Blue (Darkness Falls #3) (14 page)

“When did you go to the theatre?” She asked bluntly. It was a different
nurse from earlier in the night. This one seemed more stern.

“Two days ago.” He couldn’t bear to think what this meant. “Is this normal? Is she brain damaged?”

“Not necessarily.” The nurse softened. “It’s quite common to forget a day or two days in the run up to a trauma such as the one she’s sustained. I’ve seen people with head or spinal injuries forget up to two weeks at a time. It may come back or it may not. At least it’s only two days.” She patted his arm in what he was coming to recognise as a universal gesture of comfort. “Try not to worry about it. Just don’t press her to remember. She’ll get agitated and that won’t help. If she asks when that was, tell her it was two days ago but then change the subject. If it comes back, it’ll be there without being forced.”

“Okay.” He went back and sat by the bed, determined to derail the questions before they could start. He didn’t think his heart would take it. “It was Alexandra.” He told it to her straight. “
She came out of a junction and crashed into the passenger side of your car, forcing you off the road.”

She blinked, trying to focus through her drugged state. “Was anyone in the car with me?”

“No.” And he wasn’t going to tell her about the pedestrian just yet. One step at a time.

“What’s wrong with me?” She tried to turn her head but the brace restricted the movement.

“Fractured skull, broken wrist, dislocated shoulder, perforated lung, swelling in your spinal column, fractured pelvis…” He trailed off.

“Son of a motherfucking bitch!” She swore.

“You’re still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” He leaned over to kiss her parched lips. “I’d still do you. With great enthusiasm, no less.”

At least that raised a smile. “I’m so glad to hear it.”

“As am I.” The nurse said drily from behind them. “Would you mind moving, please?”

“Sorry.” Blue blushed, sliding back into the chair so the nurse could get in to administer the pain killer.

“Before I space out…” Noelle’s hand sought his blindly across the crisp white sheet. “You need to go home, Blue. Wake up with the girls in the morning; tell Thomas I’m alright. He’ll be worrying.”

“I can’t. We don’t know if she’ll try again.” Blue reminded her. “Someone needs to be here.”

“The Police are stationed on this floor and at the entrance.” The nurse informed them. “She’ll be quite safe.”

“See.” Noelle closed her eyes. “Go home and sleep. I don’t want to see you in here until at least lunch time.”

“Can I bring Lisette?” He didn’t need to be told to know that the teenager would be desperate to come and see that Noelle was alright with her own eyes.

“That depends on how scary I look.” The smallest of smiles touched her lips as she faded.

“You look beautiful.” The nurse had stepped back so he got up and pressed a kiss to Noelle’s forehead. “You’re always beautiful.”

By the time he was upright, she was asleep and he watched her for a couple of seconds, emotions roiling in his chest.

“She’s right.” The nurse held the door open for him. “You should go home and sleep. She’s stable and there doesn’t appear to be any excess swelling. We’ll take her up for the CT scan while she’s asleep and call you if anything changes.”

“It’s just hard to leave, you know?” He took a deep breath and forced himself through the door. “It’s hard to leave someone you love when you know they’re hurting and they’re in a strange place full of people they don’t know.”

“She’s in the best place for her right now.” The nurse shrugged philosophically. “Sometimes you have to do the right thing, even when it hurts more.”

The house was in darkness when Blue got back and he guessed Storm had sent the girls to bed. He wasn’t surprised – it was almost 4am. He’d have been annoyed if anyone was still awake, but it was strange to come back to an unfamiliar house with no-one to welcome him. Thomas wasn’t even in the bed when he went up to the master suite. The sub must have picked one of the guest rooms.

The unexpected sadness at this fact sat heavy in Blue’s heart. He was obviously fonder of the sub than he had at first realised, but if he was honest with himself it had more to do with not wanting to be alone with his thoughts. Alexandra had come so close to killing the woman he loved. The thought of Noelle’s body lying broken in that hospital bed…it ripped jagged holes
in his heart. He felt like a building hurricane, the fiery pyroclastic heat of his rage crashing up against the icy fear that he couldn’t save her and couldn’t fight his mistress. The opposites whirled and boiled, gathering up his thoughts in their relentless maelstrom. He couldn’t think straight, couldn’t relax. There was nothing he could do but crawl into bed and settle in to wait out the dawn.

