Scott's Summit (Terkel's Team Book 6) Read online

  She shook her head. “That’s better?” she asked incredulously. “You’re right. I don’t believe you.”

  “Well, whatever you’ve been doing,” Terk said, “has helped.”

  She stared at him in shock. “I haven’t been doing anything,” she cried out.

  He smiled. “Yes, you have. And I’ve noticed.”

  She shook her head, yet again in confusion. “All I’ve done is pray,” she murmured. “I prayed from the time you told me that he was in trouble, how maybe somebody would help him.”

  “Definitely people are helping him,” Terk confirmed quietly. “That’s a given. He is well loved.”

  She smiled. “That’s good. He’s a good man.”

  “Which is also why you’re here,” he noted.

  “And I don’t know why,” she admitted, feeling bewildered. “When you called me, I didn’t even know who you were.”

  “And you haven’t kept in touch with Scott all this time, have you?”

  “No. After I got married, it was just more than anybody could handle,” she murmured.

  “Does that seem out of line for him to not be in touch with you?”

  “He’s always been strong, and he never really showed any emotions, so I wasn’t even sure how he felt when I told him that I was getting married.”

  “I’m sure he did his best to hide his reaction, needing to keep it under wraps,” Terk explained. “I know the news devastated him.”

  “No, you’re wrong,” she argued. “I don’t think he was affected at all.”

  “Because he didn’t show it?” he asked her, with half a smile.

  She nodded. “That, and it was just the way he acted. Completely nonchalant, as if he didn’t care at all.”

  “And you believed him?”

  “Of course I believed him,” she replied. “But it didn’t matter because I was already heading into a completely different stage of life.”

  “And I get that,” Terk noted, “although I’m not sure what your relationship with Scott was like, yet obviously it wasn’t that close.”

  “He was everything to me,” she whispered. “Absolutely everything. Then we had a fight, and we never quite seemed to recover from it,” she murmured, staring off in the distance. “And now, well, I’m not even sure what the fight was about.”

  “Yet you came when you found out he was injured.”

  “Of course I did,” she snapped, bristling. “And I would again. He was an important part of my life, and, if nothing else, he’s a solid human being. So, if I can do anything to help, I’m quite happy to.”

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Terk said. “How do you feel about sticking around for a little while?”

  She shook her head, looking confused. “Why would I do that?”

  “Because he might need a friend when he wakes up.”

  “Is anybody but you saying he’ll wake up?” she asked, staring at Terk. “I’ve got to tell you. Scott didn’t look like he was anywhere close to joining the living.”

  “He’s definitely still living,” Terk stated, “but I can see how some doubts could be in your mind. I also know that he cared a lot for you.”

  “Yeah, in the past tense,” she agreed.

  “Did he ever mention anything recently about coming to see you?”

  “No, not at all,” she said. “I haven’t had any contact with him, since I told him that I was getting married.”

  “Maybe that’s to be expected,” Terk noted.

  “I don’t know why,” she stated. “Lots of people stay friends after they split.”

  “Sure, usually when they don’t care as much as they used to,” Terk added.

  “Meaning?”

  “I’m pretty sure Scott cares about you in a big way,” Terk replied calmly. “And your news pretty well devastated him.”

  She laughed bitterly. “I don’t know what your game is, and here I thought you knew him. But the truth of the matter is, everything you’re saying right now sounds like a complete fabrication. If Scott cared, he never would have let me go ahead with it and get married.”

  “I don’t think he felt like it was something for him to interfere in,” Terk said, studying her carefully.

  “Interesting that you’d phrase it that way.”

  “Did you get engaged, hoping Scott would stop it?”

  She stared at him. “No, … not at all. I didn’t say that.”

  “No, but you implied something along those lines that, if he really cared, he would have stopped it.”

  “Sure,” she noted, “but he didn’t care. He didn’t say anything.”

  “But you’d already made a decision, hadn’t you?”

  “Yes,” she replied, “but he also knew why.”

  “Why?” Obviously Terk was confused.

  “It was a marriage of companies. A business arrangement,” she stated, with an eye roll.

  “For you?”

  “My father, and he was pretty adamant that I follow through.”

  “So you did.”

  “I did, and, yes, I regretted it from the moment I agreed, but, once I had, the ball was rolling, and I could really do nothing to stop it. At least not easily.”

  “Did your father know that you already cared about somebody else?”

  “Yes, but he wouldn’t have anything to do with Scott. Never did, never would. It was obvious that, for peace in the family, I needed to do this. If Scott cared, he would have tried to talk me out of it at least, but he just told me that, since I had made a decision, he would stand by it.”

