He smoothed his expensive suit. The soldier returns. Where is she? I growled, stepping forward. Dominic, the oldest brother, stepped in my path. He was a big guy, a gym rat, but he had soft hands. He put a hand on my chest. Easy, Rambo. She’s not in a state to see anyone right now. I looked at his hand on my chest. Then I looked at his eyes.
Touch me again, Dominic, and you’ll be in the bed next to her. He hesitated, then stepped back. I pushed past them and opened the door. The sound of the ventilator was the only thing in the room. Whoosh! Click! Whoosh! I walked to the side of the bed and my knees almost gave out. If the name on the chart didn’t say Tessa, I wouldn’t have known it was her.
Her face was swollen to twice its size. Her jaw was wired shut. One eye was completely sealed shut, purple and black. Her beautiful blonde hair had been shaved on the left side to make room for stitches that ran across her scalp like a railroad track. I reached out to touch her hand, but her hand was in a cast. I touched her shoulder instead.
