“Okay.”
The hallway seemed terribly long to Sasha. She had climbed El Capitan in under six hours this past summer, almost breaking the women’s speed record, but now the end of the hall seemed impossibly far away.
“I feel so weak.”
“That’s partly the morphine and the anesthesia in your system. You’re doing great. One step at a time.”
Malachi, one of the ER docs and another Team member, stepped out of the elevator a few feet ahead of them wearing green surgical scrubs, his shoulder-length blond hair tied back in a ponytail. “Hey, Sasha, you’re just the person I came to see. I’ll take over, Ellie.”
Ellie patted Sasha’s back. “You’re in good hands.”
“Hey, Mal.” Sasha was happy to see him. “Thank you for your help yesterday.”
“I’m glad I was able to be there.” His ER schedule meant that he missed a lot of rescues. “How are you feeling?”
“Sore. It hurts to breathe. I keep forgetting stuff.”
“I’m not surprised. You suffered some pretty serious trauma.”
“I never thought the Team would have to rescue me.”
“It gave us all a shock when Megs paged us. ‘Sasha hit by car near Caribou turnoff.’” Malachi shook his head. “Megs is usually all-business on site, but she was pretty shaken up. She let Mitch run the debriefing when we got back to The Cave.”
Sasha stopped and gaped at Malachi. “She did?”
“She was too upset to handle it herself. She barely said a word.”
The thought put a lump in Sasha’s throat. Megs was known for being levelheaded, especially in a crisis. When Mitch had been gravely injured last fall and lay in a coma in ICU, she’d held herself together so well that Sasha thought she must be made of steel.
Then Sasha had to ask. “Have they found them—the guys who did this?”
“Not yet, but they’re working on it.”
Sasha couldn’t help the sick way her pulse picked up at this news.
Malachi motioned toward the chair at the end of the hall. “Sit. Rest for a minute.”
Sasha took the last few steps and sat, dread knotting her stomach.
Mal sat beside her, his brown eyes filled with compassion. “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear. Deputies found the vehicle abandoned in the parking area across from Boulder Falls. The sheriff brought in some big-city detective to help. He used to hunt down celebrity stalkers in LA or something.”
“Really?” Some of Sasha’s dread faded.
“People in this town care about you. Hell, Sasha, the whole world cares.”
But Sasha knew that wasn’t true. Like any woman in the public eye, she had her share of haters, and some of them were scary.
Mal stood. “Let’s get you back to bed. How’s your pain?”
She gritted her teeth as she got to her feet.
“That bad, huh? Yeah, broken ribs suck.”
They slowly walked back to her room, where Mal helped her into bed.
“I’ll check with Ellie about your next dose of pain meds. They’re hoping to discharge you tomorrow. Megs and Nicole are organizing meals and helping with shopping and housework. I’m afraid the good people of Scarlet are going to drive you crazy once you get out of here. Enjoy the quiet while you can.”
That made Sasha laugh—bringing instant regret. “Oh! Ow!”
