Faith pretended to obey, simply shrugging and beginning to walk away...only to quickly slip inside of a nearby nurse's lounge so she could listen in. The mere smell of cheap but freshly brewed hot coffee from a nearby drip pot seemed to wake her up a bit.
"Who are you?" she could hear Aaron demanding to the stranger.
"Someone who's gonna take real good care of you, don't worry," the voice responded, gruff but calm.
Wait, what? Without another thought, Faith took the carafe from its heating element and quietly strode back outside the lounge, almost certain she was losing her mind with what she was considering doing. Surely another staff member will come around the corner at any second, Faith thought. But what she saw upon stepping back out simultaneously horrified and assured her she wasn't overthinking anything.
Without so much as sterilizing the needle he had just taken from his pocket, the intruder appeared to stab it straight into Aaron's good arm--the arm that also happened to be connected to the IV pole. Worst of all, there didn't seem to be anyone else in sight. Meanwhile, Aaron had begun to protest. "What do you think you're--? Faith--!"
"Nothin' personal, old friend," the stranger mumbled, restraining him none-too-gently even as Aaron continued to try to break free with what little strength he seemed to have. By this point, Faith was almost sure she knew why she recognized the voice.
Faith loudly cleared her throat from behind the two men, and the second he turned his head, Faith flung all of the carafe's scalding hot contents in the face of Aaron's disguised attacker. She was in no condition to be screaming for help at the top of her lungs, but maybe the screams of agony combined with the glass pot she proceeded to shatter to the floor would suffice in drawing some attention. 10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZwFiLwNtl
Barely hearing much of anything herself over her own heart pounding in her ears, Faith made certain to avoid any broken glass pieces as she tried to push both Aaron's wheelchair and the IV pole a safe distance away, but not so far away that they wouldn't be spotted once help arrived. Once she had moved the wheelchair, she could see Aaron staring at her from the corner of her eye, and the question he asked her was only one word: "How?"10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdlSVUYYMv
But Faith only shook her head. "I don't know..."
However, Aaron soon turned his attention to the traitor writhing on the floor a few yards in front of him, his cold, calculating glare making things all the more unsettling. "Nice try, Keith," he mumbled.
Faith stooped down to pick up one of the larger glass chards from the floor, just in case the disgraced ex-officer would have time to attempt some form of retaliation before help could arrive. Fortunately however, she wouldn't have to use it, immediately dropping it back onto the floor at the first sight of a concerned janitor.
Even once the area was swarming with medical staff, Faith simply stared at the scene in front of her as though she were watching a television show. Only when she felt a large hand weakly take hold of her arm and saw Aaron's wide, frantic eyes as he gasped for breath did she snap out of it. "Help--something's wrong," Faith said weakly to the closest staff member to her, pointing to Aaron whose lips were now beginning to turn blue. "This patient, he's having trouble breathing."
Soon, nurses and doctors began gathering around Aaron, as Faith stood in the midst of the unfolding chaos and that familiar pain stormed her entire abdomen once again. Ugh. Why now, of all times?! She felt guilty, knowing she needed to be pointing out the would-be assassin who hadn't yet been apprehended, but all she could do was limp over to the nearest chair in the adjacent solarium area so she could finally get off of her feet again.
She watched, helpless and somewhat confused, as the nurses seemed to tackle Aaron to the floor. Why are they doing that to him, and not Keith? Nothing makes sense anymore, she thought listlessly, hugging her stomach.
Eventually, a nurse noticed Faith sitting in the chair. And while the man's eyes were wide and his voice was frantic, Faith didn't register any of what he said. This is so embarrassing, Faith thought as tears rolled down her cheeks. That nurse just tried to ask me something, but I can't even talk now. She wanted to try and assure him she was fine, but...was she? The more she tried to get a full breath in, the less fine she felt. "Help," was all Faith could whisper, and she would meet Aaron's eyes one last time before being placed on a stretcher and wheeled away from the area.
