She closed her eyes and rested her head against Dayan’s shoulder. “Thank you all,” she murmured, as politely as a child, her voice drowsy and weak.
Dayan glanced apprehensively at Gregori, who nodded at him in reassurance. ‘It is good if she sleeps, Dayan. I can take more time healing her, and Darius can work with the baby. She needs rest more than anything else. The repairs will not hold forever. This is temporary. I cannot give her a new heart. Help her to sleep.’
In the hospital Lisa sat with her head resting beside Cullen. She had cried until she was certain there were no more tears left. The doctors had told her Corinne was going to die. It was only a matter of time. They said they would leave the baby in her struggling body for as long as possible, but there was little hope the baby would survive once born. Then they told her they had no idea if Cullen would live or die. It was a waiting game. He was in bad shape, and the bullet had torn through lung and tissue, destroying everything in its path. They didn’t know how he was still hanging on. As if that weren’t enough, there had been a terrible commotion coming from Corinne’s room as hospital staff, security guards and finally the police milled about. Fifteen long minutes later, when Lisa expected to hear that Corinne had died, they told her Corinne was gone. Vanished into thin air.
There was no way Corinne could have walked out of the hospital, everyone agreed on that, and no one had been seen near her room. When the monitors had signaled heart failure, the nurse had rushed in, only to discover the patient was gone. Lisa was terrified the men who had tried to murder them had somehow taken Corinne.
It was her fault. She had gone to the photo shoot even though they’d all told her she was in danger. Corinne had flown across the park, tackling her, protecting her without a thought for her own weak heart and the consequences to her and the baby. They had tried to kill me! Lisa tried to digest that information. Someone really wanted her dead. They had guns, and they would have shot her if Corinne and Cullen hadn’t shown up to save her.
Lisa lifted her head to look at Cullen. He seemed so pale, and there were bandages everywhere. Lisa had lied and said she was his fiancée so she could stay with him. Once Corinne’s disappearance had been confirmed, the hospital staff left Lisa strictly alone, posting guards at the door to Cullen’s room. Obviously, no one knew what to say to her. Lisa didn’t know what to do. John and Corinne had always handled the details of their lives.
She stuffed her hand into her mouth, biting hard to keep from screaming. She was responsible for this disaster. If she had listened, Corinne and the baby would still be safe. Cullen wouldn’t be near death.
“But he will not die,” a soft feminine voice said from behind her. “Do not be alarmed – I am Syndil and this is Barack.”
Startled, Lisa spun around, nearly falling off the chair. She hadn’t heard a thing, and the security guard hadn’t escorted anyone into the room, yet two people were standing just inside the door. Her heart pounding in alarm, Lisa debated whether to scream for help. It took a moment before she recognized the names. Barack and Syndil from the Troubadour band. Dayan’s friends.
“How did you get in here?” Lisa whispered. She didn’t understand anything that was going on.
“Cullen has been our friend for a long time. He risked his life to warn us when we were in danger. We would never allow him to die,” Barack told her. He smiled gently, looking directly into her eyes. “You must be Lisa, Corinne’s sister. Dayan has told us much about you.”
Lisa burst into a storm of fresh tears. “They’ve taken Corinne.”
Syndil circled Lisa’s shoulders comfortingly. “Corinne is fine, Lisa. She was dying here. Dayan could not allow such a thing. Gregori, one of our greatest healers, has come from New Orleans to help her. We are determined that Corinne and the baby will live.” She squeezed Lisa’s shoulders gently in reassurance and then glided the short distance to Cullen’s side. At once her expression changed. “Barack, he is so pale. There is much damage.” She touched Cullen’s shoulder with gentle fingers. “It is difficult to see him this way.”