Muriel laughed, and the sound was so similar to Cain’s, Shelby felt sad.
“But she’s also been under your microscope for how long now?” Muriel lifted her big hands like a stop sign. “I’m just kidding with you, Agent Daniels. How’s my cousin doing today?”
“All this quiet and stillness doesn’t seem natural.” Shelby touched Cain’s cheek. “You’re right, though. I did watch her for months, but it didn’t prepare me for the day I met her.”
“Well, ma’am, we Caseys like to leave an impression when we can. How about you wait for me down in the cafeteria, and I’ll buy you a cup of coffee?”
“Please call me Shelby.”
Muriel’s phone started ringing, and she put one finger up. She listened and smiled at Shelby as whoever was on the other end finished talking. “Give me a minute, then bring her on up.”
Muriel held her hand out. “Please pardon the interruption, Shelby, and I insist you call me Muriel. I hate to hurry you, but we have to be going.”
“You’re evicting me?”
“You’re welcome to visit Cain whenever you wish, but Emma’s on her way up and needs some time alone. I hope you understand.”
Shelby kissed Cain’s hand and accepted Muriel’s escort downstairs. When the two passed a couple sitting in the waiting room holding a beautiful child, she stopped abruptly, stunned by the sight. The kid looked like a miniature version of Hayden. “Tell me she didn’t do that to Cain?”
“Shelby, I’m going to ask you as a favor to forget you saw that little girl for now. I have no right to ask, but I don’t want anyone to know just yet. My family’s still reeling from what happened to Cain because of Kyle, and I want to make sure there’s no one else on Bracato’s payroll. I don’t think even you know who to trust yet.”
Running her hand through her hair to get it out of her eyes, Shelby nodded. Muriel was right. They couldn’t know if Kyle had help. “If the secret comes out it won’t be from me, Muriel. I promise.”
They kept walking down the hall. “Does Cain know about her?”
“She knows about her.”
“How could Emma do that to her?”
“How indeed?”
*
The subject of their talk stood at the entrance to Cain’s room. Emma had tried to follow Merrick’s advice and take a nap, but sleep wasn’t coming. With Hayden still missing, she sought comfort the only place she could find it. She inched toward the bed and sat on the edge. The tube coming out of Cain’s mouth had left her lips chapped and dry, so she went for a wet towel.
“I wish you would wake up. There’s so much wrong, Cain, and I’m not sure if I know how to fix it. At least not without messing anything else up. Please come back to me.” She wiped until Cain’s lips looked moist.
“Ms. Casey,” said the large guard, who hadn’t left the hospital since Cain had been admitted.
“Lou, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry to interrupt, but there’s a couple waiting to see you. I wanted to give you a few minutes before I came in, though. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No problem.” She nodded at the big guy before turning back to Cain. “Don’t go anywhere, okay? I’ll be right back.”
Lou laughed as Emma headed out to the waiting room. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Casey. I’ll keep an eye on her and make sure she behaves until you get back.”
“Thanks, Lou.” The walk seemed longer as she left the intensive care unit and headed out to its waiting room. If it was either reporters or more legal authorities, she was going to have a meltdown. Both groups had been tying up the phone lines at the house to the point Carmen had taken the phones with listed numbers off the hook.
When she turned the corner she felt as if someone had thrown her a life preserver before she drowned in a sea of turmoil. The small figure sitting on her friend Maddie’s lap looked tense in the unfamiliar surroundings, but her face brightened overwhelmingly when Emma winked at her from the other side of the glass. For once the large number of men sitting in close proximity to her daughter didn’t bother Emma. It was a comfort to see Jarvis taking such good care of Hannah.
“Mama!”
“Hey, how’s Mama’s big girl?” She knelt on the hard tile floor so she could accept Hannah’s embrace.
The almost four-year-old held on to her as if she was afraid Emma would disappear again. “We gots to ride a big plane here, Mama, and Aunt Maddie said I could meet Haygen and Mom too.”
Hearing Hannah’s excitement about the big day she had waited for made Emma cry. She felt like a failure for not giving the little girl the simplest of wishes before now.
Maddie put her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “Emma, why’d we have to come here? Has something happened to Hayden? None of these guys would tell us anything.”
“There’ll be time later for me to explain, Maddie. Thank you and Jerry for coming and bringing Hannah, but I just can’t talk about it yet.” Emma stroked the child’s black hair, coming to a decision. “Do you mind waiting while I introduce Hannah to someone?”
“Go on, honey, and take your time. Jerry and I don’t have any place to be.”
Hannah glanced back and forth from her mother to Maddie, wearing a small frown. “I’m sorry, Mama.”
“What for, my love?”
“I didn’t mean to touch nothing.”
Emma smiled and kissed Hannah’s forehead. “Oh, baby girl, you aren’t in trouble, I just wanted to talk to you before I took you to see someone. Do you remember me telling you about your mom Cain?”
The little head nodded.
“Well, she wants to meet you, but she got hurt and has a big boo-boo.”
“We make it better, Mama?”
“We’ll try, angel. Do you want to go and see your mom?”
When Emma walked back into the unit holding Hannah’s hand, the nurses didn’t dare tell her children weren’t allowed. All of the men outside Cain’s door stared at the little girl in the pink dress. Emma could imagine what they were thinking—that maybe it was a good thing the boss was out for the count at the moment.
She picked Hannah up as they entered the room and sat close to Cain’s head. “Honey, I know you can hear me, so I want you to open your eyes and meet your daughter. Cain, she’s waited so long for this. Please don’t disappoint her.”
Before Emma could stop her, Hannah reached out and put her hand over Cain’s mouth. “Mom, it’s me, Hannah. Mama said it was okay to come see you now.”
The fog was thick where Cain was stuck, but she could hear voices. A panicked shock stalled her emotions because no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t open her eyes. Something had happened. She felt paralyzed. But no amount of concentration could make her remember. It was a soft slap to the mouth that made her eyes flutter.
“That’s it, baby, come back to us. I need you,” said Emma. It wasn’t important that Hannah had crawled out of her lap and was pulling on Cain’s top lip. She focused on the struggle Cain was going through to open her eyes. The hand she was holding had come back to life, as did the monitor next to the bed as Cain’s heartbeat increased.
Mother and daughter jumped a little when blue eyes opened without warning. Cain inhaled sharply, struggling to figure out what had a death-grip on her lip. The pain stopped her from moving around too much and from taking too deep a breath. Not having full control was making Cain panic.
“Don’t try to move, baby. You’ve been hurt.”
Really. I wouldn’t have guessed that on my own. Cain blinked a few times and noticed Emma hadn’t heard her comment. She could have sworn she had been actually talking. She managed to turn her head a little and found a beautiful sight—the little girl from the farm next to Ross’s. This was her little girl, hers and Emma’s.
“Hannah, this is your Mom Cain, and she’s been looking forward to meeting you. Only she might feel better if you stop pulling on her like that.” Emma heard her own voice quiver and wished the introductions could have been like she had dreamed so many times, with Cain scooping the little girl into her arms and giving her a big kiss. The blue eyes looking up at her told her that was exactly what Cain would have done if she’d been able. “Baby, this is your daughter, Hannah Marie Casey.”