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“Maybe you should go down first and make sure she’s awake. Adam will stay here with me for a minute while I explain a few things to him.”
Brian nodded, understanding what she was trying to tell him. Go prepare Sage, if she was awake.
Adam looked aggravated at the delay, but Brian caught his eye. “I’ll be back for you in a few minutes, okay?”
Adam nodded, lips tight, and Brian headed down the hallway. At 719 he paused, but there was no noise coming through the cracked door. He knocked, very quietly, and pushed the door open.
Sage lay in the bed, her face turned away from the door, and he couldn’t tell if she was awake or not. Brian stepped further in. “Sage?” he whispered.
Her head rocked toward him, and Brian grimaced. Oh, hell. His gut hollowed out at the bruises that covered her face. Her head was wrapped in a bright white bandage, and her lip was split.
“Oh, hell, Brian,” she moaned, echoing his thoughts. She chuckled, then held an arm across her stomach. “You’re not catching me at my best.”
“Um, I would say not. I’m just hoping it looks worse than it is.”
She grimaced, then gasped. “Yeah, not so much.”
Brian moved to the side of her bed and reached for her hand. That, at least, didn’t appear to be bruised. “Well, your son was worried about you, and even beat up he needs to see you, I think. Just to reassure himself.”
Sage sighed, her fingers lightly wrapped around his own. “Yeah, you may be right.” She glanced around. “Maybe you can turn off the overhead and just leave the nightlight on. Maybe that will shadow me a little.”
Brian moved around the room, doing as she requested, then he returned to the side of the bed. She reached for his hand again and he gave it to her. They both seemed to need that point of contact.
“So,” he said, clearing his throat. “What’s your list?”
She smiled crookedly, and her beautiful eyes were heavy lidded with pain. “Well, concussion. That’s the big thing they’re worried about. My right arm is severely strained, and they’re not sure about tendon damage. He dragged us with his car for about fifty feet, and I was holding on with that side. My right knee is cranked, but nothing obviously broken. Just swollen. We fought him. That’s why I have the shiner.”
It was more than a shiner, though. Her eye was purple, and it extended down over her cheekbone and jaw, and looked incredibly tender.
“And I have this sexy voice from screaming at him, and traffic and Gary,” she sighed. “Did you see Candice out there? Gary is in surgery. He was pinned between the suspect’s car and the one he hit, and Gary was between them. He has a severely broken leg they’re trying to save. And a broken shoulder from the way he landed.” Her eyes filled with tears, and she gasped. “I’m really worried about him. It was bad.”
Brian squeezed her hand. “I know you’re worried about him. Columbus has some of the best surgeons in the country, though. You know they’ll do everything they can for him.”
She nodded and swiped away the tears. “I was the last one he was training before he retired.”
Brian sighed. “Yeah, it happens that way a lot. I had my orders to go home when I got blown up. What’s that saying? Man plans and fate laughs. Or God laughs. I can’t remember.”
“Yes,” she breathed, and she closed her eyes for a moment.
Brian could see she was fighting sleep, but she rallied. She blinked her eyes open, as much as she could, and forced a smile. “I’m going to scare my boy, aren’t I?”
“Well,” Brian admitted. “It’s definitely not your normal beautiful, shining face. But he’ll be happy to see you’re okay. I’ll go get him.”
Brian opened the door and Adam was already standing there. He walked into the room, saw his mother in the bed, and started to cry. Sage sat up as much as she could and reached for her son. “Oh, buddy,” she murmured. “Come on up here.”
Brian saw her grimace in pain as she pulled Adam up onto the bed beside her, but she held him as he cried. “I’m okay,” she kept telling him as she stroked his hair.
* * *
They stayedfor about an hour before Brian gently tugged Adam out of the room. Sage had fallen asleep, and it was obviously what her body needed. “We need to let her rest, Adam,” he said gently.
Adam nodded and headed out of the room. Candice had gone inside the waiting room to sit tensely in a chair, and there were a few other women around her. Obviously, wives of other cops. The room was still stacked with cops in navy uniforms, and a few in white uniforms. Brian assumed they were higher ranked. Everyone looked up as they entered the room and he realized they were waiting on an update.
“Sage is fine. Concussion and some sprains and strains. She’s more worried about Gary.”
Candice nodded, looking relieved. “No word on Gary, yet. They said it would be hours.” She looked down at Adam. “You need to go home and get some sleep. Your mom will probably go home tomorrow, while you’re at school.”
Adam scowled. “I don’t want to go to school with my mom hurt.”
