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Kate darted a quick glance to the supine figure on the bed, noting his left arm wasn’t in a cast but bandaged and in a sling, and proceeded to tell Heather about Sabrina’s concern.
“He’s rather restless,” Heather said. “Dr. Franklin is confident it’s only a matter of time before he’ll regain consciousness. He was thrashing and moaning a few minutes ago, but he’s settled down again.”
Kate cast another nervous glance at the patient. “His arm isn’t broken?”
“Apparently not. It’s just a light sprain. He’s a lucky man. The teenager who hit him wasn’t wearing his seat belt, and his injuries are much worse. He had to have his spleen removed, not to mention that he’s got a broken leg and multiple lacerations.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Uh...Kate, I hate to ask, but while you’re here, would you do me a favor?” Heather hurried on.
“A favor?”
“I’m under orders to stay with Dr. Diamond until he regains consciousness. But Dr. Franklin needs the lab results from a test he had done on another patient earlier tonight. Could you stick around while I run upstairs to the lab?”
Kate hesitated. “Sure,” she finally said, certain Heather would do the same for her if the situation was reversed.
“Thanks. I’ll be as quick as I can.”
Kate stood for several seconds after Heather left, listening to the sound of Marsh’s steady breathing. Slowly she inched her way toward him, her curiosity overriding her reluctance to be anywhere near the man who’d treated her with such disdain the last time they’d met. Her stomach muscles tightened with tension as her pulse kicked into high gear.
Slowly she studied his ashen face. He hadn’t changed much. He looked older, more mature, but even after all this time he was still the most attractive man she’d ever known.
A clean dressing now covered the cut she’d treated earlier. His thick black hair, normally brushed back, was in careless disarray, falling across his forehead to soften his features. He looked totally vulnerable, completely defenseless, and Kate had to stop herself from reaching out to touch him. She felt her heart pound against her breastbone, then quickly right itself when she noticed that the bruise over his right eye had begun to change color, darkening from red to purple and spreading over his eyelids.
Continuing her perusal, Kate noted the sweeping curve of ebony lashes that were just like his daughter’s, before her gaze settled on the fullness of his lips, lingering there for several long seconds.
Her pulse tripped in double time and a shiver chased through her as she recalled how she’d once tried to imagine what it would be like to have Marsh kiss her.
Suddenly his lips began to move, his mouth opening to emit a low, pain-filled moan.
Kate couldn’t move. Her feet seemed to be glued to the floor as she watched his eyelids flicker before his lashes lifted to reveal incredible ice-blue eyes.
Marsh moaned again, louder this time, a sound that tore at Kate’s heart. His arms started flailing, but the sling restricted his movements. He grew more frantic by the second, tugging at the bedclothes in an attempt to break free.
Fearful he might hurt himself, Kate placed her hands gently but firmly across his chest to restrain him.
Marsh’s struggles intensified.
“Dr. Diamond. Please, take it easy.” Kate spoke softly, hoping to calm him. “You were in a car accident, and you’ve been brought to Mercy Hospital.”
At her words he immediately stopped struggling. “An accident?” he repeated, his voice little more than a hoarse whisper. “My daughter? Where’s my daughter? Is Sabrina all right?”
“Your daughter’s fine,” Kate assured him, wishing Heather would return, sure at any moment Marsh would turn and recognize her.
He clutched her arm, and she felt his fingers dig painfully into her flesh. “Why is it dark in here?” he asked, panic vibrating through his voice. “Why can’t I see?”
Chapter Two
“This isn’t happening!” Marsh said in a low growl of anger, frustration and pain.
Kate watched his handsome features contort. In an attempt to allay his fears, she covered his hand with hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze, ignoring the ripple of awareness that danced up her arm at the contact.
“Dr. Diamond, you’re all right. Try to stay calm. You have several injuries, including a sprained left wrist. It’s in a sling and restricting your movements.”
“Where’s Sabrina? I must find her,” Marsh said, distress evident in his tone. Jerking his good hand free, he began to fumble with the bedcovers trying to push them aside.
“Dr. Diamond! Your daughter wasn’t hurt in the accident. Trust me. She’s quite safe,” she added, but he was much too agitated to listen, shoving her unceremoniously aside, before sitting up and swinging his legs off the bed. But as soon as he stood a dizziness seemed to assail him, and his legs buckled beneath him.
Kate braced herself to take Marsh’s weight. She managed to steady him, but the feel of his lean, muscular, near-naked body pressed hard against hers sent her pulse jumping around like a blip on a radar screen.
With every breath she drew, his earthy male scent swarmed her senses, transporting her back to the summer afternoon she’d slid off the back of a horse and right into his arms. Kate could still vividly recall those heart-stopping moments when he’d held her tight. They’d stared at each other for several long seconds, the air between them charged with tension.
“Marsh! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Dr. Franklin asked as he rushed in.
