Queen of my Heart

35

DEATH WAS TERRIFYING.

Granted, Sander wasn't dead, but he might as well be from the way he looked.

Dark circles were under his eyes, his skin a sickly white. Tubes were connected to his arm, and he hasn't woken up yet. The blinding white walls, fluorescent lights, and the ever-present smell of antiseptic did little to make things better.

Shiela said she was visiting his house when she found him in the kitchen, bloody and unconscious.

“I'm scared,” whimpered Shiela as she held onto her boyfriend's hand.

I stayed silent. What could I say anyway? Me, too, but you don't really care, right? Or how about, I just hope he doesn't die?

Whatever the right thing to say was, I didn't know.

Apparently, Bryan did. Good for him. “We'll get to the bottomline of this. I have a hunch on who's the culprit.”

Shiela's head whipped to Bryan. “Who?”

A frown etched its way between his forehead. “An old gal.”

I closed my eyes, hands shaking. Gillian.

She stood up, turning into an alarming shade of red. “Old gal? Does an old friend shoot people in greeting?”

“We need to go back to Ireland,” I spoke up, sounding more courageous than I really felt. I've been really good in acting lately. “That's the only way we could prevent another incident from happening.”

Realization dawned on Shiela's expression. “You mean you're being followed?”

Bryan and I nodded.

Emotions flitted between the her features – understanding, hurt, shock, then rage. Burning hot anger. “You did this,” she whispered, blood draining from her cheeks as she regarded the fidgeting couple in front of her – us. “This is all your fault!”

Neither I nor Bryan expected what happened next. In a split second Shiela was straddling me on the ground, her nails digging into my arms, then my cheeks. I cried out in pain, her tears mingling with mine.

“Stop!” I heard Bryan yell, and the weight was off me.

Wiping the back of my hands against my cheeks, I ignored the blood on my skin. With a sigh, l staggered upright. “It's okay,” I said to Bryan, who shot me a questioning look.

Shiela writhed in his arms, her eyes flashing at me. I've never seen her this angry, and I had to admit that it wasn't pretty sight. Gone was the innocent first love of Sander. This one was so . . . vengeful.

“Calm down,” Bryan gritted. He squeezed her for a moment and her eyes rolled back as she passed out.

I gaped as he lied her down on the couch at one end of the room. “What the bloody hell did you do?”

He shrugged and pushed me down by my shoulders. My butt landed on the seat Shiela previously occupied before she went absolutely crazy. “I calmed her down.” He knelt on one knee.

“You mean manhandled.”

His eyebrows shot up. “You're welcome.” His deft fingers searched through the first aid kit I didn't notice until now.

“She's just stressed.” I stared at him, his face focused on the task at hand. He squirted some povidone iodine on a cottonball. “Thank you,” I murmured, heat filling up my face.

I didn't know having his attention like this was so touching.

He flashed me a smile as he dabbed on my arm. I hissed at the sudden sting. Gee, my arms looked like they'd seen better days. They definitely did. “You've changed,” he said, moving on to my cheeks.