You’ve got to give yourself time to heal. I tried to wake you up to feed you, but you told me to get lost.”
“I did?”
“Yep. The fact that you slept this long should be a signal for you.”
She touched her still bandaged arm. “This was barely a graze.” Her fingers moved to her side. “And the other . . . well, I can heal later. Now, please, what did you learn about Brianne?” The two men exchanged a glance and she held up a finger. “Oh no, no, no. You don’t get to do that.”
“What?” Gavin asked, innocence radiating from him.
“That,” she said flatly. “No looking at each other and communicating in your silent bro-language.”
Caden snorted and Gavin cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, what kind of language?” Caden asked.
“You know what I mean. Spill it.”
His amusement faded. “All right. I finally went to the top link of the chain at the hospital and was told there wasn’t anyone by that name on the floor, and the room had been unoccupied for the duration of your stay.”
Sarah blinked. Then blinked again. “Uh . . . what? You’re kidding me.”
“I wouldn’t,” Caden said. “Not about this.”
“It’s simply not true,” Sarah said. “Why would they lie about it?”
“I also talked to Dr. Kilgore, and he said he didn’t have any patients by the name Brianne during that time period.”
Disbelief held her stunned. “He’s totally lying. They’re all lying.” She needed to write down the conversation she’d heard between the two men before she forgot it. There was something about it that made her skin crawl.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.” She stood, feeling more steady on her feet than she had since the shooting. Finally. Maybe she’d needed that extra sleep, but she’d bite her tongue off before admitting it in front of these two.
Gavin handed her a bagel slathered with strawberry cream cheese, and she took a bite.
“Thank you,” she said around the food.
“Welcome.”
She swallowed. “Did Dr. Kilgore treat Dustin too?”
“No, why?”
“Just wondering. What was Dustin’s doctor’s name?”
“Melissa McCandless. She’s a psychiatrist, not a doc who treats wounds like you had.”
“Right. Of course. That was a stupid question.” She stood and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Caden asked.
“To change clothes.” She left them sitting in the kitchen and marched—okay, more like walked carefully—to Caden’s guest room. After her lovely, refreshing shower, she’d dressed in a clean pair of yoga pants and one of Caden’s T-shirts. Now, she chose a loose-fitting pair of navy-blue pants with an elastic waist and a white-and-navy-striped T-shirt.
After her stay at the hospital in Kabul, her things had been delivered to her father. Caden had picked them up the day of her release and brought her—and her luggage—to his house.
While she was grateful for his care and devotion, she missed her small one-bedroom apartment. Somewhat. Her father had nearly stroked out when she moved into the building located in one of the sketchiest neighborhoods in the city. She could tell he’d actually come close to losing that vise grip he held on his legendary control when he showed up on her doorstep demanding she move home. She’d simply shut the door in his face.
The memory made her smile.
Then she frowned as guilt pierced her. She shouldn’t press his buttons so gleefully, but . . . she did. Getting a rise out of him had become second nature to her in high school.
She pressed her fingers to her eyes. She’d thought she was past that stage in her life, that she’d moved on and put all that rebellion behind her.
I have. I don’t live there because it bugs him. That’s just an added bonus.
She had several reasons for choosing to live in that cramped, crime-infested building. The fact was, she liked her apartment and knew he’d never understand her reasons for wanting to live there. So, she didn’t bother to explain them.
Shoving aside thoughts of her father, she brushed her hair and tried to think of a reason the hospital would deny Brianne had been in the room next to hers. She could understand them saying they couldn’t release medical information, but to deny her very existence? That was just weird.
Once she decided she looked presentable, Sarah made her way to Caden’s office and lifted his spare truck keys from the top right-hand drawer of his desk.
“Going somewhere?”
Sarah’s heart jolted and her head jerked up. Gavin leaned against the doorjamb, lips quirked into that lopsided smile she found herself liking way too much. “Yes. Why?”