  “Of course he did,” Terk noted. “What else could he do?”

  “Well, it would have been nice if he’d swept me up and taken me away to a new world,” she admitted bitterly.

  Terk frowned. “I’m sorry, but were you really expecting that?”

  “No,” she snapped. “I wasn’t expecting anything, and basically I got what I expected, which was complete indifference. He didn’t care what happened, so I got married.” She shrugged.

  “Really? That is a strange way of putting it,” he murmured.

  “Not if it’s a business arrangement,” she argued. “That happens way more than you want to believe. I’m not sure I even believe in happily ever after.”

  At that, Terk laughed. “Now you sound like me.”

  She shook her head free of that past conversation. Now here she sat, waiting. Waiting for what though? Going over old memories? First, she should stop rehashing all that nonsense in the past. And, second, she could do this at home more easily than here. She sighed, wondering at her sanity right now.

  She stared at the walls of the hotel room around her, questioning what she was even doing here. It’s not as if Scott would be happy to see her, and now that she’d seen Scott in the hospital, then later in a special apartment set up for him, she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. When the phone rang, it startled her. Taking a deep breath, she answered, stunned to find it was Terk, as if he had heard her jumbled thoughts and was calling in response.

  “He just woke up,” Terk announced, and such joy filled his voice that she smiled.

  “I’m glad,” she said. “Now he should be okay, right?”

  “In theory, yes,” he replied gently. “I want to pick you up, so we can see him.”

  “No. That’s not a good idea. I came to make sure he was okay. Now that I know he is, there’s no point in my staying.” An odd sound of surprise came on the other end of the phone, but she shook her head. “I still don’t know what it is that you think is supposed to happen here,” she admitted, “but it’s obviously not something that I really want to be a part of.”

  “What is it that you think is happening?” Terk asked curiously.

  She frowned. “I don’t know, but it feels like it’s none of my concern.”

  “Not for me,” he replied instantly. “My concern is keeping Scott alive.”

  “But now he’s awake—and knowing him—he’s probably stronger than ever. It seems l
ike, every time he falls, he bounces back even better.”

  At that, Terk laughed. “You do understand him.”

  “Maybe. I also understand that he won’t be happy to see me.”

  “I think you’re wrong, Naira,” Terk argued. “And just because he’s there, and you’re afraid to go meet him, doesn’t mean that you should give in to that fear.”

  She gasped in outrage. “I’ve done everything you asked,” she snapped. “And now that it’s obvious he’ll be okay, since he’s awake, you certainly don’t need me anymore.”

  “Maybe I don’t, but what if Scott needs you?” And after a few seconds of silence, Terk added, “I’ll be there in a few minutes.” With that, he rang off.

  She stared down at the phone in her hands, wondering at the foolishness that had brought her here. It had made so much sense when it happened initially because all she could think about was Scott and keeping him alive. She didn’t even know why she had been such an easy target, but it felt like she had been in some way. It was a very strange feeling.

  A knock came on her door. When it opened, before she’d even had a chance to get there, she stared at Terk in surprise. “I didn’t even open the door,” she protested.

  He nodded. “I wouldn’t give you a chance to say no.”

  She glared at him. “That’s hardly fair.”

  “Nothing’s fair in love and war,” he murmured. “And, right now, this is all about love.”

  “Maybe it was about love once,” she admitted, with a shake of her head, “but it hasn’t been for a very long time.”

  “I think you’re wrong,” Terk stated. “But regardless you need to come, so we can go see him.”

  “I disagree. And this isn’t what I want to do.”

  “So, what do you want to do?” Terk asked, his hands on his hips as he stared at her. “Are you prepared to walk through life without seeing him again?” She frowned because she hadn’t really thought about that. Yet, even as the thought penetrated her foggy, confused brain, her heart was screaming. She shrugged. “Maybe,” she replied, but it was a weak effort at that, and she knew Terk understood it too.

  “Come on,” Terk said in a voice that she found herself automatically obeying. And how the hell did that work? “Let’s go see him.”

  “And how do you even know he’s awake?”

  “His nurse contacted me,” he murmured. “He’s confused, a little upset, and he doesn’t know the full extent of what happened to his team or what happened to him.”

  “Well, it sounds like you’re the one who needs to go, so you can fill him in on those details,” she noted, with a shrug. “It’s got nothing to do with me.”

  “It has a lot to do with you,” he murmured. “And he’s asking about you.”

  She stopped and stared. “What?” she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. “What do you mean, he asked about me? He doesn’t even know I was there.”

