Authors: Elizabeth Moynihan
“What happened?” Sergei asked quietly.
Chloe’s casual shrug didn’t ease his mind. “I got a bump on my head and my foot’s hurting a little bit,” she mumbled quietly, suddenly finding something interesting to look at on the ground.
“We really should get you to the hospital, Miss Spenser. The doctors are waiting for you,” the paramedic encouraged.
“What’s wrong with your foot?” When she refused to either answer his question or look at him, he turned his attention to the paramedic. “What’s wrong with her foot?”
Under the close scrutiny of Sergei’s dark gaze, the paramedic shifted uneasily from foot to foot, there were rules about giving out information to anyone other than family members. Yet to see these two together, it was easy to see they were more than passing acquaintances. Clearing his throat, the paramedic asked, “Miss Spenser?” After all, if she gave him permission to answer Sergei, no rules were being broken.
Hearing the wavering tone of the paramedic’s voice, Chloe took pity on the poor man and answered Sergei’s question herself. “For heaven’s sake Sergei, you’re scaring the poor man to death with your dark looks and angry tone. Since you’re so damn curious, I’ll tell you. I kicked a door down!”
“Right!” Sergei countered, then turned his look back on the paramedic. “Now what really happened?”
“From what the police are saying, that’s what happened, Mr. Rocmanov; she was locked in a closet and had to kick her way out. If you don’t believe us, go check out what’s left of the door,” the paramedic stated, wishing he didn’t feel so damn intimidated by Sergei’s size and obvious strength. He stood their holding Chloe as if she weighed no more than a roll of wrapping paper, and, granted, she was a lightweight, but even little things got heavy after you held them for a while, let alone continuously. Even his four-month old daughter got heavy and she weighed all of fifteen pounds!
Sergei shook his head in amazement, admiration glowed in his ebony eyes as he looked at the gorgeous, but embarrassed, creature in his arms. “I’ll remember never to lock a door between us,” he said quietly, and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, resting his forehead against her own as his eyes closed and relief flooded through him again. It could so easily have turned out horribly. “So, how bad’s the foot?”
“It’s been worse,” Chloe answered quietly, sending the paramedic a silencing look when he began to answer Sergei’s question.
“Until they take x-rays, there’s no real way of telling if anything is broken. As it stands, the foot’s swollen and painful and she needs to be off it for awhile,” the paramedic suggested.
“I’ve got a competition to win tomorrow; after I do that, then I’ll stay off it,” Chloe argued.
“It’s not worth risking further injury, Chloe. There will be other competitions,” Sergei suggested.
“Not a ‘first’ one. We’ve worked so hard, Sergei. I won’t let something like a sore foot keep us from winning that medal.”
“Chloe, it’s more than simply a sore foot, it’s the same foot that had you hobbling around in a cast for eight weeks. Is it worth risking the same thing for another eight weeks, or maybe twelve or twenty weeks? Is it worth risking your career? Think Chloe. It’s a competition; not life and death,” Sergei argued urgently.
“You’re wrong, Sergei. It’s not ‘just a competition’, it is a matter of life and death, in a way. Andrew did his best to take skating away from me, knowing it meant more to me than anything, so, in essence, he tried to take away my life. You, in turn, gave it back to me and showed me that, even though skating was an important part of my life, it wasn’t the most important; you were. If this is meant to be my last skate, then so be it. But let it be my decision. Let me skate one last time with the man I love and prove to Andrew and his father that it’s not all about winning. But more about doing what you love, with the one you love, to the best of your ability and having a great time while you’re at it,” Chloe pleaded softly.
Sergei looked into her tear filled eyes, the color of the ocean at night, and saw determination and desire behind the tears. “ It’s such a risk,” he stated, shaking his head back and forth.
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
“We could lose.”
“We could win.”
“You could ruin your foot; end your career.”
“You could get hit by a bus, or mobbed by a pack of sex-starved women!”
“You’re getting off track.”
