Tempest - Kris Michaels Page 0,95

the extent of your movements until I get the test results back."

Pilar nodded as the doctor hit the button to lift the bed higher. "Better?"

"Thank you, yes." She carefully pushed her hair back. "When can I go home?"

The doctor chuckled. "Let's see what the tests say. If we don't have any problems, perhaps tomorrow or the next day if you have someone to watch you."

He took her hand in his. "I'll be there. What about air travel?"

"Well, when we get to discharge instructions, we can talk about travel, but frankly, I'd prefer if she kept her feet on the ground for a while and then do some follow ups with us." The doctor gave them a salute as he exited the room.

She glanced at him and extended her hand. "Sit here with me?" He dropped the silver rail and sat next to her, holding her hand. "I remember voices. Who was here this morning?"

"Ah, I didn't mean to wake you." He rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb. "I'm not sure how to tell you this." She stiffened at his comment. He squeezed her hand. "It isn't anything bad, just hell, I don't know... awkward."

Pillar rolled her head on the pillow and stared at him. "My mother had me beaten and then tried to kill me. How much more awkward can my life get?"

He chuckled. "Well, I'd say at least a couple levels more. When you were unconscious..." He drew a deep breath and started at the beginning, explaining his coworkers' observation of her looks and then added the fact there was no proof of her birth other than a birth certificate Guardian had not been able to verify as legitimate.

"Regina told me I wasn't her daughter. Is there actually a chance I could be this woman's sister?"

"I don't know. The man who came by this morning was her husband. She's been searching for her sister for a long time, and it has taken its toll on her. He hasn't told her about this possibility. He didn't want her to go through another disappointment."

"I understand why he'd shield her."

"So do I." Luke cradled her hand and kissed the back of it.

"What's next for us?" Pilar's voice was soft, and her eyes dropped to the blanket.

"First we get you well."

She smiled. "You know what I meant."

"I do. I guess the future is up to you."

She blinked owlishly. "How so?"

"Well, we can go back to Florida so you could practice law, or we could travel, find a new place to live."

She smiled wide and sighed. "We. The word I was looking for. I'd like to work, but I don't have to live in Florida. I can study and take the bar wherever we find a place to live."

"Perfect. We'll take our time and find a place for both of us."

"Are you going to continue to work for Guardian?"

"Would it bother you?"

She blinked at him and her brow furrowed. "No. Not at all."

"But you know what I do."

"And?"

"You're okay with it?"

She closed her eyes for a moment. "If you hadn't come for me, I would have been killed by the woman who raised me. If you hadn't been involved in the events in Tahiti, more children would have been sold. I don't know what else you've done, and I don't want to know, but I want you to continue to make a difference, unless you choose not to continue. At that point, I'll make you a house husband and teach you how to cook, clean, and peel grapes for me."

He threw back his head and laughed. The pressures of the last days levitated off his shoulders. No one could make him feel this alive. No one had ever eliminated the dark isolation which had surrounded him. Pilar was his buoyancy, the force which propelled him from the darkness into the light. He leaned forward and kissed her gently. Savior, comforter, deliverer, beauty, all the words fit her, but one word now surged to the forefront of his mind. His.

Chapter 28

Pilar stretched, luxuriating in the warm water pulsing down on her shoulders and neck. The palatial hotel room Luke had moved them to when she was released from the hospital three days ago had a breathtaking view from every room. The Manhattan skyline had twinkled through floor-to-ceiling windows while they'd slept the last two nights. Slept. She rolled her shoulders slowly. She'd made it a point to specifically ask the doctor if she could have sex. The answer was yes, as long