She was shrouded in the pale yellow light of the moon. Her old bones ached, as she felt a chill sweep through her.
Startled, she realized that she was fully awake, and that she had risen in her sleep and walked over to the window. The cold of winter was on the pane she touched as she looked out to the sea.
To the bay.
Where Eddie had gone.
Once again she knew the truth. Knew for a certainty that Eddie was dead.
Fear gripped her. Fear for Sean.
Her old heart fluttered. She couldn’t lose Sean, too. She couldn’t lose both her boys. It wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be the natural way of things, though fate was often wickedly cruel as one generation made way for the next.
Her heart beat hard again. By tonight. By tonight they would be home, and somehow, everything would all be right.
As she stood there, it felt as if a darkness descended again, as if shadow wings beat down around her. It should have been a frightening sensation, she thought, but it wasn’t. She felt stronger.
Eddie was dead, but someone out there was listening to her prayers, and Sean would be home by tonight.
Zach didn’t know how long he drifted—maybe an hour or two. He woke, senses sharp, eyes flying open. He didn’t move, though; he waited silently, trying to discern the source of his sudden alarm.
There was someone in the room. Someone besides Sean and Caer, and somehow he knew the intruder was not a nurse or a hospital employee. Whoever it was had entered quietly, and apparently hadn’t noticed him or Caer.
The intruder—attacker?—wore a coat, but there was something odd about it, a strange glint of light emanating from it. He—she?—also had on a strangely shaped hat.
For a moment, pure adrenaline shot through Zach, and he was ready to tackle the figure.
But then he paused, not sure whether to be furious, embarrassed or alarmed.
“Sean? Honey?” the newcomer said.
Amanda.
She swept open the coat.
Beneath it, she was wearing only flimsy panties and a bra adorned with tiny Christmas lights, which explained the glow, and the strange hat proved to be a Santa cap.
Amanda, still oblivious to everyone but Sean, shimmied seductively. “Hey, baby. Amanda is here to make it all better.”
She let the coat drop all the way to the floor.
The panties were a thong. Her buttocks reflected blinking red and green lights.
“Amanda?” Sean said groggily, waking from a deep sleep.
Zach rose, clearing his throat, just as a light came on.
Amanda jumped, then looked around, eyes wide. She stared at Zach, but she didn’t scream, only smiled slowly. Then her gaze moved around the room and focused on Caer, who had risen to turn on the overhead lights. The flirtatious look she had given Zach turned into something ugly.
Because, Zach thought fleetingly, even fully dressed, with her hair tousled and her eyes sleepy, Caer’s far more seductive than you’ll ever be, blinking nipples, Santa hat and all.
He dismissed the thought and focused on the situation.
Amanda was angry. “What in God’s name are you doing in my husband’s room, in the middle of the night?” she asked Caer accusingly.
“I’m his nurse,” Caer reminded her. “And in case you’ve forgotten, your husband’s doctors said that he isn’t to have any excitement—and until he’s released, their orders are the law.”
Amanda spun and stared at Zach, but she still didn’t reach for her coat. Her expression softened. She clearly liked men in general and didn’t like other women.
“Zach, you know I’m the best medicine in the world for him,” she said.
“Amanda,” he said, trying to keep his eyes steady on hers. It wasn’t easy. She did have magnificent breasts.
Sean had bought them for her as a wedding present, and there was no way to deny it: they were distracting when blinking.
“Amanda, you heard his nur—doctor’s orders.”
“Oh, pooh,” Amanda said with a pout.
There was a flurry of activity in the hallway, and then one of the nurses on night duty and Will Travis—still dressed as an orderly and having obviously ignored Zach’s instructions to go home—strode in.
The nurse gasped.
Will Travis laughed.
“I never!” the nurse said. She was a large, boxy woman, and indignation was clear on her features.
“I’ll bet that’s true,” Amanda muttered nastily.
“Amanda, my love, put on your coat, please,” Sean said from the bed. He seemed fully awake and aware, despite the mild sedative he had been given.
“Oh. Oh, dear,” Amanda said sarcastically. She stooped smoothly to retrieve her coat.
“Mrs. O’Riley, we’ll not have such behavior in this hospital,” the night nurse said firmly. “Ye’ve disturbed Mr. O’Riley, and he needs his sleep if he’s to be leaving in the morning.”
“Fine,” Amanda said with a huff. She looked at Sean, and he looked back with a glimmer of humor in his eyes.
“Sorry, dear,” he said, clearly amused.
“You’ll have to leave,” the nurse insisted to Amanda.
“Me? I’m his wife,” Amanda protested.