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Callen wipes away Hale’s kiss sheepishly. “It was nothing.”
“She’s going to be okay,” Hale hoots. “She’s alive!”
“When can we see her?” I ask.
“We’re stabilising her now in the ICU,” the doctor says. “She’ll be unconscious for a while because of the medication but she still might hear what you’re saying.”
A nurse comes over to whisper something in the doctor’s ear while casting a suspicious look at the group of muscular men covered in blood. I don’t blame her.
“If you want to follow the nurse through,” the doctor says. “She can take two of you to Florence’s room. I’m assuming you’ll be seeing your wife first?”
I wait with bated breath, assuming Hale will leave me behind, but he takes my hand.
“Her sister will be joining me too,” he says.
“Of course.” The nurse nods. “This way.”
“We’ll wait for you here,” Seb promises.
“You’re married?” I whisper under my breath.
“Our aliases are,” Hale says.
Not all agents have permanent aliases, but the fact that Daisy and Hale do makes everything much easier. They have passports, national insurance numbers and full medical histories to avoid raising any eyebrows when seeking hospital treatment.
We follow the nurse through a maze of identical corridors to Daisy’s private room. I inhale sharply when I see her, my eyes misting over. Daisy’s attached to various tubes and machines, and a few doctors are still buzzing around, checking her notes to make sure everything is set up correctly.
It’s been years since I’ve been in a proper hospital. Unlike Daisy and Hale, the Killers Club never set me up with a true alias. Accessing any public service is nearly impossible when you’re supposed to be dead.
“Little Dove,” Hale says, pulling the chair over to her bedside and taking her hand. He lovingly strokes her hand, tracing small circles onto her skin. “I’m here.”
I sit on her other side, watching on. Although we’ve had reassurance, I’m still on edge. I won’t relax again until she opens her eyes.
“We’ll give you some space, but we’ll be right outside,” a doctor says. “Press the call button on this device if you need anything, the nurses will be monitoring her vitals at the nurse’s station,” the doctor says, showing us the patient call button beside Daisy.
I wait until the door closes before taking Daisy’s other hand and saying, “I’m right here.” I choke up, fighting back tears. “I’m so sorry. All of this is my fault.”
“Don’t beat yourself up,” Hale says gently, giving me more grace than I deserve. “No one saw Penelope coming.”
I sniff. “I’m not just talking about today. I’m sorry for everything. I know she blames me for what happened to her. For the life she has. I should have listened to her warnings about Spencer all those years ago…”
“Dove was hurting when she said those things to you,” Hale says. “She told me she knew you did everything you could to save her that night. She’s felt guilty about not being able to fight back ever since.”
I wipe my eyes. “You don’t need to make me feel better, Hale.”
“What the two of you went through was horrific. When I saw the state she was in when Stephanie brought her to me…” His voice trails off, and he shivers. “I thought she’d die, but she was stronger than she looked. She wanted to be like you. That’s what kept her going, and then Ivy came along. She’d go through it all again to get our daughter. Ivy is the best thing to ever happen to us, and she named her after you. Do you think she’d have done that if she didn’t care?”
I shrug.
“She spoke about you all the time at the beginning, but it was too painful for her to remember,” he says wistfully. “It was easier to shut you out than deal with how hard it was to lose you.”
As much as I want to believe Hale, I don’t want to get my hopes up. I need to hear it from her.
“I’m not going anywhere now.” I squeeze her hand. “You’re not losing me again.”
The door to Daisy’s room opens, and the nurse clears her throat behind us. “I know you’ve only come inside, but our patient needs her rest.”
“I’m staying,” Hale growls.
