Talisman (80 page)

Beverly informed me that
Samuel was still in surgery, but it was going well.  They did have to remove his spleen.  She said he was lucky that none of his other organs were punctured.  Beverly assured me that he would be in the hospital for several weeks recuperating, what with his surgery and all of his broken bones.  Before long, she gave me a hug and promised she would be back around to check on me again a little later.

I wandered back to the waiting room,
mentally noting that I’d managed to kill off another forty-five minutes. Dr. Kupasami came strolling in through the double doors roughly a minute later.  He told me that the surgery went extremely well, and Samuel was in the recovery room.  I was
beyond
relieved.  Without thinking, I lunged at the doctor, locking him in an embarrassing, hysterical hug while I thanked him repeatedly.  The somewhat timid man was very gracious and humored my dramatic display with a few pats on my back.

I continued to wait there for another hour.  Since Samuel was out-of-the-woods, my thoughts returned to the unnerving reality that a duo of supernatural-stalkers were
out there somewhere, still on the hunt for me.  There was no way around the predicament I was in.  I would be leaving Welch —
for good
.  I couldn’t understand why Tanner didn’t just come out with it and say so. 
He’s been brutally honest about everything else this past week…Why stop now?

There was still a very mysterious
, secretive side to Tanner Grey and what he chose to reveal about the nature of Talismans.  He didn’t seem to believe the old adage, “knowledge is power”, that was for sure.  He tended to have a “less is best” perspective.  So far, I hadn’t heard from him telepathically.  I could only assume he thought I was still down in the cave waiting for him.  I looked over at the clock on the wall. 
Almost 11:00 AM
.  I still had plenty of time to get back there. 
He’ll be none the wiser
.  After all, I couldn’t leave until Samuel woke up.  I wasn’t about to run off for what could possibly be “forever” without telling him good-bye.

Tanner will just have to get over i
t…

Beverly Rhodes came bouncing in to get me a little past noon.  She ushered me up to the third floor
, where Samuel had been taken to a private room in the ICU wing of the hospital.  When we arrived to room 321, Samuel appeared to be resting comfortably with the sounds of beeping monitors and the subtle whistling of oxygen lulling him as he slept.  I had to admit he looked a heck of a lot better than when I’d found him lying amongst the coal rubble and covered in blood.  Beverly informed me that he was still somewhat groggy from the anesthesia and the pain medication he’d been given, but he should be wide-awake in a little while.  She also let me know that the orthopedic physician would be in tomorrow morning to set his legs and arm, but in the meantime, they would make sure he wasn’t in any pain.

Beverly
started to head out of the room, but she abruptly stopped in the doorway and spun back around.

“Oh, Shiloh, before I forget…
When the nurses come in here, keep your head down and don’t tell them your name. 
Okay?
” Beverly urged.

That’
s an odd request
, I thought as I pulled one of the chairs closer to Samuel’s bedside. 
Am I hiding out from the whole freaking town now?

Slightly offended, I
inquired, “
Um
…
Why not?
”

Beverly’s face began to flinc
h.  “Well,” she hesitated, “most of the employees had already placed bets in the football pool for next week’s game.  I heard the pot was a little over five thousand dollars.  Only one person chose the other team.  With Mike Riverside not playing, a lot of people are…to put it in a nice way…
miffed?
Are we, um,
clear?
”

I slumped down in my seat, ashamed my actions had indirectly pissed off more pe
ople than I could have ever imagined.

I nodded
remorsefully and mumbled, “
Crystal
.”

Beverly
spied the shame written all over my face, which prompted a sympathetic smile.

“Oh now, Shiloh…Don’t feel so
bad
about it. 
That’s what cocky little pricks get.
”  With that said, she gave me a sly wink and closed the door behind her.

As I curled my feet up in the chair, I thought,
Add that to my “to-do list”.  I know I have to leave town, but I’d hate to be run out of Welch being chased by angry rednecks wavin’ their shotguns
.

Within a few minutes, the repetitive rhythm of the machinery had worked their magic on me as well.  I dozed off, exhausted from worry, with my head propped uncomfortably on the corner of the l
ow-back chair.

I roused suddenly to a strange
“beeping”
sound.  Startled, my eyes flew open instantly while my brain quickly processed where I was. 
Samuel’s hospital room
.  The first thing I spotted was the clock on the wall.  What seemed like only a couple seconds later was more like a couple of hours.

I rubbed my eyes and thought,
Two-thirty? That CAN’T be right
.

I looked over at the hospital bed to find S
amuel sitting up, wide-awake and smiling.

“I can ask them to bring in another bed if you want?” he chuckled.

“
Samuel
…” I jumped up and leaned over to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek.  I was dying to hug him, but in light of all his ailments, I felt the peck would have to suffice.  “How do you feel?” I asked as I pulled my chair closer to his bed.

“High as a kite, b
aby girl,” Samuel said cheerfully.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the goofy smile stretched across his stoned face.

Curious about how much he recalled about the accident, I probed, “Do you remember
what happened?
”

“Not
too
much.  I remember talking to that guy, Ferrol and when I turned around, there was an explosion.  More than one of them, I think.”

Samuel confirmed
my suspicions. 
Yep, definitely sabotage
, I thought quietly.

“Did
he
cause the explosion?” I asked.

Samuel paused to
think.  “He was with me when it happened, but I’m not sure.  I don’t remember
much
,” he admitted, his voice sounding dry and raspy.

