Legend (Arizona Vengeance 3)

There was nowhere Lida was going to be able to hide.

I only have to pray that she loves Charlie enough not to hurt her.Chapter 30LegendBecause Pepper is from a medical family who all happen to be here at the hospital with me, I was given special privilege to wait with them in the recovery room, or the postanesthesia recovery unit, as her father called it.

It’s nothing more than a bay with curtained rooms where they hold patients after surgery to monitor as they come out of the anesthesia. They wheeled Pepper in about half an hour ago. Her mom, dad, and sister are all crowded around her bed. There are four chairs along the perimeter, two on each side, but so far I’m the only one that’s taken a seat. Richard keeps pacing around the entire unit, Meryl keeps checking her vitals, and Amy keeps telling her parents to settle down.

Me?

I’m sitting close to the bed with my forearm slid through the bed rails. I’ve got her hand cocooned in mine. It’s warm and she’s alive and it’s the only thing that’s helping me to stay in control now.

Pepper could not have gotten luckier with the shot. It was a .22 and while it did damage internally, none of it was to vital organs. With the help of a crack paramedic team and surgeons waiting for her arrival, the repairs were done about as fast as one can have abdominal surgery. By the time it was finished, I was in the surgical waiting room with her parents and that moment the surgeon walked in to tell us how it went was the worst of my life.

When he smiled at me, it may have become the best.

The only thing that will outshine it is having Charlie back in my arms.

“Pepper never did handle anesthesia well,” Amy comments lightly as she steps up to the bottom of the bed and places her hand on Pepper’s shin. She rubs it lightly over the blanket.

Her mom chuckles in agreement. “Notice we’re not standing near her bed, Legend. It’s because she might puke.”

I smile because it’s cute and they’re trying to lighten the mood, but deep down I’m not smiling because I know they’re talking from experience about her surgery when she had her uterus removed. Pepper’s stomach now will have additional scarring as a reminder of what she’s been through.

Pepper’s hand jerks in mine and my eyes snap to her face which is slightly scrunched up as if she’s uncomfortable. Her mouth opens and she licks her lips before her eyes finally flutter open.

She blinks a few times as she stares at the ceiling and then her head rolls on the pillow my way.

“Hey,” I say softly as I smile at her. I need her to know right off the bat she’s okay. “About time you woke up.”

Amy immediately leaves to go find her dad while her mom comes to the opposite side of the bed, placing her hands on the bed rail. Pepper’s head turns that way and her mom also gives her a confident smile. “There’s my girl. Are you feeling sick?”

Pepper nods and her mom says, “We’ll get some ginger ale for you from the nurse.”

Pepper nods again and then looks back to me. “Charlie and Lucy?”

“Later,” I tell her, not wanting to upset her. “You just got out of surgery so let’s just take it easy.”

Defiance flashes in her blue eyes. “No. Tell me now.”

I’m saved by her father, sister, and the nurse all walking in at the same time. I stand from my chair and bend over to place a kiss on Pepper’s forehead. When I pull back I tell her, “Let them do their thing then I’ll tell you what’s going on, okay?”

Her expression is dubious but she gives me a forced nod of agreement.

Stepping back from the bed, I let her family move in. Meryl gives her daughter the medical rundown of what happened in surgery. Amy holds a small can of ginger ale with a bendy straw to her mouth to take small sips. Richard just stares down at her with relief on his face.

As she comes out of the anesthesia and starts to become a little more coherent, she starts demanding some answers. “What happened after I was shot? Where’s Lucy and Charlie?”

Three sets of eyes turn my way and it’s clear they want me to update Pepper. Her dad steps back and I move back in to the side of the bed. I take her hand again. “After Lida shot you, she forced Lucy back over to my house at gunpoint. She had Lucy pack a small bag with diapers and formula, and then she hit Lucy on the head with the gun knocking her unconscious. She’s here at the hospital and she’s going to be fine.”