PALINDROME (24 page)

“Thank you.” Sampson turned to Bolan. “Let’s
go see our girl.”

~~~

Sampson and Bolan walked quietly into the
room. Sampson looked at Lexa. He had never seen her up close
before. “The poor thing, she got banged up pretty bad. She’s lucky
to be alive.”

Bolan was studying her face. He wiped a tear
from his eye. “I hardly recognize her.”

“I imagine it will be a while before all the
swelling goes down. Her face hit the windshield.”

Bolan cringed, and then he gently stroked her
cheek. “She’s a very sweet girl, Detective. She didn’t deserve
this.”

“I’m sure she didn’t.”

One of the intensive care nurses was a young
man with dark hair. “You’ll have to go now, gentlemen. We have some
work to do, and the patient will need privacy. I’m sure she’ll be
awake in the morning. Why don’t you come back then? ICU has
visiting hours from eight until nine thirty in the morning.”

“Understood,” Sampson said. “Thank you.”

Bolan bent over and gave her a gentle kiss on
the cheek. Another tear formed and slipped before he could wipe it
away.

Sampson took his arm. “C’mon,” he said
compassionately. “Let the man work.”

The nurse waited until the two men were gone
before surrounding the bed with the privacy curtain. The dressing
on the patient’s stomach wound required changing. He moved aside
her blanket and hospital gown, exposing a small tattoo. It was a
red outlined figure of an Oriental warrior. The palindrome
LEXA-AXEL ran across it.

The nurse changed the dressing and then
readjusted the patient’s hospital gown and blanket. He peeked out
through the opening in the privacy curtain to make sure that they
were alone. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “It’s
time to wake up, Lexa. It’s your brother, it’s Ax.”

Lexa and Ax will return in

Palindrome Book Two: Rise of the Warrior