Lucky Like Us

chapter Seven
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Saturday, 9:36 A.M.

THE ALARM WENT off, but he didn’t want to get up yet. He should roll over and toss the damn thing against the wall. Anything to get it to shut the hell up. His head pounded, his mouth tasted like shit. Still groggy and out of it, he wanted to fall back into sleep, but the insistent alarm blared.

Opening his eyes, everything came back to him. Not home, the hospital. Nurses and a doctor crashed through the door, heading across the room. Barely able to keep his eyes open, he managed to turn his head and see the woman in the bed next to him. One of the machines hooked up to her sounded the alarm. Not a good sign.

A nurse stepped to the side and he got a good look at the woman’s face. In addition to the split lip, a bruise bloomed in vivid color on her cheek and jaw with some scratches that reminded him of road rash. Her leg was bandaged and held up in a sling. A flash of memory came to him again and the other night crashed down on him. He closed his eyes, trying to remember.

He was in the bar looking for his contact, Scott. He wasn’t one of the faces in the crowd. Before Sam made his way to the back corner and set himself up in a position to watch the door and his back, someone jabbed a needle in his arm, wrenched it behind his back and led him through the side door. Thrown on to the floor of a car, someone punched him again and again, trying to subdue his lame attempts to escape. They didn’t drive far, and Sam remembered his head swimming. Everything was fuzzy and seemed unreal and hazy. When the car came to a stop, he jumped out and tried to get away, but his legs were like rubber. The earlier beating made his ribs, side, and back ache. Someone chased after him. The sound of shots rang out. Two shots.

He turned and hit the ground hard on his back. And then what? Someone landed on top of him. Her. She rolled him under a car. How the hell did she manage that? A loud crash echoed as a car rammed into them. She’d tried to take his gun. Oh, God. She’d saved him, and he’d shot her. Someone dragged her from under the car. Her frightened scream echoed in his head. The overwhelming feeling of helplessness washed over him even now. He’d wanted to get up and save her, but his body refused to cooperate. He’d gotten lost in the haze, unable to help her or himself.

Opening his eyes, he stared at the woman in the bed beside him. The nurse mercifully turned off the alarm. The pounding in his head had been keeping rhythm with the incessant beep, and now it pounded out the thrashing beat of his heart.

Please let her be okay.

The nurse gazed over and saw him staring at them. “Doctor, Agent Turner is awake.”

The doctor turned to him, but never left the woman’s side. “Agent Turner, how are you feeling?”

“I feel like the fogs rolled in and it weighs a ton. There’s an elephant stomping on my brain and banging a drum in my ears,” he said irritably.

“Give it time and you’ll become more and more alert. We’ve counteracted the drug you were given. How does your back feel this morning? Are you in a lot of pain?”

“I don’t really know yet.” His voice came out thick and slurred. His tongue stuck to the roof of his dry mouth and his eyes began to droop when another alarm went off. “What’s the matter?”

“Elizabeth, if you can hear me, you’re in the hospital. You’re safe.” The doctor laid a hand to her forehead and applied pressure, probably to reassure her someone was with her. Her heart rate steadied and dropped.

“What’s wrong with her?” Sam couldn’t take it anymore. He had to know if she was going to be all right. She had to be. It was his fault she was here, and the guilt ate him up inside.

“I think she was either dreaming or in a panic. She’s been through a lot in the last day. We lost her once in surgery, and although we’re pumping her full of meds, I don’t know if it’s enough.”

“I shot her. I don’t know what happened, but I know I shot her.” He closed his eyes, tried to cut himself off from the pain and despair. She’d tried to save his life, and he’d tried to kill her.

“You grazed her arm. We stitched up the wound. It wasn’t serious. We’ll have a plastic surgeon fix it up in a few days, so she’ll barely see the scar.”

“If the wound wasn’t serious, why is she here? And what happened to her face and leg?” Upset and agitated, the possibilities of what happened to her after he’d blacked out stirred his emotions into a roil of fear and fury that someone hurt her and he didn’t protect her.

“Sam, calm down. You don’t want to get agitated. It will only hurt your back and head more. Your back will spasm.”

The pain finally became part of Sam’s conscious thinking.

“It’s really something to see you go pale, considering you’re already gray from the drugs. Relax. Stop moving around before you hurt yourself more.

“Deputy Director Davies wants to talk to you about what happened. You remember shooting her in the arm, but after that, my guess is the man who was after you punched her a few times in the face, kicked her in the ribs, and then . . .”

“What? And then what?” He tried to sit up, tried to see her better, but his back protested painfully, sending him flat against the pillows again.

“He shot her twice in the back and stabbed her in the leg.”

The doctor whispered to one of the nurses before going on, Sam reeling as he stared at Elizabeth. The doctor had called her Elizabeth. Such a pretty, old-fashioned name.

“Elizabeth and your bulletproof vest saved your life. You were shot at very close range. It’s a miracle you don’t have any broken ribs, though four are cracked. Elizabeth’s actions saved you and got you here so we could give you the antidote in time. Another half hour and you’d be dead.”

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know. We’re taking things one hour at a time. She made it through the night with minimal problems. We’re keeping her heavily sedated. She’s breathing on her own and that’s a good sign. Although she’s had several of these anxiety episodes where her heart rate skyrockets, I believe it’s the trauma, or she’s in pain.”

“Can’t you give her something? Don’t leave her in pain. You can’t do that. Help her, damnit.”

The nurse inserted a syringe into his IV line.

“We’re doing everything we can for her. Rest, Sam. You need to regain your strength.”

Sam’s eyes rolled back and he gave in to the medication, numbing his body and mind, but he tried to hold on to hope for Elizabeth.