"Go ahead, Cory," a woman said, "you won't hurt her."

Her drugged brain processed the name. Cory. Cory...Chamberlain. Richard Chamberlain. Richard...Cory? He glittered. Bullet in his head.

Two warm hands cradled Helen's left hand. "I'm here, Helen. Stacey's here. She wants you to come out and play."

An odd beep sounded from an apparatus.

"Her heart is strong," the woman said in rea.s.surance. "Maybe it's her way of saying h.e.l.lo."

"I saw the wreckage in the paper," Stacey said. "I think coverage was greater with Helen and Blair so well known to the public."

Stacey. Friend.

"Names sell," Cory said. "Helen was right about that."

A blanket was placed over Helen's hand. There was a draft on her eyes and lips. The jangling of a cart drew her attention. Beneath closed eyelids, she shifted her eyes toward the sound.

"Your friend is doing well," a different female said. "Helen's breathing is upgraded, but her physician wants to use the external air for a while."

Nurse.

"Has she been awake?" Cory asked.

"Awake, yes. Full of conversation, no. She watched on and off while I sponge bathed her."

"Did she say anything?" Cory asked.

"She was funny. I was changing a dressing on her stomach and she said 'Hurts.' I told her she went through quite an ordeal. Then she said 'Cramps.' I nearly wet my pants from laughing."

Helen's good arm was moved and poked.

"She's blown an IV. I'll get someone from hematology up here."

"Do you suppose she can hear us?" Cory asked.

Helen had been listening, in and out of sleep, but it required too much energy for her to stay awake. Her pain was intense, consciousness bearable only for so long, but she knew Cory was there.

h.e.l.lo, baby.

She wondered if the crash burned her body. It felt so. Her right side throbbed with pain. Her face was itchy. Curiously, her left side felt good, not restricted by gauze and plaster.

Plaster. What color? And what's that tube? It makes me want to pee. What's the word? I can't think. Catharsis? Cathode? Kathryn Howard? Katherine Parr?

Helen drifted.

"I have work to do," the nurse said. "If you need me, push the b.u.t.ton on the wall. I'll turn off the video monitor for now, and you can have some privacy."

Monitor. Catheter. Of Aragon. And Helen slept again.

Quiet room. Hungry. Sunday? Monday?

"I've brought you some scrubs and bath essentials, if you want to stay the night," a female said. "These aren't chic, but they're fresh. Use Helen's shower if you like."

"Thanks, Linda."

Glitter. She smiled internally.

The scent of generic soap grew stronger and stung Helen's nose. The sound of a chair dragged across the floor, came close, and stopped at her bed. Two warm hands took hold of hers.

"I'll stay with you tonight," Cory said.

Helen summoned enough strength to squeeze Cory's hand.

"Helen? Can you talk to me?"

Helen slowly opened her eyes and looked at her for the first time in-how long? It took all of her power, but she managed to pull Cory's hand to her lips. She kissed a finger, not knowing if it was her hand, or Cory's, her lips had touched.

"Sorry," Helen whispered, tears in her eyes.

"For what?"

"Boston," she managed to say.

"It's not your fault."

"Burned?" She struggled to touch her bandaged face.

Cory shook her head. "No. Your nose is broken."

"Blair?" When Cory didn't answer, Helen knew.

"We'll talk about Blair when you're feeling better."

"Luhfyoo." Her bandages caught her tears. She closed her eyes, welcoming sleep.

Cory nodded. "Luhfyoo, too."

Chapter Eighteen.

Brisk daytime voices nudged Helen from a light sleep. Carts, trays, and dishes clanged and chattered in the hall. The smell of bacon wafted directly to her brain. As much as she wanted to have a meal, sleep remained her best pain reliever.

Footsteps came near her bed.

"Good morning, Helen. It's Dr. O'Brien again," he said. "I have some students with me and we'll review your injuries. Is that okay with you?"

Talk? Her? She forced her eyes open. "Okay," she said with less force than their first meeting.

