Somewhere in His Arms (24 page)

             
Lucy managed the panties and slip but had difficulty reaching for the hooks on the bra. She hoped there hadn’t been any nerve damage. “Need some help?” a familiar voice said behind her.

             
“Alec,” she gasped, reaching blindly behind her back, “the hooks.”

             
He rushed to her and hooked her up. “Sorry love,” he apologized, trying not to look at the scar where the knife had gone clear through. “I didn’t buy that.”

             
She turned around. “I know.” Suddenly shy, she crossed her arms over her breasts, and wouldn’t look at him.

             
Alec towered over her but had to smile down at his wife. It was so like their wedding night. “Want me to help you with the dress?”

             
Lucy nodded shyly and raised her arms above her head, wincing as she did so. He placed the dress over her head and tugged down gently. She felt like she was five-years-old again and her mother was helping her dress for school. Lucy put her arms through the sleeves and glanced up at her husband. He had an odd look on his face. “What’s wrong?” she whispered.

             
He brushed her damp hair away from her face “I thought I’d lost you,” he whispered back. “I thought I wouldn’t get to--” he broke off, his voice catching as tears filled his eyes.

             
She reached up and caressed his dear face. A tear was starting to trickle down his cheek and she wiped it away gently. Lucy was overcome by a sudden and powerful emotion that she could not name, and so she simply leaned her head against his chest and hugged him tightly to her. “Me too,” she finally whispered.

             
He hugged her back and they stood like that for a long time until he finally pulled away reluctantly. “Sit, love,” he urged, smiling, “I’ll brush your hair.”

             
She did as he requested and her eyes closed as her husband ran the brush gently through the tangles. He didn’t pull once. When he finished, he pulled her hair back with a pretty hairband. Lucy glanced up at him, smiling. “Where did you learn
that?
”

             
“University,” he replied, clearing his throat with some embarrassment. “I had to work my way through and rented a room at a boarding house. The landlady had a little girl who wanted someone to brush her hair and play tea party.”

             
“I wondered,” Lucy grinned up at him. “Play tea party, huh?”

             
He shook a finger at her. “Don’t you start, woman!”

             
She giggled at Alec’s obvious discomfort. “Will you play tea party with me?”

             
Alec’s eyes lit up at her innocent suggestion. There were so many possibilities and none of them proper. “Only if you promise not to put pink ribbons in my hair!”

             
She laughed. “I promise!”

             
Alec helped her on with the hose and ballet flats and packed her bag for her. When he was done, he gave the room a final inspection. He was so damned happy to get her out of this horrible place there were no words to describe how he felt at the moment. “Ready?” he held out his hand.

             
Lucy nodded and placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her to her feet. They said goodbye to the doctors and nurses who’d helped her reach this moment and walked arm and arm to the elevator. She watched as the doors slid shut and her stomach did a little somersault as the car dipped sharply. Lucy grasped Alec’s arm for support.

             
“Easy love, “ he soothed and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

             
“Where are we going?” she asked when the world righted itself again.

             
“Home,” he answered simply. At her frown he added, “with me.”

             
“And where is that?”

             
He smiled knowingly and put a finger to his lips. “It’s a surprise.”

             
Another thought came to her. “Where’s Rudy and where
is
Tia? She didn’t visit me at all the whole time!”

             
Alec paused a bit before answering. “Tia tried to come that first night, but when she saw you all hooked up to those machines, she starting screaming. They had to give her something to calm her down. And then when you--” he closed his eyes and tried to work his way through the terror he’d felt at that moment.  “She tried love, don’t blame her.”

             
“I don’t,” Lucy sighed and leaned against her husband, suddenly feeling very tired. “Just like Eddie, I suppose.”

             
“That’s right.”

             
“And Rudy?”

             
Alec shook his head. “He can’t bring himself to face you. He blames himself. Give him time, love.”

             
“He saw me once and then left.”

             
Alec snorted in disgust. “He
abandoned
you and spent the weekend on the piss! I had to go and fetch him home and clean his sorry ass up. It wasn’t pretty.”

             
“Oh,” she said in a tiny voice. So that’s what happened.
Poor Rudy.

             
They reached the third floor and Lucy was ushered into a wheelchair, much to her chagrin. “I can walk!” she protested as Alec proceeded to push her out the automatic doors.

             
“And deprive me of the pleasure of pushing you along, love? Never!”

             
“You’re enjoying this!” she grumbled as he wheeled her along like some invalid.

             
He laughed softly. “Well, the shoe
is
on the other foot so to speak.”

             
“I think I should hate you!” she pouted and gave up.

             
“Now, what fun would that be?” he grinned down at her as she fumed. This was the Lucy he’d longed to see.
The spitfire.
He just hoped it wasn’t fleeting.

