Sophie brews coffee while I make her eggs and toast. She’s everything to me. The reason to make sure this all comes out right.
While she eats, I call the hospital and learn Al’s still in a coma.
Last night, I took the reins with a show of furious leadership because Sammy was right—it’s imperative to demonstrate I have control, have a plan, and am not taking shit from anyone. I owe it to Al to keep shit in line until his recovery. Besides, I have no desire to get a bullet in the back of my head from someone who thinks he can lead better.
All the men in the organization are shaking down every contact they have to get information.
I send a message to Ned, my FBI contact.
“Would they let me in to see Al?” Sophie asks.
I raise my brows, surprised. “You want to see him?”
“I could try giving him some energy.” She shrugs. “Maybe it would help pull him out of the coma.”
I don’t know what I did to deserve Sophie’s complete change of heart, but I’m so fucking grateful.
“Yeah. That sounds great. It can’t hurt, right?”
“Right.”
An hour later, Sophie’s standing at Al’s side, holding her hands above his body. I sit on the side of Al’s hospital bed peering into my brother’s face. “His eyelids fluttered when you started,” I tell Sophie. I continue to watch. His hands move at his sides. “Look. His fists uncurled. I think he might feel it.”
“Good.” Sophie looks like a goddess with light illuminating her. The glow of pregnancy and the energy work give her a Madonna-like grace and peace.
One of Al’s eyes is black, and the coloring in his face is a gray-green. But as we watch, Al sighs and moves his lips, his eyelids opening slightly.
“Thanks for this,bella.”
“I’m happy to be able to do something. I hope it helps.”
Al’s eyelids flutter again. When they blink open, I grip his arm. “Al? Can you hear me?”
His eyes close, and his lips move. No sound issues, but when his lids open again, the brown eyes focus directly on my face.
I put my hand on Al’s shoulder. “Fractured skull. And some cracked ribs. Your head will hurt for a few weeks, but you’ll heal.”
Al gives a barely perceptible nod, and his brows draw together.
“Does it hurt?”
Al’s tongue works in his mouth as if he’s testing it out, then he mutters, “Yeah.”
I can’t keep the grin from spreading across my face. “About time you woke up.”
Al turns his face toward Sophie, seeing her for the first time. “Thank you,” he says, as if he understands what she’s doing. Maybe he does.
“She’s giving you an energy healing.”
“Woke me up. It was like she opened the curtains and let in the light.”
“No kidding,” I grin even wider.
Sophie smiles back at me with so much love in her gaze that it nearly drops me to my knees.
I wink at her and pull out my phone. “Lemme call Carmen, she’s pretty shaken up.”
Al’s eyes drift closed as I make the call and deliver the good news.