“She’ll be in recovery for another hour or so then we’ll move her up to a private room. There’s nothing to worry about, Dr. Hart. We’ll take good care of her.”
“You’re probably right, Cynthia. Call me if anything changes.”
“You have my word.” The large woman smiled then turned to Harrison. “You too, son. Go home and get some rest.”
“I’m not leaving.” His soft voice froze the waiting room as waves of black anger radiated toward him.
Penelope’s steps were gunshots as she approached. “You are not going near my daughter again! You understand me?”
Harrison watched his mother frown at the woman’s reaction and open her mouth to intervene. He held his hand up to silence her.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Hart, but I can’t do that. I’m staying.”
“No you are not!”
“Yes I am.” He kept his voice quiet.
Penelope’s nostrils flared. “How dare you contradict me? You are nobody. Do you understand that? You are not a part of my daughter’s future. Now leave!”
“No.”
Harrison wasn’t sure what swayed her decision. It could have been the fact she didn’t have the energy for the fight. It could have been the fact she saw in Harrison a stubborn will that would not be broken. Most likely it was the fact that a nurse from recovery arrived looking for him.
“Harrison? Gemma’s asking for you.”
He was too overwhelmed to feel smug. Without a backward glance he followed the nurse to recovery. Gemma had drifted back to unconsciousness by the time he got there, but just seeing her chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm was enough. Standing beside her bed, he ran his fingers gently over her hand, relishing the soft flame warming his fingertips.
Oblivious to human traffic, he stayed where he was. As he watched her sleep, his mind conjured up arguments that would allow him to stay by her side, but the need was taken away when a nurse arrived to transport Gemma to her own room.
“We’ve set up an extra bed for you.”
Harrison’s eyebrows rose with surprise.
“When she first arrived in recovery, she was still unstable,” the nurse explained as they entered the large lift. Pulling Gemma’s bed in behind her, she pressed the button and watched the doors close. “She kept mumbling your name over and over. When you got there she stabilized almost immediately. I explained this to Dr. Hart and she said you could stay.” She gave him a soft smile. “Your parents have gone home too. They’ll call you in the morning.”
Harrison sighed with relief. The day had been long and harrowing. All he wanted to do now was lie in that bed next to his girlfriend and watch her sleep. He knew there would be more battles to face tomorrow, but right now he could rest assured that there would actually be a tomorrow with Gemma in it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida - 2011 AD
Soft beeping reached through the murky mud in Gemma’s brain. It was a consistent rhythm, like the dripping of a tap, and it unnerved her. Gentle hands were pushing at her stomach, dabbing something wet and cold against her flesh. Her insides ached, her head pounded and her eyes burned. She wanted the feeling to stop. She wanted the hands on her stomach to stop.
Her eyelids cracked open and she found the light around her blinding. Two fuzzy hands cleared into view and she looked down her nose as they wiped her belly and extracted a fresh, white bandage edged in medical tape.
What are you doing? Get off me!
The words were screaming in her head, but she couldn’t say them aloud. She struggled to move her sluggish muscles and hit the hands away. She felt too weak and woozy to do anything more than open her mouth and scream, “Harrison! Harrison, help me!”
“Hey, calm down.” The cool hands tried to hold her body still as she writhed away from their touch.
“Harrison!” She could hear her weepy voice and didn’t recognize it.
What’s happened to me?
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she felt the panic work its way up her body. As each limb came alive with the urgency of fight, she struggled against the hands that tried to hold her and felt a sharp pain sear through her abdomen.
She heard the door behind her fling open and the swift scuffle of feet approaching.
“Harrison!”
“I’m here. I’m here. Shhhh. It’s okay.” His cool hands smoothed back her hair and her body relaxed as his face came into view. His lips touched her forehead softly. “It’s okay,” he whispered, drawing his head back so he could look at her.
His brown eyes were lathered with warmth and relief. His cracked lips remained straight, but his eyes were shining with a smile.
She reached up and gently fingered his bruised face, confused. He didn’t flinch away from her.
“It’s okay. Everything’s fine,” he whispered.
His thumb wiped at her tears.
She closed her eyes, still felt him beside her and decided to try again.
Opening her eyes, she took her time to survey her surroundings. The hands that had been probing her stomach were now packing away a clump of bloodied bandages. Gemma’s eyes came to rest on the gentle face of what looked to be a nurse.
Laying a soft hand on her shoulder, the nurse sent her an understanding smile. “It’s nice to see you awake, Miss Hart. Sorry for the fright, I was just cleaning your wounds and putting on some fresh dressings.” She looked down at Gemma’s bare stomach then back to her face, a slight look of awe swirling in her eyes. “I’ve never seen stab wounds heal so quickly. At this rate you’ll be home tomorrow.”
Gemma could do nothing but give the woman a blank stare.
“Thank you,” Harrison said.
“I’ll go tell your family you’re awake.”
Gemma nodded as she fought the confused jumble of thoughts bouncing in her brain. Turning to her lifeline, she grimaced at the deep bruising on his cheekbone and jaw. “What happened?”
“We were mugged at the mall.” His voice was steady in spite of the shaking hand that brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “You were stabbed. The perpetrator got away with our wallets.”