             
Lucy didn’t know which was worse, being dressed by her husband or being pushed along in a wheelchair like some old lady. People were watching from the parking lot, and she wished she could scream at all of them to stop gawking at her like she was one of those poor souls in the burn unit.

             
Alec pulled in front of a shiny new black Cadillac Escalade. It was quite the step up from the jeep. “Where’d you get this?” she asked in awe.

             
He grinned slyly. “A friend of a friend loaned me the thing. Like?”

             
“I guess so,” she murmured, feeling sleepy. The nurse had given her some medication before her shower and now she was feeling it kick in.

             
Alec pushed her to the passenger side and opened the door. They must have given her something because she was having a hard time keeping her eyes open. He leaned down. “Hold on to me,” he instructed. She did as he asked, and he lifted her up as gently as he could into the plush leather seat and buckled her in. He placed a fuzzy blanket over her knees and chest. He then folded the wheelchair and returned it to admittance. Alec hurried back and placed her bag in the trunk and slid into the driver’s seat. He turned towards his wife who was already nodding off. “Comfy?”

             
“I’m cold,” she complained sleepily.

             
He turned on her seat warmer. “Better?”

             
She nodded and leaned back. Alec reclined the seat as far as it would go so she could sleep. It was a long drive where they were going. “Sleep wife,” he breathed and started the engine. He pulled out of the parking space and headed for the Pacific Coast Highway. He turned on the radio and allowed Mozart to lull his wife into a dreamless sleep.

             
Alec concentrated on the road and tried not to think of what possibly lay ahead. But sooner or later, that bridge would have to be crossed and he only hoped he had the strength to help Lucy through it.

Chapter Sixteen

Lucy was jolted out of a dreamless sleep by the resounding low-throated bellow of a tanker truck. She jerked awake, feeling the vibrations as it roared past them, and glanced over at her husband just to make sure he was still there. Alec was so engrossed on the sharp hairpin turns that he didn’t realize he was being watched.

             
Lucy studied him surreptitiously from beneath thick lashes. It was hard to believe that
he
was here. That he’d come to her and helped her out of the nightmare. But here he was. She studied his handsome profile. He looked so tired. There were dark circles under those splendid eyes, and there were small lines around his mouth that seemed to have been etched by grief. She longed to kiss them away.

             
She dragged her eyes from her husband and busied herself with the occasional passing car. Lucy wondered where they were going. And she wondered why the police had been so comfortable with Alec guarding her all by himself. Rudy had told her in cases like this, the police usually liked to keep a tight reign on witnesses who survived murder attempts, and especially when the assailant was
still
on the loose.

             
Lucy sighed tiredly, wincing as the low ache in her chest returned. The painkiller had worn off and she was now paying for it. She shifted in her seat, trying to find another position that would allay it temporarily.

             
Alec heard his wife and glanced over, smiling. “Hello, sleepyhead! Sleep well?”

             
She grimaced. “My chest hurts,” Lucy grumbled and shifted again.

             
He nodded and checked his watch. “Yeah, you’re overdue for your pill. Want to get something to eat so you can take it?”

             
“Please.”

             
Alec peered into the rearview mirror. “I think I saw a sign for a truck stop not too far from here. Hold on,” he instructed as he slowed the truck and steered it onto an exit ramp.

             
Lucy’s breath sucked in painfully at the sudden movement. Her ribs hadn’t quite knitted themselves back together yet and let her know it with a sharp, stabbing ache. “Slowly, Alec!” she gasped.

             
“Sorry love,” he winced and eased up on the wheel. “I’m still getting used to this thing.”

             
“It’s okay,” she said once she could breathe again. Lucy closed her eyes. “Wake me when we’re there.”

             
He nodded and with one final glance at his wife, Alec concentrated on the new route. It would shave about an hour off their arrival time, and he wanted to get her home before dark. Truth be told, he was a little hungry himself. He’d been so anxious to get Lucy out of hospital, he’d only had a cup of coffee.

             
Traffic picked up as he approached the truck stop, mostly semitrailers and tankers on their way to San Francisco. Alec pulled up close to the diner so Lucy wouldn’t have to walk far. He parked, turned off the engine, and hopped out to his wife’s side. He opened the door and was afraid she’d gone back to sleep. Alec leaned in close and nudged her gently. “We’re here, love,” he whispered, touching her cheek.

             
Lucy moaned sleepily and opened her eyes. Her husband was looking down at her with a silly smile on his face. “What are you smiling at, English?” she asked grumpily.

             
Alec didn’t care he was grinning like an idiot. He was just happy she was here with him. “You,” he said simply. “Just
you
, wife.”

             
She shook her head at him, but couldn’t help smiling and allowed him to unbuckle her seatbelt. Alec helped her down and she stood blinking in the late afternoon sun. It seemed like an eternity since she’d felt that ancient warmth on her skin. Her feet seemed a little unsteady, and she gripped her husband’s hand tight until she felt the earth settle again.