Part 255 (1/2)

”You're safe now. I promise.”

Michael. She wanted to say his name, grateful not to be alone in the

dark. To be alive. Then a dark red wave rolled in and covered her.

She drifted in and out for most of the night. Michael knew the

doctors had said she would sleep straight through. But it was fear that

had her fighting off the sedatives. He could feel it pumping out of her

each time she surfaced.

He talked to her, repeating the same a.s.surances hour after hour. His

voice, or the words, seemed to calm her. So he sat, and watched, and

held her hand.

He wanted to do something more. None of his training or his years on

the force had taught him this kind of patience. To sit helplessly by

while the woman he loved waged her own silent battle. Her lovely,

elegant face was broken and bandaged. Her slim, soft body, bruised and

battered.

They said she wouldn't die. There would be pain, physical and

emotional, but she would live. The extent of the trauma could only be

judged later. And he could only wait. And regret.

He should have pushed her. Michael cursed himself over and over as he

listened to her deep, drugged breathing. If he had applied the right

pressure at the right time, he could have convinced her to tell him just

how bad things had been for her. He was a cop, for G.o.d's sake. He knew

how to get information.

But he had backed away. Wanting to give her time, and privacy. Christ.

Privacy. He rubbed his hands over his face. He'd given her privacy

when she'd belonged in protective custody. He'd given her time when he