“Tom? Is that you?” Marsh asked tentatively. He broke free of Kate’s grasp, turning his head in the direction of the new arrival.
“Yes, it’s me. What are you doing out of bed? I take it you don’t like your new role as patient?” he commented as he and Heather approached the bed.
“You got that right.”
“Why the frown? Are you having trouble with your eyesight?”
“It’s nothing. I’ll be fine in a minute. Someone forgot to turn on the lights, that’s all,” Marsh assured, but his voice sounded concerned.
“Nice try, Marsh. But the lights are on. I’d advise you to let the nurses help you back into bed so I can examine your eyes. And don’t even think about arguing. You might be the hospital’s new chief of staff, but your job doesn’t start for another month. Besides, here in Emerg, I give the orders.”
Kate glanced at Marsh and caught the look of frustration and resignation that flitted across his handsome features.
“Fine! Have it your way,” Marsh said, sighing. “I’ll extract my revenge on the racketball court,” he added, in an obvious attempt to maintain some measure of control.
“It’s a deal,” Tom replied easily before nodding to Kate and Heather, who quickly moved to assist Marsh back into bed.
“Thanks, Kate,” Heather whispered as they both left Dr. Franklin alone with his patient.
Outside in the hall Kate took a deep breath, willing her pulse, still racing, to slow down. Surely it wasn’t possible after ten years, and especially after his unfair treatment of her then, that she was still attracted to Marshall Diamond?
Kate shook her head at the notion and then headed back to the nurses’ desk, where Jackie stood comforting a woman who was weeping.
Behind them, exactly where Kate had left her, Sabrina sat, still hugging her stuffed teddy bear. When she caught sight of Kate, a look of relief came into her blue eyes.
“I’m sorry you had to wait so long.” Kate crouched in front of the chair.
“Did you see my daddy?” Sabrina asked in an anxious voice.
“Yes, but only for a few minutes. I had to leave when the doctor came in.”
“Is he all right?”
“Yes. But he has a cut on his forehead and a few nasty bruises,” Kate answered truthfully. “He’s probably going to have to stay in hospital overnight, just so the doctor can keep an eye on him,” she went on, wanting to prepare Sabrina for that eventuality.
Kate chose not to mention Marsh’s blindness, at least for now. Having seen similar injuries on other patients, she knew it was entirely probable his blindness was only temporary and would resolve itself in a few hours or by morning.
“Do I have to stay here, too?”
Kate smiled and shook her head. “By now the policeman who brought you in will have called your grandparents and told them about the accident. I bet they’re on their way right now to pick you up and take you home.”
“I don’t want to go with them,” Sabrina announced in a defiant voice, a scowl darkening her small features, a scowl Kate had seen before, one Sabrina had inherited from her father.
“Let’s take a look in the waiting room and see if they’ve arrived, shall we?” Kate offered the child her hand.
Sabrina stared at Kate’s outstretched hand for a long moment before reluctantly sliding off the chair. Tucking her teddy bear under one arm, she put her hand in Kate’s.
As Kate led Sabrina out of the E.R., she silently acknowledged that she would be relieved to give Sabrina to her grandparents. It wasn’t that she disliked the little girl, in fact the opposite was true. But this brief-but-unforgettable contact with the Diamond family had proven why she would need to keep her distance in the coming months.
Entering the busy waiting area, Kate immediately spotted the police officer. “I’m glad you’re still here,” she said as they approached him.
“Did the little one check out all right?”
“Yes. She’s fine. Do you happen to know if her grandparents have arrived to take her home? They have been contacted about the accident, haven’t they?”
“Well, not exactly, ma’am. I just talked to my sergeant, and he told me there’s no one at the ranch. No one, that is, except the stable manager and the stable hands. Apparently the family flew to Ireland yesterday to attend a sale of Thoroughbred horses.”
“Oh...I see,” Kate replied. She knew the Blue Diamond Ranch was known around racing circles for its stable of winning Thoroughbreds.
Kate felt a gentle tug on her hand. She quickly crouched down to Sabrina’s level.
“They’re not coming, are they?” the child asked.
“No. But that’s because—”
“I knew they wouldn’t come.” Sabrina continued in a voice that sounded cool and distant and much too grown-up for a five-year-old. “My mommy told me they didn’t like me,” she added.
“Oh, Sabrina! Surely not!” Kate reacted out of shock at the comment.
“Mommy said Daddy didn’t like me, either,” Sabrina blithely went on. “That’s why he went away. But my mommy’s dead, and I have to live with my daddy now.”
“Oh, Sabrina! I’m sure your mother wouldn’t have said such a thing about your father or your grandparents,” Kate chided gently, astonished and dismayed by the child’s comments.
“Yes, she did.”
Kate didn’t know how to respond. The little girl who’d been so anxious and concerned about her father earlier seemed to have vanished, and she couldn’t understand why the change had occurred.