To his surprise, he actually slept for a couple of hours. Amelie woke him up shortly after eight
and he dragged on a pair of jeans and sloped down the stairs behind her.

“Dad!” Lisette’s jaw dropped when he walked into the kitchen. “Put a T-shirt on!”

“Why?” He dry scrubbed his face. “I’m decent.”

“
You’re not supposed to be so ripped!” She wailed. “Please don’t be
that
dad. Don’t be the one that all my friends fancy and make horrible jokes about.”

“Your friends aren’t here.” He sighed, not in the mood for teenage angst. “I just want to eat breakfast and get back to the hospital. I promise I won’t be shirtless around your friends.”

“You should see his loin cloth.” Storm wandered into the kitchen and took a seat at the breakfast bar.

“
Eww!” Lisette made a face. “Now I can’t unsee that! This is
so
not fair!”

Storm ignored her. “How’s Red?”

“She woke up in the night very confused. She doesn’t remember anything after arriving at the theatre a couple of nights back.”

“And her injuries?” Storm frowned. “Cal said they were worried about some swelling in her spine?”

“From what the nurses were saying, she doesn’t appear to be getting worse.” Blue shrugged. “She’s got a fractured skull though.”

“When will she come home?” Lisette asked, her horror over his state of undress forgotten.

“It’ll be a few days at least.” Blue sat down with the girls at the table as Thomas laid out pancakes and bacon. “She’s got a lot of broken bones and they had to drain her chest. She said I could take you in to see her today so eat up. I want to leave before half nine.”

Neither girl argued, tucking into their plates instead. Blue hadn’t meant Amelie too, but he wasn’t going to hold her back.
He wasn’t above letting them make their own way into Noelle’s heart if it meant she was more inclined to really join the family.

Storm decided to go home and visit the hospital over lunch while Blue was feeding the girls, so it was just the four of them in the car at half nine. Thomas was uncomfortable sitting in the front seat, but he bore it without complaint and Blue was grateful. He didn’t think he could cope with any kind of aggravation until he’d arrived at the hospital and checked that Noelle was okay.

“Is Papa Bear here?” Thomas asked suddenly as they parked and Blue shrugged.

“Probably.” If he wasn’t, no doubt he would be soon. Apart from The Manor, the huge drummer was the closest thing to family that she had.

“Who’s Papa Bear?” Lisette asked and Blue sighed. The last thing he needed was her fangirling out in the hospital.

“He’s a very close friend of Noelle’s.” He said, knowing he sounded short but finding himself unable to hold it back. Maybe if they made
Raze’s presence totally normal, it would mitigate how starstruck she got. He helped Amelie out of her child seat and they headed up to the ward.

To his relief, Noelle was awake and slightly less dazed than she had been the day before.
Her eyes were still a bit glossy from the pain medication, but she was smiling and pleased to see him and Thomas. The sub was a wreck, kneeling by the bed in floods of tears. Between the girls hugging her and all of them trying to soothe Thomas, Blue could hardly get a word in edgeways to ask how she was doing and what the doctor had said.

“Cal’s here.” She mouthed over Lisette’s head. The teenager was now tearful as she took in the extent of Noelle’s injuries and was clinging to her. Blue nodded. He’d get some sense from the Master.

He tracked him down at the nurses’ station, discussing Noelle’s case with the consultant. After her suicide attempt, Noelle had officially registered him as her doctor, so there was no issue of confidentiality. Blue listened in without interrupting, knowing that Cal would explain the more technical terms to him later. They’d removed her chest drains after an X-ray that morning showing her lung had reinflated. There wasn’t any more swelling in her spine. Her care from here on out was mostly about pain management and rehabilitation. Cal made a good case to have her removed to his care and they eventually agreed she’d be released the following morning if she showed significant improvement. Blue knew she would. She hated hospitals – she’d do whatever it took to get out of here.

That was good news at least. She’d be home the next day. They could get through the next 24 hours easily.