“No, actually, I’m right where I’m meant to be. Trust me, Sergei. I can’t explain why I feel this is the right thing to do, but grant me this one gift. Let me skate with you tonight, and show the world, and the Manning’s, that we’re an unbeatable team, on and off the ice.”
“I must be totally nuts!” Sergei relented with a heavy sigh. Even thinking of allowing her to take such a risk, let alone agreeing to it definitely threw him into the ‘they’ve lost their minds’ category.
“Thank you,” Chloe whispered softly, kissing him gently on the lips.
“I’m not giving you a definitive
yes
, I still want to hear what the doctors say,” Sergei argued, acknowledging the paramedic’s request they start for the hospital, and carrying her back to the ambulance.
Sergei stood outside as he watched the paramedics strap her to the gurney, according to policy, smiling as he listened to her complain about ‘stupid rules’. Glancing about him, he was amazed by the number of police officers involved in the investigation, and spotted his father talking with, one he presumed was, a plain-clothes detective. Jogging to his father’s side, he explained he was going to go to the hospital with Chloe and agreed he’d wait for his father to join him. With a final hug, he ran back to the ambulance, and crawled in to sit beside her in the brightly-lit vehicle. Chloe wiggled her left arm free of the binding straps across her chest and held her hand out to Sergei, who laced his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand reassuringly.
The ride to the hospital took less than twenty minutes, and the doctors were waiting for them when the ambulance pulled up to the emergency room doors.
“Jordan?” Hunter called quietly from the doorway of the hospital room that Dani had been checked into. “Chloe and Sergei just pulled into the ambulance bay and are going directly to the ER in case you want to go check on them.”
Jordan looked down into the dozing face of her daughter, felt anger fill her as she took in the awful bruising that stretched from her neck, up to her cheekbones, and shook her head as she tried to dispel the urge to find both Andrew and his father. “Did Dee finally manage to get Whittaker to go back to the hotel?” she asked quietly, running her hands through her hair and rolling her stiff shoulders in circles to try to loosen them up.
“Yes, it took some doing, but Dee finally convinced him to leave after we got word they’d found Chloe. He left, but under protest.”
“As long as he left; he doesn’t need the additional stress. His heart isn’t what it used to be, regardless of what he says,” Jordan mumbled, more to herself, than anyone. She cast another weary look toward Dani and frowned, tears filling her eyes and she shook her head back and forth, refusing to succumb to her desire to weep.
“I’ll stay with Dani,” Hunter offered. “You could use a break, and I’m sure you want to see Sergei and Chloe.”
“Any word from Aleksei?” Jordan asked tiredly.
“He’s about ten minutes away; he caught a ride with one of the investigating detectives. He said they’d like to go over things again, see if perhaps more details were available, and possibly take official ‘statements’ regarding the abduction.”
“Do they have to do it now?”
Hunter nodded up and down. “You know it’s better to give a statement when it’s fresh in your mind. You don’t want to give the Manning’s the opportunity to skip away free again because you forgot some pertinent fact, do you?”
“Of course not. Although, in all honesty, right this minute, personal pay-back looks very appealing to me!” Jordan stated heatedly, wanting nothing more than to feel her hands wrapped tightly around a large club and pounding the daylights out of both Manning’s for all they’d done to them.
Hunter recognized the fiery look in Jordan’s eyes and smiled as he remembered seeing the exact same look in Dani’s eyes on any number of occasions. Mother and daughter were obviously cut from the same cloth. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d probably fight you to see who got to take the first shot at them,” Hunter stated on a low growl, his eyes growing darker when he looked at Dani.
Jordan looked at Dani. “I really hate to leave her.”
“I promise I won’t be more than three feet away from her.”
“You’ll call me if anything changes?”
“Of course.”
Jordan looked up at the stark white ceiling, closed her eyes and heaved a huge sigh, her breath leaving her body in a shudder. “How did all this happen?” she asked tiredly.
“Theologically, or just this specific occurrence?” Hunter asked cynically.