Even as careful as the medical team were trying to be, Faith found herself groaning from the stinging and burning that made her feel as though her body was about to rip itself in half. She found herself begin to fade out a couple of times due to the pain, but she was woken up each time. 10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50zjlr2pWB
"I need you to stay with us, okay? There'll be plenty of time to rest later, once we get you stable," the male nurse told her. 10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAucQWgc6r
If she couldn't go to sleep, then the only other thing she could do to calm herself was focus on the uniform square pattern on the hospital ceiling, which was quite possibly the only thing still and orderly that she could speak of right now in terms of her surroundings.
It took about three torturous hours of scans and tests, without any pain medication to top it all off, but eventually, she would be told the good news. "Well Ms. Salter, you can rest assured now that there was no rupture and your organs are fine," the doctor announced. "But we will have to put you on extended bed rest for three more days."
While she had been so restless earlier that same day, three days without leaving the bed sounded like heaven to Faith now.
If there was one thing Faith didn't need to worry about during her extended recovery period, it was boredom. She supposed it was inevitable that the detective would visit her yet again following the whole coffee pot incident, and Faith genuinely thought about sharing what she knew, but opted to stick to her original decision of having a lawyer first. However, her invoking the fifth hadn't stopped him from giving her a key piece of information that was soon to be rather useful to her: a material witness warrant had been issued for Aaron Galanos due to the assassination attempt that he'd survived.
If I tell Sherm and my parents about all of this now, they might not ever want me setting foot outside--or trust me with a coffee pot--ever again. She knew she would have to tell them something, though before she could think of how much she should tell them, she would receive two more visitors--visitors she would be rather surprised to see.
"How're you holding up, Faith?" Brian asked as he and Nayla entered the room, getting straight to the point.
"Oh...hey," Faith greeted them confusedly, not having heard anything from them since landing here in this hospital room. "Well, according to the doctors, I'm holding up as well as one could expect after what happened."
"A coffee pot? Seriously?" Nayla chimed in, though neither her question nor her smile came out in a scoffing way. "That was awesome." But soon, her smile faded. "I'm not sure if I could've done what you did though. Not with it being him."
Faith could only shrug awkwardly. "I'm not sure why I did it. I just...saw that something looked off, and when I turned out to be right I used what was in front of me."
"Well, regardless of the reason, we're eternally grateful," Brian said fervently, glancing at his daughter as if to say, Aren't we?
Looking away, Nayla gave a reluctant nod.
"Do you know that if you hadn't intervened, my son might've died from a heart attack?" Brian continued. "The hospital called me and told me everything. They said the perpetrator tried to inject air into his IV fluid--an air embolism, they called it. As for the money we gave you to pay him off earlier--please consider that a gift. Don't worry about paying us back now."
"He'd better remember this the rest of his sad life," Nayla retorted. "Especially after the torture he probably put her through in his warehouse. And, Faith..." Nayla paused. "I guess it's only right for you to know, I'm the biggest reason we didn't come to rescue you that day. My dad really wanted to at first, but you've gotta understand we have a strict code against negotiating with terrorists--even if they were considered family in the past. And if you never wanna see or hear from me again after today, I get it--but I at least wanted to say this much. I'm glad you're okay, and that you didn't allow him to steal your life from you."
"Well," Faith said hesitantly, trying to process all of what Nayla was telling her, "to be honest, it's hard for me to be upset with either of you given that I don't even remember what happened. But either way, it was my choice to involve myself in closing down Happy Scoops. I knew there would be a risk. Sherm told me you all were focused on protecting my parents, so that in itself means a lot." Suddenly, she held up her index finger, twisting around as quickly as she dared to grab her notebook. "Nayla--I know that was a lot that you said just now, but could you please repeat it? I need to write this all down."
"Why? For the police, or...?"
"For me. And for my lawyer." Faith lowered her voice, figuring that if Sherm trusted these people, then she could too. "The truth is, I didn't remember anything after leaving my house. I suddenly woke up in an ambulance with Sherm and a paramedic, and I must have told him what was medically wrong with me before I blacked out, because my injuries and test results matched up with everything Sherm described to me. Then later I got told that my car had bullet holes and was found abandoned a few blocks from my house. And now I have this notebook, for just in case any flashbacks happen, or if someone has any new details for me about what happened."
Carefully, Nayla and Brian recounted their side of the recent events surrounding Happy Scoops' closing and her kidnapping, along with that of Chance and Rowan. And while the details were stark and disturbing, hearing such things about the person she had sat in a solarium with just yesterday, she couldn't say they were all that surprising.
