"How is she?" Ambassador Charles Anderson barked at his future son-in-law two hours after his daughter had been found. "I'm going to be catching the first plane out in the morning."
"Ambassador, there isn't much that you can do here. She's still unconscious, but they have her body temperature up to ninety. They have confidence that she'll be conscious in a few hours. I'll make sure to let you know as soon as she wakes up, Sir."
"Thank you, Martin. I know you will. Andrea will still be flying back to The States. I need to stay at work, as you said."
"Yes, Sir." He hung up and went into Lily's room. As he placed his hand on her blanket, her eyes flickered open. "Hi there, Beautiful."
"You lie, Martin Fitzgerald, but thank you." She smiled groggily. "Where am I?"
"You are in the hospital." He didn't want to tell her the whole story. The doctors said that she needed less stress.
"Why? What happened?" Attempting to wake up fully, she ran her hands over her face, but was suddenly aware of the emptiness of her left hand. "My ring! Where's my ring? Did those maniacs take it?"
Her heart monitor started showing an elevated heart rate and he quickly reached into his suit coat. "Shh, Honey," he slipped the ring onto her finger, "the paramedics took it off in the ambulance because they had to warm you and they didn't want it getting lost. They gave it to me for safe keeping." He pulled the blankets back over her and stroked her face. "You need to stay warm."
"OK." She took a deep breath as a chill went through her. "I am a little cold."
"You were more than a little cold when they brought you in. You have hypothermia, Lily. You're body temperature was close to eighty degrees."
"I was in that barn for so long, but I knew you would find me."
"I did find you and you're safe now." He fought tears as he kissed her forehead, finally warm to the touch.
Jack quietly walked into the room, not wanting to interrupt the moment, but he needed to get Lily's statement to finally close the case. "Excuse me, Martin, but I need to talk to Lily." Martin just sat back down next to her bed. "OK. Lily, I need you to tell me what happened?"
"My memory is a little hazy, but I'll tell you what I can."
"Start at when you were taken and stop if it gets to be too much. We can space this out."
"OK." She nodded as she tried to make the fog clear from her mind. "I had run out to pick up a pizza for dinner and was on my way back to the apartment when I was approached by these two guys who shoved me into a van or a car, I think it was a van, before I knew what was happening. They bound my hands and put a gag in my mouth."
"Would you recognize the two guys?"
"I think so. They looked really familiar so they may have been part of a case somewhere. I know the driver was the guy who bumped into me at the market last week."
"We've already pulled those tapes. Go on. Where did they take you?"
"That barn. They handcuffed me to the bed and then another guy, I think he was the leader, would come out and remove various articles of clothing after asking me which prison Cheryl and Sean Williams were being held at. I kept telling him I didn't know and he kept telling me that all I had to do was tell him where they were and he would take me inside and let me warm up. After that, it gets a little hazy."
"Jack, I think that's enough." Martin placed his hand on her shoulder, her body shaking from fear instead of cold.
"I have what I need. I'll have Samantha stop by tomorrow with a photo array." He stood up. "I'm glad you're OK, Lily."
"Lil, your mother is flying in tomorrow as well. So, get some sleep. I'll be back in the morning. " Martin kissed her forehead as he stood up. "I love you."
"I love you." She smiled. "Thank you." He smiled at her as she drifted off.
The next morning, Martin walked into Lily's room to find her mother sitting by the bedside with tears in her eyes. Andrea Anderson never cried, a woman in her position never cried, so he didn't reference it. "Good Morning, Mrs. Anderson."
"Good Morning, Martin." The older woman quickly wiped her face. "Thank you for saving my daughter."
"You're welcome, but it was our job." He sat down and took his fiancé's hand, finding it hot to the touch. "Has the doctor been in yet?"
"Yes."
"What did he have to say?"
"Now her temperature has gone in the opposite direction. She's in a coma because her fever is one hundred and four. Apparently, there was an infection that was dormant because she was so cold, but once her body returned to normal, it began raving her system again."
Martin heard Andrea's voice crack and he was in a state of shock. "I never should have left." He said quietly as he kissed Lily's hand. "When did this happen?"
"She was fine when I arrived this morning, but she quickly became delirious and the doctors put her into a coma." The tears started again and she stood up. "I really should go call my husband. Excuse me."
Samantha walked into the ICU room later in the afternoon and found the bed empty and Martin sitting in a dark corner. "What happened? Where's Lily?"
