Alanna turned up the light above her bed so she could look at Liam’s picture again. The baby fluttered in her tummy, and the sensation brought a smile to her lips. She ran her fingers over the picture. “We’re going to be having a baby, Liam. I wish you were here.”
The door opened again, and she hurriedly put the paper under the sheet. She couldn’t explain, even to herself, why she didn’t want Barry to see it. But it wasn’t her husband’s face that peered around the edge of the door.
Her gaze met Jesse’s. “What are you doing here?” Why had he come? Couldn’t he sense his presence made her uncomfortable?
He stepped into the room. “Barry called Ciara. I asked to come along with her. She stopped off at the bathroom. How do you feel?”
“I’m going to be fine. My toe aches a little, but it’s not numb or anything. I don’t think the snake put any poison in.” She was clinging to that hope for her baby’s sake.
He stepped closer to the bed, then thrust his hands into his pockets. “You mind if I pray for you?”
Pray? That’s what Liam would have done. “I don’t mind.”
She bowed her head, and Jesse launched into a prayer for her safety. With her eyes closed, she could imagine it was Liam praying for the safety of her and their baby. But when she peeked up at him, it was just Jesse, of course.
Jesse ended the prayer and stepped closer to the bed. “I looked up coral snakes. They usually burrow underground. How did that one get in your room?”
“They sometimes climb trees. It probably dropped onto my balcony and came in my open French doors,” she said, parroting what others had told her.
He shook his head. “Think, Lanna. This is the second time you’ve been hurt. It’s not safe for you to go back to that house. Go stay with your mates at the hotel. Something will happen to you if you go back there.”
He’d called her by Liam’s pet name again. “At the hotel? Didn’t Barry get by to drop off a key to his flat?”
Ciara came through the doorway. Dressed in hot pink, she was a bright spot in the drab room.
“No, he did not. Was he supposed to be doing that?”
“He said he would.”
“We need something to happen. We’re all about out of money.” Ciara sat on the edge of her bed. “You look pretty spry for someone who was just bitten by a coral snake.”
“I think it was a dry bite.”
Ciara approached the bed. “So Barry said. He also said there’s an even better chance it wasn’t a dry bite. That you really should be having the antivenom.”
“So that’s why he called you . . . to try to change my mind?”
“Someone is needing to. Do you realize how deadly that venom is once it starts depressing your breathing? It’s a neurotoxin. Just take the bloody shots! We need you around.”
Alanna folded her arms over her chest. “There’s an even higher incidence of miscarriage with the antivenom. I’ll not be risking it.”
Ciara rolled her eyes. “I’m not knowing what to do with you.”
“Keep the band practicing. I’ll be stuck up here for forty-eight hours. It’s time I can’t really be affording.”
“Where should we practice?”
“In the ballroom. All the instruments are still up there. I’ll tell Barry you’ll be coming.” Alanna wanted Ciara to take Jesse and go. She couldn’t take much more of the way he stared at her. It was as if he needed her to remember something for him. Working with him in the coming months would be harder than she thought if she didn’t get past this wonky idea that she was seeing Liam in him.
Ciara seemed to grasp the plea in Alanna’s gaze. She grabbed Jesse’s hand. “We’ll be getting out of here so you can rest. Talk to you tomorrow. Call if you get sick.”
“I will.” When the door shut behind them, she snuggled down in the pillow and closed her eyes. She never heard Barry come back and only woke once in the night when the nurse checked on her. Barry snored on the sofa.
When sunlight streamed through the windows, she stretched and wiggled her foot. It still felt perfectly fine. About twelve hours had passed since the bite. If she was going to get sick, she would have done it by now.
Maybe she could push the doctor to let her go home. Sitting up, she pushed her heavy red curls out of her face. Her hair was probably a frizzy mess. If they’d take out the IV and all these monitors, she could have a shower.
The doctor pushed through the door. “How are we this morning?”
She put on a bright smile. “Fine. Can I go home? It’s been twelve hours.”
He frowned. “Not just yet. Let’s give it a few more hours. Symptoms usually develop within ten to fourteen hours though, so my gut says you probably did get a dry bite.”
Barry jerked, then opened his eyes. “Alanna?” He sat up, rubbing his eyes.
She sent a smile his way. “No worries, Barry. I’m feeling pretty good. I’m trying to talk the doctor into letting me go home.”
He swung his feet off the sofa. “She’s going to be okay?”
The doctor looked up from her file. “Looks like it to me. It’s rare for symptoms to start after this much time. If you’re still feeling good after breakfast, maybe we’ll let you go home. No excessive salivation, nausea, sweating?”