"Thank you, for telling me all of this," Faith said solemnly. "Sherm had already told me his side, but now after hearing similar details from two other people...well, I guess it all but confirms it."
"If it makes you feel any better, the police are gonna be waiting to arrest him the minute he's discharged from this hospital," Brian said. "In the meantime, just be careful, and don't wander too far from your room once you start stirring around again."
"And whatever you do, don't tell him what you just told us," Nayla warned.
"I won't," Faith assured them.
As it would turn out, they had not only come bearing valuable information, but even a care package for her which she hadn't even noticed until Brian sat the basket on her nightstand. "Oh--thank you," Faith said sincerely as she took out some scented hand lotion, a heated blanket, a crossword puzzle book, noise-cancelling headphones and even a greeting card with a personalized thank-you message from Brian: "Faith, you have helped us tremendously in the past week. My son is not only alive now, but has an opportunity to live a life outside of crime. This is an exciting new chapter for all of us, and we hope we can be of assistance if you should ever need it."
Once she was finished reading the note, Faith held it to her chest and continued, "I'm sure this will all help me a lot, though you didn't have to do this. I'm really just glad you protected my parents--and Sherm, at least long enough so he could get to me."
"We tried to keep Sherm inside, but that was a lot easier said than done," Nayla said with an eye-roll.
"But I might be dead if he hadn't, from the sound of it," Faith reminded her.
"Well, like I mentioned in your card, if you ever need anything once you're out of the hospital," Brian gestured at the cell phone in the case attached to his jeans pocket, "call us. We'll have a lot more freedom of movement going forward, now that Happy Scoops is out of the picture."
"Or she might not need us, if there's a coffee pot around," Nayla said with a half-hearted smile.
"We'll see," Faith said. "I do feel you should know something, though--a detective came to my room right after the incident--Detective Reeves was his name, I think. He told me his would-be killer is still at large, and that the police will be waiting for Aaron as soon as he steps outside tomorrow morning."
As Faith expected, Nayla looked as though she was suppressing a satisfied smile. Meanwhile, Brian shook his head with disappointment. "Well, I figured as much. If nothing else, he'll be safer in there than out here for now."
Having somewhat satisfied her parents with an extremely watered-down version of the reinjury incident on day four and the visitors having dwindled once again by day five, Faith had mostly resorted to the puzzle book Brian and Nayla had given her, or re-reading the card Brian had written. Though perhaps her favorite thing from the care package she'd received was her noise-cancelling headphones for when she slept at night, to cancel out any beeping from the halls outside.
Upon hearing a rhythmic knocking at the door of her hospital room the night before her discharge, Faith was confused at first. It's not time for my nurse to check on me again already, is it? Maybe I've just lost track of time. "Come in."
"Thanks, sweetheart."
Immediately realizing this was not her nurse, she glanced around subtly for the call button. "How did you find me?" she asked warily.
Now standing upright on his own, clad in a hoodie and drawstring pants, and holding a bouquet of assorted white flowers, Aaron explained, "Well, I got bored and found these in the gift shop downstairs today, and thought they might help brighten up the place in here. Obviously I didn't know where your room was, but when I explained to this really kind nurse down the hall that I just had to take these to you personally after what you did for me, she was more than happy to bend a few rules." He glanced over at her nightstand. "Can I?"
"Of course, as long as you behave yourself," Faith replied, pointedly holding up the call button with her thumb resting on it just lightly enough so that it wouldn't engage. "Now be honest, Aaron--did you steal those?"
Aaron tilted his head, eyebrows raised as he sat the flowers on the nightstand. "Seriously? We've both survived life-threatening injuries this week--twice--and you're over here worried about whether I paid for a few flowers? Oh--and I hope you don't mind all-white--I remembered you don't like a lot of bright colors."
Maybe it's best I don't know, Faith thought with resignation.
"I see you've had plenty of visitors," he mused upon noticing Faith's other gifts, including the thank-you card sitting upright, some of the wording visible from the inside.
Faith shrugged innocently. "They're just some things my parents left." Ugh, great. I should've hidden that. Aaron started to pick the card up to read it, but Faith held the button up once more. "Are you seriously going to make me push this?"
