False Horizon - Alex Archer [99]
But something needled at her persistently, poking its way into her dreamworld consciousness. It refused to leave her alone. And finally, after trying to ignore it for a long while, Annja succumbed.
“Annja!”
She heard the voices calling her, but resisted opening her eyes until the very last moment, hoping against hope that this was all part of a dream. That when she opened her eyes, it would be dark outside, she’d stare at the clock and see it was only three in the morning, heave a grateful sigh and then roll over to go back to sleep.
“Annja!”
Not this time.
She groaned and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was Tuk’s face roughly an inch from hers.
She nearly jerked herself right out of bed. “Tuk! Jeez, give a woman some room, would you?”
Tuk pulled back, his eyes moist with tears. “Oh, thank God you’re back. The doctors, they said you were going to be fine, but I worried. I’ve never seen anyone take the abuse you took and live to tell the tale. I was worried. I sure was. But you’re back now. Everything’s great.”
Annja pushed herself to sit up in the bed.
Tuk smiled, wiping his tears. “I’ve been keeping a watch over you every day just to make sure the doctors don’t screw up.”
Annja laughed. “Second-guessing all of their decisions? That must make you the most popular person in the hospital right now.” Annja glanced around. The walls were the standard antiseptic hospital white that she hated. Something about being in the hospital always made her feel sick. “Where am I, anyway?”
“Katmandu. Garin and his crew brought you straight here. We didn’t even land in Jomsom to refuel, just flew straight in. He was well and truly worried, that one was. But he kept saying to us that if anyone could survive, it would be you. Seems as though he’s quite fond of you.”
“Oh, really? That would be news to me.” Annja saw the vase of fresh flowers on the nightstand. “Are those from you?”
Tuk shook his head. “No. Those are from Garin. He said it was important to make sure you saw them when you woke up. Something about how flowers always bring us back to the goodness of God’s earth. Some religious thing or something. I don’t know.”
Annja looked at the flowers. They were fresh orchids and she wondered where he might have had them flown in from. They were beautiful.
“So, where is everyone?” she asked.
“Garin’s gone to get something to eat, but I think he was really more interested in chasing down the nurse who was in here a few minutes back.”
“That sounds just about right,” Annja said.
“Mike is upstairs having a second opinion about his head.”
“What do you mean?”
“He says he hasn’t had any headaches since we got out of that place. He wanted to know what was going on.”
Annja frowned. “Are they even set up for that kind of diagnosis here? I mean, no offense, but third-world medical care isn’t always the best.”
Tuk frowned. “Well, they do a pretty good job here. I’ve been very impressed with the care you’ve received.”
“Well, thank you. It’s nice to know someone is looking out for my best interests.”
“Absolutely. If you hadn’t saved my life, I wouldn’t even be here right now.”
Annja shook her head. “It’s you who should be thanked, Tuk. If Garin hadn’t hired you to watch over me, none of us would have reached this point. I’m indebted to you for the rest of my life—however long that happens to be.”
“Just doing my job.”
“And you did a damned good job of it,” Annja said.
Tuk eased himself off the corner of the bed and set about smoothing the wrinkles in the sheets he’d left behind. “Well, my days of working are now at an end, so it’s nice I was able to go out on such a high note.”
“You’re retiring?”
“Garin paid me handsomely for all my hard work. I’ve got more than enough to retire to the countryside and get a small place. I can sleep as long as I want, eat when I want and never have to worry about anything until I get bored.”
“Well, if you ever do get bored, you’re welcome to look me up. I’m sure I can find some sort of excitement for you