“I swear, Hunter, if you tell me that ‘God never throws anything at us that we cannot handle’ and that ‘that which does not kill us makes us stronger’, I will come over there and punch you right in your too perfect nose!”
Hunter’s deep laughter rolled through the small room and he held out his hands, palms up, beseechingly. “I can assure you, I had no intent of making either statement. I was simply going to say, sometimes you run into people who have no morals, no scruples and no business living amidst the general public. Unfortunately, in my particular career, I’ve been faced with these types of people on a daily basis, and, I’m afraid, I’ve become somewhat jaded in my belief that there might actually be people who live by the old rules. That people who believe in honesty and kindness are still out there. I don’t know. All I know is that you and your family showed me that there is still a reason to believe that good can triumph over bad; that working toward something you really want is possible and that patience will bring you good things. You’ve also shown me what it means to love people unconditionally, despite their faults, their tantrums, or their idiosyncrasies. You’ve opened up a world to me I never would have believed existed unless I’d seen it with my own eyes.” Hunter’s gaze wandered over Dani as he finished his statement, a small frown appearing between his eyes as his emotions tumbled inside him.
“Was that such a terrible thing to do?” Jordan asked softly, finding comfort in the gentle way this huge man looked at her daughter, realizing she didn’t need to worry about Hunter hurting Dani, his expression showed him to be just as vulnerable.
“I had thought I had my life all planned out. I was happy with my existence the way it stood; free of messy, emotional entanglements; able to see whom I wanted when I wanted. The perfect life of a successful, single man.” Hunter replied in confusion.
“So what changed?” Jordan asked gently.
“Everything. Nothing. I don’t know,” Hunter growled in exasperation, running his long fingers through his tawny hair.
Jordan’s soft smile was filled with understanding. She knew how strong the emotions the flowed through her family ran; knew how easily they swept people up into their currents, willingly or otherwise. “It’s been a hectic night, Hunter. Give yourself a break and quit trying to figure out the
how
and
why
of everything that happened tonight. It’s been a miserable few hours, but the outcome is certainly looking better than it was an hour ago. It’s time for you to practice being patient,” Jordan offered.
“We’ll see,” Hunter suggested with a small shrug, his gaze returning to Dani, his expression softening unconsciously.
“I’ll be down in the ER,” Jordan stated, casting a final glance at Dani, who looked so small in the bed. “Thanks for sitting with her. I just didn’t want her waking up alone.”
“I understand. Tell Chloe and Sergei I’ll see them later and that I’m glad they’re okay.”
“I’ll do that. I’ll try not to be too long.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m not going anywhere,” Hunter replied firmly, sitting in the chair, next to Dani’s bed, that Jordan had been sitting in earlier.
The sound of Jordan’s heels clicking against the tile floor faded as she made her way out of the room and down the hall to the bank of elevators that would take her to the first floor, and the Emergency Room.
Hunter looked at Dani, the bruising that covered her from the middle of her neck, over her chin and nearly to her cheekbones, in varying shades of purple and blue, and felt rage wash over him followed immediately by exhaustion. Resting his elbows on the bed, he dropped his face into his hands, and sighed, a mixture of frustration, relief, anger and fear all rolled into one shuddering sound. His heart still skipped a beat every time the mental image of Dani lying unconscious on the tile floor came to his mind.
“You look like hell.” Dani’s voice was soft and sounded tired.
Hunter lowered his hands to the bed, his fingers only inches from where her left hand lay against the light blanket; his eyes found hers, dark green and cognac blending. “You sure have a strange way of stroking a man’s ego,” he muttered cynically.
“Your ego doesn’t need stroking, you’re almost impossible to live with as it is!” Dani offered saucily.
“Oh thanks,” Hunter muttered grouchily.
“No problem,” Dani countered, the small smile that automatically came to her lips causing pain to shoot through her jaw and a moan to slip out before she could stop it. Bringing her hands up to cup her face, she scowled at Hunter, simply because he was the only one around, and growled. “Christ! What did the jerk hit me with, a friggin’ club?”