"Good. I hope you rested well last night. We're going to give you an injection of Demerol first. The nurse will change your bandages during the briefing and you might feel some stinging."

Was he kidding? All through the night, Helen had been stabbed with needles, disturbed with an annoying trucks-backing-up sounds when her monitors went haywire, and subjected to nurses' station laughter from the amiable and bored night shift who took it upon themselves to play Twenty Questions at the expense of her R&R. And who in the h.e.l.l scheduled her good limbs for physical therapy in the middle of the night? Had she slept well? Yes, a long, long time ago.

Helen didn't answer. The effects of a new dose of pain reliever erased her brain enough to enjoy intermittent moments of rest but also enlightenment to the extent of her injuries.

"Her right side took the brunt of the accident. Her femur was broken in three places, and her foot was nearly severed at the ankle. The ankle has since been rebuilt with t.i.tanium and there has been no rejection by the surrounding tissue...

"...slash on her abdomen exposed the colon...no organs were damaged, but the right kidney was bruised...internal bleeding was limited to the bowel...right shoulder dislocated...forearm was broken...multiple lacerations and avulsions..."

I survived this?

Bandages were peeled from her face.

"...broken nose was her only direct facial injury...but she suffered a deep gash from her chin along...general bruising and sc.r.a.pes along her right side."

"Was she burned?" an unfamiliar voice asked. "Did she suffer any spinal injuries?"

"Surprisingly not," Dr. O'Brien said. "...in and out of consciousness for five days...progress is good...vital signs are holding steadily...turning her over to her private physician...I'll check on her, as will the orthopedic surgeon."

She slept for what felt like hours. No voices came and went. She still smelled bacon, and her mouth watered. The steady rhythm of a monitor lulled her back to sleep.

"She's pleased with the vitals," the nurse said.

"Yes, I am. I'm Dr. Santos, and you are...?"

"Cory Chamberlain."

Helen's ears p.r.i.c.kled toward the sound of Cory's voice.

"I'd like to speak to Ms. Chamberlain alone." She removed the oxygen tube from Helen's nose. "Helen's a good friend of mine, and she's told me about you. It's nice meeting you."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Teresa."

"Call me Cory. What has she told you?"

"You're lovers."

"Thank G.o.d." She sounded relieved. "I won't have to be clever with the way I word questions and answers."

"Helen's chart is remarkable," Teresa said. "Heart rate: sixty-eight. Blood pressure: one twenty-two over eighty. Respiration: seventeen. Temperature: ninety-nine point three. Other than a slight elevation in temperature, do you know what this tells me?"

"She's sleeping," Cory said.

"Exactly. She could have a quick recovery, but her brain tells her to reject the pain. It's acceptable for some people, but I don't want her to hide. I've been her physician for twelve years. I know her body and habits. If she's conscious and dealing with her injuries, she'll be out of here in record time."

"n.o.body wants to be aware of pain. She knows what she's doing," Cory said. She took Helen's left hand into hers.

"I have no doubt. It wouldn't even surprise me if she was listening."

d.a.m.n.

"What do you suggest, then?"

"You could wake her up."

"Can I do that?"

"Why not?"

"She looks so fragile. Can't we let her sleep?"

Sleep. Night-night.

"She's hiding. Wake her up and she'll recover quickly. That would be the strength of Helen's will."

Will Penny. Penny candy. Candy. I read that. Oh, Daddy.

"I don't want her to hurt."

Teresa countered. "I won't say it again, Cory. Being conscious could mean a vast difference in time for her healing process."

Pasteurized process?

"Why saddle me with this decision?"

"Because you love her. Because you want her back. Think selfishly if you have to."

Appeal to the heart. Double major in psych? Major minor? Major pain.

"You do it," Cory said. "I've already caused her enough pain."

I miss you, baby.

"I'm her physician, and she'll fight me. You're her reason. Go ahead, Cory. Wake her up."