Chapter 8

Chrissy

Nearly a week had passed since Tony had brought me some things from my apartment. It’d been a brief visit. He’d caught another case and I had been disappointed. I hadn’t seen him much since, but he had called more than a few times to check and see how I was doing.

It was more than I could say for my coworkers at the firm. I hadn’t received so much as an email from any of them and when I had called to sort out how much sick leave and vacation I had accrued, to see if it would cover the long road to recovery ahead of me, it had been all business with the woman in HR.

I didn’t feel like a valued employee at all, just another number, a statistic… a nobody.

Three light raps fell on the open door to my room and I turned my head carefully. It was getting easier, the motion not pulling as badly, or sending that jolt of agony through my back and out my chest from where I’d been shot.

I was even able to somewhat hobble to the bathroom nearly on my own with the use of a cane, now. Still had to have someone spot me, but it was better than the humiliation of a Foley catheter and bedpans.

I frowned but more in curiosity at who was at my door…

“Mr. Parnell, what are you doing here?”

Damien Parnell was one of the fiercest ADA’s Indigo City’s District Attorney’s office had ever had. He had the highest conviction rates that the city had ever seen and I’d once put a dent in it, so I was surprised to see him here. I mean, he hadn’t taken the loss I’d handed him exceptionally well at the time, so…

“Thought I would come to check on you, I have to say, as far as adversaries in the courtroom go, you have to be one of my all-time favorites.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow and clasped my hands in my lap after laying my tablet on the top of my tray table. My one arm was still in a sling, and would be for a long time to come, but sometimes supporting that hand gently with the other eased some of the pain.

“I hope these aren’t totally unwelcome.” He pulled a bouquet of light pink roses out from behind his back and I smiled.

“As long as you aren’t hitting on me, I think we’ll be fine.”

“Can’t make any promises,” he said with a wink and smiled. I smiled, too and felt my body ease at his gentle teasing.

He took the vase that the bouquet from the firm had come in and stuck it under the sink’s faucet, turning the tap. The flowers the firm had sent had died in like three days, despite my day nurse’s attention and care. Poor Pasquale had tried everything to make the blossoms last, but for some reason, they just didn’t.

The roses that Damian Parnell was unwrapping seemed to be much heartier, and came with a plant food packet that he added to the water.

“They’re really beautiful, thank you.”

“No problem,” he said, pulling up a chair. “Now really, how have you been holding up?”

“I wish I could say I’ve been doing alright, but it’s hard.”

“I can’t even imagine,” he said, his shrewd, dark eyes traveling over my face.

I pressed my lips together and nodded, “Has something else come up? Has the investigation started moving again?” I asked.

He looked solemn and shook his head. “No, I wish I had something else to report on that front, but I don’t. I’ve been… in touch, with the detectives working your case, but there’s been no movement yet. Nothing new has come up. Still, I’ve taken a vested interest.”

“Why?” I asked and he gave me a crooked smile.

“Because like it or not, you’re one of the good ones Ms. Franco. You give your clients a zealous defense, but not once have I seen you play dirty or underhanded in order to secure the win. There are some of us out here who admire you for that.”

“Oh,” I murmured, taken aback. I didn’t think anyone had anything positive to say about me. Not anymore.

“That and I think it would be remiss of me not to take a vested interest in your case. Not when it’s suddenly become acceptable to shoot the lawyers when the outcome of a case is less than what was desired. It’s anathema to the entire purpose of even having a criminal justice system, don’t you think?”

I went to nod and stopped myself just in time, though the motion was growing easier. “I have to entirely agree with that point, counselor.”

He smiled and his dark eyes sparkled. “I really do wish you a speedy recovery,” he said gently and stood up.

“Thank you,” I said, trying not to choke up. It was nice that he’d stopped in, but I found myself sorry that he had to apparently go so soon.

I’d only had a scant few other times that anyone had come to visit me aside from Tony, one of them had been last week. Sami’s brother and her parents had come to see me after her funeral. Her mom and dad had apologized to me for not coming sooner and I still couldn’t get my head around that. Them. Apologizing. To me. After what I’d done… calling Sami, telling her all about it; not telling her to stay away until things had calmed down.

It was all my fault, and I’d broken down, told them as much, but they wouldn’t hear anything of it. They refused to heap anymore blame on me that I hadn’t already buried myself under. They’d told me that they had tried to come once before, right away while I’d been in ICU, but that they hadn’t been permitted to see me as they weren’t family. Tony hadn’t been family either, but he had the grace of his badge to open doors for him.

I’d told them I was so sorry that I had been the one to have lived and I had instantly felt bad at the devastation in Janine’s bright blue eyes. She had been a second mother to me for a lot of years, and when my mother and father had died, they’d instantly taken me in as one of their own.

Bob and Janine Hayworth had given me a stern lecture after that, and their son, David, Sami’s older brother had been the one to stop them. They’d promised to come back and see me and I believed them, but I also knew we all needed some more time.

“I should really get going,” Prosecutor Parnell said. “You look really tired.”

I nodded and said, “I am, a little but really, thank you for coming. It means a lot.”

He nodded, “Get well soon, I’d like to see you back in the courtroom.”

“I’ll see you there,” I said and forced a smile when I honestly just felt like crying again.

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

He winked and headed out of my hospital room door, pausing in the doorway and suddenly reaching for the handle.

I heard him ask, “And who might you be?” as he shut the door and heard a shouted, “Hey!” before something out in the hallway crashed.

The crashing sound made me jump slightly which sent pain rattling down my nerve endings. I sat frozen, heartrate elevating, breath crushed from my lungs with fear as I waited, waited, waited.

Finally, the door to my room opened and Pasquale breezed in like nothing had happened out there.

“What was that?” I asked.

“What was what?” he asked smiling.

“That crash, and who was Parnell talking to?”

“Parnell?”

“The man, the visitor who just left my room.”

Pasquale shook his head and looked at me as if confused, but I could tell he was lying. He held out a paper cup filled with my midday dose of pain pills and antibiotics and waited for me to take them. I stared at him past the cup and he sighed, shoulders dropping.

“I don’t know, and honestly, it’s nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about. That fine ass detective that keeps coming around here has had a guard on your door for a while now, all of them wearing the same motorcycle jackets he does. I don’t think they’re all cops, but I could be wrong.”

“What?” I asked, and I could feel the color drain from my face.

“Look, sunshine,” Pasquale said, and I stared up at him. “You’re fine. That man is totally sprung on you and I could really use the eye candy, like that fine specimen of a man that came in here just now, around here. So please, please don’t chase the parade of beefcake away.”

I started to shake my head, the muscle pulling, so I stopped.

“I can’t… I mean I won’t.”

Pasquale looked me over and sighed. He was the best nurse, and dare I say, had become almost a close friend over the time he’d been caring for me. He was sweet, and vibrant, and apparently a drag queen during his off hours, but all that left me, was seriously dying to see his show.

He leaned down and looked me in the eyes, “That’s a good girl. Now, I told you the truth, so you have to do a solid for me.” He presented the paper cup and smiled, taking the bite out of his next words, “Take the damn pills and relax. You’re safe here.”

I smiled and some of the tension melted away. I met his warm and caring brown eyes and smile with a slight, much more nervous smile of my own, but did as I was told. I took the damn pills.

I was worried, though… what was Tony keeping from me?