I'm having fun with this, hope you are too. Yeah, I need a Beta reader, I can't catch all my errors. Forgive me.
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Chapter 2
Nineteen hours later Charlotte awoke to a darkened room. The late afternoon sun gave little illumination. Her mind was still fuzzy from the drugs; medically legal and illegal administered earlier at the bar. She did not register the IV in her hand and the sound of monitors above her head. Any movement shot pain through her body causing her to moan and grimace. The man sitting next to her pressed the call button and the button for the PCA self-medication pump.
Moments later the nurse came in. "She's awake, in pain. I gave her a dose," said the man.
The new duty nurse looked at the medium complexion man, broad shoulders, muscular arms, blonde hair and the intense emerald eyes. "Is she a relative?" she asked.
Lester explained to the new duty nurse he was private security protecting the patient until she was released. It was a little lie. His reason for being there was strictly personal.
"Mrs. Williams, Mrs. Williams," the nurse spoke quietly. The patient slowly looked towards the sound. "I'm your nurse, you are in the hospital. You have been given something for the pain. Do you understand?"
The patient just stared.
"Is there someone you want us to call?" the nurse asked.
Charlotte continued to stare.
The nurse left.
Lester Santos took Charlotte's hand and started rubbing it and talking. Her eyes moved to him and watched. Over time her eye sight and mind cleared enough to whisper, "Nurse?"
"Would you like a sip of water?"
She stared at Lester. Les put the straw to her mouth, "Sip." She did took a small sip and let the straw drop from her mouth. At least she had swallowed. "Do you remember your name?"
No response.
As the hours passed she dozed and woke to stare at the man beside her.
"Do you remember me?" Lester asked. He was mesmerized by her eyes, lovely red hair, ivory white skin and a sprinkling of freckles across her face.
She looked at Lester but could not remember the previous night. "Accident?" she whispered.
"In a manner of speaking, you were stabbed."
"Where?"
"In your abdomen." Lester answered.
Her mind was too foggy to realize he was trying to be funny. Instead she again stared at the wall.
After a while she spoke again, "Where am I?"
"St. Francis Hospital in Trenton."
Total bewilderment crossed her face, "Why?"
"You were assaulted in a bar," Lester answered. He had been told she would be confused and unable to remember for a while.
She looked at Lester, "I don't understand."
"I can't say more until the police talk to you, just know you are going to be alright."
"Police? Please, tell me more!"
"He can't." said the dark haired man with the tired eyes and 15 pounds extra on his belly. His clothes were rumpled as if he had slept in them. His hair was thinning and he was vainly trying to conceal it with a comb over. Nodding to Lester he showed his identification to Charlotte, "I'm Carl Copatchek detective with Mercer County sheriff."
She didn't understand. The man may have said he was from Mars.
"I need to ask you questions."
Charlotte began to panic, "I don't know…." Lester reached out and took her hand to comfort her.
"Ma'am do you know your name?"
"Ah, I am…." She shut her eyes, "No." Her eyes scrunched up as if she would cry, but she remained dry.
"Do you know where you are?"
She looked at Lester, "Hospital?"
"Ma'am you were drugged and stabbed last night," the detective said coldly. At least the exterior was cold. He had enough control to hide the rage inside. Diamonds had always been a hell hole but any effort to condemn it or close it failed.
Charlotte stared at him.
"Do you remember anything from last night?" The detective asked calmly.
"No."
"Ma'am do you take sleeping aids?"
"I don't know." Her voice was almost whiny. She was confused, in pain and afraid.
"You had Rohypnol in your system."
Charlotte was quiet for a while as she willed her mind to work. "Rooo?"
"It's a sedative but also used to drug people without their knowledge. It is one of the date rape drugs."
"Rape?!" Her heart rate jumped.
Quickly the detective added, "Ma'am you were not raped. According to witnesses you had only one or two sips of liquor. The substitute bartender carefully preserved the water glass, liquor glass and bottle. The preliminary report indicates the water was drugged, not the alcohol. According to two witnesses you were arguing with your date about the veracity of the alcohol. Do you know about liquor?"
Charlotte shut her eyes for a minute and hissed in pain. "I don't know."
"I'm sorry ma'am, I know you are in pain, I'll try not to be much longer. You said the drink tasted like scotch whiskey."
She began breathing faster, "Why can't I remember what happened?"
"It's the Rohypnol ma'am; it causes short term amnesia that may last for several days. Do you know Daryl Piras?"
"He is a liquor distributor in Trenton."
"When did you last see him?"
"Months ago." She had no memory of the previous night or the meeting earlier in the day with other Trenton liquor distributors.