Aaron made a tsking noise. "Put that thing down, Faith. I just wanna read it. It's just something from your parents, right? I was an orphan myself, so I thought I could just live vicariously through you for a minute."
Faith sighed, rolling her eyes. You know what? Let him read it. He has no associates left, he's still recovering from head trauma, and the police will be waiting for him the minute he steps out of this hospital tomorrow. Just humor him on his last day of freedom.
Clearing his throat, he proceeded to read aloud, "'Faith, you have helped us tremendously in the past week. My son is not only alive now, but has an opportunity to live a life outside of crime. This is an exciting new chapter for all of us, and we hope we can be of assistance if you should ever need it.'" Tossing the card back onto the nightstand, he let out a chuckle. "Ya' know Faith, you're really funny, for someone that never smiles. Since when did this guy become your dad?"
"Fine. You want to know the truth? He's the reason I managed to pay you back so quickly. And apparently the hospital called him and said I was the one who saved your life, so he and his daughter came by and surprised me with a few things. That's really it."
"Well, they must've got lost tryin' to find my room, 'cause I didn't know they even came here 'til now."
"Oh... Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Faith said, feeling some sympathy for him. "Anyway, um, thanks for the flowers. I'll be sure to find some water for them, assuming they aren't poisoned with anything."
"Relax. Why would I wanna poison the girl that saved my life?" Blinking rapidly, he suddenly grabbed hold of the nightstand, appearing to narrowly avoid losing his balance. "Ugh. My balance still ain't the best sometimes. You don't mind if I sit down a minute, right?"
"There's a chair over there against the wall you can use. And by the way--be glad you were right about the color preference. Other people might perceive an all-white flower arrangement to be a threat."
"Yeah, well, we both know you're not most people." Shuffling across the room and lowering himself into the chair, he closed his eyes with relief while Faith just sat on her bed awkwardly, her knees pulled to her chest. Well, he'll have to leave eventually, once it's time for the obligatory vitals check again. I just wonder how he's going to keep himself alive once he's arrested...
Upon opening his eyes, he seemed to be focused straight in front of him where the thank-you card laid. "Faith, there's some things you're not tellin' me. Things like, why are you here, at the exact same time as me, also with a serious injury, right after my business gets closed down? Why do you still act so nervous around me like you've got somethin' to hide?"
"Maybe for the simple fact it was traumatic and I have no interest in talking about it," Faith asserted. "Not everything is about you."
Aaron shrugged. "Maybe not, but I'm gonna find out what happened eventually. When I saw what you did that night Keith almost killed me, the way everything just came so natural to you...I knew it could mean one of two things--either you've just got good reflexes and you wanted to help an old acquaintance out, or you've done this kinda thing before, and you're capable of a lot more damage. But hey--if you don't wanna talk about it, I get it. All I'm sayin' is, you're a nice girl--when you wanna be--and once I do get my answers, it'd really hurt my feelings if any of 'em turn out to be you."
Determined not to let him see her afraid, she simply retorted, "Listen, if I was really your enemy, I would've had you kicked out of this room a long time ago."
Shifting in his seat, Aaron admitted, "You've been the closest thing to an ally out of anybody in this place--I don't deny that. And believe it or not, I didn't just show up here to shake you down for information. I uh, wanted to ask you something--about tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Faith echoed, staring at him steadily.
Aaron no longer met her eyes. "Normally I'm not a sentimental kind of guy, but given what we've just survived together this week, I was wondering if you'd be willing to walk with me out of the hospital, when they discharge us both."
We're being discharged on the same day? Faith thought, taken aback by this sudden request. "Let me guess--you managed to get my discharge date out of that same 'kind nurse down the hall'?'"
"Something like that. So, how about it? Don't you wanna make sure I don't lose my balance from a vertigo spell on the way to my cab tomorrow?"
Remembering that a vengeful ex-cop was still on the loose, Faith eventually pieced together what he was really asking her to do for him. Her first thought was to say no, but then her mind went back yet again to what happened the last time she left Aaron alone. I have to make sure he gets somewhere safe--even if it means he finds out the truth about me.
ns216.73.216.133da2
and then Add to home screen.