“I bet. Let’s get you more morphine. They’ll hook you up to a morphine pump when we get you upstairs, and then you’ll be able to control your pain relief yourself.”
The nurse returned with a syringe and injected something into Naomi’s IV, and she drifted off. But it wasn’t peaceful sleep.
In her dreams, she was falling and falling, fear chasing her.
Chapter 4
Naomi wokeas she was wheeled into a hospital room. She was still groggy on anesthesia and pain meds, the world coming together in random pieces. Bright lights. A window with a view of mountains. People in blue scrubs.
“Hi, Naomi. I’m Ellie. I’ll be your nurse for the next few hours. We’re going to take good care of you.” Ellie hooked her up to the morphine pump and explained how it worked. “When you need pain relief, push this button. Easy enough?”
Naomi nodded, more alert now.
“It sounds like you’ve had a rough time of it. I’m very sorry.”
“Does everyone here know what happened to me?”
Ellie fiddled with Naomi’s IV line. “My fiancé was one of the Team members who helped in your rescue—Jesse Moretti. Also, Scarlet Springs is a very small town.”
“I remember Jesse.”
Ellie gave a little laugh. “He’ll be gratified to hear that.”
“Is that where I am—Scarlet Springs?” She remembered driving past the town on her way up to the campground.
Ellie adjusted the blood pressure cuff that Naomi hadn’t noticed on her arm. “Yep. Scarlet Springs, population less than fifteen hundred.”
The town where Naomi had lived as a child had been smaller than that. She had spent her entire life wanting to escape. “Is it a good place to live?”
“I love it, but then I grew up here.” Ellie gave her a warm smile. “The doctor should be in shortly to talk with you about the surgery. Also, you have a visitor.”
“A visitor?” Naomi’s heart gave a sick thud. “I don’t know anyone here.”
Had someone tracked down Peter and Ruth?
“Remember Winona? She came to check on you.”
“Winona?” Naomi found herself smiling, relieved. “She’s here?”
Ellie patted Naomi’s arm. “I’ll send her in.”
A moment later the door opened, and Winona entered. “Hey, there.”
Naomi recognized her, and yet she’d been so out of it earlier that it was almost as if she were seeing Winona for the first time. “Hey.”
Winona’s shoulder-length black hair was tucked behind one ear, her brown eyes warm. It took her a moment to notice what Winona was carrying.
Naomi stared. “Flowers?”
No one had ever brought her flowers.
Winona set the vase down on the bedside table, gerbera daisies in pink, white, and yellow keeping company with white and pink roses in a vase of pink glass. “It must be hard to be in the hospital so far from home.”
“Thanks—and thanks for finding me out there. I don’t know what would have happened if you and Shota hadn’t come along.”
She probably would have died.
“You’re welcome.” Winona sat in the chair next to the bed. “How do you feel?”