How do you survive being shot and left for dead in the Chihuahuan Desert? By being found by a beautiful wildlife photographer willing to risk her life to save yours.
A bitter ex-cop fights for his life after he runs to the sound of gunfire on the Ri...
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Machines beeped. Something squeezed uncomfortably tight on his left arm. Mendocino opened his eyes. What was pinching his arm? What was wrong with his throat? Motionless, his head pressed into a pillow, he scanned the dim room. Machines. IV bag. Curtains.
Heavy footsteps clomped on tile. Swoosh! The curtain flew open. "Well, hello there!" A big woman with short blonde hair, her voice loud and cheerful, loomed over the side of his bed. "I thought it was about time for you to wake up."
She was his mother's age, maybe, wearing faded blue V-necked scrubs and a mask.
"Where am I?" His voice was hoarse.
"You're in the hospital in Alpine. Intensive Care. How do you feel?"
"I'm in Alpine?"
"Yes." She was tall and buxom, hovering at his bedside. A heavy woman who wore it well.
He rubbed his eyes with the back of his left hand, his right arm strapped against his chest. "How'd I get here?"
"Can't say I know," the nurse said. "How do you feel?"
Such a thick fog. "I don't know." His mind was fuzzy. "What happened?"
She turned her back to him, maybe checking monitors. "You've been in a medically induced coma."
"A coma?"
She turned, facing him. "You're awake now. That's a good thing. The doctor will be here in a minute. I notified him you're awake."
Mendocino blinked. "How long?"
"I'm not sure, but he'll be here shortly." She thumped the IV bag.
"No, I mean, how long have I been in a coma?"
She was smiling under her mask. He could see it in her light blue eyes. Aquamarine.
"I'll let the doctor answer all your questions. You're alert and full of questions. All good." She shoved thin eyeglasses up to sit on top of her head. "Do you think you're hungry?"
She seemed nice.
"What time is it?" He tried to sit up, moaned, and sank back on the bed.
The nurse chuckled, checking her wristwatch. "Noon. I'll see about getting you something to eat as soon as the doctor tells me I can. Now, take it easy." She pointed at him. "You've got a long row to hoe, young man. Don't try to take it too fast."
She turned to leave but halted when a pint-sized man whisked into the room. He was dwarfed by the woman at his side. He, too, wore the mask, but unlike the nurse, his eyes did not smile. They were sharp.
"Mr. Jones, I'm Doctor Reisner. I'm glad to see you're awake." He had short, curly red hair, freckles, and light eyes. Grayish. He couldn't have been out of med school long.
"How long have I been out?" Mendocino asked.
"Two days." The doctor was cryptic. A stethoscope hung around his neck.
