Chapter Seven

In a flash, Pete was around the table and up the stairs, flinging her bedroom door open.

Shannon was sitting upright in bed, eyes huge and glassy in a pale face, and was swinging her arms wildly to ward off whatever she was battling in her mind. Her right hand brushed against Pete’s right shoulder as he sat on the edge of the bed, and she shrieked, recoiling in horror.

Pete gathered her carefully into his arms so he wouldn’t touch her burns, then began to rock her, gently stroking her hair and murmuring to her even though he knew she could not hear him speaking.

Her screams turned to sobs as she clutched at him, taking comfort in his warmth.

“Is she okay?” Leah’s worried tone carried from the doorway.

“Nightmare,” Pete told her as he held Shannon close to him. “I wondered if she’d have any, with everything that’s happened. Not to mention the blow she took to the head.”

“That blow to the head is the only reason I’m not giving her a strong drink to help her sleep and not dream,” Leah revealed. “She’s a lightweight when it comes to booze, so it wouldn’t take much at all. But the doctor said no caffeine or alcohol for a couple of days.”

“I think she’s awake now,” Pete observed, as Shannon lifted up from his chest so suddenly that she almost caught him under the chin with the crown of her head.

“Wha…what’s going on?” Shannon mumbled as she looked down at the muscular arms encircling her, then at the three people gazing at her from the doorway.

Leah stepped forward and grabbed the pen and paper from the tiny bedside table.

Nightmare, she wrote.

“Oh,” Shannon said in a small voice, and she flushed scarlet all the way to her hairline as she wriggled her way out of Pete’s grasp. “I’m all right, really. But thanks.”

“I’ll stay with her a while,” Leah murmured to the men. “She’ll feel less self-conscious if you three quit staring at her and move along now. Besides, I need to check her bandages.”

“Guess that’s our signal. Larry, Duffy,” Pete said as he stood, “I’ll walk you guys out. I need to get my duffel bag from the truck anyway.”

***

“Did I yell?” Shannon asked as soon as the men were out of sight.

Leah nodded, and Shannon squeaked.

“Really?”

Leah gave her a sympathetic smile as she wrote it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You’ve had a traumatic experience.

“Don’t I know it,” Shannon muttered, then her eyes lit up.

“Ooh! I know! They have liquor around here, right? I’d be sound asleep in no time with some of that.”

They do, was Leah’s response on paper. But the doc said no alcohol and no caffeine for forty-eight hours.

“Seriously?”

Yep.

“Aw, man.”

Leah laughed, then wrote sounds like something I would say! That’s the first time since I’ve known you that you’ve been bummed out about NOT drinking.

Shannon chuckled at the comment.

“I know, right?”

Then she sighed.

“A hot bath, maybe? As long as I don’t get the bandages wet?”

Let me go see what we’re working with, Leah scribbled. I bet we can make that happen for ya, at least.

“Thanks,” Shannon said, her eyes beginning to brim. “I know being here sucks, but I’m so glad you came with me.”

Love you, girl. Be right back, okay? was Leah’s answer, and she left the room before she teared up as well.

***

“I’ll be in touch when I can, Pete,” Larry was saying as they walked toward the four-door sedan Duffy had driven out to the farmhouse.

“Here’s hoping you find something useful,” Pete replied, and they shook hands.

Duffy climbed behind the wheel, and Pete watched them head down the driveway and turn left back out onto the paved road. Then Pete went to his truck and grabbed the ‘ready bag’ he always carried with him for situations precisely like the one he now found himself in.

When he walked back inside the house, Leah called out, “Hey, bring in the Epsom salt, will you? I think it got left in your truck.”

“Sure thing,” he called back, and dutifully u-turned to go fulfill the request.

He came back in as Leah was coming down the stairs.

“Thanks,” she said as he handed her the package. “I think this will really help her relax.”

“It should,” Pete replied. “I know it always does wonders for me. This place has a nice, deep clawfoot tub, too. Perfect for soaking.”

