CHAPTER TWENTY
Good grief, Raine, you have more guards at your door than a military prisoner would have,” Vienna greeted. She looked around the large room that held only Raine. “No roommate, and enough flowers and plants to start your own flower shop.”
Raine looked pale and very small in the bed. Her injured leg was stretched out with blocks wedged all along it. Raine waved toward the chairs in the room. They were really nice, comfortable leather chairs.
Rush sat in a chair in the corner of Raine’s room, almost obscured by all the flowers. Vienna gave him a cheery wave, a little shocked to see him there. “Rush. Nice to see you again. Have you been regaling Raine with all the details of the wedding?”
“No, he hasn’t,” Raine said, sounding a little miffed. “He doesn’t talk. He just pulls out the chess board and sets it up. I think he’s taking advantage of the fact that they have me on pain killers.” She glared through the huge bouquets at her guard.
Rush raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t reply.
“Sometimes he changes it up and plays Go instead of chess. And he won’t give me my laptop.” Raine’s eyebrows came together.
“Rush, that’s just a sacrilege,” Vienna said.
“It’s right over there, Vienna,” Raine said in her sweetest tone. She pointed through the jungle of flowers and plants to the briefcase sitting against the wall, very close to the silent operative. “Would you mind getting it for me?”
“No problem.” Vienna took two steps toward the briefcase, but Rush’s hand caught the handle before she could.
He shook his head. “The doctor said absolutely not. In fact, he’s going to cut down on her visitors soon too. She has an endless parade of male visitors traipsing through here. Doc wants her resting. She doesn’t seem to know what that word means. I handed her a dictionary since she can’t seem to understand half of what he says to her.”
Vienna was stuck back on the endless parade of male visitors traipsing through Raine’s hospital room. “She has guards with guns at her door. It isn’t like you can just walk in. How many men? Raine? Who are these men visiting you? How come I don’t know about them?”
Vienna turned to look at Harlow, Shabina and Zahra, who had accompanied her to visit Raine. “Did any of you know about Raine’s secret stash of hot men?”
“No one used the word hot,” Rush objected.
Raine shifted her position in the bed and a low sound escaped, somewhere between a moan and a whimper, sounding too much like an animal in pain. Rush was up and at her side instantly.
“What did I tell you about trying to change positions without asking me for help? Damn, woman, you’re stubborn.” Even as he was chastising her, Rush was gently guiding her body into a more comfortable position and placing the multitude of pillows around her to keep her upright. “Is that better?”
Raine’s breathing had turned ragged. She nodded, her hands still gripping his shoulders, her head down as she tried to let pain wash over and through her.
Vienna could visibly see Rush’s reaction. He stabbed at the button, calling the nurse.
“Rush, no. I can get on top of this,” Raine protested.
He didn’t answer. The nurse entered the room so fast Vienna thought she might have been a private nurse. She hurried over to the bed and stood looking at Rush, not Raine, for instructions. Immediately, Vienna wondered if Rush, like Rainier, was actually a doctor.
“She needs pain medication. She isn’t taking it the way she should. We may have to put her on a regular time schedule.” His voice was hard with authority.
“Rush, no. Seriously. I’ll take the meds.”
“You’re supposed to take them before the pain gets to this point, Raine, but you’re too damn stubborn. Your body won’t heal. I’ve explained that to you. Your doctor has.” He suddenly turned to Vienna, narrowing his eyes. “You’re a nurse and Raine’s friend. Am I bullshitting her?”
Vienna ignored the fact that Rush was scary as hell and went to Raine’s bedside, pushing right past him to lean toward Raine. “Honey, as bossy and annoying as Rush sounds, he’s right about this. The injury to your leg was extremely severe. You nearly lost it.”
“She still could,” Rush put in.
Vienna resisted the urge to kick him. She glared at him over her shoulder and then turned back to Raine. She could see on Raine’s face that she was entirely aware of how bad her leg was, and she was scared. Maybe if someone didn’t know her, they couldn’t see her fear, but Vienna knew her very well. She smoothed back her hair with gentle fingers.
“You have to stay on top of the pain, honey. I know you’re tough, but in this instance, it really is better for you to keep up with the medication. I know you’re aware you should. Why aren’t you?” Because that was the real question. Not whether or not Raine understood the dire circumstances. She did.
The nurse had already adjusted the pump to push morphine into Raine’s veins, and the medication was beginning to ease the worst of the pain. Vienna took the cool washcloth Rush passed to her and pressed it to Raine’s forehead, wiping away the little beads of sweat.
“I can’t think straight,” Raine admitted. Her voice trembled, and for a moment her gaze shifted to Rush and then she looked toward the door as if someone might come through it at any moment with guns blazing. “I feel like I can’t defend myself if I needed to.”
Beside her, Rush froze. Before Vienna could stop him, he leaned around her and put his hand on Raine’s. “Taku kairangi, do you think I would ever hurt you? Is it me you’re afraid of? I can ask Elliot to have another guard assigned to you if you prefer. You have to take those meds. I’d defend you with my life, Raine, and I prefer to stay, but if you’re afraid of me, I’ll step aside.”
Vienna kept her gaze glued to Raine’s face. Normally, Raine could be difficult to read, but it was impossible for her to guard her expression. She shook her head, color moving up her neck to her face. Vienna had no idea what language he spoke or what he’d called Raine, but obviously she did. He’d also used a velvety tone when he’d called her whatever he had.
“Not you, Rush.” A ghost of a smile curved her lips. “You’re just a pain bossing me around. I’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest . . .” She hesitated and then added, “Now and then. There are a lot of people who wouldn’t mind seeing me dead.”
“You didn’t share that with me,” Rush said, his voice once more intimidating.
“I didn’t know I was supposed to share things like that with anyone. It’s very personal.”
The moment the information escaped, Raine pressed her fingers over her mouth as if she’d disclosed a national secret. Vienna’s heart skipped a beat. Personal? Very personal? Vienna would have thought Raine had stirred up a hornet’s nest in some military covert operation she’d helped with, not that she was afraid because of something personal.
“Does this have something to do with Luciano Vitale?” Rush demanded, now sounding lethal, as if he would march out of the room and gun down Vitale the moment he encountered him. “Every time that man comes to visit you get tense as all get-out.”
Luciano Vitale visited Raine? Vienna sent a quick look to Harlow, Zahra and Shabina. Were they aware that Vitale knew Raine? Vitale was Sam Rossi’s father’s enforcer. Or his bodyguard. Or something of significance. She didn’t really know, only that he looked mean and tough. Why would he visit Raine?
“Talk to me, Raine,” Rush insisted when Raine didn’t speak.