Her eyebrows puckered with confusion.
“It’s just a story for us earthlings to swallow.”
She smiled then winced at the sting from her dry lips. “Why do my chest and stomach hurt so much?”
His eyes clouded with pain as he leaned towards her. “You took two arrows in the back while we were climbing down the tower wall. We got you into surgery just in time.”
Flashes flew through her brain…a tranquil pair of eyes, a rushed escape, yelling, pleading, Harrison lying on the stairwell, climbing down a stonewall. She let out a soft gasp.
“The jail break,” she whispered. “Did he make it?”
Harrison’s eyes swam with wonder as he took in her expression.
“What?”
“You’re more worried about the man than about the fact you nearly died?” His voice broke on the last word.
“What’s the point if we fail?”
He let out a soft chuckle and shook his head. His tongue briefly flashed over his lips before answering, “According to the history books, there was a stable hand that escaped death and managed to flee to Ireland with his wife and two children. He went on to work a small piece of land and if my research is correct, he had another eight kids.”
“Eight.” Gemma smiled.
“He told his children the story of the angels God sent to rescue him and it's been passed down through the generations.”
Gemma studied his face as he leaned back in his chair. He looked exhausted, the purple shadows under his eyes throbbing in time with his pulse.
“You look tired.” She ran her thumb gently over his fingers.
He chuckled and ran a hand back through his unkempt mane. “I’ve been a little too anxious to sleep.”
“So you researched instead?”
He tipped his head and gave her a blushing nod, fi
nally pointing to the laptop resting on the bed beside hers.
“I knew you’d want to know.”
“You didn’t leave me?”
The look in his eyes stole her heartbeat.
“I couldn’t.” His voice was raw with an emotion she wanted to erase, but knew she never could. She’d nearly died and she saw the toll it had taken on him.
Pulling his hand to her lips, she planted a fierce kiss on his knuckles. “I’m sorry.”
Jumping to his feet, he leaned over her and brushed his hand down her face. Their noses were nearly touching as he whispered, “Don’t be. You made it.”
“I had a pretty good reason to.” She lifted her hand, running a finger down his jaw. “I love you, Harrison.”
The look on his face made her wonder why she’d waited so long to tell him.
“Ti amo, Gemma.”
The Italian words sounded sweet on his lips and she didn’t need to ask what he had said. His eyes shone as he lowered his head and met her lips with an exquisite kiss. The fire was a warm lick of comfort as it curled around her heart and swam down to her toes.
The only thing to shatter the perfect moment was the sound of the door scraping open behind her. Images of burning anger and shocked surprise swarmed her brain. Like wasps waiting to sting, she heard them buzz into the room and hoped she wasn’t allergic to what they had to say.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida - 2011 AD
Their lips pulled apart as her family bustled into the room. Harrison felt the loss intensely and was pleased when Gemma grabbed his hand as he allowed room for the tribe. He sat on the chair by the bed and played with her fingers as she turned to face her family.
She was no doubt remembering the black looks they had rained on her when they noticed his presence in the 14th Century. She would have no idea about the pacing, the shell-shocked silence and the quaking emotion. Harrison still felt his muscles quiver when he relived Mr. Hart’s menacing threat.
After Gemma had been moved to her own room, Harrison had lain awake most of the night watching her chest rise and fall in the even pace of sleep. His relief at her survival had pulsed through his body, leaving him with a pounding headache. Sleep had eventually found him in the early hours.
He’d stirred at the sound of quiet murmuring. Gemma’s mother was hovering over her daughter, checking vitals, flicking over her chart for the night. She hadn’t noticed his perusal and didn’t bother to look at him as she left the room. He’d drifted back into sleep once more and was awoken an hour later by Ruby, who was thrusting a hot coffee at him.
“Your mom called again. She wants another update, and Courtney keeps texting.”
He’d nodded his heavy head and thanked her for the coffee before stumbling out of the room with his phone.
The day had dragged by with each member of the family taking different shifts. His mother had popped in with fresh clothes and his laptop and he spent the afternoon absorbed in research, waiting for Gemma to stir. After his daylong vigil he had finally popped out of the room to stretch his legs while the nurse changed Gemma’s dressings… and that’s when she’d decided to wake up. A grin tugged at his lips.
You would have to wake when I’m out of the room, wouldn’t you, Gem.
The sound of his name on her lips still rang in the back of his mind. He had been down the end of the corridor sensing he should return when he’d heard the faint call. It had taken a second to register and then he’d taken off. The look on her face when she saw him said more than words ever could.
The silence in the room was awkward. No one seemed willing to fill it. Harrison wondered why they weren’t gushing with all the emotion they had been living over the last couple of days.
Gemma looked from face to face, obviously struggling to find any words to begin. Her father stood at the end of the bed just staring at her. His hand covered his mouth and his eyes blinked at threatening tears. Dom’s eyes twinkled with a smile; he looked as though he wanted to grab his little sister up in a bear hug. Ruby stood next to him. Her eyes were a slight mystery, but from what he could tell she was still fighting a war between relief and mistrust.
