It wasn’t even a full five minutes before Rasha came and grabbed them. “She did great. But let’s not tire her out too quickly, okay?”
Daisy was sitting up in the bed, looking wan and pale, the bits of the halo biting into the skin of her forehead, making the surrounding tissue red and angry. She ignored Tom, focused laser-like on Aubrey.
The first thing she asked was “Where . . . is . . . Josh?”
Aubrey was tempted to smooth the hair back from Daisy’s forehead but resisted, knowing the gesture wouldn’t be welcome. Instead, she played with her own hair, trying to get the curls secured behind her ear. She glanced at Tom, who gave a half shrug and a nod.
“Daisy, I’ve told you this before, but you’ve been under a lot of sedation. I’m not sure how much of your memory has been affected by the accident. But Josh passed away. Five years ago.”
Daisy’s bruised face wrinkled in thought. Her words came out in a horrifying rasp. Aubrey could only imagine how much it hurt Daisy to speak.
“That’s . . . not . . . right. You’re . . . wrong. I swear . . . I saw . . . him here.”
Here we go again.
“That was Chase. He’s my . . . friend.”
A friend. That was putting it mildly. Yes, their dating had evolved differently from the normal “boy meets girl, three dates, and then it’s okay to have sex” setup. Instead they’d started with the passion, and were only now getting to know each other.
Chase was erudite, and funny, and compassionate. Similar to Josh in many ways, selflessness and generosity just the beginning. He was due back in Nashville tomorrow, and she couldn’t wait to see him again.
Daisy snorted, her face pinched at the word friend. Her voice was getting stronger now.
“I know I saw Josh. I know it. Why are you keeping him from me, Aubrey? Why won’t you let me see my son?”
“Daisy, I promise you. Chase is not Josh. Josh is dead, Daisy. Even the courts say so.”
“Tom?” Daisy turned to her husband, imploring. “Tell her she’s wrong. Tell her I saw him. He was right here. He was at her house. I saw him.”
The beeping monitors ratcheted up a few notches, and Rasha stepped in.
“We need to keep her calm. Why don’t we talk about something else? Daisy, you’re such a quick healer. If things keep going well, we’ll be able to unscrew the halo. And then you’ll be able to go—”
“Shut up!” Daisy shrieked, then started to cough. The monitors went crazy, and Rasha hurried them away.
In the overlit hallway, Tom turned to Aubrey. “I think you should go on home now. I’ll handle her tonight.”
As disloyal as it was—Tom had been on duty for hours and must be exhausted—Aubrey felt nothing but pure relief. It was one thing to watch over Daisy when she couldn’t fling her vitriol, but now that she was talking again, Aubrey would become the target, and she really didn’t want to be forced into arguing with a woman who’d nearly died, even one as horrible as Daisy. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll get her on the right page. You can come back tomorrow.”
“Okay, Tom. If you think it’s best.” She gave him a hug and tried not to let the skip in her step show. She’d be able to get a run in, shower, and actually spend the night in her own bed. And Winston would be in heaven—he missed his mommy. Meghan and Linda had been taking turns on the nightly and morning walks.
After her run, Aubrey could continue her long-distance seduction of Chase. And see if Tyler had had any luck tracking down the man named Derek Allen.
CHAPTER 33
Chase
Chase stared out the window of his apartment in Lincoln Park, watching the neighborhood women pushing strollers toward the zoo. It was a perfect Chicago spring day, almost warm, bright and sunny, and it felt like the whole city had emerged to get some fresh air.
Aubrey.
Focus, Chase.
He tapped the keyboard again, pulling his notes together. Cursed his na?veté for thinking he could play fast and loose with his own reality.
Every investigative reporter dreams about the moment he uncovers something no one else has and breaks a story wide open. Chase thought he just might have the lead he needed to blow the Joshua Hamilton story out of the water. And he’d been sitting on it for two hours because he now had a bigger problem on his hands.
He couldn’t stop thinking about Aubrey Hamilton.