Chapter Twenty-Two
Opening my eyes had never seemed to be such a monumental task before. My eyelids felt like they were stuck together and all I could hear was beeping.
“I think she’s waking up, get a doctor.” I heard Griffin’s voice and even feeling as bad as I did, it still went right through me.
The bright light as my eyelids opened seemed to pierce through my brain and it took me a second to focus. I saw Griffin’s tired unshaven face looking down at me.
“Don’t you ever do anything like that again,” he growled.
“Yelling at her is probably not being helpful,” said a large nurse as she shoved Griffin out of the way. “Now you ignore him, honey,” she said soothingly. “Men have a tendency to get a bit growly when their women do something stupid like step in front of a bullet.”
“I was shot?” I croaked. How the hell did I accomplish that?
“What was the last thing you remember?” she asked.
“I was talking to Jennifer. She pointed the gun at Eleanor and I went to push Eleanor out of the way. Are you telling me I took a bullet for that woman?” I said in disgust.
“Yes sunshine, you did. On behalf of those who have been working her ward, we really want to know what on Earth was going through that head of yours.”
I tried to shrug my shoulders, only to get a shooting pain go through my side.
“What happened?” I looked around at my room and saw that not only was Griffin standing there, but also Miss Betsy had managed to find herself a chair. Sean seemed to be camped out on the floor in the corner.
“I need everyone out,” said the doctor as he strode into the room.
Miss Betsy put her arm around Sean’s shoulders and hustled him out of the room, ignoring the mutinous look on his face. Griffin gave me a look that I had no idea how to interpret before heading out.
“I’ll be just outside,” he said.
Finally given some peace I took stock of my situation. I wiggled all my fingers and toes. Okay, they were all working. My side though was burning with pain.
“What happened?” I asked.
“You caught a bullet in your right side. You were lucky though. It hit your rib and got deflected out. Your rib is cracked underneath the bullet wound. That was relatively minor.”
“Really, doc, and how many minor bullet wounds have you had?” I said sarcastically.
The doctor stopped. “Point taken. I meant that it was minor compared to the concern we had when you fell. You hit your head and you’ve been unconscious for three days.”
Okay, I could see where the priority was now. He checked my eyes with a light and asked some questions. When he appeared satisfied with my answers, I asked him whether I could get up.
The doctor looked at me strangely.
“If I can get up, go to the bathroom and brush my teeth, I know I’ll be okay,” I explained.
He nodded and motioned for the nurse to help me. In the bathroom I found the toiletries pack and, keeping a tight grip on the sink, I brushed my teeth. The nurse leaned against the wall and watched me. I looked in the mirror and noted the white bandage patch on my forehead. I lifted my shirt and found another bandage around my middle.
“Because the bullet deflected it came out again,” the nurse said. “A bit of a messy through and through. You’ve already had a plastic surgeon work on it. Some woman organized it saying she would never convince you to wear a bikini if you had that scar there.”
I nodded. “That would be my boss, Monique.”
“You’ve got good people around you,” the nurse said. “The waiting room is full and that cop of yours hasn’t left your side.”
“He’s a friend,” I said.
“Girl,” she said, as I leaned on her while we were walking out of the bathroom. “Believe me, I’ve been here the last three days and that man is not just a friend.”
She was chuckling as I got back into bed.
“Are you ready to face everyone?” she said.
I looked down at myself. “I’m not exposing anything I shouldn’t?” I asked.
“No, sweetie, you’re not,” she said with a smile.
The first one through the door was Crystal and I think she may have body checked Edwin as they came through. Behind them was Miss Betsy and Sean with Monique. Right at the back I was surprised to see Jorge. Griffin was there as well but he hung back. After assuring everyone I was okay I discovered that things had moved along while I was unconscious. Jennifer was in jail awaiting trial. It seemed that not even her father’s influence could get her out of this mess. Eleanor had been brought to hospital with oleander poisoning and her stomach had been pumped, an experience that she had felt the need to share with everyone according to Jorge. Before long the nurse came back and told everyone to leave. Crystal and Edwin left, promising to see me first thing in the morning.
Monique kissed my cheek and with tears in her eyes whispered in my ear. “I am so happy you are healthy, ma petite.”
