Haley woke slowly, and unlike in the cave with Cam wrapped snugly around her, this time she had no lingering sense of warmth and security.
She sat up in the hospital bed, glaring down at the cast on her ankle. A federal agent sat by her bed. He smiled at her when she blinked warily.
"I understand you have quite a story for me," he said.
She nodded, nervous. But she told him everything-from the beginning-wanting to get it over with. When she'd finished, she waited for his disbelief.
Instead, he put away his small recorder and notepad. He stood and smiled gently. "Thank you. You've been great, very helpful." He handed her a card. "Can you keep me informed of your whereabouts in case I have any more questions?"
Or in case they need to arrest me, she thought glumly.
"Do you need a lift?"
"I'm… free to go?"
He looked at her strangely. "Of course."
A nurse slipped into the room. "Oh! You're awake." She smiled cheerfully at Haley. "The doctor released you, honey."
Haley forced herself to smile. "Great. Thanks." She waited until both the nurse and the agent had left the room to wilt back against her pillow.
She was free to go.
But where to? She'd lost her taste for geology, at least for the time being. Pushing up from the bed, she reached for her crutches. She'd been working so intensely for so long… For the first time ever, she felt as though she needed a break.
A vacation.
The thought made her smile sadly. She didn't want a vacation; she wanted to live in a huge, cluttered ranch house with noisy, caring, loving people all around to tease and torment daily. She wanted Colorado and its wide-open skies, glorious mountains… and Cam. She wanted Cam.
But that wasn't meant to be. Not after what she'd put him and his family through.
She hadn't seen him since they'd arrived. She'd fallen asleep and he'd been gone when she'd wakened.
Just as well. It would make it easier to leave.
She tried out the crutches, tentatively moving about the room. It was clumsy and awkward, but manageable. But then she caught sight of her image in the bathroom mirror and cringed. Her hair stuck up over one ear. What little makeup she had left was under her eyes. The nurse had cleaned and bandaged her face, getting most of the blood off, but she looked gray and wan. She turned away, disgusted.
She could remember every agonizing second of their helicopter trip. From what Haley understood, Search and Rescue had searched frantically for them until it had been too dark. Then Zach had spent an uneasy night, divided between pacing at the hospital while Nellie labored, and being terrified for them.
They'd resumed their search at first light.
The helicopter crash and resulting explosion had led them right to Cam and Haley.
She knew the USGS wanted to talk to her. She'd tell them everything she knew-except how to re-create her system.
Pacing, she continued to experiment with the crutches, but soon, too soon, her muscles quivered with fatigue. And her brain hurt from thinking.
She'd never be able to forget how she'd put them all in danger. Zach could have been killed. So could Jason and Nellie, but they'd gotten out safely, thank God. And Cam… She'd nearly lost him, as well. The sight of him hanging onto the cliff by his bloody fingers as the helicopter blew up only a few feet away from him was going to haunt her forever.
On her second awkward circle around the room, Haley saw her purse. Cam had put it on the nightstand for her. That was it, then. She had everything she'd come with and there was nothing to stop her from leaving. Swinging the strap over her shoulder, she moved toward the door, but the purse kept swiveling in front of her thigh and getting caught in the crutches, making her trip.
She didn't want to go.
It hurt that she'd never see Nellie again. Or Jason and Zach. She'd have liked to say goodbye, but she had to go now, before she lost her nerve.
Liar, she thought. It would be too hard to say goodbye to the only people who had ever truly cared about her, and the guilt she felt would break her.
The door opened suddenly, and she stopped short.
Cam stood there, holding a fistful of wildflowers and a bag. Her heart tripped at the wonderful, familiar sight of him-the one man who'd stolen her heart, her soul, her love.
But his soft, easy smile faded when he took in the crutches and Haley reaching for the door handle. A huge frown creased his face when he spotted the purse slung over her shoulder. "You shouldn't be up. God, Haley, look at you." He tossed the flowers and the bag onto the chair and reached for her. "You're shaking. You look like you're going to pass out any second."
Backing her gently to the bed, he fretted over her while she sat stiffly, nervously. She hadn't planned on having to see him again, certainly hadn't figured on what it would do to her insides. He had a bandage on his forehead and his golden hair fell across it in a roguish sort of way. Those deep brown eyes looked at her with a mixture of affection, worry and- She slammed her own eyes shut against the onslaught of emotion that he caused.
She had no right, she thought as her throat closed up, no right at all to have him look at her with that much heat, that much hunger and love. "You brought me flowers," she said breathlessly.
"And a change of clothes. Why are you up?" he demanded.
He'd cleaned up, donned a fresh shirt. She tried not to notice how nicely it stretched over his shoulders. It was tucked into black jeans that had faded from too many washings, making them soft and snug enough to show off every exceptional inch of his lean hips and long legs.
Impatiently, he set his fists on his hips, bringing them to her attention. The big, gentle hands she'd come to love so much were bandaged. Because of her.
She tried to swallow the lump away, but it couldn't be budged. Damn him. Did he have to stand there looking better than any man had a right to look after the ordeal they'd been through?
"I thought you were sleeping," he accused. "I wouldn't have left if I'd known you'd wake up."
"I was sleeping." Couldn't he see how difficult this was for her? "I'm sleeped out, I guess."
"And ready to go," he added softly. His jaw tightened as he looked at her purse, then at the way she gripped her crutches like a lifeline. "My God. That's what you were doing when I came in just now, isn't it?"
Her guilty little start gave her away.
"Haley-"
But whatever he was going to say faded away as three grownups, a wheelchair and a baby all struggled to fit through the doorway at the same time.
Cam took one look at Zach, and then Jason pushing Nellie, who held the baby, and groaned audibly, confusing Haley.
"I told you I'd handle this," he said to them through his teeth.
Surprised by his rudeness, Haley looked at her extended family with a mixture of bittersweet pain and joy. It seemed that she would have to say goodbye, after all.
Zach squeezed past the wheelchair, coming forward to give Haley a gentle hug. "Are you doing okay?"
Cam muttered something under his breath about meddling family members.
Zach glanced at Cam, then back to Haley's tense face. "Is he being nice enough, Haley? Need me to sue him for you?"
"No, thanks." She felt a little overwhelmed by how much they obviously cared. "He's…" She looked at Cam, who had tipped his head back, studying the ceiling beseechingly, as if waiting for divine intervention. "He's being nice."
Jason scooped the bundle of joy from Nellie's lap and brought her forward to show her off. Peeling back the blanket, he revealed the sleeping infant.
"Oh," Haley whispered, reaching out to run a finger over the soft cheek. The little nose, the closed eyes, the tiny perfect red lips. Had she ever seen anything so lovely? "She's beautiful, Jason, so beautiful."
"Her name is Ally. And she looks just like me." He glanced at Cam's tight face, then grinned at Haley. "You are going to take mercy on him, aren't you, Haley?"