Chasing Constellations (The UGS Constellation Series) (8 page)

Chapter 12

The soft rhythmic beeping is what finally awoke Elisa, the annoying sound pounding into her sub consciousness like a jack hammer. Stark white walls greeted her as she finally peeled her eyes open. She wasn’t one that imbibed in alcohol and imagined this is what it must feel like to wake up with a hangover.

Groaning softly, she tried to lift her
hand, but was stopped as intense pain met her movements. Glancing down, she saw tape held an IV in the crook of her elbow. “What the…?”

“Easy now Miss. Let me just adjust the bed and we’ll get you something to drink. Would you like that dear?” The
soft, warm voice of a female drew Elisa’s attention to her left where a woman in an obvious nurse’s outfit was turning the volume down on one of the beeping machines. The nurse turned and helped Elisa sit up when she was done, holding the cup of water for her to drink from.

After Elisa took the small paper cup and drained it several times, she allowed herself to lie
back on the bed once more and took a moment to look around her. She was in a hospital. She was in a hospital and hooked up to machines. “How did I get here? Wait…
where
is here? I’m really getting sick of being just dropped wherever and never knowing
how
I got there!”

“I’m Nurse Karen and you’re at San Francisco Metro Hospital. I’m not sure what happened to you
before, but a young man dropped you off. I’m going to guess from what you just said that you don’t remember what happened?” The kindly looking older woman peered at Elisa with concern. Her dark blond hair was pulled back into a tight bun, making her slightly rounded face stand out more. Those deep brown eyes held a world of caring in them as they moved over Elisa’s face.

Elisa shook her head, her brows pinching together into a frown. The last thing she remembered was being on the ship with Healer Yannick and Cha
se. She was still shocked that he was a commander and not just some random man that was drawn with morbid curiosity to the murders. She knew there was more to that, but hadn’t been able to ask him about it yet.

Cha
se must have taken me here instead of to the house for some reason. Maybe he thinks I won’t want to go back or he doesn’t want to be responsible for me?
Whatever the reason she was sure she didn’t want to stay here for very long.

“The friend you spoke of that dropped me off?” Nurse Karen stopped her fiddling and looked up expectantly at Elisa. “Was he tall with long black hair and very light blue eyes?” Elisa relaxed back against the bed with a smile when the nurse nodded.

“When will the doctor be in?”

“He’s making his rounds now and should be here in a few minutes sweetheart.”

“How long have I been here?”

“Hmm, according to your charts you were brought in about eleven at night, you’ve been out since then and it’s now three in the morning so you’ve been out for a little while but that’s nothing to be concerned about. The first doctor that saw you before shift change gave you a dose of pain medicine because you seemed to be hurting. Do you have any allergies we need to be worried about dear? Good, your friend didn’t think you were but it’s best to find out from the patient themselves whenever we can. Is there anything you need before I go see my other patients dear?” When Elisa gave a negative shake of her head to both questions she made a note on her chart, then smiled and moved to the side of the bed after attaching it to the foot of her bed before turning towards the curtain where she paused and pointed to a device by Elisa’s head. “There’s a controller, there draped over the head of the bed, if you need anything just press the little red button and a nurse will come as soon as one of us is able to. You just rest until the doctor gets here ok?”

Elisa watched as the nurse slipped through the soft tan curtain with a flutter of fabric. The divider wasn’t able to settle as an older gentleman in a doctor’s smock walked in followed by an officer in a tan uniform and smiled at her.  The tired but friendly smile he gave her fluttered over his brown eyes made Elisa smile back, her eyes trailing over his softer features. She guessed that he was in his
late fifties by the salt and pepper, brown hair and the wrinkles that gave him the look of everyone’s favorite grandfather.

“I’m Doctor Evans and this is Officer Jackson, how’re you feeling Elisa?” Without
waiting for her to answer, he grabbed the clipboard from the foot of the bed and read whatever the nurse had written then put it back and approached her.

“I want to go home Doctor. When can I leave?” Elisa watched as he rested his hands against the side of her bed. She knew she was being
pushy, but she truly hated hospitals and didn’t want to be there a second longer than she needed to.

“I’m sorry to say
sweetheart, but you were beaten pretty badly and I’m not sure when you’ll be heading home. We might have to admit you into the hospital for observation, judging by the damage to your head, it’s very likely that you have a concussion and we need to make sure there’s no other damage.

“
Thankfully the other tests come back as ok, so you don’t have any internal damage or broken bones or factures but I’d still rather be sure you’re safe to go home. Do you live alone? Do you have anyone that could stay with you if you were released?” Said the doctor as he moved the stethoscope from his neck and began to check her breathing and other vitals.

“I don’t see why I have to stay Doctor and no
offense, but I want to go home. I… I don’t have any family…” Taking a deep breath, Elisa was about to go on when the officer stepped forward and cleared his throat to gain her attention.

“I’m
sorry, Miss, but it is standard procedure whenever there’s been a domestic violence case brought into the hospital for them to call us. I have to file a report.” The man looked like he had just graduated from the police academy, and if Elisa weren’t already interested in Chase she might have been taken with him.

The rugged good looks of the officer were dark and brooding from his nearly
black, brown intense eyes to his dark curly hair that was cut short to his head. While her eyes traveled up and down the long length of his body, the officer fiddled with a few pieces of paper before stepping forward enough to pass them to her.

“I need you to fill this out as much as you can, Miss Jones.” When he stepped back Elisa looked down at the pages and sighed, “It’s just a standard report form. Fill it out as best as you can with as much as you remember and I’ll go and file
the report for you. You might need to come back to the station in a day or two if one of the Detectives has any further questions for you.”

