Releasing the air I’d been holding on to, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to scream or cry.
“But please!”All I could do was repeat the same message over and over again until the balding man understood.“I have to know how he is.”
“Miss.”His hand rose in irritation.“There is nothing more I can tell you until I hear from—”
As though the device had heard him, his phone burst into life, interrupting his rebuttal.Brow furrowing, he foraged in his pocket for the phone and answered the call.
“Ja?”His expression was weary.
I held my breath, paralyzed to the spot as I waited to hear if the call pertained to Adam’s condition.
Please.
I sent the silent prayer to whatever entity was watching over me.God hadn’t done much to help me during those horrific days of incarceration, but I supposed, in the end, he’d sent Adam my way, and he’d set me free.I would always be thankful for that grace, though I still couldn’t conceive of a future without the loving disciplinarian who’d rocked my world.
Watching Michel, my throat dried.I sensed he was deliberately trying to stay calm and not reveal the contents of the conversation.Not that I could have understood his words anyway.
“Sie möchte ihn unbedingt sehen.”He glanced at me as he said that, the gesture conveying that he was talking about me.
Although I couldn’t understand what he was saying, it was clear he enjoyed babysitting me as much as I had relished being stuck there with him.
Another pause followed, when he presumably received instructions, and the apprehension in my muscles skyrocketed.What the hell were they talking about?Was Harper okay or not?
Oh, God.
I turned back to the chair that had been my home since they’d taken Harper to the hospital.Crossing the floor to the window, I tried not to dwell on those final memories of him, but there was little else to hang on to.If the worst happened and that turned out to be the final time I ever laid eyes on my commander general, then those recollections would be all I had.
That’s not true.I reached for the back of the chair, allowing it to prop me up.I have much more than only that.I have all the times he held me, spanked me, and loved me.
We might not have known each other for long, but in the limited time we had, it felt as though we’d loved for a lifetime.
“Wir sehen uns dann.”Michel’s voice drew me back to the present, and glancing up, I noticed he’d finished the call.
“What’s happened?”I gripped the edge of the chair, knowing I’d need its support if the news was anything but good.“How’s Adam?”
“Harper has woken up.”He rose from his chair and slid the device back into his pocket.
“He’s okay?”Tears brimmed at the update.
“The doctors are monitoring him, but ja, he is awake.”
Thank God.I squeezed my eyes closed, allowing a singular tear to make its way along my cheek.“Can I see him?”
“I told Kaspar you would ask.”He snorted as though there was anything even vaguely amusing about my predicament.
“And?”I pinned him with the full weight of my attention as my eyes flew open.“Please say I can.He’s given you the information you want, hasn’t he?He doesn’t deserve to suffer on his own.”
I faltered at my plea.The concept of what Harper ‘deserved’ wasn’t lost on me, and neither was the irony that I was making the appeal.As commander general, he’d overseen numerous horrendous ordeals on thousands of women who hadn’t merited the torment, yet there I was, defending him.
“Kaspar has agreed you can visit, but not at this hour.”Michel motioned to the window.
The dawn appeared to be breaking somewhere on the horizon, the first shards of daylight bleeding into what looked like a walled garden.
“We can visit him at eleven o’clock.”
My gaze shot to the clock on the wall behind me, registering the early hour.“But that’s more than six hours away.”
“Exactly.”He signaled to the bed against the wall behind me.“You should sleep until then.I shall be back to take you to the hospital.”
