Winter learned eventually to wake slowly with as little movement as possible until the pain medication could take effect. Lying still was a torture in itself to someone as active as she had been. Completely at the mercy of various nurses, they cared for all her basic needs, taking away what little pride she had left. Her mind would drift away when they would impersonally clean her, changing the pads and sheets underneath her broken body.
The worst was when the doctor considered her lucid enough to give her details of her condition. The medical terms were hard to understand with the pain medication clouding her mind. The nurse, understanding her confusion, waited until the doctor left to explain that she had a vertebral fracture, which they had to operate on in order to stabilize. The brace she was in would be on for several weeks and she was going to require therapy to return to normal. The concussion must have come from having her head slammed into the car window that had left a large gash across her forehead, requiring sutures that would undoubtedly leave a scar. Her jaw had been fractured, and two of her ribs were cracked. When she was finished answering Winter’s questions she reassured her that she would heal, given time.
The gossipmongers that came by to see her were never given admittance to her room. The first words Winter spoke was to keep visitors out. She had no family left and the few friends she wanted to see were put on a list. A security guard was placed outside her door when Viper tried repeatedly to gain admittance. She didn’t want his sympathy and she certainly didn’t want him to see her looking like a prizefighter after twelve rounds.
Viper would sit in the waiting area, which luckily for him, was a few feet away from her door. He became a master at reading the nurses’ and doctor’s expressions as they left her room-whether she was having a good day, or one in which even medication didn’t help. He knew what the doctors were going to tell her before she did. He had bribed the nurses on duty to see her doctors’ notes and to make sure she was taken care of the way he wanted.
He was watching her door when he saw the Sheriff coming down the hallway. Their eyes met before he entered Winter’s room. He also knew that she was about to find out who was responsible for putting her in the hospital; the man that Viper had every intention of killing.
Chapter 3
The door opening didn’t even draw Winter’s attention. She had become so use to the nurses coming and going, it wasn’t until the Sheriff moved to stand in front of her that she lifted her eyes. Even a man who had been through two tours in the military and cleaned up many fatalities flinched when he saw her face.
“Winter.”
“Sheriff.”
“I waited until the doctor said it would be okay to let you know what happened.” Will Hunter had been sheriff for several years and while she liked and respected him, she couldn’t help but hold a grudge that he hadn’t taken her more seriously when she called to report Viper’s trespassing.
“I already know what happened. What I want to know is who?”
“Jake, he blamed you for telling Carmen’s parents that he was mistreating her.”
Her eyes deadened even further if possible.
“He ran off into the mountains and we tracked him down. He’s in custody. What I need to know is, did you see his face?”
“No, he attacked me from behind. I was too disoriented to see who did it. How do you know it was Jake?”
He really did not want to tell her this part but knew if he didn’t that someone else would.
“He paid Carmen’s parents a visit before you. Luckily they weren’t home. Trashed everything in the house, then set it on fire. One of the neighbors saw him running out of the house.
“The doctor told me I almost didn’t make it.”
The sheriff nodded. “You’re going to recover Winter.”
He wanted to reach out and touch her hand but there wasn’t a place that wasn’t covered in bruises.
“That’s what they say,” Winter turned her head away not wanting the Sheriff to see how upset she was that one of her former students had hated her enough to almost kill her.
“You will heal, it will be a long journey but you will make it, Winter. You have a lot of people who care about you and want to see you.”
Winter turned her head back to face him, “Is he still outside?”
“They say he has been here since the day they brought you in.”
“Make him leave. I don’t want him here.”
“I’ll take care of it, anything else?”
“No.” Winter closed her eyes letting the medication put her to sleep with a click of a button. The sheriff stood by her bed until he was sure she was asleep before he left.
Viper watched closely as he came out the door and sat down silently next to him, his hat in his hand.
“She wants you to leave, I told her I would get you to.”
“I am not leaving.”
“I know, but I am telling you now it’s a wasted effort.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”