Her Loyal Seal(15)
“How long,” Lydia started to cough.
“Sweetheart, you need to stop talking. You need your rest.”
“Mama,” Lydia said between bouts of coughing.
The door to her room opened. A woman came in, and it took Lydia a moment to recognize Dr. Woods. God she hated this, even her memory was hazy when she got so sick.
“How are you doing, Lydia?”
“I–” Lydia started to cough. The doctor came over and put the stethoscope to her chest and listened.
“You’re breathing is better than it was yesterday.”
“How long will I need to be here?” Lydia pressed her hand against her chest, trying to stop the wheezing.
“You were here two weeks last time and you still ended up back here. I think it’s safe to say you’ll have to be here longer this time.”
“How much longer?”
“We’ll have to wait and see. Lydia, you’ve already been here for five days,” Dr. Woods said as she took her pulse. “We’re putting you on even stronger medications this time. We’ll monitor you closely.”
Lydia fought back tears. For a moment she wondered why she was crying, then she remembered it was just another side effect of her illness. She saw her mother and doctor looking at her with sympathy. She hated it. She hated everything. She clenched her fists.
“You will get better,” Dr. Woods assured her.
“Until the next time I end up here, right? Isn’t my immune system pretty much shot?”
“Why would you think that?”
“I just assumed that since I’m here for a third time I must just be prone to this now.” She wiped the tears from her face, causing her arm to ache.
“Lydia, it’s amazing you made it out of the jungle alive. I don’t know if you remember, but I was one of the doctors that treated you. The injuries you received from the whipping and the infection because it was unlike anything we’d seen here in Dallas. Your recovery was nothing short of a miracle.”
Everything Dr. Woods described was a blur. The only thing Lydia remembered during that time was Clint. She remembered the fierce look in his eyes when he demanded she stay alive. His hazel eyes were burned into her memory, along with a voice that sounded like a truck driving on a gravel road. It would rumble and growl and somehow make her feel protected and safe. And now she would never see him again, at least she prayed she wouldn’t, because it would hurt too much. She started to cry in earnest.
“Lydia, my God, what’s wrong sweetheart?” Her mother looked frantic.
“I’m going to get you something to rest.”
“No! I only just woke up.” But then the idea of oblivion began to sound good.
“Actually this is the third time you’ve woken up, you’re just disoriented. You’ve been restless and in pain. You need real rest this time. Your body needs sleep, Lydia.” The doctor pressed the call button and a nurse let herself into the room. She looked at the doctor who nodded, and the nurse injected something into Lydia’s IV.
“You’ll sleep through the night, and then we can discuss your recovery in the morning.”
****
Clint slammed the door on his rental car and made a run for the hospital entrance. The rain was really coming down, making him grimace. He used to like the rain but not anymore. It reminded him too much of the torrential downpour he had carried Lydia through in the Mexican jungle. God he still had nightmares of her groans and whimpers, and then there was that moment when he thought she was dead. Even now the thought could damn near take him to his knees.
He spotted Beth Hidalgo as soon as he entered the lobby of the hospital. She was as lovely as her sister, with waves of dark hair and big black eyes. He grabbed her up into a hug, and she went stiff as a board.
“Ah Beth, I’m sorry, I forgot.”
“It’s alright, Clint. You’d think I’d be over it by now.” Clint released her slowly, and kissed the top of her head. Those fucking animals. He and his team should have killed them more slowly.
“It takes time,” he assured her. He watched as her chin trembled and she forced herself to hold his gaze.
“But nothing really happened. Lydia sacrificed herself for me, and then…and then.” Tears filled her eyes.
“Are you still seeing a counselor?” Beth frowned.
“Yes.” She gave him a clipped answer and then turned away from him. “Let’s go upstairs. Mama and Papa just left.” Clint followed the young woman into the elevator. He called and told her he was coming. He was going to need some backup this time.
He nodded to the man who had been leaning unobtrusively against a wall, watching the two of them. He recognized him from his previous visit. He was the US Marshall who shadowed Beth.