Battered Not Broken (42 page)

Ryan used his good hand to grip her firmly by her uninjured shoulder. Noticing that only sent Ally’s panic spiking. He was incapacitated. Fucking incapacitated and he wanted to face a bunch of gun-wielding deviants who’d shoot someone as soon as look at them if they thought they could get away with it.

“I’d die for you,” Ryan said, his face so close to hers that his breath warmed her mouth and his nose nearly touched hers. He was just far enough away that she could focus on those golden rings. “I’d kill for you, too. Trust me. I love you, Ally.” He pressed his lips against hers, his kiss much more fierce than the effective but careful grip he maintained on her arm.

Her entire body buzzed – with shock, fear, rage and a stunned happiness that was buried beneath the other emotions with no hope of surfacing. Her mind played no role in her melting into his kiss – it was an automatic response, the only thing about the whole twisted situation that felt right. With a detached sense of satisfaction, she noted that he’d eaten – she could taste traces of mustard on his tongue. A sandwich, then. At least he wouldn’t be facing probable death on an empty stomach. The thought pushed her to the verge of hysterics, and she trembled against him.

“Don’t go,” she breathed as soon as the kiss ended. “Don’t.”

Ryan rose and straightened, his expression resolute.

Manny stepped forward and leaned in, so close to Ryan that Ally feared Ryan would forget his promise of confronting Manny later and lash out.

The dark fire had gone out of Manny’s eyes, leaving him looking vaguely sad – an expression Ally hadn’t seen on his face for years. “I figure I owe you one. So I’ll keep him safe for you, sister.” He didn’t say it was a promise, but it was – that was evident in his tone and the way he held himself, as if he took himself more seriously than anyone or anything else in the world. She’d hated that trait – one Carlos had wrought in him – before, but now it was a strange but terrifying comfort.

When he rose, he stood straight beside Ryan. Physically, there was no real reason for them to look alike. Ryan was fair and tall and Manny was a couple inches shorter and darker in comparison. Ryan’s short hair seemed long compared to the raven stubble that cast a shadow over Manny’s shaved skull. But they wore identical expressions of resolve, their mouths turned down at the corners in the same grim way.

And then they were gone.

* * * * *

“Thought I’d move our brunch date up on the calendar.” Melissa sat down in a vinyl chair beside the bed, balancing three Styrofoam containers on the little wheeled table that could swing over the bed. “Brought some for you too, Mrs. R.”

Maria thanked Melissa and Ally echoed her. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Melissa just smiled as she opened the to-go boxes full of waffles, piled high with whipped cream and strawberries. “Thought it might cheer you up.”

Ally’s empty stomach contracted as she sat up in bed, accepting a plastic fork from Melissa. The waffles would be much better than the hospital food, but she wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. All she could taste was the bitter flavor of non-stop worry and fear, an unwelcome combination that lingered on the tip of her tongue, threatening to make her nauseous at random intervals.

It was one of those rare times in life where she actually felt sick with fear. The pain in her arm had taken a backseat to the agony she’d been living with since the evening before. She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall above Melissa’s head. It was a quarter after ten in the morning. No earlier or later than she’d expected – she’d stayed up the entire night and had checked the clock often.

At times she’d floated in a haze of semi-consciousness, mostly thanks to drugs, but she’d never truly slept. She’d always been alert enough to recognize if someone entered the room. Each time, she’d been disappointed by the sight of a nurse, relative or friend.

As selfish and ungrateful as it sounded, even inside her own head, she wished they’d stop visiting. Every time someone walked through the door, her heart sank a little lower. And no matter how hard she willed herself to be, she couldn’t be distracted.

“Where’s Ryan?” Melissa asked, already halfway done with her first waffle.

Ally’s stomach shrank even more snugly around the one bite she’d managed to take so far. “He went after the people who shot me. With Manny.” She didn’t have the energy to be anything but blunt.

Melissa froze with her fork buried in a heap of cream and berries. The sweet little smile she’d been wearing since she’d walked through the door was gone. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” Saying so felt strangely like self-harm.

“They left yesterday evening,” Maria said, glancing toward the clock – it was a habit she’d shared with Ally throughout the previous, fitful night and miserable morning. She’d stayed by Ally’s bedside through it all. Waiting, mostly in silence. “We haven’t seen or heard from them since.”

Ally hadn’t dared to try Ryan’s phone, afraid that if he actually had it on his person it would go off, possibly alerting someone hostile to his presence. Since he’d left, she’d imagined him in dozens of different situations, from sneaking up on an unsuspecting enemy to brawling or firing a gun to lying dead somewhere, a body that might or might not make it into that evening’s local news report. Letting her imagination run wild was torture, but she couldn’t stop it.

“Sorry,” Melissa said, and truly sounded it as she sat frozen in her uncomfortable-looking chair, her head slightly bowed over her waffles. “You don’t have to eat those if you don’t feel like it,” she said, gesturing toward Ally’s virtually untouched meal. “I didn’t realize…”

“I’ll eat them,” Ally said, tightening her grip on her fork. “They’re good. Thanks for bringing them.”

