“That seems about right for my general luck in these situations.”
Wyatt smiled for the first time since he’d come into Jake’s room.
Darkfall walked into the hospital intending to pretend he was there to see someone else and “accidentally” see Jake and find out how he was doing. He’d set up equipment in his motel room to monitor the police radio bands as a precaution. It had rocked him when he heard all about the kidnapping of Jake Jones, his recovery at an abandoned property and that he’d been transported to hospital unconscious. Who could be after him? And why?
He was more worried about his friend than ever. He wondered if the kidnapping scheme had anything to do with his memory loss. It had to. It was too much of a coincidence. The truth was, Darkfall needed more information. And he wasn’t going to get it by just sitting in this motel room reading Luca’s mission notes.
Darkfall dressed carefully, got his story straight in his head as to why he was at the hospital and left the motel.
Beryl left Ivy in the waiting room when Wyatt told her that Jake was awake and she could go see him for a few minutes. She walked slowly into Jake’s hospital room, so relieved to see him awake that fresh tears rushed to her eyes as she approached his bedside.
Maybe her scared, frustrated tears over not being able to stay with him when he’d arrived at the hospital had transformed into crybaby tears at her relief to find out he was okay.
“Don’t cry. I’m fine. I promise,” Jake told her.
She nodded, but foolish girly emotion won out and she slipped her arms around his neck and cried into his hospitalgown-covered shoulder. “I was so scared when I saw you snatched off the street.”
“I know. Trust me, if I had been awake, I also might’ve cried.”
This made Beryl laugh. She hugged him tighter, so relieved that he had survived this attack. Jake wrapped his arms carefully around her and patted her back.
After several long moments of just holding each other, Beryl pulled herself together, wiped the useless tears from beneath her eyes and asked Jake what he remembered.
He’d explained what she’d seen from his point view. She hadn’t realized the kidnapper had zapped him or shot him up with something, but that explained why he hadn’t put up a fight. She wasn’t disappointed that he had no memories of anything that happened after that until waking up in the hospital. Again.
Beryl thought that was good. Better that Jake not clearly remember anything from that creepy barn in the woods.
“The doctor told me than when I was admitted, they couldn’t figure out why I was unconscious. Once they removed this weird wire attached to my head, I woke up. He told me they gave it to Wyatt for analysis regarding my case.”
“Well, I’m sure if anyone can figure it out, it’ll be Wyatt.” Beryl pretended that the wire attached behind Jake’s ear was new information to her, because she’d promised Wyatt not to discuss anything they had seen at that rickety barn in the woods.
And a promise was a promise.
Besides, none of them knew whether it had any significance to anything that had happened. Beryl had her suspicions, of course. That invisible being was certainly about to dosomethingwith the light cube and that strange wire attached to Jake’s head.
“Do you have to spend the night in the hospital?” Beryl asked.
“No. They can’t find anything wrong with me since I woke up. I’m just waiting for a final visit from the doctor to sign off on my release and then I’ll be allowed to go. Can’t wait.”
“Cool. I can take you back home.”
“Thank you, that would be great. I can’t tell you how tired I am of waking up in hospitals. Fingers crossed this is the last time.”
“Oh, no. You probably just jinxed yourself.”
“Then I take it back.” They laughed. She was glad he didn’t have to stay in the hospital overnight.
Beryl looked up in time to see a man stroll past Jake’s open door and glance into the room. He seemed to do a double-take and stopped mid-stride. He stepped into the doorway.
“Jake,” the man said, brow furrowed in concern.
In an instant, Beryl recognized him as the customer who’d been with Jake when he caught her snooping in his workshop.
He asked, “What are you doing here?”