Raze had arrived by the time they got back to her bedside and the rest of the band rocked up around eleven. Lisette had gone into catatonic awe as the girls were introduced around and was just sat holding Red’s hand, gazing wide-eyed at the men standing and sitting around the bed. They talked until Storm arrived at one and then Blue took the girls down to the hospital cafeteria to get some food. Amelie was getting irritable. She didn’t like being cooped up in the hospital with all the strangers so Thomas agreed to take her home. He’d been getting more and more distraught at the hospital so he took Amelie with him when he caught a ride back with Cal.

Blue and Lisette sat with Noelle for most of the afternoon, but then she sent everyone home to rest and eat. Her face was still pale and wan and she was starting to drift as they brought her another shot of morphine before dinner. He offered to come back later, but she refused.

“The sooner I get to sleep, the sooner it will be morning and I can come home.” She reminded him and he couldn’t argue with that. He kissed her and then took Lisette back to the house.

When Cal arrived with Noelle in the car the next morning, Blue had to lift her into the house so carefully. He was terrified he was going to break her. She seemed so pale and fragile in the morning light, like wafer thin porcelain. She still had tubes coming out of her everywhere and he was so araid he’d tug one loose. He got her settled in bed and then wrote a list of everything he needed to do as Cal gave him a rundown of tablets and care instructions. The older Master would come back later in the day to check up on her, but as far as he was concerned the sooner she got back into a normal routine, the better.

After that, the Master left them to it and Blue went up to the bedroom to find the girls both lying on the bed with Noelle and Thomas kneeling by the side of the bed.

“What can we do?” Lisette asked.

“You can save me from boredom.” Red’s smile was somehow both grim and brave. “Why don’t you read to me?” Lisette scrambled off the bed to go in search of books and Red’s hand slid
out of her sling and off the bed, seeking Thomas’ hair. He ducked under her hand like a well-trained pet and she stroked him for a couple of seconds, the motion seeming to soothe her as she relaxed. “Thomas, I would give everything I own for a decent cup of tea and something nice to eat.” She smiled but the neck brace didn’t allow her to turn and look at him.

“I’ll go and make you something, Mistress.” He kissed her wrist as it passed his face and then left the room, heading for the kitchen.

“And then there were three.” Blue climbed onto his side of the bed, accepting Amelie when she snuggled into his chest and wrapping his arms around her. “Get your arm back in that sling, young lady. You’re wearing it for a reason.”

“Do you have anything you need to do today?” Noelle asked
, complying with his command, and he shook his head.

“I was going to go to the gym, but I’ll work out later. I can’t think of anything I’d like to do more right now than sit and listen to Lisette reading to you.”

“Depends what book she picks.” She smiled, turning as much as she could. “But I’m glad. I’m still feeling a bit loopy from the morphine. You might have to remind me what happens.” With some effort, she reached for his hand, the cast on her wrist getting in the way of holding it properly. “There’s a gym down in the basement. It’s not fully furnished yet but most of the machines are in and there are free weights down there too.”

“I’ll go when you’re sleeping.” He interlaced his fingers with hers. “When does the neck brace come off?”

“It’s supposed to be tomorrow.” She grimaced. “But it’s coming off tonight. I’m not sleeping in it again. It’s doing my head in.”

“Red-…” He started to say, but she cut him off.

“I’ve not lost any motor function or sensation in my body. I’m jammed full of steroids and I need to keep it mobile. I’m not making a completely uninformed decision.”

“Fine.” He wasn’t going to argue with her. “And what about the ribs? What’s the prognosis for them?”

“Well they pinned most of the broken bits in surgery, so Cal just has to keep pumping me full of drugs until I can manage it with tablets. The dressings can come off completely in ten days when I get my stitches out.”

“I’m so sorry, Red.” He started, but she wasn’t having any of it.

“Don’t. This is on her, not on you.” She squeezed his hand as much as she could. “How many times have you told me not to take on responsibility for other people’s actions?”

Lisette came back in with a book and climbed in between them to read. Blue lay there with all of his girls, feeling a lump rising in his throat at the rightness of it. He’d never felt any desire for children but now that he had them, he couldn’t imagine being any other way. When Thomas came in with drinks and a lunch selection for them, they had an impromptu picnic and then the sub curled up with them too.
Far from being an intrusion, that too felt right. Blue wanted this. He wanted it more than he’d ever wanted anything in his life. It was time to crush his fear that it might not happen and replace it with certainty. This would happen. He would make it so.