When Day Breaks (KGI #9)(92)

An hour later, a physician bustled in wearing street clothes. He went immediately to Eden’s bedside and removed the loose dressings on her face. He studied extensively, muttering to himself as he completed his examination.

Swanny was fidgeting with impatience, waiting for the surgeon to tell him anything. More importantly, if the damage could be undone.

Finally he turned to face Edge and Swanny. To Swanny’s relief he spoke flawless English.

“We are fortunate in that the cuts to Miss Sinclair’s face aren’t deep. I don’t believe there will be any tissue damage. The cuts are very precise, not jagged. It’s my opinion a scalpel was used to inflict the cuts, which certainly makes my job easier.”

“Thank God,” Swanny whispered.

“They’ll prep her for surgery and I’ll go get scrubbed down and change and be waiting in surgery for her to arrive. Expect them to move her within the hour, and of course we’ll keep her comfortable throughout the entire process.”

Swanny extended a shaking hand to the doctor. “I appreciate this. Thank you for coming so soon. This means the world to me.”

“It’s no problem. I’m well aware of who Miss Sinclair is and she’s graced the covers of so many magazines. I will make it my utmost priority—and pleasure—to ensure that no permanent scarring remains. I’m very good at what I do,” the doctor said in a serious tone. “I have no reason to believe that the surgery won’t be one hundred percent successful. She’ll need time to recover, of course. She won’t be back to work immediately, and she’ll likely need additional procedures. It won’t happen overnight, but in my professional opinion the damage can be corrected.”

“She won’t be lifting a finger,” Swanny said gruffly. “And she won’t be facing those additional procedures alone. I’ll ensure she has everything she could possibly need or want at her disposal.”

The surgeon hurried out and in a matter of moments the nursing staff came back in and began the task of prepping her for surgery. After a few minutes, one of the nurses turned regretfully to Edge, though she included Swanny in her gaze.

“We’ll take her to the OR to finish prepping her. We have to make sure we’re in a sterile environment. I know it’s hard not to be able to see her or be with her, but I promise she’s in the best of hands. If you’ll wait in the surgery waiting room on the second floor, we’ll update you periodically, and then when she’s brought to recovery you’ll be able to see her.”

Swanny let out a strangled breath, fear and relief swamping him. What if the surgery wasn’t a success? Eden wasn’t a vain woman in the least. But there was no way in hell he wanted her to suffer as he had done with his facial scarring. Her face and body were her career, and he had no desire for her to be forced to retire early. He wanted her to have choices, even if those choices forced her in a different direction than him.

“Come on, man,” Edge said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go find the others and hit the waiting room. If I had to guess, Eddie and her brothers are already in the air flying over. They’re going to want to know everything.”

Swanny nodded and reluctantly allowed himself to be led from Eden’s room. They went into the emergency department waiting room where the others were sitting. Hancock surged to his feet, worry etched into every groove on his face.

Before anyone could ask, Swanny quickly relayed the situation to them all. Hancock swore and pounded his fist on one of the chairs in front of him.

“This is my fault,” he said furiously. “I took out the wrong person.”

“None of us were looking for the sister,” Joe said quietly. “We’d been told both mother and daughter had perished in the mission Eddie headed that went all to hell. It only made sense to focus on the brother after the threat Eddie received. We all carry part of the blame for not finding this out until it was too late. We accepted Eddie’s word since it had happened years ago, and we should have thoroughly researched the entire situation and broadened our scope beyond the son.”

But no matter who was taking the blame, Swanny knew in his heart that he and only he was responsible for Eden’s kidnapping and subsequent torture. He never should have left her. He should have insisted on being with her the entire time. The kidnapper posing as the maid would have never made it through the door of Eden’s suite if Swanny had been there.

It was a regret he’d live with for the rest of his life.

CHAPTER 37

THE hours stretched, seemingly days. Each minute ticked by with agonizing slowness. Swanny was unable to sit. He paced the small confines of the surgery waiting room while Hancock and the rest of his team sat on the sofas and chairs, their expressions somber.

They didn’t even try to force Swanny to keep his cool or sit down and try to relax. They all knew how he felt about her. They also knew, despite the fact that he hadn’t verbalized it, that he held himself responsible for Eden’s kidnapping and torture.

At one point, as if no longer able to contain herself, Skylar rose and went over to Swanny. To his surprise, she hugged him fiercely, and he had to lean his head down toward her much shorter frame to hear what she whispered.

“Try not to worry so much, Swanny. I know you love her, but Eden is strong. She’ll recover from this. You’ve seen the worst in so many situations, but you’ve also seen the close calls with the other wives. KGI hasn’t failed in a mission yet, and we damn sure don’t intend to fail now. We’ve eliminated the threat for real this time. All Eden has to focus on is recovering and getting well, and I know you’ll see that that happens.”