I rubbed his cheek and gave him a consoling smile.  I couldn’t help but feel relieved to hear him say that.  I knew Ferrol
was responsible for the explosions, but I was more concerned about what Samuel remembered about his “rescuer”. 
That
would be a tough one to explain.

I spotted a
plastic pitcher and cup lying on a tray bedside his bed.  One of the nurses must have brought it in while I was asleep.  I grabbed it and quickly poured him a glass of refreshing ice-cold water.

“Here, Samuel,” I said as I plopped in a straw and then held the cup up for him to take a much-needed drink.

“
Thank you
, Shiloh,” he replied softly.

“Well, I wait on you at the Drive-In.
  I guess I can do it here, too…especially in your condition.  After all, I can’t use the old, ‘what’s wrong with you, is your arm broken’, because…
it kind of is
,” I joked while I watched him practically inhale his drink in one huge sip.  As soon as he had finished, I placed the empty cup back down on the tray and began to pour him another.

“I wasn’t talking about
the water
,” my surrogate father said gratefully.

Instantly, my stomach flip
ped. 
He remembers
, I concluded as my eyes stayed focused on the pitcher still hovering over the cup.  Slowly, I placed it back down on the tray.  I couldn’t bring myself to look at him.

The silence
that filled the room was stifling. 
How on earth am I going to explain this?

Samuel let out a sigh. 
“I told you, Shiloh.  Your father and I didn’t have
any secrets
.”

I slowly turned my head around to face him.  Samuel’s gentle eyes looking back at me was all that was needed to break down the wall of secrecy I’d been hiding behind.  Relieved I could finally confide in someone close to me, I became over
run with a myriad of different emotions.  Without thinking, I disregarded Samuel’s injuries and hugged him around his neck while tears of joy and heartache poured from my eyes.

If he was in any discomfort, he never showed it. 
My surrogate father just patted my back with the only limb he had that wasn’t broken and kept telling me, “Everything will be okay.”

I spent the next hour
revealing everything that had happened over the past eight days.  Samuel knew about the diamond’s existence through things Daddy had disclosed, but insisted he had never actually “seen” the wand in person.  The only thing Daddy had shown him was the rough diamond stone he wore around his neck for protection.  He also knew Beatrix Sutherland’s secret identity.  Samuel had promised Daddy he would never let on to her, or anyone else that he knew she was a “supernatural”.  My surrogate father’s suspicions about me were confirmed when I roughed up Chief Roberts and Officer Ryan at the house last Sunday morning.  He wanted to say something to me then, but he hated to “interrupt the show”.

I asked Samuel if he thought Daddy was crazy when he first told him about Talismans and the Wand of Adamas.  Sa
muel answered with a heartfelt but stern, “I never
doubted him for a second.”  When I asked him how he knew Daddy was telling him the truth, Samuel simply stated, “I saw it in his eyes.  That’s what true friends do, and then they listen with their heart.  What you choose to believe will come from your soul.”

It felt good to
finally get this burden off my back.  Thankfully, I was able to let someone from my old life into my new one, without the fear of them trying to have me committed.  Most assuredly, Daddy would have done his damnedest to keep me safe from beyond the grave.  He knew Samuel loved me like his own daughter and would protect me, just the same.  I knew in my heart he had confided in Samuel for a reason.  That was one of the things fueling my desire to surrender to my “destiny”.  This was something that was important to him, too.  Daddy had died for it, and for me.  Even in his death, I couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing him.

“You don’t have to leave, Shiloh.  You can stay with me.  I’ll protect you and keep you safe,” Samuel insisted.
  I smiled and raised my brow as I scanned his wounded body from head to toe.

“
Really?
” I questioned humorously.  He acknowledged my reservations with a laugh of his own.

“Oh, Samuel…
That’s reminds me.  Speaking of
protection
…I want to give you something that will keep you
safe
.”

Samuel’s eyes follow
ed me around the room curiously as I walked over to the window to close the blinds and then proceeded to lock the door.  I sat back down beside him, pulled off my jacket, and rolled up my sleeve.  I grimaced as I dug my nails deep into my skin.  Once the pain had subsided, I pulled the rough diamond from my arm and cupped it in my hands.  With my eyes closed, I did what Tanner had instructed.  Since Samuel was a human, I blessed the gemstone with the only ability allowed —
protection
— for his mind and soul.  As soon as the light radiating from the stone had faded into a soft glow, I knew the incantation was complete.

I laid the
diamond on the tray table in front of him. He stared at the rough little stone in silence for a moment.

“You’re giving this…
to me?
” Samuel questioned curiously.

I nodded.

“It looks just like Caiden’s,” he added somberly while traces of tears in his eyes glistened like fresh morning dew.

“Please keep it with you at all times, Samuel.”  I stared at his weakened, crippled body.  “The Onyx has already possessed Mike and Coach Hayes to get to me.  It’s just a matter of time before he hops into the body of someone I care about.  I d
on’t
ever
want that to be you.”

Samuel looked up at me and
grinned. “Will do,” he promised.

We were startled by
several loud
“bangs”
on the door.  I snatched the diamond off the tray and tucked it in the drawer of his bedside table.

“It’ll be safe in there,
for now
.  Don’t ever let anyone see it or know you have it,” I warned him.

Samuel nodded
.  With that taken care of, I threw on my jacket to cover my bloody arm and ran over to open the door.  There in the hallway stood one seriously ticked-off lab technician.