Last Night (38 page)

*
*
*

"
I
t
'
s my fault,
"
Rob explained to Vanessa and Garth as they waited at the hospital. Dana had been in surgery for over an hour. "I should have been with Dana, then Gwen wouldn
'
t have taken her by surprise.
"

"Gwen would have found another way,
"
Garth assured him.

"She
'
s a psychopath,
"
Vanessa added.

Rob paced the hall, trying to pass the time. Then he sat in stoic silence and watched the second hand on the waiting-room clock. Nothing helped. The next hour crawled by even slower than the first. When the doctor finally came in to speak with them, Zach was sleeping on a sofa with Jason curled up beside him, his head in Zach
'
s lap.

"She's lost a lot of blood, but she
'
s going to be fine,
"
Dr. Scott said.

"Thank God,
"
Rob cried.

"May we see her?
"
Vanessa asked.

"She won
'
t know you
'
re there. She
'
s sedated.
"

It didn
'
t matter; the three of them wanted to see Dana, to see for themselves that she
'
d survived. There wasn
'
t much to see. A small form lying helpless, linked to a bank of monitors by a jungle of wires and tubes. Her face was leached of color, appearing even paler with her blonde hair. Her lips— how many times had he kissed them?—were slightly blue. She didn
'
t look as if she had the strength to make it another minute, let alone through the long night.

"I
'
m staying with her,
"
Rob announced. He had to be by her side—this time.

Vanessa started to protest, but Garth touched her arm. "Let
'
s take Zach home with us,
"
he said. "We
'
ll be back first thing in the morning.
"

Rob awakened his son while Vanessa lifted Jason onto Garth
'
s lap. He wheeled the sleeping boy down the hall. Like a family, Rob realized vaguely.

"Is Dana okay?
"
Zach asked, his eyes heavy with sleep.

"
She
'
s going to be fine.
"
Rob gazed into his son
'
s eyes, a mirror image of his own. "You were very brave, you know. You saved us.
"

A dull flush shot up Zach's neck to his cheeks. "Nah. Dana saved us.
"

An image of Dana hurling herself at Gwen flashed across his mind. "You
'
re right, son. She put her ca
reer at risk to clear my name, then charged Gwen to keep her f
rom killing you. I owe her…
more than I can ever repay.
"

Zach heaved a sigh, blowing air upward and lifting his maroon bangs.
"
I feel like a real ass for lying to her.
"

"She
'
ll understand. I promise.
"

"
You better marry her. She
'
s way cool. Way cool.
"

"I hope she
'
ll have me. After the way I
'
ve acted, I don
'
t know.
"

"
Get real. She
'
ll marry you.
"
Zach offered him a sudden, arresting smile. "I won
'
t mind if you have a kid like Jason.
"

"Could be a little girl. But knowing Dana, she
won
'
t be the prissy kind.
"
Rob cleared his throat, not knowing what to say exactly, but realizing there would never be a better time to reassure his son.
"
No matter what, I
'
ll always love you. They took you away from me when you weren
'
t much older than Jason. I
'
ve missed you every day since.
"

He hugged Zach, and surprisingly his son hugged him back even harder.
"
If Dana will have us, we
'
ll be a family again. That's what I want. I love you both. Love you forever.
"

"
Aw, Dad, come on,
"
Zach said, but there were tears in his eyes.

S
he awakened slowly, floating upward in a dreamlike trance. S
he was on Maui, high in the up-
country, stretched out in a meadow of white ginger, staring up at the ribbons of clouds that were waltzing across the sky. Above her, like a reigning monarch, towered Haleakala. The volcano
'
s peak looked black against the deep blue sky.

"
Dana
…
Dana,
"
she heard someone calling from a hillock far away. She tried to say something, but words wouldn
'
t come. Instead, a fretful moan escaped her lips. Thr
ough slitted eyes she saw a sil
houette of a man.

She mustered the strength to whisper,
"
Rob?
"

"
It's me, angel.
"
He squeezed her hand.
"
You're going to be all right.
"

The floating sensation evaporated, replaced by a pain so sharp that it hurt to breathe.
"
Where am I?
"
She listened as he explained about her surgery.