“Oh! Detective Tanner knows me.
Um, could you please have someone call him and tell him I’m here? I’m sure he needs to know and I have no idea where the card he gave me is. I don’t even know where my purse is.” Elisa wasn’t really paying attention to the others in the room as she looked about her for a pen which the Doctor passed to her. With a smile of thanks she pulled the rolling table closer and began to fill out the form, shuddering as she remembered yet again what happened. She hoped she didn’t have to relive it again, but something told her that she would have to at least tell David about it.

As she was passing the report back to the officer the curtain moved once more. This time it was the welcome sight of Cha
se coming to stand on the other side of the bed from her that drew a relieved and grateful smile from her. “Chase, what’re you doing here? I thought you were being grilled down stairs?”

With a chuckle Cha
se leaned forward and carefully placed his hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek tenderly before saying, “I couldn’t stay away from you Anare. I needed to make sure you were ok.

“When can she come home
, Doctor? I will stay with her until she’s back to her beautiful self.” Chase leaned forward and brushed his nose lightly against her forehead before placing a gentle kiss on her brow. His eyes, however, turned quickly towards the doctor as he straightened back up.

Elisa closed her eyes at the soft touch as she lost the battle against the soft moan his touch brought to her chest.

Her breath had caught in her chest when she first saw him walk through those curtains like he owned the placed. She had never seen anything sexier than the tall, well-built man with the predatory gait walking towards her and knew she looked like an idiot as she all but drooled at what she witnessed.

He was wearing tight black slacks that hugged every inch of his waist and thighs, tucked into the waist was a brown silk shirt that stretched
decadently across his chest. She nearly swooned when his warm hand touched her, and she just knew when she became lost in his piercing blue eyes that he had seen the way she shifted on the bed as she clenched her thighs together.

“I’d like to keep her overnight but I don’t think that’ll happen.
Since all of the other tests came back as good, if bruised, then she can go home, but… “ The doctor paused as he gave them both a stern look, then cut his eyes over to the officer still standing in the front corner, “I don’t want anything strenuous and you’re to take at least twenty four hours to rest and relax. Don’t lift anything, make sure she stays awake for the next twelve hours at least or at the very least wake her every few hours. If she starts to slur her words or can’t remember how to count to ten, then I want you to bring her back here with no excuses. Understand? No lifting, no cooking, and certainly no… extra activities! And I want you to see your normal doctor in a few days. I’m going to send some pain medication with you and I want you to take it if the pain becomes too much ok? I’ll go start the release papers and the nurse will bring them to you in a moment.”

The doctor watched both of them, only continuing when he received a nod from both of them. With a smile and
a nod of his own he patted Elisa’s shoulder once more before saying, “I hope I never see you like this again in my Emergency Room young lady.” With that he turned and left the little exam room.

“We need to talk Elisa, but not here. I’ll stay with you because you don’t need to be alone tonight and I won’t hear anything about it. Is there anything else you need on the way home?”

Elisa shook her head and smiled, still reeling over the soft brush of his lips against her forehead and the fact that the doctor was releasing her so suddenly when he seemed so adamant about keeping her over night before. Wondering if Chase had something to do with that, she was about to answer when his hand slid from her cheek to her lips, a single finger pressing them together as he nodded towards the opening before moving to trace her lips. Seconds later the same nurse as before walked in with a frown marring her kind face.

“I don’t understand
why, but Doctor Evans said you can go home since there’s nothing we can do other than observe you.” She said as she passed Chase a stack of papers and a bottle of medication already filled.

“Don’t leave town Miss Jones, Detective Tanner wants to talk to
you, but he’s unable to meet you here. He said he would meet you at your house in an hour or two if that’s alright?” as he spoke the officer stepped forward, interrupting the two others before they could talk further. “Here’s my card and the report number on it in case you need it later. If you have any concerns or questions, please feel free to call. Have a good evening.”

Watching as the officer nodded to them and the nurse, she was slightly concerned as the officer left so easily. Elisa sat dumbfounded by the soft concern she had seen in Cha
se’s eyes, the nurse proceeded to unhook the various monitors and IV from her. While the nurse worked explained the various papers she had given to Chase. Telling him what signs to watch her for, how he was to wake her every few hours and when to give her the medication. She repeated the doctor’s orders, by telling her yet again to make sure she went to her normal physician in a few days for a checkup. By the time she had finished both, Elisa was free of the various cords attached to her and being helped into her shoes by Chase.

“Did you do that Cha
se? Get them to let me leave without being badgered, without having to stay overnight here?” The whispered words barely left her lips, soft enough that only Chase could hear them.

Once the nurse left Cha
se, after cutting her another spine tingling smile, gathered the papers and medicine, then helped her out of the bed, leaving one arm wrapped carefully around her shoulders. He gave her a slight squeeze against his side as he led her out of the little exam area and through the hospital to the main doors where a car was waiting.

Elisa gasped as she saw that it wasn’t just some clunker that Cha
se was leading her to but a long sleek black limo. She didn’t recognize him, but the man holding the back door open for them seemed to know Chase. “Commander, it’s good to see you out of there. You must be Elisa, I’m Palee Stalvik but you can call me Tracker.”

Elisa paused as she gazed at the man holding the door. While he wasn’t as tall as
her Chase he was definitely just as good looking, his nearly white eyes held a slight amber hue to them that twinkled with hidden mischief. She glanced at the hand the man held out to her and paused for just a moment before she realized that he wasn’t holding it out to shake as was customary, instead he held it palm up and when she placed her own into it she gasped as he lifted it to his lips and placed an almost reverent kiss to the back of her knuckles. Amazed at the act she stepped back to take the man in.