Snake Skin (47 page)

Megan surprised her by giving her an
impetuous bear hug. "I'm so glad you're all right, Mom." She
bounced on her tiptoes and gave Lucy a quick kiss. "Love you,
Lucy-boo."

Lucy squeezed back. "Love you too,
sugar-lou."

Over Megan's head she saw Taylor and Walden
watching them, neither masking the grins on their faces. Beside
them was Bobby Fegley, a man wearing a nursing uniform standing
behind his wheelchair.

"Bobby," she said, regretfully parting from
Megan, "thanks for doing this. I know how hard it is—"

"Nonsense," the nurse said. "I've been
trying to get him out of that house for months. Do him good to get
away from his computer and into the real world instead of a virtual
one."

Bobby scrunched up his face, making it
obvious that he didn't agree with his nurse's view of the world at
large. Lucy could understand why. In Bobby's world, he could remain
in control, even play God, escaping his physical handicaps.

"I think it will mean a lot to Ashley.
Meeting you in person."

"Taylor said that man, the one who took her,
he told her he was me? Won't she," he paused, wiping his face
against the towel that lined his neck support, "won't she hate
me?"

"You helped save her life. I think once she
sees that you really were her friend, liked her for who she was,
not the characters she pretended to be, it might help her." Lucy
glanced at Nick for confirmation. He nodded his agreement. "You're
all she has."

Bobby gave that skewed one shouldered shrug
of his. "All right, then."

Nick stayed with Megan while Lucy and the
others moved down the hall to Ashley's room. Bobby stopped outside
the door where her doctor waited for them.

"So this is the young man?" he said,
crouching down so that Bobby didn't have to strain to look up at
him. "Nice to meet you. Don't be too scared by what you see. We
have her in soft restraints to keep her from hurting herself, and
even though the sedation has worn off, she hasn't said much, so
don't be surprised if she doesn't want to chat."

Bobby nodded. "Lucy, you're coming,
too?"

"She did ask for you," the doctor told Lucy
as he opened the door.

Lucy let Bobby go first, telling herself it
was to give him room to maneuver his wheelchair but knowing in her
gut it was cowardice. Then she took a deep breath and followed. The
doctor left the door open and waited with the others in the hall,
within hearing distance.

Ashley lay still, her dark hair fanned out
on the pillow beneath her. She looked like Sleeping Beauty or Snow
White, waiting for the prince's kiss. Except for the fact that her
wrists were bound by soft felt restraints, there was an angry row
of fresh cuts on the inside of her left forearm, and her eyes
stared straight ahead without blinking.

"Ashley?" The wheelchair whirled as Bobby
steered it beside her bed, facing her. "I'm Bobby. Draco." No
response. He looked to Lucy, his expression as close to tears as
you could get without crying. "I'm here, Ashley. And so is Lucy.
She saved you, remember?"

Lucy took her cue and approached, standing
behind Bobby's chair, in Ashley's line of sight if she ever cared
to look. "We saved you. Bobby was a huge help. He's the real
Bobby—not the man who took you. That man lied to you."

Silence. What else could she say? How to
coax this girl who had been through so much, lost so much, back to
a life where she faced more pain?

"I brought you something," Bobby said. He
nodded to the bag that hung from the side of his chair. Lucy
reached into it and found two of Ashley's drawings: the one of
Draco and the one of the ethereal character, Angel. "Your sketches.
Of course, now that you see the real me, you'll probably want to
re-do the one of Draco. But it sure was nice to think that someone
could imagine me that way, a real hero."

As he spoke, Lucy realized that Ashley was
watching them, her face slack but a look of desperation and longing
in her eyes. She stroked her arm against the sheets, her left
wrist, the wrist with the parallel scars. Her movements were jerky,
as if she couldn't stop herself. Lucy reached her hand out and
clasped Ashley's. Ashley went still once more, but this time her
unblinking stare was on Lucy.

"My mother's dead." Ashley's voice startled
her, somehow she seemed to speak without moving her lips.

The words hung between them. Lucy felt her
gut clench. She had no idea if she should confirm or deny Melissa's
death. She'd always given Megan the truth, even when it hurt, so
she decided to do the same with Ashley. "Yes, she is. I'm
sorry."

Ashley showed no signs of tears at Melissa's
passing. "She said I was dead too." Ashley's fingers clawed at
Lucy's, gripping her tight. "Please, I don't want to be dead. Not
anymore. Don't let me be dead."

A choked sob broke loose from Bobby. "You're
not. Ashley, you are the most beautiful, courageous person I've
ever known. Please don't talk like that. You're not dead."

For the first time Ashley's gaze focused on
Bobby. She blinked, blinked again, her features crashing in on
themselves as tears rolled down her face. Sobs wracked her body,
not the wild-eyed feral hysteria that Lucy had seen last night, but
real, honest to goodness grief.

Lucy undid the Velcro restraint and laced
Ashley's hand around Bobby's. Both teens were now openly weeping,
sharing their sorrow and pain.

Lucy backed away, out of the room, handing
the sketches to the doctor. "I don't think she'll be needing these
anymore."

He nodded. "Nice job."

"Wasn't me." She turned to Taylor and
Walden. "Everything okay back at the office?" Since somehow John
Greally had saved her job for her, she thought she should ask.

"We got a lead on a kiddie porn ring based
in Erie," Taylor gushed.

Walden clamped his hand on the younger
agent's shoulder. "Nothing we can't handle. You get back to your
family."

"Thanks. I think I will. Might even call off
sick tomorrow, bake some brownies for my daughter's soccer team,
plant some mums, and, God help me, go shopping for a puppy."

She opened the door to Megan's room, stood
watching for one brief, bliss-filled moment. Nick and Megan huddled
together on the bed, talking earnestly about something. Sunlight
streamed in through the window, highlighting the red tints in
Nick's hair and Megan's freckles.

Suddenly she understood what Nick had been
trying to tell her, that by trying to save the world, she'd been
trying to save what was in this room waiting for her. It seemed so
careless now, wasting a single second away from her family.

"No worries, boss," Walden said, holding the
door open for her. "The pervs and creeps will still be there when
you get back."

"I know." She stepped through the doorway.
"They can wait. Family first."

About CJ:

As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived
the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels. She
has assisted police and prosecutors with cases involving child
abuse, rape, homicide and Munchausen by Proxy and has worked in
numerous trauma centers, as a crisis counselor, victim advocate, as
well as a flight physician for Life Flight. CJ credits her patients
and their families for teaching her the art of medicine and giving
her the courage to pursue her dream of becoming a novelist.

Her first novel, LIFELINES (Berkley, March
2008), received praise as a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical
thriller" from Publishers Weekly, was reviewed favorably by the
Baltimore Sun and Newsday, named a Top Pick by Romantic Times Book
Review Magazine, and became a National Bestseller. LIFELINES also
won a Readers' Choice Award for Best First Novel.

Her award-winning, critically acclaimed
Angels of Mercy series (LIFELINES, WARNING SIGNS, URGENT CARE, and
CRITICAL CONDITION) is available in stores now. Her newest project
is as co-author of a new suspense series with Erin Brockovich,
their first book, ROCK BOTTOM, due out March 1, 2011. To learn more
about CJ and her work, go to www.cjlyons.net.

Books by CJ Lyons

Angels of Mercy Series:

LIFELINES

WARNING SIGNS

URGENT CARE

CRITICAL CONDITION

BORROWED TIME

NERVES OF STEEL

BLIND FAITH

LUCIDITY

Shadow Ops Series:

CHASING SHADOWS

LOST IN SHADOWS

EDGE OF SHADOWS, coming soon!