Asp of Ascension (A Nefertari Hughes Mystery #1)

Chapter Fifty-One

Someone squeezed her hand. "I think she's waking up!"

The mental fog began to ebb. She tried to sit up, but waves of pain pushed her back down. "It's okay, Terry." Her dad's face came into focus. He was unshaven, with red, puffy eyes.

Terry's mind flashed back to the cave accident. She had had a dream about her mother, but she couldn't quite remember everything. "I saw Mom," she whispered.

There was a strangled kind of gasp from her dad. "It's all right," he said. "You're in the hospital." Mr. Hughes carefully leaned in from a wheelchair beside her hospital bed. "The doctors told me I have to build up my strength from lying in bed so long."

"How long..." Terry began, uncertain. She tried to push herself up again, but she had no strength.

"Easy now." A nurse fluffed Terry's pillow. "Just relax."

Mr. Hughes said, "I woke up yesterday." His expression was pained.

"He's been by your bedside since then." The nurse smiled. "Against doctor's orders," she teasingly added.

There was something forced about her manner that made Terry suspicious. She studied the woman in the white uniform, but there was nothing ominous about her. A shudder ran through Terry. She wondered if she'd be paranoid about everyone from now on.

"Honey," Mr. Hughes started, "there was a lot of blood loss." He reached out and held her hand. "Your leg was so badly damaged, we almost lost you..."

Terry squirmed a bit on the bed. "My knee hurts."

Her dad shared an uncomfortable look with the nurse. "I'll let the surgeon know," she said above Terry in a whisper. Then the nurse produced a syringe. "I can give you pain medication through your IV," she offered.

"Surgeon?" Terry asked.

The lines on her dad's forehead deepened. "The doctor did everything she could, but the first accident left your knee compromised. I'm so sorry, Terry. There was no way you would walk again if she didn't amputate."

Terry moved, but only her good knee came up—the sheets were flat on the right side. "Dad?" she said, her voice quivering.

The nurse pressed the call bell. Terry whipped back the sheet. Her thigh was heavily bandaged, but from there down was nothing.

"Dad!" Terry stared in horror at the stump that used to be her leg.

"I'm here," he said, his expression caving. She reached for him, clawing at his arms as he struggled to comfort her. A nurse appeared in the doorway. He exchanged a glance with the other nurse by Terry's beside. A small dose from the syringe went into Terry's IV.

The new nurse placed a cool cloth on Terry's forehead. "It's a shock," he began, "and I know you can't imagine anything worse, but you would have died. The damage from the bullets was too extensive."

Terry's dad had been wearing the same desperate face when she woke up from the cave in that killed her mother. Her mother, forever one with the spirit of the priestess. Terry took in a deep breath.

" —you're still alive," her dad was saying, his voice was shaky. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too."

Empower those around you and you will find your own destiny.

The nurse with the syringe put a hand on Terry's shoulder. "It'll be tough, but you're young and strong." She waited to gauge Terry's response, then she added with an unnecessary gusto, "The staff at the rehabilitation centre will have you running again in no time. I bet they'll even have one of those handsome Paralympic sprinters to pay you a visit!"