feeling of hopelessness,” Nicolai spoke in his quiet manner.
In the depths of his slashing gray eyes, Maya saw a look of overwhelming sadness that
made her breath hitch, before he turned his face away, and broke their eye contact. When he turned his head back in her direction, his austere face was once again serene, his mercury colored eyes bland, as though the cheerless expression of moments ago had not been.
“Yes we do don’t we?” Maya said and reached her hand out to cover his.
* * * *
“Detective Halstan?”
Mark turned away from the door at the doctor’s approach and held out his hand in
greeting. “Yes, hello Dr. Mayes,” he addressed Maya’s attending physician. “I was going in to see Maya, is everything okay?”
Mark couldn’t quell the anxiety that still rode him, the vision of her laying in a pool of
blood still lingering in his mind.
“Yes everything is okay. In fact I informed Dr. Richardson she’s cleared to check out
tomorrow morning.” The doctor reassured him. “I wanted to make sure she had someone to look after her when she goes home.”
“She’s coming with me, or I’ll go home with her. Either way, she’ll be taken care of.”
During the three days she’d been in the hospital he’d worked hard with Jordan to clean up
the loose ends and had given all the statements necessary regarding Lieutenant Hernandez. Now, he could take the next couple of weeks off, and take care of Maya.
“Great. The nurse will give the two of you her discharge papers tomorrow morning with
full instructions for her care. And of course, if you have any questions feel free to call me.”
Mark thanked him, and knocked lightly on the hospital door. Opening the door he peeked
inside with a wide smile on his face before walking in. He wasn’t surprised to see Montgomery inside, and after he walked over to place a kiss on her forehead softly, he turned and greeted him.
“I’m leaving, but before I go I want you to take this.” The agent handed a card to Maya.
“If you ever need to reach me for anything you can call this number and I’ll be contacted.” As he handed her the card, Mark raised his eyebrows.
“Of course the number is for the both of you. Don’t share it with anyone. If I’m
unavailable then, ask for Dafina.” He picked up her hand and gave it a small kiss.
“Thank you for all your help Montgomery.” Although the agent had helped him and
Jordan tie up loose ends, he hadn’t had the opportunity to thank him for his help.
Maya too said good-bye, and they watched him walked out the door. Left alone, Maya
turned loving eyes in Mark’s direction, and patted the bed for him to sit next to her.
Maya and the lieutenant had struggled over the gun, and it had gone off hitting her high
on the right side of her chest. After the lieutenant had seen what he’d done, he had pointed the gun at his head and fired the shot that ended his life. Maya had passed out from the utter shock and terror of the situation and the loss of blood.
Mark carefully looked her over. The blue hospital gown covered the bandage on her chest
, which kept the chest tube in place in her body.
The bullet had entered into her right chest and made a clean exit out of her armpit. The
doctors had inserted a chest tube because the bullet had punctured the right middle lobe of her lung.
The doctor explained to Mark that the chest tube, along with the three-chambered
drainage device, would remove the air and fluid that had escaped from her collapsed lung.
When he’d first seen her after surgery, he’d been filled with terror at the sight of her with so many tubes running from her body, even though they’d assured him she hadn’t been severely wounded.
Words like collapsed lung, chest tubes, and draining devices, scared the hell out of him.
He didn’t have the same casual attitude of the doctors and nurses, who on a daily basis saw far more brutal cases than Maya’s.
“How’re you feeling sweetheart?” He asked her after he pressed soft kisses on the palm
of her hand.
“I feel fine. I’ll be glad when I can leave. Dr. Mayes says I can go home tomorrow,” she
said with a tired smile.
“He said the same to me, before I came inside. I was able to finish up the case so I can
stay home with you.”
“I imagine there was a lot to do, a lot of explanations. How is everyone handling it?”
Mark had been at her bedside as long as he could, only leaving when she was asleep to go
to the precinct. Today was first day they’d spoken about the case.
She’d wondered what happened to the guards that night, why no one was around. Mark
told her how the lieutenant had distracted the two guards outside before knocking them
unconscious.
Her personal guard he’d relieved of duty, telling the man he would take care of Maya,
and as soon as he’d turned away, he’d knocked him out and moved his body into one of the
closets.
“To say everyone is surprised; shocked, is putting it way too mildly. No one understands why, there are a lot of unanswered questions. Once you’re feeling better you’ll be able to help them understand the lieutenant’s motives.”
Unable to stop the detectives assigned to the case from questioning her, Mark insisted on
being in the room when they came by to take her statement. Maya was the last one Lieutenant Hernandez had spoken with and she had been the one to whom he’d confessed his crimes. The
interview had been brief due to her injury, however, when she was feeling better it was
understood she would need to give a more formal statement.
What she’d been able to tell them explained how the lieutenant was able to work
effectively as an officer of the