"What are you doing in Trenton?"
Charlotte looked at the detective with bewilderment bordering on panic. The nurse came in, "Enough questions for now, detective."
"Yes ma'am. Mrs. Williams, I sorry to have bothered you. Please rest and I will return when your memory returns." The police man walked out, neither upset nor happy. He suspected she'd still be under the drugs' influence.
The nurse came close to Charlotte and adjusted the pillow before checking the readouts. "How do you feel?"
"Please, something for the pain," Charlotte begged.
The nurse looked at the man beside the bed. "Did you push the button?"
He replied, "Not in four hours."
"Mrs. Williams, on a scale of one to ten, how would you rank your pain?"
Charlotte gasped, "Eight." She was beginning to hyperventilate.
The nurse pressed the button, "Let the drug work. In the meantime, rest, try to relax and control your breathing. See if that helps." The nurse looked at Lester. He replied, "I need to stay with Mrs. Williams as I explained earlier."
As the nurse left Lester moved closer to Charlotte and took her hand, "I can lead you in breathing exercises to help relax you and hopefully reduce the pain."
She looked at his green eyes, as emerald as hers and nodded. "You have green eyes too," she said.
He smiled, "Yeah, we green eyed people must stick together." His other hand went to her red hair and stoked it.
"Why?"
That stopped Lester for a moment. "There are very few of us. Only 2% of the world eye color is green, brown is over half."
"Who is Mrs. Williams?"
"That is your name."
"Oh."
Lester Santos led Charlotte in breathing and relaxation exercises concentrating on awareness of her breathing, expanding and slowing her breath. She could feel her body relax and the pain level began falling. He saw a slight smile come to her lips, "That's right, let your body heal, don't fight it."
After a while she opened her eyes, "Thank you whoever you are."
"I'm Lester Santos with Rangeman Security. I'm here to keep you safe," he said softly. He knew though, since he was using his off hours, he'd have to return to work in a few hours, leaving her alone.
She jerked, "Security, am I in danger?" Her breathing became shallow and rapid again, her muscles tensed and the pain level increased.
"Breathe Mrs. Williams, slow down. There are many unanswered questions that will take time to answer. Until we know more, we want you safe."
"I'm sorry I don't know your name."
Lester was stunned, he just told her. "I'm Lester. Mrs. Williams is there anyone you want me or the hospital to contact?"
"No."
"Do you have a husband?" He didn't see a wedding ring on her left hand but noted a ring mark on her right hand.
She frowned as if searching her mind. Finally she said, "I think he died."
"What about family? Do you have children or family nearby?"
"No."
Charlotte and Lester talked, well, Lester talked and Charlotte listened, not really understanding all that was being said.
Lester could tell she wasn't listening but wasn't asleep. "Charlotte, where is your mind?" Lester asked.
"Charlotte?" The red-haired woman asked. "Who is Charlotte?"
"That's the name on your driver's license."
"I think I'm called something else." She frowned a bit, "Where do I live?"
"Your driver's license said you live in Colt's Neck."
"In a barn?"
"No, it's in New Jersey, about 50 miles northeast of here."
"Oh. Where is here?"
Lester looked at the time. He needed to leave soon to report for his shift. He had had a little sleep hours ago and was going into a 12 hour shift without proper rest. His cousin Ranger had already questioned his actions inside Diamonds during the debriefing after the team returned to the Haywood office.
"Can't you keep your libido under control?"
Lester was stunned, "What are you talking about?"
Ranger growled, "You playing knight in shining armor with a patron. Remember we were all hooked together listening to each other."
"What do you think you HEARD but did not witness, Sir?"
Ranger glanced at Woody and Bink who were the closest to the scene and they too were showing confused looks. "You left your post inside the club."
"Excuse me? A patron was showing signs of being Roofied, ended up being stabbed and you wanted me to let her fall to the ground, bleeding and probably causing panic inside the bar."
"You brought her out and put her next to her attacker."
"I got her out of the bar as quickly as possible before everyone inside saw what happened. As for next to her attacker, I set her down away from her attacker and had Tank as a guard. I was holding a compress to her abdomen until the EMTs arrived when I returned to my security position inside, Sir."
Ranger grumbled more from not having enough to call Lester to the mats than for an infraction.
If Ranger hadn't walked away, Lester was going to add a post script, "While you were oogling Beautiful in her revealing dress, the rest of us were working." Surely he would have ended up on the mats if Ranger even suspected he was thinking that. Instead Les glanced at Woody and Bink who just shrugged and shook their heads.