Most of it barely registered. "Don
'
t leave me,
"
she whispered, her voice dropping with each word, her strength ebbing quickly.
"
Promise me.
"

I
t was noon before she awakened again, but Rob never left her side. Daylight made Dana appear stronger, healthier despite the armada of frightening-looking machines. Her color was better, her lips no longer blue.

"
How are you doing?
"
Rob asked, stroking her forehead.

"Better,
"
she said. "What
'
s wrong with me?
"

"The bullet lodged in your shoulder. You
'
ll be sore for a while, but you'll be as good as new in no time.
"

"Gwen?
"

"She
'
s in the jail
'
s hospital with a mild concussion.
"

Dana didn
'
t say another word; she merely gazed at him with those fantastic green eyes.

"
I really like you as a blonde, you know. What made you to do it?
"

"I decided to be the real me. I
'
ve been hiding for too many years.
"

"
I like it. I like it,
"
he said, but he knew that wasn
'
t what she wanted to hear. "I don
'
t know how to thank you for clearing me. If you hadn
'
t I might very well have been convicted. I
'
d have lost Zach. And you.
"

He cradled her cheek in his hand, knowing he was inadequately expressing what was in his heart.

"You were willing to sacrifice everything.—for me. You have no idea how that makes me feel, do you?
"

She shrugged—or tried to—but the effort brought tears to her eyes. Her entire shoulder was encased in bandages. It would take weeks of physical therapy before she could move her arm.

"Dana, I love you. Don
'
t you know that?
"

She looked at him blankly as if he were discussing some new life form or some damn mathematical equation. She wasn
'
t going to make this easy for him—not that he blamed her.

"I should have told you that I was about to be arrested, but I wanted to protect you. I didn't want—
"

"No, you didn't. That may have been part of it, but fess up, Rob. You didn
'
t trust me. You thought I'd desert you.
"

What could he say? It was the truth. Even Zach had seen it. "You
'
re right. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn
'
t. I made a mistake. I can
'
t change the past. All I can do is ask you to forgive me.
"

"I forgave you the minute I walked into the DA
'
s office to try to help you."

There ought to be words to express the heartfelt emotion he was experiencing, but all he could say was "I love you.
"

"I knew that when you kissed me at the party.
"
She managed a sly smile. "No man kisses a woman like that just to say congratulations."

Rob chuckled.
"
You got that right. Zach said I made a scene.
"

"You did, and you were really good at it.
"

"
Well, I wasn
'
t so good at discovering Gwen was out to get you.
"
He shook his head.
"
I never sus
pected her.
"

"
Who would think she
'
d kill anyone over a place on the bench?
"

"I guess Boss Sihida is just as intimidating as Big Daddy. Gwen wanted to please him at all costs.
"

"That
'
s true,
"
Dana agreed.
"
But you have to realize that Gwen doesn't have a life beyond her career. That
'
s why it was so important to her.
"
Dana reached for his hand, able to move only so far without disturbing the IV. Her fingers were icy; he cradled them in his warm palm. "I learned something when Lillian died. People are more important than careers. That
'
s why I had no trouble walking into the DA
'
s office and asking about the evidence.
"

"I love you more than I can say. I
'
m sorry I didn
'
t trust you. I was wrong. Dead wrong.
"

"Don
'
t let it happen again,
"
Dana warned him with a smile. Then she stared at the small bandage on his temple.
"
How
'
s your head? She really conked you with that frying pan.
"

"
I
'
ve got two killer lumps and the grandmother of all headaches. Wanna kiss it and make it better?
"

"
You bet,
"
she said.

"Seriously, Dana.
"
He turned her hand over and kissed the palm. "I want you to marry me.
"

"Have you discussed this with Zach? I don
'
t think he likes me.
"

"
He changed his mind. Actually,
he
insisted I
drive over to your house. Despite how smart Gwen thinks she is, I would have waited until later except that Zach wanted me to tell you how much I love you.
"

"
Really? How sweet. I'm prepared to love him— maroon hair and all." She blessed him with her sassiest smile.

He bent over and gently kissed her. "Love you forever.
"