Tempest - Kris Michaels Page 0,92

had probably seen it all.

"Well, the meeting didn't last long, but it was good news. Are you ready to hear what happens to your sparkly vampire? We only got to chapter three." He sniggered at the novel Moriah had found in the gift shop downstairs. "Do you like these types of books? My friend said the saleslady downstairs told her women were swooning about this story. It's a prequel and there are three or four more in this series in the hospital bookshop."

Moriah had held the paperback toward him with two fingers and an outstretched arm like it was infected with the plague and had added quite a few F-bombs which he deleted from the conversation he relayed to Pilar.

"You know, I'd rather read surfing magazines, but I don't know if you surf. Do you? Living in Florida, you had to have tried it, right? If not, I'll teach you. There's nothing like it." He opened the book and glanced at her unmoving form. He snaked his hand under hers and let her fingers rest above his. He stared at her smaller hand, so fragile in his larger palm. "You're going to get better. You've got to... you see, you were the reason I held on. Let me be your anchor now. Wake up for me. Come back to me. Please." He drew a shaking breath and opened the damn book and began to read aloud.

Waking up wasn't an instant process. More like pulling herself from a vat of cotton batting. A few seconds of sounds, voices... and then the pull of the softness would wrap around her and tug her back into the silence. She heard him, though. Luke. His voice. He was there. Every time she bobbed to the top of the softness he'd be there. His calm, unhurried voice a reassurance. When she finally opened her eyes, the lights above her were off. She blinked and turned her head.

"Hello. I'm so glad you decided to wake up."

Pilar blinked her eyes several times and frowned. A nurse wearing blue scrubs with white and black kittens smiled at her. A hospital?

She turned, taking in the room. There, lying half on the bed beside her, was Luke. He sat on a chair but rested his head and arms on the side of the hospital bed. The warmth of his skin against hers drew her eyes to the hand which held hers.

The woman whispered, "He hasn't left your side, even though the doctors told him he should get some decent rest. This is the first time he hasn't jumped to his feet as soon as I came in the room. Would you like some water?" Pilar rolled her eyes and nodded. "Thought so. Here." She held a cup with a straw in front of her. The ice-cold water filtered across the parched dryness of her mouth and throat like a rare shower drenches the desert. She emptied the cup.

"Thank you." Her words were a mere croak.

"You're welcome. Do you want me to wake him?" She nodded across the bed toward Luke.

Pilar cupped her hand around his and shook her head. She closed her eyes and opened them immediately, suddenly terrified of not waking up again.

The nurse smiled at her. "It's okay, honey. You rest. Everything is going to be all right." Her eyes filled with tears as the horror of those last few hours found a home in her consciousness. The words her mother... Regina... She wasn't Regina's child. Who was she then? Where was she from? Did she have a family? Parents? Did it even matter? She turned her head toward Luke and squeezed his hand gently, ensuring the connection was there.

He bolted upright, putting himself between her and the door. The nurse chuckled. "That's what I was expecting earlier."

Luke still held her hand, but he swung his attention to the nurse. "Damn. Sorry, I must have fallen asleep––" She squeezed his hand again. He jerked and was next to her in a blink of an eye. "Oh God, Pilar!" He leaned over her and touched her face gently. "Baby, I was so fucking scared."

"You? Never." She smiled, but tears still streamed down her cheeks.

"Are you in pain?" He glanced at the nurse who scurried back toward the bed.

"No. Well, yes, but it isn't bad." She licked her lips and tried to wet the parched skin.

"Why are you crying? Do you want some water?" Almost frantic, he whipped around to the nurse. "Can she have water?"

"She's already had some. Why