Miss Betsy dragged a not happy Sean out after she promised him that they would be back the next day. Jorge came up to the bed and kissed me on the cheek.
“Get better soon, cupcake,” he said. “I’ve missed you at work.”
Griffin’s eyes darkened at the action and Jorge kept his eyes on Griffin as he sauntered out. Griffin walked over and sat on the bed.
“Aren’t you going too?” I asked.
“Nope, special dispensation. Police protection.”
“I thought she was in jail. What exactly are you protecting me from?”
“I’ll think of something,” he said, smiling.
I sobered quickly. “So what really happened?”
“Jennifer Saunders had an affair with Ryan Hendricks. When he ended it and started seeing her sister she got jealous. We tested that detox concoction in his refrigerator and there was enough oleander to kill him in that easily. You were right, there were oleander bushes all along the back fence of their home in the national park. At some point someone thought it would make a great screening plant to hide the house from hikers. One of the scientists even found poison in the honey from their bee hives.”
“Eleanor’s skin reaction,” I said.
“It looks like she got a small dose when she had the milk and honey bath at Bliss. Since the story has gone out there have been a couple of other people who’ve come forward with the same reaction.”
“Did anyone eat the honey?” I asked.
“No. Fortunately it hadn’t been approved for human consumption yet.”
“Did Jennifer know about the honey?” I asked.
“No,” said Griffin. “Neither did the husband. He was pretty messed up about the bees. Strangely enough he was more upset about that than he was about the fact that his wife had been having an affair and murdered someone.”
“Poor Jennifer,” I murmured.
Griffin looked at me strangely.
“I’m not saying I agree with what she did, but look at how the people who were supposed to love and care about her treated her. Her husband barely noticed her and her sister stole away the only happiness she found.”
“You have got the biggest heart of anyone I know,” Griffin said. “You might want to hold off on the sympathy a bit. The glasses of juice she gave to you and Eleanor had enough oleander in it that you would have both been dead within a day. As it was we barely got Eleanor to the hospital in time.”
“What happened?”
“I got to the house and was coming through the door when I heard the shot. Luckily I think she was so surprised that it was you who had caught the bullet and not Eleanor that I was able to tackle and disarm her. At that point we had cops and an ambulance there. Eleanor had run, leaving you to die when the gun fired.”
I could tell by the way Griffin’s mouth tightened that he wasn’t happy with that.
“The cops found her on her hands and knees, vomiting on the front lawn.”
Now there was a l
ovely image.
“Once I’d taken Jennifer out of the picture, I put pressure on your wound and came to the hospital with you in the ambulance. I’ve been here ever since.”
I put my hand against his cheek, rough with whiskers.
“You stayed with me,” I said.
He leaned towards me, his lips barely brushing mine.
“I wanted to be here when you woke up,” he whispered.
A tear slid down my cheek and he brought his hand up and brushed it from my face. Gently he pressed his lips against mine, my face cupped in his hands. My eyes fluttered shut and I felt the strength and the softness of his lips as they moved over mine. Increasing the pressure I felt his tongue flick against the seam of my lips and I parted them and he deepened the kiss.
“What the hell are you doing to my daughter?”
I wrenched myself away.
“Mom,” I croaked.
“Mom,” Griffin repeated, snapping out of the kiss haze we had been in.
Sure enough, there was my mother standing next to Reggie in the doorway, ready to protect and do battle for her firstborn. She was looking at Griffin with the same look in her eyes that she had when four year old Alan Vaughan pushed me over in kindergarten. Reggie looked apologetically at me. Obviously he had filled my mother in on Griffin’s role in my life. Griffin had a panicked look on his face, and if he had been a lesser man I was sure he would have bolted. In fact, he still might.
Once again my mother had managed to destroy any chance of one of her children having a love life with no effort at all. It was like it was her superpower.
“So, what’s this I hear about you managing to get yourself shot?” My mother glared at me.
Of course, because this was all my fault.
Mom sat down on the bed and patted my leg.
“That’s okay, Trudie, I’m going to stay with you until you’re all better,” she said, looking at Griffin balefully. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt my baby girl again.”
Griffin looked over her head at me. I could see that he was trying to work out if that had been a threat or a promise. He needn’t have bothered. I knew my mother. It was a threat.