told the sheriff there wasn’t anyone else. The perp had to be the other man in the store.” She sighed and raised a hand to her bandaged temple. “No one believes me.”
Rory sensed her frustration. Lacking evidence, since the store owner didn’t remember anything at all, the sheriff had let the other man go when he was released from the hospital with only a slight flesh wound from the shooting. Without sight, Shannon couldn’t identify the man, even if he was the guilty party.
Eyeing the thick bandages, Rory considered her future. Being blinded in the line of duty was a hell of a way to end a police career. He wondered what she would do now.
“Take me back to my room, please,” she said suddenly, standing, her hands trembling as she reached out to him.
He wondered guiltily if she had somehow read his thoughts concerning her future. He took her arm and led her back the way they had come. Her cousin Kate was waiting for them. Seeing her reminded him of another reason for his visit. He removed an ATM card from his jacket pocket and handed it to Kate, along with a pair of glasses.
“The card was on the floor. I found the glasses in her hand,” he explained.
Kate gave him a hug for saving her “second favorite” cousin. Her smile was conspiratorial.
“Hey, I thought I was the favorite and Megan was second,” Shannon protested.
The lighthearted tone surprised him. Studying the lady cop and her smile, which looked rather comical, coming as it did from a head swathed with bandages, Rory felt that odd pang in his chest again. She was scrappy, this one.
Glancing at his watch, he saw it was time for him to report back to the office. “Duty calls,” he told the women. “Good to see you again, Kate. Take care, lady cop.”
He smiled for Kate and looked Shannon over once more, finding it hard to reconcile the confident, buoyant officer who’d held the world in her hands with the woman whose hands had trembled, whose steps had been hesitant, as he led her along the corridor. She’d changed yet again when she’d realized Kate was in the room, becoming cheerful and teasing. Putting on a show for her cousin.
He mentally cursed. Life, in case anyone hadn’t noticed, could be hell.
Shannon sensed Rory’s concern and recoiled. She wouldn’t accept pity from anyone. Holding on to the smile she’d assumed for Kate, she thanked him again for the plant and for stopping by.
After he’d left, she exhaled a relieved breath. Being sociable, especially with Rory, wasn’t her thing at the moment. Besides, she must look like a leftover from a Saturday-night brawl.
The irony of being concerned about her looks struck her as she climbed into bed. As if she had nothing else to worry about except combing her hair and putting on lipstick.
After handing Kate the robe and letting the fleecy slippers fall to the floor, she stretched out on the fresh sheets. She was as tired as a pilgrim returning home from a long dangerous trip to Mecca.
“Wow,” Kate said softly, “Rory Daniels. The prize catch of the county. Lucky you.”
Shannon managed a cheeky grin. “Yeah, should make local news, don’t you think?”
“It’s already gone the rounds. I heard he was here from Betty down at the bank. He’d bought a pot of poinsettias from the flower shop. Betty’s sister, who works there, told her. I suspect she’s told the rest of the town by now.”
Shannon laughed at the absurdity of the notion. Rory had never noticed she existed. Not until he walked into a convenience store and found three bodies on the floor, hers among them, she reflected, the internal darkness drawing around her once more.
The nurse bustled in. “Mail call,” she said and laid a new stack of cards in Shannon’s lap. “Well, now, it’s nice to hear you laugh. I’ll put that on your chart. The doctor will be pleased. This morning he said you could go home if you continued to improve as you have.”
Fear tightened Shannon’s throat. “I can go home?” she said, immediately worrying about where she would go.
“To the big house,” Kate said as if reading her mind. “Megan and Grandfather are expecting you. You can stay with them until the bandages come off and you decide what you want to do next.”
A beat of silence followed this announcement.
“Until we know if I’m blind or not,” Shannon said, saying what they all were thinking, making herself face the possibility. She felt again the hot flash of pain, the absurdity of being shot by some two-bit crook in a convenience store in a scene straight out of a B movie.
“Now, now, none of that,” the nurse chided. “There’s every chance you’ll be fine. You have to have faith.”
Shannon heard the little squeaks from the woman’s shoes as she arranged a lunch tray on the rolling table. After the woman left, Kate muttered in annoyance, “And a Happy New Year to you, too.”
Shannon agreed. “I know she means well, but she is the most irritating person. But I like the mice in her pockets.”
“Oh? I didn’t notice them,” Kate remarked, amusement in her tone.
Shannon explained. She was grateful for Kate’s wry humor and the fact that her cousin let her handle her lunch without help. Not that sipping a milk shake through a straw took a lot of skill. Neither did eating the paste that was supposed to be pudding.
Kate read the messages on the get-well cards out loud.
“Can you tell me who the flowers are from?” Shannon asked. “Rory said I had a roomful.”
When Kate read Brad’s name on a card attached to a vase of pink roses, Shannon perked up.
So he was busy on a case. Or maybe he’d gone to visit his folks in St. Louis this week, although he’d indicated he wasn’t going home for the holidays this year.
Reality reared its head. Some people were repulsed by those with a disability. Or scars. That was one worry she hadn’t voiced. It seemed so vain compared to everything else, but she had no idea how the wounds would look when they healed.
She would face that when the time came, she promised. Later. When she was alone and could think…
“There, done,” Kate said, finishing the cards.
“Thanks.” Shannon hesitated, then spoke. “When the doctor came in this morning, he said I’d have to wear the bandages two weeks to give my eyes a good rest. Then…”
“Then we’ll know,” Kate said quietly.
“Yes.”
“Megan and I’ll be there for you. You know that.”
Shannon nodded, not quite able to envision the future. Fear returned.
Kate kept her entertained with tales of her newly adopted daughter Amanda, Mandy to the family, and Jeremy, Kate’s stepson, for the next two hours. When Kate mentioned Jess, her husband of three months, her tone changed, going softer, huskier.
As