“That’s the plan, since I can’t ply her with liquor to put her to sleep,” Leah said, and grinned.

“Okay, so, I’m just gonna stay down here for a while,” Pete advised. “Let you two have the run of the whole upstairs. I think there’s a bathrobe or two in the hall closet, if she wants one when she’s done.”

“I’ll check it out,” Leah answered as she headed back up.

Pete moved to the couch and grabbed the remote, settling in for what he hoped was an uneventful afternoon and evening.

But his mind kept drifting upstairs to the woman with mesmerizing eyes.

***

“Oh,” Shannon moaned as she sat down in the tub and leaned back a little. “This feels so good. I didn’t realize how banged up I truly was until just now.”

She turned her head to the side to look at Leah, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor, leaning back against the wall.

Comfortable? Leah wrote then showed her.

“Most definitely. I just wish I could sink lower in the water.”

Your bandages start just above where the back of your bra would normally be, so, just don’t go higher than that, is all, Leah answered via written message.

“Are the burns bad?”

They actually don’t look too bad at all. I think if we do what the doctor said regarding wound care, they should heal up in a couple of weeks, came the answer.

“I’m lucky I didn’t get burned worse,” Shannon conceded. “Or over a larger area.”

Definitely, Leah agreed.

Shannon’s tone turned wistful.

“I really wish I could hear. It’s got to be getting old, having to write everything down for me.”

Leah chuckled.

It’s not so bad, really.

Silence for a bit, and then Leah, with a mischievous smile, scribbled furiously for a moment.

So, her note read, tell me ALL ABOUT how it felt being in Pete’s arms twice in as many hours. He is so hot. And I think he likes you.

“You think so?”

Leah nodded vigorously.

“He is cute,” Shannon said, “but I am sure he’s just being nice. I mean, he’s charged with keeping us safe, after all.”

Whatever. I know he’s into you. I can see it.

“And?”

And? You lost your hearing, not your eyesight, so I know you’ve seen how hot he is. I say go for it!

“Have you lost your mind?” Shannon retorted. “There’s no time for that right now. Way, way more important things to worry about lately.”

She leaned back a little further and closed her eyes for a while. But Leah’s prompting had started her mind down a very specific road.

Shannon sighed and looked again at her roommate and best friend.

“What does his voice sound like?” she asked.

Girl. His voice is as smoking hot as the rest of him. If his voice were a drink, it would be twenty-year-old scotch.

Shannon read, then frowned.

“No clue what you mean by that. Let’s try it this way… What famous actor might he sound like?”

Leah contemplated the question, tapping the top of the pen against her bottom lip as she mulled it over.

Okay, I have it… think a mix of Liam Neeson and Daniel Craig – but American.

“Ooh!” Shannon’s eyebrows raised. “So, like, a baritone?”

I guess so.

“Nice,” Shannon sighed, and closed her eyes again as she thought, I hope I get to hear it for myself soon.

She soaked until the water was lukewarm, then pulled the plug. Leah helped her out of the tub, then helped her bundle into the soft, fluffy robe after her bandages were changed.

When Shannon ambled over to the mirror to brush her hair, she shrieked in surprise at her reflection.

In mere moments, Pete was knocking on the bathroom door.

“Leah, is she okay?”

“Wow. You heard that all the way downstairs? What are you, part bat?”

She could hear him chuckle.

“I’m attentive, is all.”

“Yes, she’s okay. She’s a little shocked right now,” Leah told him through the closed door. “She just got her first look at the scrapes and bruises on her face.”

Pete sighed in relief.

“All right. I’ll be downstairs,” he announced, and Leah could hear him walking away.

Leah turned away from the bathroom door to look at a puzzled Shannon.

“What just happened?” Shannon asked.

That man has amazing hearing. Heard you yelp and came to check on you, Leah wrote.

“He did?” Shannon’s nose scrunched up as she smiled. “That’s sweet.”

He is definitely into you, Leah penned next.