Instinctual 2 (11 page)

After Jenny had placed the photograph on the drawers next to Kate’s bed she turned and said, “There’s going to be plenty more good times, Rob. You have to believe that.”

“I know. I’m trying, I really am. Looking at that photo though, I wish I’d been around to create more of those wonderful memories instead of being married to my job. I feel like I didn’t do enough, you know?” He wiped his face dry with his fingers as Jenny perched on the edge of Kate’s bed.

“Honey, you were there. I know the force had you putting in long hours, but emotionally you were always there for Kate. She looked up to you and still does, I know that for a fact. She adores you. So you had to miss a few birthdays and school plays. It’s okay. Kate knew that you were working hard to support the family. We both did. You were a wonderful father to our daughter. Patient and kind. Kate was definitely Daddy’s girl.”

“You give me too much credit, Jen. I don’t deserve it. I feel like I failed her in some way. Didn’t do enough to keep her safe.”

“Oh my God! Will you listen to yourself?” Jenny moved onto her knees in front of Rob and placed the palms of her hands on his thighs. “You did everything you could. None of this was your fault. How could you have prevented this? You were in another country!” The words sounded clipped against Rob’s unfounded self-depreciation.

He touched her hand on his left knee, pulling it up and kissing the palm. “You don’t understand. I promised her. I vowed to keep her safe. I’m a cop, for Christ’s sake! If a member of the law can’t protect his own family, then there’s no hope for anyone else.”

Rob rose, pushing his chair back and walked to the window, as if that might help make sense of things. He hadn’t taken any of his vows lightly, least of all the vow he’d made to Kate so long ago when he was home to tuck her in bed. How had he failed? Damn it! No matter what Jenny said, he would continue to shoulder that burden.

Jenny went to follow Rob to the window when Maria walked in, pushing her trolley in front.

“I’m-a here to change bandages and check vitals.” The curt woman said, not waiting for an answer as she proceeded to take Kate’s blood pressure. “Are you-a mother?” she asked Jenny.

“Yes. I flew in this morning from the United States.”

Rob had now turned around and stood leaning against the window frame with his arms folded against his chest, listening but not joining in the conversation, watching the nurse tend to Katie.

“Ahhh. You a long way from home.”

“Yes. I couldn’t be anywhere else when my girl is so ill.”

“It’s such a shame. She very beautiful.”

Jenny smiled. “Yes. She is. And someone has put some nice makeup on her.” It hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“That-a would be Darla. She do-a night shift. She wouldn’t go home early this morning until-a she finished. You like?”

“It looks lovely. That was very nice of her.”

“Darla good girl.” Maria frowned as she read the blood pressure monitor.

Jenny and Rob both straightened. “What is it?” They said it in unison.

“Her-a blood pressure still very low. We need-a to keep a close eye on it.”

“What does that mean?” asked Jenny.

“It means no change. Her body very sick.”

“Will she get better?” It was a question Jenny asked with a look of fear.

“We wait. And-a we pray.”

Robert turned back around to stare outside, blocking out any more dialogue. It was a totally helpless situation and he hated it. He hated not being able to do anything. His fists clenched at his side and his jaw tensed in response. He needed to do something. Anything. He needed to vent his anger out on someone. He needed to call Gary and find out if he had any more leads on the whereabouts of Carlos. That motherfucker seemed to have just vanished off the face of the earth.

Pulling his cell out, he walked over to Jenny. “I’m just going outside to call Gary. I won’t be far away. Have a nurse page me if there’s any change.” He leaned down to kiss Jenny on the lips and then walked out to make the call, leaving his wife in the company of nurse Maria, who was about to change the bandage on Kate’s head.

Chapter Eighteen

Jake teleported back into the hospital room just as Maria was unraveling the bandage on Kate’s head. He’d sat outside the prison on the high cliffs in order to give Robert some time with his daughter.

He eyed Mrs. Fitzpatrick sitting watching, a mixture of horror and self-determination written on her face. It was great to see her again, even in times of duress. It was one more familiar face that he associated with home in an otherwise sea of strangers.

Jake floated over beside her, knowing she couldn’t see him but wanting to be there for her anyway. He loved Jenny. She was an amazing woman that had more strength than most people gave her credit for. Where she found that endless well of fortitude from, Jake didn’t know. He only knew that he was grateful for it as Kate had inherited that same force of will that could only be advantageous given the current situation. He desperately clung on to that with everything he had.

Jake eyed an odd looking pig beside Kate and the photo beside the bed that hadn’t been there earlier and deduced that Jenny had brought them with her. Moving to the photo, he gazed at the girl smiling back who was the love of his life. Not much had changed in her features, apart from more smile lines and longer hair. She still had that same mischievous grin that always gave away that she was up to something. That same twinkle in her eye that shone with spontaneity—a trait about Kate he loved and shared. She glowed, even back then.

Maria carefully lifted Kate’s head to unravel the seemingly endless length of bandage that had stained red underneath from blood. Part of Kate’s hair had been shaved where a large gash had been stitched.

“Still so pretty. My Kate.”

Dried blood had matted some hair which could either have been from before the operation or after. Darla was going to have a field day with that one.

The nurse carefully wiped the wound with some fresh antiseptic, cleaning as much blood away as possible before placing some gauze over it and reaching for a fresh bandage.

Jake couldn’t help but glance at Jenny, whose face from side on was screwed up into a roadmap of furrows, as if she felt the sting and sizzle of antiseptic on broken skin.

