CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Dev?” I wait. Nothing happens. “Dev, where are you?” I have the strangest sensation moving through me. I can’t feel my body exactly, but there are tingles. And wherever I am, it’s dark. I think Dev is here, or he should be, but I don’t see him. I don’t see anyone. Where am I? Why is it so dark? Ack! Please don’t let this be hell!
Something squeezes my hand, bringing me instant relief. I don’t need to panic. I’m not dead and I’m not about to meet Beelzebub himself. Dev is here. Nobody else has hands that damn big.
I feel myself smiling. It’s not without pain, though. My nose and head are killing me. “There you are,” I whisper. It’s the best I can do.
Something tickles my ear, and then his voice is there delivering warm puffs of air onto my neck. “I’m right here. I won’t leave you.”
“Why is it so dark in here?” I struggle to open my eyes. When I manage to crack them open just a bit, the light is so bright, I slam my lids shut again. “What the . . . ?”
“Take your time,” says a softer, female voice.
I tilt my head in her direction. “May?”
Somebody squeezes my left hand. “Yes, sweetie. It’s me. I’m right here with Dev.”
I attempt to open my eyes again. This time I have a little more luck with it. I manage to catch a glimpse of my very worried sister, before I have to give up again. This time I don’t give in to the darkness because of the bright light; I do it because opening my eyes takes too much effort, and I’m exhausted for some reason.
“Where am I?” I ask.
Dev answers. “You’re in the hospital.”
“My kids?”
“They’re fine.”
My brain drifts off for a little while; I’m not sure for how long. But then I remember something Dev said to me, and it makes me worry.
“Did you say hospital?” I force my eyes open.
Dev is leaning over me, concern marring his features.
I look at him and then at May. She’s been crying; her eyes are red-rimmed and puffy. “Are you okay?” I ask her.
She laughs with what looks like relief. “You’re asking me if I’m okay? You’re crazy.” She leans down and kisses me on the cheek. Then she tries to hug me, but I wince at the pain it causes. I hurt all over, but especially on my face.
“Ow.” I reach up and touch my forehead. There’s cloth there where there should be skin. I roll my eyes up to try to see my own face, catching a glimpse of something white. “What’s on my head?”
May takes my hand and pulls it away so that I’ll stop trying to touch my injuries. I notice out of the corner of my eye that there’s an IV stuck in the back of my hand.
“You were in a car accident. You hit your head on the steering wheel. The airbag failed to deploy.”
I frown. “Well. That sucks. Not part of my plan.”
Dev smiles. “You got lucky. You escaped with just a concussion, some bruised ribs, and a broken nose. Your passenger didn’t do so well.”
I search my memory for a passenger, but I’m coming up blank. I almost ask if my kids were passengers, but I know that’s not right. I wasn’t with my kids in the car when this happened. So, who was I with?
“Passenger?”
Dev and May exchange glances. The silence between us stretches.
Then a flash of memory hits me. This has something to do with Little Miss Kickass. “Is Toni okay?”
“Why do you ask?” May says.
My memory is full of holes, but I remember a few things. I frown, trying to bring the details in stronger. “There was a man . . . he was asking about Toni.”
My sister looks at Dev. “I think she deserves to know what happened.”
“I agree,” he says, shrugging. “Do you want to tell her or should I?”
May looks down at me with her most tender expression. “Do you remember coming to work on Monday?”
“Monday? Yeah, sure. Today is Monday, isn’t it?”
“No,” she shakes her head, “it’s Wednesday. You’ve been kind of out of it for a couple of days.”
“Coma?” I say with hushed awe. I am so in a movie right now.
She smiles. “No. Drugs.”
I don’t know why that disappoints me. Maybe because telling a story about falling into a coma is a lot more interesting than telling a story about being so drugged up on pharmaceuticals you can’t remember anything for two whole days. I went from hero to zero, just like that. Boo.
“What happened?” I ask, not even sure I want to hear the story now.
“You came to work early on Monday, and there was a not-very-nice guy waiting there for Toni. But when he saw you, I guess he decided he was going to try to get some information out of you to help him find her.”
“Why was he waiting for Toni?”
May’s mouth twists up for a couple seconds before she finally answers. “He’s the brother of a man she killed. In self-defense. Mostly self-defense, anyway. He was out for revenge.”