Chapter 1: He hit me, humiliated me, and shot me

I’M GLAD THE SON OF A BITCH is dead! And no one will tell me how Dag is, or where he is. Damn it! This is as bad as being held hostage by those bastards in the first place.

Whine and cry.

Recovery

I’m sitting—or lying—in a hospital bed in Seattle with my right side bandaged up and antibiotics pumping into me. I’ve got a towel wrapped around my head because the fucker knocked my wig off when he slugged me. It’s going to cost a bundle to get that one replaced. I can’t talk because my jaw is so sore and my lip and eye are all swollen up. My head hurts and they have something dripping into my arm that makes my thinking fuzzy but doesn’t seem to stop the pain.

I want Dag!

He came to save me. He knocked out Angel’s ex-Marine boyfriend and tied him up. He got the Oksamma out of the apartment and locked him on the roof. He attacked Bradley with some kind of kitchen poker or something and was nearly killed when Bradley shot. If he hadn’t handed me a knife when he went after Bradley, I’d never have gotten loose in time to trip up Oksamma and get him in the way of the bullet. That ruined my silk scarf, too.

The glass was still falling out of the window when I grabbed Dag and dragged him to the elevator. We fell into the car and the door was closing when Oksamma managed to get off a lucky shot that tore through the skin on the side of my right breast. It didn’t hit anything vital but it ripped the hell out of my side and the put God-knows-how-many stitches in it.

I passed out and Dag carried me out of the building. In his condition! Jordan pulled up and fired a life-saving shot before the car came to a rest. Dag pushed me into his arms and fell.

There were policemen and ambulances and Jordan rode to the hospital with me in the second ambulance. The first ambulance was full of people trying to keep Dag alive. I was lying there and Jordan was holding a pad on my side to staunch the flow of blood. When he looked at me, I realized I didn’t have a wig on. I was mortified. But Jordan just stroked my head once and said, “Nice do, Deb. I like it.” He gave me a towel and helped me wrap my head before we got to the hospital. He never even flinched away from me.

But when he came up to see me an hour ago, he still didn’t have any word on Dag. He thought he was in ICU. If I can get disconnected from these pipes and hoses, I’m going looking for him myself.

God! What a day! What a night last night. I’m glad Jordan shot Oksamma. I’m glad Bradley Keane is dead. It would make me happy to find out Brenda Barnett was gone, too. I guess you can’t ask for everything.

I just want to curl up in bed at home and cry. Why won’t anyone tell me where Dag is?

I kissed him

It wasn’t even much of a romantic kiss. I just saw him lying in that bed and leaned over and kissed him. And he woke up.

Stevie brought me a wig this morning and Teri brought me clothes. My little black dress is like ruined. The hospital discharged me and I ran to the office. I called Mrs. Prior yesterday to tell her Dag was in the hospital and make sure she had Maizie. I wanted to check the office. Dag really left it a mess. The vault was standing open and his laptop was on the desk. Bubble wrap and tape were on the floor. He must have been so angry when Bradley called him.

I tided up and made sure the backup disks I’d stolen from Brenda’s house were in the vault. I closed it securely. Grabbing Dag’s laptop, I headed back to the hospital. At least they told me where he was and let me sit in his room with him. I sat there all afternoon fiddling with the computer until I looked up at him and I just had to kiss him.

Not much of a kiss. He’s got tubes in his nose for oxygen and a heart monitor hooked up to him. His lips were dry and mine are—let’s just say puffy and leave it at that. But when I kissed him, he woke up.

I was so afraid I would never get to speak to him again.

They have him prepped for heart transplant but there’s no donor. I’d give him mine.

I don’t know why they even allowed me in the room but I think it has to do with something Jordan told them. They treat me like I’m his next of kin. The doctor even told me that he was checking on Dag regularly and I should call for him if there was any change.

Dag and I didn’t talk for long when he woke up. He’s so weak. But at least he knew I kissed him. And he stroked my cheek. If I touch it myself, the pain is so intense that I flinch but his fingers were so soft and gentle that it didn’t hurt at all.

I’m writing a lot of foolish emo. I just ... After yesterday ... Everyone seems so fragile. I’m not going home tonight. I want to be here when he wakes up again.

The mountain came out

As you may have heard on national news, Seattle and surrounds got hit with a major blizzard last night. Everything is pretty much closed down. People on 405 were stranded all night in their cars. People abandoned their cars on the bridge and walked. Today it didn’t get above freezing but the sun came out and it was bright and sunny. This afternoon, I was standing by the window in Dag’s hospital room and realized I was looking at Mount Rainier. It was glorious.