No one answered. Yet again, it was answer enough.
“She wouldn’t leave me. Drove the pickup into Justin, killed him. He was the one that shot her.” Nick stared at Roslyn, lying unmoving on the bed. Nothing else mattered. Everything in his world burned down to just this. This one woman, living or dying. “She should have left.”
No one said anything. Lila picked up what looked like tweezers and carefully probed the hole that the bullet had made. He wished he believed in God. Maybe he should say a prayer, just in case. Sean took over pumping the blood transfer. Nick could feel it, drawing the blood from his veins, giving it to her. Please let it be enough.
“Back at the cabin, she got away from me after a while,” he said. “Stole the key and escaped.”
Sean stared at him, face blank. “What happened?”
“She came back.” He didn’t doubt it now. The last few days he’d been wondering, unsure, but no longer. Ros had made her choice and turned back. She’d chosen him.
“Why?” Sean asked.
“Honestly?” He gave the man a grim, unhappy smile, and told him the absolute truth. “I don’t know.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Roslyn woke slowly. Someone was talking nearby, a woman. A man answered her, his voice low and smooth. Neither voice was familiar. Her brain felt floaty-light and her mouth tasted weird. Above her sat a white ceiling and below a bed with clean cotton sheets. She had a drip in her arm.
“Wha—?” Her tongue didn’t want to work. She swallowed and tried again. “Where am …”
“You’re awake.” A woman appeared above her, blocking out some of the ceiling. She had long black hair and a kind smile. “How do you feel?”
The man wandered closer. He looked like a Viking. A big, blond, frowny-faced Viking. How funny.
Roslyn tried to grin. The most she could manage was a lazy smile. Her face wouldn’t follow directions. “Hey.”
“Let me get you a drink.” The woman grabbed a glass from the bedside table. Roslyn heard water being poured. Beneath her the mattress moved as the woman sat down. “Slowly, alright?”
Water had never tasted so good.
The room was spartan, basic but clean, with a bed and a table, a couple of chairs. A butt-ugly picture of puppies hung on the wall opposite. Who could make puppies ugly? How did someone even do that?
“Roslyn?” The Viking hovered at the end of the bed, handsome face still very serious. “We need to talk to you about Nick.”
“Nick?” She tried to sit up. It took a few goes with the woman assisting her before she made it upright. All of her strength seemed to have been sapped right out of her. “Where is he?”
“It’s alright,” said the man. “You’re safe. He can’t hurt you anymore.”
Viking dude looked so concerned, eyes intense. It made no sense to her. “What?”
The pretty black-haired woman huffed. “Now is not the time for this, Sean. You’re distressing her.”
Ros opened her mouth to intervene, to explain she wasn’t distressed, just clueless, but they were already off and arguing. It felt as though she wasn’t even there.
“We need to know what happened,” said the Viking. “I’ve explained this to you already.”
Lila faced down the big man, hands on hips. “Sean.“
“Lila.”
“I’ve explained this to you already, too. It can wait.”
“No it can’t. It’s important.”
“What’s important is giving her time to recover. You’ve got your priorities wrong, buster.” Lila gave him the evil eye. Clearly Sean was used to this, since he stared back calmly. Neither of them made much sense. But then nothing about this did. Her head felt useless and her body little better. What the hell was going on with the world now?
It hurt, but it was more of a dull ache than anything. It had just caught her by surprise at first. Plus, something more would probably throttle her last coherent brain cell. Her inability to think in a straight line bugged her worse than the pain. “I’m okay. Someone took out the bullet?”
“I did,” said Lila. “We gave you a blood transfusion and you stabilized. Fortunately the bullet came out pretty easily and there’s no sign of infection.”
“Wow. It’s lucky that you’re a doctor.”
The woman grimaced. “Actually, I’m a dental nurse.”
“You are?” Roslyn nodded slowly. “Well, good job. Hang on. Did you say Nick was locked up?”