"They took her for a bath." His voice was very flat and emotionless. "She's not going to be able to help you with that photo array. She's asleep."
"This will only take a minute."
"No, Sam, she's asleep. She's in a coma!" He suddenly growled at her. "Her temperature rose to one hundred and six. They took her for an ice water bath because they are trying to keep her brain from becoming soup and buy themselves some time to figure out what the hell is killing her. So, right now, there are a few more important things than a damn photo lineup!"
"Martin, I had no idea. Jack said that she was awake last night."
"No, I'm sorry, Sam. It's just frustrating because her mother is here and insists on talking with the doctor alone. Trying to get information about her condition took me flashing my badge at the nurse. I know that Andrea is Lily's mother, but I am going to marry her. I deserve to be kept in the loop. I didn't mean to take it out on you."
"Apology accepted." Samantha sat down on the bed. "This is one of the drawbacks to being involved with an ambassador's daughter, huh?"
"It's one of the drawbacks to being involved with any beltway insider. I've been getting phone calls from her secretary who's been fielding phone calls from the media. Lily has gone from society page debutant to front page victim." He sighed. "That's not what she would have wanted and it's not what she deserves. She's worked too hard to fall back under her father's shadow. When we were kids, she used to get so upset," he smiled ruefully as he thought back, "when she would be referred to as Senator Anderson's daughter."
"I can only imagine." She tried to smile, but it was sad. "OK, well, we'll do this when she gets better." Placing her hand on his shoulder, she left him to his silent worry.
Two days later, Andrea Anderson finally convinced to return to London, Martin sat at his fiancé's bedside lightly stroking her hand. "Lily, Sweetheart, your mother has gone. You can wake up now." He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, pushing a lock of hair from her face. "Please wake up, Beautiful. I need you. I don't know how I got where I can't be me without you, but I'm there and I don't know how I'd survive without you. Tiger Lily, you have to fight to wake up. I love you so much and I will be here to help you through whatever we have to get through, but we'll do it. I didn't know what living was until I met you again in that ballroom a year ago. Please, come back to me. Let me take care of you." He kissed her hand, holding it to his cheek, and blinked back the tears that were just behind his eyes.
"How is she?" Samantha asked that night when she stopped by.
"Her temperature is one hundred and one still, but the antibiotics are working. They doctors say it's just a case of wait and see as to when she wakes up." Martin never even looked at his colleague, his voice flat and tired.
"When was the last time you got some sleep?"
"I've been dozing here and there."
"Martin, hospital chairs are not conducive to a good night's sleep. Believe me I remember. Why don't you go home and I'll stay with her?"
"No, I want to be here in case she wakes up. What has Jack been saying?"
"Jack is being Jack. He understands why your not there, but I think he expects us all to handle things like he does, by diving into work."
"I can't do that anymore."
"No one expects you to. Besides, we all know your head would be here, not in the field." She placed her hand on his shoulder and sighed. "You want some coffee?"
"Yeah, thanks, Samantha."
When she walked back into the room, Martin was fast asleep in the same chair she'd left him in, and she smiled softly as she covered him. It was probably what she had looked like when she'd spent nights in his hospital room. "OK, well, I'm going to go home now. I hope she gets better." And she did. It was clear that he loved Lily more than he had ever loved her and he deserved to be happy.
The sun streaming in from the window hurt her eyes, but as she tried to move, Lily became aware of just how stiff she was. Hospital beds were not Ethan Allen California King size sleigh beds with four hundred thread count sheets, that was for sure, and she slowly moved her hand to her face before she attempted to roll to her side. There were so many needles and tubes coming off of her body that she suddenly realized she couldn't move without help. "Martin." Her voice came out as a gravelly whisper, her throat just as dry as her skin, as she opened her eyes to see who was holding her hand. "Martin, Honey."
"Lily!" Martin was shocked awake by the sound of her voice. "Hey there, welcome back." He buzzed for a nurse as he stood up, painfully aware that he'd spent the last week in a hospital chair.
"Your hip is bothering you. How long have you been sitting there? Better question, how long have I been out?"
He smiled and touched her face. "Stop worrying about me. You need to worry about yourself."
"You didn't answer my question."
"About a week." His smile was gone as he kissed her forehead.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. I'm just glad you're back." He smiled again as the nurse came in.