Chapter 13 - The Sterile Dawn
Waking up this time was entirely different.
There was no smell of gun smoke or burning pine. There was no dread of footfalls in the corridor. The light filtering through the window was clean, golden morning sunshine, warming the pale blue blankets of a private recovery room at Walter Reed Medical Center.
Adrian opened his eyes.
Beside the bed, sitting in an armchair with her legs tucked under her, Elena was reading a picture book aloud. In her lap sat Mia, chewing thoughtfully on an apple slice.
When the cardiac monitor gave a soft double-chirp as his heart rate rose, Mia looked up instantly.
"Uncle Ade!" she squealed, scrambling off Elena’s lap and running to the bedside rail.
Adrian smiled beneath his nasal cannula. He raised a hand—bandaged, clean, but still bearing the indelible tattoos of his past—and tapped the tip of her nose.
"Hey, little bird."
Elena stood up, a deep, peaceful smile transforming her face. The exhaustion that had hollowed her cheeks for weeks was gone, replaced by a radiant calm.
"You’ve been out for four days," Elena said softly, stepping close and placing her hand over his. "Dr. Chen said you have the constitution of a bull elephant. All three gunshot wounds missed major arteries. They repaired the abdominal wall."
"Sterling?" Adrian asked, his voice still hoarse.
May you like
"Indicted on thirty-two counts, including two counts of capital murder," Elena replied. "His bail was denied. The entire board was dismantled by the Department of Justice. It’s over, Adrian. Truly over."
Adrian looked out the window at the green lawn below, where families walked under the shade of blooming dogwoods. For the first time in his forty-two years of life, he didn't feel hunted. He didn't feel the crushing weight of a debt that could never be repaid.
