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I sniffed out a smile, glad to see a bit of perky Raina return. So I pointed and pulled my credit card back out. “I guess I’ll take the stuffed horse, then.”
“Right on.” The guy behind the cash register nodded and rang me up.
19
FOSTER
When we made it up to the fourth floor, Darlene was working and informed me, “We had to put her into a medically induced coma. After the number of times she went into cardiac arrest, her brain was beginning to swell to the point that her doctor decided to give it a little rest to heal more easily. But we’ll reassess her again in three days to see if we can take her out of it then.”
I swallowed and looked in at Raina’s body. “How—what do you even do to induce a coma?”
“The doctor administered some anesthesia,” I was told.
I nodded. “Which would make her drowsier.” Okay, that made sense. It would explain why Raina felt so tired all of a sudden. I started to relax until Darlene squinted at me.
“She was already unconscious, hon. How can you get drowsier when you’re already unconscious?”
Crap. I probably shouldn’t have said that aloud. With a tight smile, I agreed, “Right. Sorry.”
I stayed another half hour, and Raina tried a handful of ways to get back into her body, none of which worked. Then, I stood and sent her a regretful wince. “Sorry, but visiting hours are almost up.”
She sighed dismally but nodded. “Okay, let’s go.” And we started home.
I stepped into the bathroom as soon as we arrived to take a shower, and Raina dragged her feet toward my bed to plop down in exhaustion. Pausing in the doorway, I watched her, wondering how she didn’t just fall right through the mattress. Or why sometimes she could lean against a wall but then could float through it at other times.
But I figured I’d probably never truly understand, so I shook my head and took my shower.
When I exited, she was passed out cold on top of the mattress. I finished getting ready for bed and then eased down next to her, focusing on her face as I did.
When her eyelids fluttered open, I winced. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“It’s fine,” she slurred sleepily. “Do you want me to leave?”
“You’re okay,” I assured. “It’s not like you could kick or elbow me.”
She gave me a tired smile and closed her eyes. “But I could snore.”
I chuckled. “Then I’ll just snore louder.”
With a snicker, she answered, “Sweet,” and then she fell silent.
I watched her for another few seconds, thinking I kind of liked having her here. The company was nice.
With her eyes still shut, she murmured, “You’re staring.”
“Sorry.” Flushing, I cleared my throat.
“It’s okay,” she assured, drowsily reopening her eyes. “Was there something you wanted?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I was just hoping you were okay. Are you feeling okay?”
She nodded. “Sure. There’s no pain. No hunger. No hot or cold. Not much of anything. It’s different and weird, but I’m okay.”
“Good.”
Her eyes closed again, and I kept watching her.
I really liked her hair, I decided. Auburn was definitely my new favorite color. And those curls. Sometimes they just waved, sometimes there was a whole corkscrew. It was as if every lock did its own thing. It was fascinating as hell.
