My eyebrows shot up—I hadn’t been expecting that.
“In addition, he will be granting you a lump sum of money to help cover living expenses while you and your baby heal and get back on your feet.” He gave me a swift smile. “You’ll hear more from me soon, but I at least wanted to deliver that news to you right away.”
“Thank you,” I managed to say, stunned.
Mr. Easterwood left his card on a small side table, and the officer showed him out.
Later, the nurses removed the bandages from my face and let me take a long, heavenly shower. “That was easily the best shower of my life,” I said to Nurse Gail with a dreamy smile, as I toweled myself off. Though my cheek, feet, and wrists still stung, I couldalready feel my legs getting stronger again, now that all the drugs were wearing off.
She chuckled. “They all say that.”
Dr. Kelly recommended I try some short walks through the halls, so I pushed Baby Evan in his bassinet on wheels right to the nurses’ station.
“Can you tell me which room Colleen Nichols is in?”
“Of course! She’s on a different floor—let me call hospital transport, and we’ll wheel you up.”
I held Evan as a young man in scrubs helped me into a wheelchair, and we headed toward the elevators.
It looked like Colleen had been dozing, but the sound of the opening door woke her. She immediately broke out into a smile when she saw me.
“Oh my gosh, I am so glad to see you,” she said, her voice choked with emotion.
Hearing her say those words brought tears to my eyes. Memories of everything we’d suffered through the night before washed over me.
Colleen’s eyes brimmed with concern. “Are you okay?” She reached her good arm out to beckon me closer.
“Yes … I just … I can’t begin to thank you for how you helped me … helped us.” I looked down at my sleeping child. “I’m so sorry you were hurt. I feel terrible about it.”
“Don’t be. Helping you was the right thing to do. If I had gone through with their plan, and something had happened to you … or your baby … well, I never would have been able to forgive myself.” Her eyes shone with tears. “Neither of us could have guessed what we were getting into with the Clarks, right? They’re the ones to blame—and Max.”
I could see a deep-rooted sadness behind her eyes, and it made my heart ache. Something told me she’d had a hard life, even before all this had happened.
“Besides—the doctor says I’m going to be fine. Just going to take a while to heal, is all,” she said.
I wiped away a few stray tears. “There’s someone here you should meet. He certainly owes you a lot too.” I came closer to the bed. “This is Evan Mitchell.”
Colleen’s face, previously pinched with pain, transformed with a huge smile as she took in Evan’s tiny pink face, peeking out between the folds of his blanket burrito. “Oh my goodness!” She leaned in. Evan squirmed a tiny bit, and one of his hands popped out of his swaddle. His tiny fingers peeked out over the top of his blanket and came to rest against his cheek. “How precious! I’m so glad to see him looking so well. The doctors have checked him out?”
“Yes. He’s just fine, amazingly, even though he was three weeks early, and was born in the middle of absolute chaos.” I gently patted his bottom as he squirmed again. For just a second, he opened his eyes and looked right at me with that piercing gaze of his, spreading a warmth through my chest I had never known before.
We were startled by a knock on the open door. The man with the briefcase from before was standing in Colleen’s doorway.
“Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Nichols. My name is Dwight Easterwood. I’m an attorney for Mr. Charles Clark.”
Colleen’s eyes shot over to mine with a look of panic.
“Don’t worry, Colleen. I’ve spoken with him too. Madison’s father had no idea what she and Nora were up to, and … I think he’s trying to make it right. For what it’s worth.”
Still wary, Colleen turned her eyes back to the attorney.
He cleared his throat. “Mr. Clark asked me to tell you that all of your medical bills have been taken care of. And he wanted me to give you this.” Mr. Easterwood handed her a white envelope; she took it with her good hand.
“What is this?”
“A check for thirty-five thousand dollars. I’m told that’s the amount Nora Clark had agreed to pay you for yourservices—twenty-five thousand—plus an extra ten thousand for your pain and suffering, and to make up for any time off you need to take from work while you heal.”
Colleen clutched the envelope to her chest gratefully. “Thank you.”
