Hard Line - Pamela Clare Page 0,83
“It’s not like most bad dreams, where you wake up and then go back to sleep. They come again and again.”
“Have you talked to Decker or Kristi? That’s post-traumatic stress.”
She shook her head. “It seems stupid.”
“It’s not stupid. It’s real.” He seemed to study her. “Can you tell me about it?”
“Do you think that will help?”
“It can’t hurt. You need to talk to someone.”
Samantha drew a breath, steeled herself. “In one of the dreams, I’m trapped beneath the station alone and my body starts turning into ice. I try to get away, but the ice creeps up from my fingers until my entire body is encased like a piece of fruit stuck in an ice cube. I can’t run. I can’t scream. I just lie there, terrified and trapped in the ice, until I wake up.”
He took her hand, held it fast. “That’s not far off from what almost happened. I’m so sorry, Samantha.”
“The other dream is worse.”
He didn’t push her, but waited.
“You and I are in the ice tunnels running from Steve, who has a knife stuck in his abdomen. He should be dead, but he’s not. He chases us and then shoots you. You fall to the ice, and your blood spreads around you.” Tears filled her eyes, her throat going tight, the horror of the dream only too real. “I try to gather it up so I can put it back inside you. I claw at the ice, trying to get it all, but… Then I wake up feeling sick.”
“Hey, come here.” He drew her against his chest with his good arm, kissed her hair. “I’m safe. We’re both safe.”
“I know they’re just dreams, but when I wake up, I’m so afraid. I don’t want to go to sleep, Thor. I don’t want to be alone. I don’t want to close my eyes. I’d rather try to sleep in this chair tonight than go back to my room alone.”
Thor released her, scooted to his left, and patted the mattress. “Climb in. We slept in your tiny bed. We can make this work.”
“I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Just don’t punch my shoulder.”
Samantha kicked off her shoes, climbed in beside him, drew the blankets up over the two of them to her chin. “God, you’re warm.”
“Good.” He pulled up the safety rail behind her and turned off his overhead light.
She curled up against him, her head pillowed on his uninjured shoulder. “I wouldn’t blame you if you regret it.”
“Regret what?”
“Coming after me. It almost got you killed.”
“The only thing I regret is that I wasn’t the one to kill that fucker.” He kissed the top of her head. “Sleep, angel.”
Samantha inhaled his scent, closed her eyes, feeling safe in his arms. Before she knew it, she was sound asleep.
“It’s good to see you alive.” Tower looked out at Thor from his computer screen. “Jones and Segal have kept me up to date on your recovery. How do you feel?”
“It’s good to be up and around again.” He hadn’t yet regained his full strength, and his shoulder hurt, especially if he didn’t wear the damned sling. But he kept this to himself. “I’m grateful for the care I received here.”
“I hear they’re treating you like a hero.”
This was, unfortunately, true. Since his discharge this afternoon, everyone he’d passed in the hallway had thanked him.
“Their attitude toward us has definitely improved, sir.”
“Glad to hear it.” And the small talk was over. “I’ve already gotten a full report from Jones and Segal, but there are questions they can’t answer.”
Thor recounted what had happened, ending with losing consciousness moments after Jones and Segal had arrived on scene. He was careful to refer to Samantha as Dr. Park. “I woke up the next morning after surgery. By that time, Jones and Segal had secured the package, and the Russians were gone.”
Tower asked him questions, breaking it down—standard for a debriefing.
Had he thought about asking Jones and Segal to come with him to Delaney’s office? What had he been wearing when Delaney forced him to go outside? How far was it from the station to Summer Camp? How had he been able to tell from the webcam image that Dr. Park was even still alive?
“I couldn’t.” It was the truth. “She might have been dead already, but I had to act on the hope that she was alive and that I could save her. I didn’t know for certain she was alive until I got her to Summer Camp and checked her pulse.”
Tower rubbed his