Long Road Home(63)

He must have sensed her fear. “I’m right here, Jules. I’m not going anywhere.”

She relaxed and floated off, allowing herself to drift painlessly into oblivion.

Manuel stepped off the elevator, his hands clenched at his sides. He looked down the long hallway, his gaze flitting over the two agents posted outside the senator’s hospital room.

With no hesitation, he strode forward until he was a few feet from the doorway. The agents came to attention.

“Sorry, Ramirez, we can’t let you in there. You know that.”

Manuel eyed the agent, saw the regret in his eyes. “I just want to have a word with the senator.”

The agent stared at him for a long moment then stepped aside. “He better not have a mark on him when you’re done. I’ll give you five minutes. Then you’re out of here.”

Manuel nodded and shoved through the door. The senator lay propped up in his bed, a bandage around his right shoulder. He looked up warily when Manuel closed the door behind him.

Manuel didn’t say anything. He pinned the senator with his stare until the older man shifted uncomfortably in the bed.

“What do you want?” he demanded.

“You better hope they lock you up in the deepest, darkest hole they can find,” Manuel said, his voice deadly quiet. “Because if you ever see the light of day again, I’ll hunt you down like the animal you are.”

The senator paled then began to bluster. “You can’t threaten me! I’m a United States senator.”

“You’ll be a dead U.S. senator if I ever find you,” Manuel vowed. “I know what you did to Jules, and so help me if there weren’t two federal agents standing outside your door, I’d kill you with my bare hands, right here, right now.”

The senator’s eyes shone with fear. “Get out,” he said hoarsely. He yanked a finger toward the door. “Get out!”

“Rot in hell.” Manuel turned and walked out the door, banging it behind him.

He strode back to the elevator, rode it to Jules’s floor and settled into the chair beside her bed. He wasn’t moving until she woke up.

For three days after Jules first regained consciousness, Manuel watched her drift in and out. Each time she stayed awake a little longer, but she hadn’t spoken. She was in a lot of pain, and the medical personnel kept her heavily medicated. Manuel didn’t leave her side. The hospital staff had long since stopped trying to make him leave.

On the fourth day, he’d fallen asleep in his chair when he heard the sweetest sound from Jules’s bed. She spoke.

“Manny?”

It was the faintest whisper, shaky, a thread of pain woven in, but she said his name.

He jumped forward, scrambling out of his chair.

“I’m here.”

“Can I have something to drink?” she rasped.

“I’ll ask the nurse,” he said as he pushed the call button.

A few seconds later, a nurse bustled in.

“So our patient’s awake and talking? That’s terrific.”

“She wants something to drink,” Manuel said.

The nurse poked and prodded for a few moments, listened to Jules’s heartbeat and checked her bandages. “No reason she can’t have a few sips of water. I’ll notify the doctor of her condition.”

As the nurse left the room, Manuel poured water into a cup then walked to Jules’s bedside and put an arm behind her head. Gently, he eased her forward and put the drink to her lips.

She swallowed the liquid then slumped back in the bed. He set the cup by the sink and turned his attention back to her.

“How are you feeling?”

She turned blue eyes full of emotion on him. “I’m sorry, Manny. I know you hate me.”

He felt like someone punched him in the stomach. “No, baby. No, I don’t hate you.”

He cupped her face in his palm, ran his fingers over her jaw.

“I lied to you,” she whispered. “How can you not hate me, when I hate myself?”

A knot swelled in his throat. “I know everything, Jules. I know what the NFR is, what Northstar and the senator did to you. I know they used me to control you for the last three years, and I know you did what you did to protect me.”

A tear trickled down her cheek. “The senator? Is he dead?”

“No, baby. He’s not. But Northstar is.”

She gasped in surprise. “Northstar’s dead? But how? I mean, how do you know who he is?”

“He was my superior.”

She grimaced but didn’t look surprised by his announcement.

“I’ll explain everything when you’re feeling better. The important thing is that you’re safe, Jules. No one can hurt you now. It’s over.”

She stared at him, suspicion clouding her expression. “Over?”

He nodded. “The senator was arrested. There’s enough evidence to put him behind bars for the rest of his life.”

More tears spilled down her cheeks. He smudged them with his thumb, caressed her face with his hand.

“I love you, Jules. I’m never letting you go again. We’re free to have a life together. We can start over.”

Jules drew in her breath and hiccupped as it caught in her throat. Manny didn’t hate her. He wanted to be with her after all she’d done. It was more than she could have ever hoped for.