“My daddy’s going to die, just like my mommy. Then I’ll be all alone!” Burying her face in the bear’s soft fur, she burst into tears.
Kate gently embraced Sabrina. “Oh, sweetie, don’t cry,” she crooned softly. “Your father isn’t going to die. He’s going to be fine. I promise,” she added, lifting the weeping child into her arms.
“Should I contact Child Services?” the officer suggested.
Kate knew this was standard procedure when no family members were available to care for a child. But she was sure this would exact too high an emotional toll on the motherless child. Especially given the remarks Sabrina had made about her father and her grandparents.
During that summer ten years ago, when she and Piper had been friends, one of the things Kate had admired and envied about the Diamonds had been their strong family ties. She’d never forgotten the genuine warmth and love they’d had for one another. As Piper’s friend, she’d had a taste of what this felt like. She’d even thought they’d accepted her. But Marsh had quickly set her straight.
“No, that’s fine. I’ll handle it,” Kate quickly asserted, as Sabrina’s grip on her tightened.
Kate readily acknowledged she was being overprotective and that Sabrina’s welfare was really none of her business. But she remembered how frightening it had been once when she’d been placed in a foster home for a few days with strangers, well-meaning people who’d tried to be kind, tried to understand.
She’d been so terrified she wouldn’t see her father again, she’d learned to accept his drinking without complaint. He was all she had left of family, and she’d been determined to stay with him whatever the cost.
“Marsh, be reasonable. How can I release you tonight? Not only are you suffering from a concussion, a mild one I grant you, but you can’t see—” Tom Franklin broke off and let out a sigh. Closing his patient’s chart, he moved to stand next to the bed.
“You’re a damned good doctor, Marsh, one of the best, and I agree with your diagnosis, that your blindness is more than likely only temporary—”
“Then let me out of here. Let me go home,” Marsh quickly cut in, though he suspected from the tone of Tom’s voice the argument was already lost.
“You always were a stubborn son of a gun,” Tom remarked. “But I can’t, in good conscience, allow you to leave,” he went on. “Believe me, if the situations were reversed, you’d be reading me the riot act for even suggesting it.
“You know as well as I do, even if the swelling behind your eyes goes down and the pressure on the optic nerves is removed, your vision won’t necessarily return right away. You’re going to have to bite the bullet and spend the night. We’ll reassess your condition in the morning.”
“All right!” Marsh grunted. Much as he liked and respected his colleague, Tom’s voice was beginning to grate on him, compounding the headache still throbbing at his temples, the same headache he’d only minutes ago denied even existed.
“You concede? Well, this is a first,” Tom responded with a soft chuckle.
“I don’t have much choice, do I?” Marsh countered, suddenly drained. “But what about my daughter? Are you sure she’s all right?”
“I was in Emerg when you and the other driver were brought in, but I didn’t see your daughter. No doubt by now the police will have contacted your folks, and they’ll be on their way to the hospital. But, if it will stop you worrying, I’ll see what I can find out about your little girl.”
“Thanks. I just hope my folks are home,” he added on a sigh. “They didn’t know we were coming today. I wanted to surprise them.”
“I know they’ve been looking forward to your return. What about Piper? Is she home, or is she still in Europe working for that magazine?”
“She’s still in Europe,” Marsh responded, thinking it had been five years since he’d last seen his baby sister.
“Well, I’m sure we can figure out something. I’ll see what I can find out,” Tom said. “In the meantime I’ve arranged to move you upstairs to a private room.”
Marsh felt Tom’s hand on his shoulder. “Relax and try not to worry.”
“Easy for you to say,” Marsh mumbled under his breath. He listened to the sound of his colleague’s footsteps cross the floor, followed moments later by the hiss of the door as it closed.
A heavy silence descended, and instantly a feeling of panic started to build inside him like a summer squall. The darkness seemed to press down, entombing him, bringing home the stark and inescapable reality that he was blind.
Where there once had been light and colors, depth and delineation, people and movement, now there was only an all-encompassing blackness that seemed to devour him, thrusting him unwillingly into the role of prisoner.
His breath hitched and locked in his throat, causing his heart to beat against his ribs at an alarming rate. Pain pounded inside his head, and the sour taste of bile rose in his throat. Swallowing repeatedly, he fought down the nausea making him gag.
Angry at his body’s show of weakness, a weakness he couldn’t seem to overcome, he gripped the bedsheet with his right hand. He braced himself as another wave of panic slammed into him, sending his heart rate accelerating once more.
Muttering a litany of curses, Marsh concentrated on slowly and deliberately filling his lungs with oxygen, before releasing it in one long, cleansing breath. He repeated the action, only this time, mingled in with the hospital smell of antiseptic, Marsh caught the delicate and exotic scent of jasmine.