And she did eat them. Slowly, and not all of them, but still. It was something to do as the minutes ticked by, bringing no one new into the room besides a nurse who said it was time for Ally’s bandages to be changed and her next dose of antibiotics to be taken.

By the time that was done, a new wave of visitors had arrived. Ally’s aunt Elsa and cousin Gabriela, both of whom she worked with at the salon, entered wearing tentative smiles.

“Do you want me to go?” Melissa asked, leaning in. “I don’t want to crowd you.”

“It’s up to you,” Ally said. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to stick around all day, but I’m definitely not kicking you out.” Whenever Ryan returned – if he returned – he’d be the only person in the room, as far as she was concerned. How many people were present until then wasn’t important. It felt cold to think that way, but her nerves were shot, her every thought trained on Ryan and how he might be doing, whether she wanted to contemplate that or not.

“I’ll stay a little longer then,” Melissa said. “Keep you company. Though I have to head to work later.”

“That’s fine. Thanks.”

“Aunt Elsa,” Ally said, struck by a sudden bolt of realization that was edged with a razor-thin margin of hope. “Do you have Inés’ phone number?”

“No,” Elsa said, her eyebrows rising in apparent surprise. “Not personally, though it’s in our customer database at the salon. Why?”

“I wanted to ask her something.” She briefly considered lying and saying it was a question about the wedding but decided against it. Lying usually rubbed her conscience the wrong way, and who would believe that she cared about the wedding, especially at a time like this? So she left it at that.

Elsa knit her brows together in a look of concern, then donned an easier expression that smoothed her forehead. “I can call in and get it for you if you really want it.”

“That would be great. Thanks.” For once, it was nice to be treated like a dying saint. Apparently, no request was too strange – not even one for Inés’ phone number.

A few moments later, Ally programmed the number into her own phone. For a moment, she almost caved beneath internal pressure and pressed send. In the end, she tucked her phone away. It would be better to make the call after Elsa and Gabriela were gone, since she hadn’t filled them in on Ryan and Manny’s mission and didn’t want to. Their last visit had been relatively brief, anyway.

Their second one was mercifully short, too.

“Sorry to run so soon,” Elsa said, “but this is our lunch break.” She shrugged. “Well, an extended one. We just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing.”

“My arm is feeling a lot better.” Ally attempted a smile as Elsa and Gabriela leaned in one by one, giving her such careful hugs that they barely touched her.

Elsa planted a kiss against Ally’s cheek. “We’ll be back to see you as soon as we can manage. When are they planning on releasing you, again?”

“I’m not sure,” Ally said. “Maybe as soon as tomorrow.” Before, she’d been eager to get out of the hospital, to escape the dully sterile environment and the mounting bills that were sure to be astronomical. Now, she feared leaving the place where she’d last seen Ryan. He was sure to return to her hospital room. Wasn’t he?

“That’s great.” Elsa patted Ally’s uninjured shoulder. “You give us a call and let us know as soon as you find out, all right? We’ll be glad to help with anything you need. Food, cleaning… Anything. You can even stay with us for a while if you want. We’ll take good care of you.”

“Thank you. That’s really kind.” It was, so she hoped that her voice sounded more sincere to her aunt and cousin’s ears than it did to her own.

Maria thanked them too and then they were gone.

At last, Ally suppressed a sigh as she reached for her phone.

Her heart raced and seemed to skip beats at odd intervals as she hit send and the phone rang at the other end of the connection. Maybe the heart thing was just her imagination, or a manifestation of her nervousness. Either way, it took four rings for Inés to answer.

Chapter 23

“Hey Inés,” Ally said, cutting her off before she’d even finished her greeting. “It’s Ally.”

“Alexandra?” Inés sounded as if she would’ve been less surprised to receive a call from the Virgin Mary than from Ally.

Ally ignored her obvious shock. “Listen, have you heard from Manny lately?”

“Depends on what you mean by lately. Manny and I talk all the time, but you know, sometimes he gets busy with work.”

Ally’s heart sank preemptively. “Have you heard from him since yesterday evening?”

A pause. “No. He’s out making money, you know? Like I said, he gets busy sometimes.”

“Okay.” The muscles in Ally’s jaw seemed to tighten all on their own. She ended the call, sure that she couldn’t stand one more moment of listening to Inés’ voice. Though Manny certainly had his faults, it was hard to imagine him with someone so … whatever Inés was. It was easy to come up with a list of about a dozen different uncomplimentary words, but none of them described her accurately on their own.

When Ally looked up, it was to face Maria and Melissa. They wore similar expressions of disappointment and sympathy.

“Inés hasn’t heard from Manny since yesterday evening at least,” Ally said anyway.

“I’m sorry, mija.” Maria reached out and clasped Ally’s right hand with her own.

“Me too,” Melissa said.

Ally shrugged and immediately regretted it. “Ow. Damn.” For the first time that day, she gave in and verbalized her pain.

“It’s about time for your next dose of painkillers,” Maria pointed out.

Ally glanced at the clock. “You’re right.” She found herself watching the door not just for Ryan, but for a nurse. This time, she’d let the drugs carry her off into sleep. Being awake had finally become more than she could bear.