Killer Scents (27 page)

“Cover it up
.
”
S
he spoke softly.

“Now
,
Becca, remember...
.
”

She held a hand out to halt his words. “Please, can you just do it?”

The nurse worked quickly to redress her
scalp
.

“Now let’s take a
look
at that arm.”

Her
head
snapped up and she glared at him. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Who do you think I am, Super Woman?” She turned
to
face the window. “I can’t
. N
ot now
.
”

“Try to get some rest. I’ll come back in the morning to change the dressings on your arm and leg.”

It wasn’t until they were gone she allowed her tears free rein. Her hand trembled as
she smoothed it
over her
clean bandages
. She never considered herself a vain woman, but what she
’d
just saw...
.

A profound sadness enveloped her. She pressed the button to lower the bed and settled into her pillow, pulling the covers up over her
face
. She cried like she’d never wept before. Tears flowed for her burns and the lives lost that horrendous day. She cried for Randy and what could have been a beautiful thing between them.
Finally, h
er eyelids drooped.

Maybe when I wake up, everything will be back to normal...
.

Chapter Thirty-One

Randy wandered aimlessly about the shopping mall
with
no idea what to get Becca.
Flowers
were definitely not an option.
Will we ever come to appreciate the beauty in them again?

A flash of color caught his attention and he turned to look into a novelty shop of sorts. A smile played on his lips as he walked toward the perfect
gift
sure to bring a smile to her face.

He carried Becca’s
present
through the mall aware of
people’s
stares and giggles behind
their
hands. It wasn’t until he stepped outside
that
he realized he
’d ridden
his
motorcycle
. Randy looked at the
item
and then at his
bike
.

How in the hell am I going to pull this off?

After a few minutes and a couple of bungee cords
, he managed to strap it to the backrest
.
He
carried on
like
nothing was out of the ordinary
and
rode through town to laughter and even applause from the sidewalks. He pictured what he must look like and had to
snicker
as well.

He finally reached the hospital, and
strolled
inside to the elevator where everyone chuckled at him but not one person asked him about
the present he carried
.

The hospital was abuzz with visitors. His
pulse
quickened the closer he came to her
room
. He paused just outside the door and drew in a steadying breath before
going in
.

“Becca?” She
reclined
with her back to him. “
I
t
’
s Randy, are you
a
wake? Becca?”

“Go away!”

He set her present in an empty chair and rushed to her bedside. “Becca? What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Just go. I want to be left alone.” She pulled the sheet up to hide her face.

“Don’t ask me to leave you like this.” He pulled up a chair to sit at her level. “I love you, Becca. If something’s wrong I want to try and help.”

“Argh!” Becca threw her sheets back and sat upright, clawing at her head bandages until she was able to tear them away from her blistered scalp. “Can you fix this?”

Randy’s jaw dropped and he fell back in his chair. Her sudden outburst rendered him speechless. Seeing her burns for the first time brought tears to his eyes for the pain she must be in.

“What? Nothing to say?” Her chest heaved and angry tears streaked her face. “Why don’t you just leave, the freak show is over!”

Becca’s nursed ran into the room and glared at Randy. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I...I don’t know what happened?” He searched the nurse’s face.

Becca buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably.

“You need to leave now, Detective.”

Utterly dumbfounded, he made his way to the door. The nurse now had her fingers on Becca’s wrist and rubbed her back with her free hand.

Randy paused at the door. “Becca?”

The nurse scowled at him and pointed to the door. “You were warned about upsetting her. As of now, visiting rights are revoked—”

“But—”

“Indefinitely.”

Becca stared at the three
-
foot
-
tall pink, stuffed pig through a veil of tears. Almost three weeks had passed since sending Randy away, but for whatever reason, she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of the leather
-
adorned Miss Piggy.

She’d healed
considerably over time. It looked like her scars would be hidden, but the new hair was nothing like her thick tresses before the fire. It was now strawberry blonde. Dr. Swanson couldn’t predict how it would grow in for good.

For the first couple
of weeks she barely noticed the lack of visitors being all drugged up, but now the days grew longer and all she could think about was Randy.

A light rap on the door interrupted her thoughts. Nurse Debbie stood in the doorway.

“Hi
,
Becca.” She clasped her hands and smiled sweetly. “I know you asked for no visitors, but there’s someone
waiting who
I think you’re going to want to see. He’s
also
a patient here.”

Becca arched a brow, her curiosity piqued. She straightened her sheets and made sure her head scarf was in place before nod
ding
.

“Okay.”

Becca actually held her breath. She saw the wheelchair before the patient. Her hand flew to her mouth, eyes wide
ning
, and tears spilled down her cheeks as she
gaped
in disbelief.
Jeffery pushed the wheelchair where
Jacob smiled awkwardly at her. It looked like someone had taken a permanent marker and evenly dotted
his
top and bottom lips
to match
.

“Jacob?” Her voice cracked.
“Oh, my God, I thought you were....”

He raised a hand. “Did you really think you’d get rid of me that easily?”
He sniffled
.

Jeffery
crossed the distance between them and gathered her in his arms. “I am so happy to see that you’re okay.”

Sobs racked Becca as she clung to him. “I can’t...how did...”

“Okay, enough tears. You’re looking pretty good, Becca. How are you really?”
Jacob wiped a tear from his cheek.

“Wait a minute. How did you possibly
survive the gunshot...and the fire?”

“I think a guardian angel watched over him
.
By
all
rights he should be dead.” Jeffery wheeled his lover to the
bed
side where Jacob took her hand in his.

“I don’t know how I survived
,” Jacob explained.
The last thing I remember is you climbing out that window, and the
n
I’m
waking up in the hospital looking like a human pin cushion.”

Becca shuddered with the
memory
of Danny on top of him sewing his mouth shut. She
forced
the
image
away.

“Let’s not go there right now. All that really matters
is
that
we both made it.” He smiled. “Randy must be over the moon.”

Tears welled up
,
and she looked away, her bottom lip
wobbling
.

“What is it? He
’
s happy
,
isn’t he?”

Over the next half hour or so Becca tried to explain why she sent Randy away and
stopped
accept
ing
visitors. He sat quietly, not saying a word.

“Well, if you’re done feeling sorry for yourself, pick up that phone and tell him to come and see you.”

Becca sniffled and narrowed her gaze at him. “Just like that?”

He nodded. “Just like that.”

Chief sat behind his cluttered desk, a
n
open file in front of him. Randy went straight for the coffee.

“Good morning, Chief.”
He
put the mug under his nose and inhaled the rich aroma. “Mm
m
, if God made anything
better than coffee, He kept it for Himself.”

“Do you want me to leave the two of you alone?” The chief peered over the rim of his reading glasses.

“Ha
ha.” He smirked and sat across the desk from his boss. The coffee tasted even better than it smelled. “So what’s on the agenda today?”

Chief nodded toward a pile of files. “Paperwork, unless something comes up.”

“Oh
,
goodie.” His phone
chim
ed
.
Randy
reached into his front pocket
and flipped it open. His
breath hitched. T
he number for the hospital
flashed
on his screen.