Harrison’s eyes finally flicked to Dr. Hart. Her face wavered with strong emotion as she reached for her daughter’s hand.
“It’s good to see you awake.” Her voice shook and she drew in a deep breath. The efficient doctor persona from the last twenty-eight hours was slipping from her grasp. Standing on the other side of the bed to Harrison was Gemma’s wrung out mother. She brushed her knuckles down the side of her daughter’s face.
Gemma responded with a tired smile, which she in turn passed on to her siblings and father.
“How you feelin’, slim?” Dom gave her foot a gentle whack.
“Like I could kick your ass.”
The awkward tension in the room shattered.
“Looking forward to it.” Dom chuckled.
“Well, you still need your rest.” Alistair cleared his throat. “Dr. Hart here wants you to spend a couple more nights and then we’ll take you home, where you belong.”
His eyes shot to Harrison for a moment before flicking back to Gemma. She met his gaze with determination and entwined her fingers more solidly within Harrison’s.
Her father’s eyes rose to the challenge, but soon dropped to the floor. He looked up to send a silent message to his wife, before ushering Ruby and Dom from the room. Gemma turned to face her parents as her father stepped back in.
“This shouldn’t have happened. You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know, Dad.” Gemma picked at the blanket.
The silence was oppressive and only broke when Alistair slammed his hand on the end table. “What did you think you were doing? Exposing yourself on a wall that way? You should have been in the stable where I left you!”
“I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. We got to the top tower and were trapped. I didn’t have a choice.”
“You did have a choice.”
“That wasn’t an option.” Her voice was steel. She met her father’s black look with one of her own. His jaw went tight. Tapping the table with his knuckles, he put his hands in his pockets and left the room, followed swiftly by his wife.
Gemma’s lips quivered as she took a breath. Harrison rubbed his thumb over her skin. “They were going to leave me there, weren’t they?”
She shook her head then nodded, pulling in another shaky breath. “I couldn’t let that happen. Just the idea of you…” She sniffed. “You not being here doesn’t work for me. I can’t make it work.”
Her ragged sigh turned into a sob and she covered her face. Caught between elation and sorrow, Harrison gently pulled her hands away and wiped at her tears. His throat was too clogged to speak, so he gave her a smile and put as much gratitude into it as he could.
She let out a hiccupy laugh and licked her lips. Sniffing, she looked at the bedside cabinet and squeaked, “Tissues?”
“I’ll get some.” Harrison jumped from his spot and shot into the corridor.
He walked to the nurses’ station with a shaking head. She would’ve had to fight pretty hard to convince them to go back in time. Her getting injured was only going to compound the situation. He had to face facts. Gemma’s parents were never going to let them be together.
He asked for tissues in monotone and slumped back towards the room. A murmur of voices caught his attention. He walked toward the partially closed door and leaned behind it, recognizing Gemma’s parents.
“You know we can’t allow this. He’ll ruin everything.” Penelope clipped.
“Look, he already knows and obviously hasn’t told anybody. His parents have no idea, yet they knew he was dating Gemma. They must have been hiding this for a while.”
“Great, so they knew and we didn’t. How could she lie to us this way? She’s always been so good.”
Harrison listened to a heavy sigh.
“She’s never been in love before, P
en.” Another sigh. “I’m worried if we try and force this, we might lose her. You saw her reaction when we refused to go back.”
“That’s what scares me. If he can make her behave this way, what’s she going to be like in the future? We need to keep control of her. What if she pulls him through time again?”
“I’ve never heard of it happening before. I don’t know how she did it.”
“Well she obviously didn’t mean to.” Penelope’s voice was droll.
“But she did, without even trying.”
“Do you think she’s more gifted than we originally thought?”
“She’s definitely capable. That’s why we can’t afford to lose her.”
Harrison's chest tightened. Frowning, he leaned closer to the gap in the door, not wanting to miss a word.
“But that’s what will happen if we try and stop them from seeing each other. We have to keep her on side. Allowing them to date will score points and build some trust.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Penelope clicked her tongue. “But shouldn’t we at least try first. That’s what she’ll be expecting.”
Alistair chuckled softly. “I think it will be a futile argument, but if you want, we can try.”
Harrison peered through the wedge of light and saw Alistair pull his wife into an embrace. His gut stirred as he watched them. He wasn’t sure what underlying details he was missing, but something about the conversation unnerved him.
Pasting on a bland expression, he entered Gemma’s room and passed her the tissues. She wasn’t in the right frame of mind to hear about his inklings. He wondered if she ever would be.
Gemma wiped her nose clean and looked at him. “Are you okay?”
He forced a smile. Bland obviously couldn’t hide the gnawing worry. “I’m fine.”
He touched her face then pulled away as the door swung open. He wasn’t sure he could look at Mr. and Mrs. Hart without giving away his mistrust, so he kept his gaze down.
Gemma bundled up her tissue and threw it toward the trashcan. It missed. Alistair bent to rectify the situation then dusted his hands off and faced the young couple.
“You know this relationship of yours can’t happen, Gemma. There are rules.”
Gemma reached for Harrison’s hand and gave her parents a defiant glare. “I’m not breaking up with him. You can’t make me.”