Leave your numbers with the duty nurse at the station by the elevators, and we’ll keep you updated if there’s any change.”
“I know my fiancée,” Luke said, jarring me yet again with that label. “She’s not going to leave without at least seeing her father. Can you give her five minutes? If it helps, I’m a psychiatrist with privileges here at this hospital, so I can go in with her.” He dug out his wallet and plucked out a laminated ID. “You won’t have to babysit her.”
Dr. Castillo looked at the ID before handing it back with a nod. “It’s hospital policy for only one visitor at a time in our ICU, but since you have privileges here, Doctor, it shouldn’t be a problem. Let me show you in.”
Seriously, thank heaven for Luke.
“We’ll be right back,” I promised Kels, who nodded miserably before he semi-collapsed back down in his seat and went back to contemplating his shoes.
“So you’re my fiancée now?” I murmured for Luke’s ears alone as we trailed behind the doctor. “Funny, you’d think I’d remember that happening.”
“It was the most expedient way to deal with red-tape bullshit that could have kept me from you at a time when you needed me the most. Make no mistake, Eden—I will not let anything ever keep me from you.”
“Good,” I whispered so softly I doubted he heard me. Then his hand at my back slid around my waist, and I knew that he had.
Like every hospital I’d ever been in, it was a total maze, but eventually we swept through a set of security doors activated by the doctor. She led us to the glassed-in cubicle at the end of the ward, bluish light spilling out of it as I stood in the threshold and looked at the man lying so still in the hospital bed.
I didn’t recognize him.
“That can’t be my father,” I heard myself whisper, hearing the horror in my denial.
Lack of recognition wasn’t a surprise. His head was heavily bandaged, including over what used to be his left eye and ear. The skin that was exposed was swollen and a sickly mottled color that was anything but my father’s normal golden-hued skin tone. Purple, black and green, with his nose twice its normal size, cracked and stitched lips were open, showing several gaps in what had once been twin rows of perfect teeth. His throat was covered in a soft brace, but I could see bruising beneath it.
I didn’t realize I was shaking my head until the room began to spin. “It looks like an animal attacked him.”
“An animal did attack him,” Luke murmured softly against my ear, and I realized belatedly that he held me against him, my back to his front, and again I drank in his much-needed strength just to get through this. “An animal that’s put his ass on the endangered species list. As of now, it’s a race to see who can catch this rabid fuck first, PSI or the police. Hell, your dad’s such a big fish with so many friends in high places, the Feds might even be called in on the action. It won’t be long now.”
“Good.” I let that moment of grim satisfaction roll through me, fueling my inner fire, before digging into my pocket and moving to the side of my father’s bed. Tubes and wires were everywhere to the point where I was terrified of jostling something loose, but I needed to give him something. Carefully, so as not to disturb the IV taped to the top of his hand, I took my car keys off the mailbox keyring, then placed the keyring in the curve of his fingers.
“Hold on tight to that and don’t let go,” I whispered, hoping against hope he’d somehow hear me and know he needed to hold on. “I’ll come back for it later, so you’d better be here when I return, you got that? I love you.” With all the medical apparatus around him, I couldn’t reach his face to kiss it, and I was so scared of hurting him that I didn’t even want to try. Instead I kissed his hand before stepping back into Luke’s waiting arms, tears dripping down my cheeks.
“I’ll take care of Eden, Tru,” Luke said in a normal tone, clearly unbothered if anyone else around the area heard him. “My name is Luke, and I’m the man in your daughter’s life. She’s safe from what’s been unleashed on her, so I don’t want you to worry. Nothing’s going to get past me, you have my word on that. Eden is safe.”
Maybe it was my imagination, but I could have sworn the tension in the room eased.
Luke gave me a squeeze. “There we go, genius. Your dad and I are now introduced, and he knows you’re safe with me. Okay?”
A shuddery laugh escaped me, and I knew at that moment I loved Luke with everything in me. “Okay.”
*
Luke
“Skull fracture, broken nose, busted-out teeth, broken left orbital bone, dislocated jaw, loss of the left eye. Basically a broken face with a head to match.” With a rough sigh, Cap tossed the ever-thickening file markedSteadfastonto the conference room table. “Christ almighty. This asshole’s jumped from dick pics to nearly beating world-famous motivational speaker Truman Steadfast to death. To say that the perp’s accelerated in his attacks is a vast understatement. I’ve authorized doubling Eden Steadfast’s security, and if I have to I’ll pay for it out of my own pocket. It’d be bad for business if our protectee winds up like her old man.”
My tension dropped down to non-screaming levels. “Thanks, Cap.”
My boss waved my thanks away. “Talk to me. Tell me what we’re dealing with here.”
“I saw Tru Steadfast, or what’s left of him, with my own eyes.” I stifled a yawn and glanced at the clock. Almost six. The sun would be rising soon. “This wasn’t just a beatdown. This was an attack meant to kill, driven by an almost palpable rage.”
“Considering the extent of Steadfast’s injuries, that doesn’t surprise me.” Cap nodded, expression grim. “Are we thinking it’s someone he knows?”
