Yet this tiredness and fatigue he was experiencing was draining.
Andy scanned the hallway, checking for anything out of the ordinary. It looked like what it was—a busy hospital. There was no one lurking that could be waiting for the right moment to enter Narelle’s room and harm her.
Recalling the statement he’d made to Narelle’s parents that he’d be quick, he got his feet moving and headed for the cafeteria. The place was abuzz with conversation, and he welcomed the normalcy of it. Life went on around him, and most of the people in the room didn’t know danger was always lurking everywhere.
Or maybe they did, but it was a different kind of danger than what Andy was used to dealing with. The danger for these people came from accidents. From seemingly mild cases of illness, that masked something more sinister which theyhad to fight.
There were evils everywhere, they just wore different costumes to the ones he was used to experiencing.
The people in this room were heroes just as much as ones like him, who rid the world of sex traffickers, terrorist leaders, and drug kingpins. And just like when they eliminated one evil and another popped up, the same could be said for doctors and nurses. They might find the cure or a treatment for one disease, and a day or two later, a newer more lethal disease is discovered.
The parallels between the medical profession and the military were very similar.
Shaking off his thoughts, he smiled at the woman who’d asked him for his order. He placed it and then went to stand where others were waiting.
He glanced at his watch, willing them to hurry up so that he could get back to Narelle. There was still so much he needed to tell her. They’d only scratched the surface of the coincidence of him being at the intersection at the same time as her. And he had to tell her that it hadn’t been accident at all. Then again, maybe she already knew that, considering the attack she’d endured.
The mystery of why Narelle was being targetedcould only be solved by asking the woman herself. If she didn’t know why, then he would double down on his efforts to solve it.
One way or another, he would keep Narelle safe.
Chapter
Twelve
“I’m not leaving her, Mike.”
Her mother’s hissed insistence was the first thing that registered in Narelle’s consciousness, along with the sound of the door opening, and the quiet tread of someone else entering the room.
Memories of what happened to her peppered her mind with the accuracy of a dodge ball. She gasped and tried to sit up, groaning when pain radiated down her arm and leg.
“Narelle! Keep still. You’ll hurt yourself more.” Her mum’s admonishment grated on her.
“I doubt I can hurt more than I already do,” she grumbled. “You weren’t the one who was in a car accident. I was.”
She was being grouchy, but who wouldn’t be after everything she’d been through in the last however many days?
How long ago was the accident?
“Do you need some pain relief?” Andy’s quiet voice flowed over her like water from a warm shower, comforting and relaxing.
He watched her, his brow creased, and concern colored his blue eyes. Like his voice, there was something settling about locking her gaze with his. The same happened in Bali, where one touch from him had energized her. “No, that’s the last thing I want. You remember what happened the last time someone attempted that, don’t you?”
His lips quirked at her surprising attempt at humor. “I do.”
Somehow, she managed to drag her gaze away from Andy’s, and when she looked at her mum, she was watching her and Andy with interest.
What had Andy told her parents about their connection? It wasn’t the first time she’d wondered, but she wasn’t going to ask him while her parents were still in the room.
Instead, she latched onto what had woken her. “What did you mean about not leaving me, Mum?”
A look passed between her parents, and throughher addled mind, from the accident and the surgery, she remembered that her parents had their big trip coming up. “Wait, you’re not thinking of cancelling your vacation, are you?”
Her mother looked affronted, as if the very idea that Narelle was surprised she was considering it was abhorrent. “Of course, I am. You were just in a serious car accident. Not to mention someone playing at being a nurse wanted to harm you. What sort of mother would I be to leave you behind and go gallivanting around Europe, as if I didn’t have a care in the world? We have travel insurance. We can make changes and won’t be penalized.”
“You hope,” her dad murmured. “I still have to look into it, but I happen to agree with your mother. We can’t leave you, Narelle. You’re our daughter. Our only child. If we have to absorb the loss of money, then that’s what we’ll do. You are more important to us than an overseas trip.”
“One you’ve been saving for, for the last ten years. It’s your thirty-fifth wedding anniversary celebration.”