Kate’s head was re-wrapped, although not as neatly as before, but enough to keep the wound clean until it healed to such a point where the bandage could be permanently removed.

It was another five minutes before Jake and Jenny were left alone.

Jenny picked up the newspaper that had been left and flicked through it.

Jake squeezed onto the bed beside Kate, needing to be close to her, hoping she could feel him.

He brushed her cheek with his hand. Due to the apparatus protruding from her mouth he couldn’t trace her lips, so instead he ran his fingers lightly over her closed eyes. A slight movement that could have been imagined had him move his face to within inches of hers as he feathered her eyelids once more. It was only faint but there was no mistaking that she’d responded to his touch.

“That’s it, baby. I know you can feel me. Come back to me. I need you. Your parents need you. I know it’s hard, but you need to fight with everything you have. Show me another sign.”

He waited for another flutter but her eyes remained still.

“Maybe I imagined it. And even if I didn’t, how am I going to inform the nurse?”

That was no muscle twitch. He knew it deep down. Kate had felt him. Her soul knew he was with her. It was her body that was having a hard time functioning. Once that healed, she would come back to him fully.

Chapter Nineteen

“Mmmm.” Kate now felt like a warm blanket had been wrapped around her. A caress so wonderful that she forgot about the darkness. Whose caress? It didn’t matter. It felt right. Home was calling. She didn’t even know where home was, only that it was where the caress had come from. All her senses seemed to come alive in that moment and for the first time since the blackness had kidnapped her, something stirred.

Soft, featherlike fingers. Tickling. Soothing. Warm. She was responding to that touch as if she’d felt it before. It was part of her and yet separate. Familiar. Jake.

More. Yes, more. Please. It’s so dark here. So alone. I’m scared. Stay with me. Don’t leave!

The warmth flowing through her grew. Her soul seemed to open up like a flower in bloom, feeling the first rays of sunshine on its core. The unfurling of petals that had been squeezed shut could now stretch gloriously without restriction. So too could Kate’s limbs move about, released from the dark force that had been holding her prisoner.

With that release came a sudden free-falling through the nothingness. Her arms were flailing around as if she’d just jumped off a fifty story building. Falling fast. Down, down. There was no wind rushing by as she fell. Not a breath and yet her whole body was torpedoing down. She seemed to fall for ages until with a heavy jerk, she hit something. Was it the bottom? The bottom of where?

The sense of weightlessness had gone and had been replaced by a heavy, cumbersome dense sensation as if all her muscles had been knotted back into place, randomly with no thought as to where each one went. A jumbled mess of matter.

Sounds broke the wall. Strange sounds. Clanging. Beeping. A whooshing noise. Still, with all that going on, the caress held. Gentle, hypnotic. Everything was okay as long as the comforting stroking kept going. It was all she had to hold onto. A piece of herself had returned in that kind touch. Something she’d been missing. It was her lifeline. She’d been anchored back into her body from the Netherland.

Chapter Twenty

Kate’s whole body jerked just like it had when the medics had used the paddles, trying to re-start her heart. Except this time there was no visible reason for it.

Jenny threw the newspaper on the floor and moved to the bed in a flash. The heart monitor sped up on its own, signaling a change in her daughter’s condition.

Pressing the alarm for the nurse, she stroked Kate’s face, looking for any sign of life.

Nurse Maria came scuffling in. “What is it?”

“My daughter. She moved. I saw it. Her whole body jerked. The machine… it’s going faster. Look!”

Walking around the bed, Maria pulled the stethoscope from around her neck, put the earpieces in and placed the cool end on Kate’s chest to listen closer to her heartbeat. The woman didn’t seem overly concerned, obviously immune to excited, anxious family members and slightly elevated heart monitors.

Maria left momentarily to get a blood pressure monitor. When she returned, Jenny asked, “Why would her body have jumped like it did?”

“It may just-a be muscle spasms. Everything healing. I don’t-a think it’s anything to worry about. Heart-a is a little fast but nothing too much.” Pumping the cuff up, it took a further minute to read the digital screen. Maria smiled. “Good. Her blood pressure has-a come up. I let doctor know.”

Maria noted it down on the chart.

“Is she going to pull through?” Jenny asked, her voice raised in concern.

“I’d like-a to say yes. It’s still-a too early but blood pressure is-a good sign.” Maria actually smiled and Jenny could do nothing but smile back at the news. “Would you mind paging my husband? He’s out in the grounds somewhere making a phone call so I can’t contact him myself. I need him here.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.”

As Jenny moved closer towards Kate to take her hand, Jake zapped her with electricity.

***

“How’s Kate, Rob?” asked Gary.

“Still touch and go. Jenny arrived safely this morning, thanks to you, so she’s with Kate now. I don’t know how to ever repay you after all you’ve done.”

“Think nothing of it, buddy. You’d do the same for me. I’m just glad that you’ve got your family all together, even if it is under these circumstances.”

“Well, the circumstances that have led us to Italy is why I’m calling. How’s the search for Carlos Santini going?”

“He’s pretty good at making himself invisible, that’s for sure. No leads yet but I’ll keep pushing my team. Speaking of which, there’s still no contact from our spy. My guess is that there has been some pretty heavy shit go down and it’s frustrating the hell out of me that we’re coming up empty. I don’t like to think negatively but it’s out of character for him to be unreachable.”

Robert bit his lip to stop himself from telling Gary about the note at Kate’s apartment that he was still having trouble believing Jake had actually written. It was something he was trying not to think about, no matter how accurate it had been. He quickly changed the subject.