Beep.....Beep...Beep....
Daisy could hear a heart monitor. Her eyes were heavy and opening them felt beyond her capabilities. She felt she was floating in an infinite sea. She struggled to come back to herself. Trinity and Frank's image projected across her consciousness. Her chest tightened, and pain exploded in her mind.
Beep..Beep..Beep..Beep.
The heart monitor raced as memories flooded into her. Daisy groaned at the pain and wanted to scream. She struggled in her bed, trying to lift herself and run in her fear. She heard footsteps rush into the room. Warm hands brushed back her hair as a deep voice tried to soothe her.
"It's alright, we got you. You're safe." Those words were like honey. Daisy stopped struggling and let the warm hands guide her body back. She couldn't stop the tears that came then. Her chest hurt so bad, but the betrayal hurt infinitely more. The man held her hand, and soothing murmurs rumbled from his chest. She held on tight until she passed out again.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Jasper cursed under his breath. Finding a dying woman at his warehouse was the last thing he needed. For it to be Daisy Pemberton had to be God's idea of a prank. It was fortunate he had found her because he was one of the few people who had the resources and status to get the best doctor in the country to operate on her. According to him, she had been lucky. She was shot with a low caliber bullet, and the shot missed all of her vital organs. She had lost a lot of blood, though.
He looked down at her. She was still pale even after the surgery and blood transfusions. It had been a miracle that she had been found in time at all. He mumbled nonsense until the deep grooves on her face began to smooth out. She calmed down, and Jasper let go of her hand. He pulled his phone from his pocket and stepped out of the room. He pressed one on speed dial.
After Dr. Ed finished the operation, Jasper took her to his estate. Not knowing who had shot her, he didn't want to clue them in that she hadn't died, and he sure as hell didn't want to involve the police unless he had no choice. He stood up and looked at the clock. It was late afternoon, only ten hours since he found her.
"You have reached Dr. Edmund Blaireau, I am currently either up to my elbows in blood or drinking a margarita. I'll let you decide! Leave a message at the tone." Jasper grimaced. Dr. Ed was known for morbid jokes and his insensitivity. He liked to think of himself as a ladies man, but he was too much of an asshole to women for them to pay him any attention.
Jasper ran his hand through his hair and sighed before hanging up without leaving any messages. He knew Ed didn't listen to them. He glanced over at Daisy. He needed to be at the meeting this afternoon, but he didn't want to leave her alone. Really, waking up anywhere strange after getting shot wasn't ideal, but he at least wanted someone there to make sure she was calm. He gritted his teeth and pulled up an unsaved number on his phone. As the phone rang, he half hoped that he wouldn't get an answer. As the line picked up, he felt both relief and annoyance.
"Hey braaaaa!!! Long time!" Jasper rolled his eyes at the overly enthusiastic voice on the other line.
"Jenny, I need a favor."
"Gasp! My dearest big brother needs a favor?" Jasper pulled the phone away from his ear to save his hearing from the sudden scream on the other end. He looked over at Daisy to see if she heard the screeching over the line, but she was still fast asleep.
"Yeah, I need you to watch someone for me."
"Anything for you, dah'ling," Jenny drawled.
"I need you here as soon as possible."
"Give me twenty minutes." Jasper hung up the phone and returned to the chair next to Daisy to wait.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Daisy could feel herself immersed in the shadows. She spun around to try and find a speck of light. In the distance, she saw a gray glimmer. As faint as it was, she latched on to it and felt her feet move. Try as she might, though, she could not move any closer. She sped up until she was running. She felt her lungs burn as she tried desperately to reach that one dim hope to escape the darkness.
As the gray light began to move away and grow fainter, she tripped and fell headlong into a body. She clung to the arms, and she slowly lifted her head to see who she fell on. Frank glared back at her. The intensity of the disgust in his eyes terrified her. Frank pushed her away and she fell to the floor.
"Did you think anyone would want a woman like you?" Daisy flinched and she wrapped her arms around herself. She looked up at the stranger in front of her. Trinity joined him, plastering her body against him. They grew taller and loomed over her as Trinity laughed. Like two jokers in a demented circus, they grew in her mind until all she could see was them.
Gray metal gleamed in Frank's hand. Horrified, she realized the hope she was chasing in the dark was nothing more than the gun Frank carried. He lifted the barrel, and she could see his finger begin to squeeze the trigger.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Daisy opened her eyes. *Just a dream,* she thought. She could feel the hot sweat beading on her brow from the nightmare. Her chest felt painful, but not as painful as the last time she had woken up. *Must be some really good medicine.* Daisy looked around the room.
She was lying in a queen sized bed. The sheets and blanket felt soft and luxurious. There were floating nightstands and chairs stood on either side of the bed. From here, she could see windows looking out over the desert. On the other side of the room, there was a small seating area and desk overlooking what looked like a courtyard.
Gray was the dominate shade in the room. Most of the furniture was white. Silver and pale pink accents gave the room a feminine feel. There were a lot of plants in the room including a bamboo partition. It was obviously not a hospital room.
She looked at the IV stand and heart monitor next to the bed. A half empty bag of saline hung from a hook and Daisy noticed the sensors she was hooked into. It was weird seeing the medical equipment and not smelling the astringent scent of ammonia and bleach.
She looked over at the chair and saw a woman sitting with her legs crossed, arm thrown back over the back of the chair while the other hand held a smartphone. She had impossibly long hair and wore a black couture dress. Daisy thought the dress looked amazing. She wore sky high black stilettos and fishnet stockings.
She must have made some kind of sound because the woman looked up from her phone. Green hazel eyes bore into hers and Daisy felt as if they were trying to analyze her soul.
"You are awake." The soft falsetto echoed across the room. Daisy tried to sit up and the woman rushed over to help her. "Be careful."
"That sounds like advice I could have used yesterday," Daisy spoke wryly. She paused. "Yesterday was the 26th, right?"
"Yes, you are correct," the woman nodded. " I am Jenny Indigo. My brother found you and helped you."
Daisy thought back to the man in the desert. She couldn't see much and all she could really remember was that he had dark hair and the broadest shoulders she had ever seen on a man. She also remembered that she remembered him from somewhere.
"Thank you," Daisy said.
"I didn't really do anything. I think if my brother hadn't had a meeting today, we would have never met." Jenny smiled at her.
"Still, thank you for watching out for me."
"No problem."At that, Jenny went silent again and started flipping through her phone again. Daisy felt awkward. *If I weren't weak from the gunshot…* Daisy didn't let herself complete that thought. She knew that she needed more information, but she didn't think that she would be able to move for a while.
Daisy thought about her company, and she couldn't help by make an angry scowl. She began mentally cursing herself for having been so gullible. She was known to be ruthless in business, but when it came to the people she loves, she fell hook, line and sinker.
Just as she was starting to arrange her thoughts, the door opened and a man entered. Daisy looked up from her bed at the short balding man with a paunch.