  “Well, that’s one of the reasons I think it’s important that you come,” Terk explained, “because he seems to remember that you were there.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not possible. He was in a coma. Remember? You and I both know he was. He can’t possibly have a clue that I was there.”

  “Scott asked the nurse about it. He believes you were there, and he’s confused. Is that how you want to leave him?”

  She frowned, and of course the answer was no. “I feel so—” Then she stopped.

  “Yes?” Terk asked helpfully. She turned and glared at him, saying nothing. After a few awkward moments, he broke the silence. “Confused? Irritated? Upset? Anxious? Uncertain? All of the above?” he asked, with a smile on his face.

  She nodded slowly. “Yes, that’s part of it,” she murmured. “It’s not that easy, you know?”

  “Nothing about relationships is easy,” Terk confirmed.

  “Are you married?”

  Immediately the smile faded from his face, and he shook his head. “No. I’m not.”

  “Well, if at any time you do decide to go in that direction,” she murmured, “you might want to wipe that smug smile off your face because most women won’t appreciate it.” And, with that, she preceded him out the door.

  Chapter 2

  The whole trip there, Naira fidgeted. Yet Terk never said a word. He just calmly drove back to where Scott was. She frowned. “You know, once he’s awake, he’ll just get up and bolt back to life again.”

  “Of course,” Terk agreed. “His whole team is like that.”

  “Of course they are,” she said, with an eye roll. “This whole big-strong-male thing really gets old. You know that, right?”

  He chuckled. “We are who we are,” he murmured. “And, for one reason or another, you two were friends.”

  “More than friends,” she murmured, as she stared out the passenger window. “It seems like a long time ago.”

  “And maybe it’s time for second chances,” he murmured.

  She shook her head. “That’ll never happen.” Terk didn’t say anything, but she almost heard that never-say-never refrain going through the vehicle. Thankfully they arrived sooner than she expected. She frowned, not at all ready for this. “I thought we were farther away.”

  “No, Scott’s right here.” They hopped out, and she followed him inside the apartment. It seemed different.

  “It even seems like another apartment.”

  “We’re coming in from a second entrance,” he murmured.

  She shrugged, not sure what to say, but almost immediately they reached an apartment door that opened under his knock. She smiled at the same nurse she’d seen before. “Is he really awake?” Naira asked.

  The nurse nodded and beamed. “He is, indeed.” She looked over at Terk. “You were right. Good thing I didn’t bet on it.”

  “Maybe so,” Terk noted, with a smile.

  She snorted. “Somehow I don’t think you’re wrong very often.”

  “Just enough to keep me humble,” he murmured.

  The nurse stared at him. “I’m not sure humble and you go together in the same sentence,” she teased.

  And Naira had to agree. Something was very assertive about Terk. It wasn’t that he had an arrogance to him but definitely an odd sense of power or authority that she didn’t recognize.

  The nurse led the way into the kitchen, and Naira immediately saw Scott. He was sitting up normally, as if nothing had happened, working his way through a stack of pancakes. He looked up and blinked. And then he blinked again.

  Stunned, she shook her head. “Good God,” she murmured. “When I saw you just yesterday, I could have sworn that you would never wake up again.”

  He swallowed the pancakes, looked over at Terk, then back at her. “I thought I saw you,” he replied, disbelief in his voice.

  “How is it that you saw me?” she murmured, staring at him in fascination. “You were in a coma.”

  He nodded. “I was, but I was also very aware of what was going on around me.”

  She shook her head, more than a little disturbed by that concept. “That’s not normal,” she declared.

  Scott just smiled, as Terk laughed. “Remember now. Nothing’s normal about any of us.”

  At that, the nurse nodded. “That’s for sure. Since Scott woke up, he’s done nothing but eat,” she noted, looking at Terk, with an accusingly stare.

  Terk nodded. “And I warned you about that, didn’t I?”

  She glared at him. “Well, there’s eating, and then there’s eating. That’s his third stack of pancakes.”

  Terk assessed the food in front of Scott, then shrugged. “He hasn’t eaten for weeks and weeks,” he noted, “so I can see him trying to fill back up again.”

  The nurse stared at him and frowned. “There’s no place for it.”

  “He’s empty, that’s all,” Terk added. “He’s fine. He’ll eat until his body tells him to stop.” Just then it appeared that his body had spoken because, even as Naira watched, Scott put down his fork and looked as if h
e were suddenly ready to bolt.

  Terk walked over and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “It’s good to see you up.”

  Naira watched, as if somehow a message passed between them, and Scott settled back at the table.

  “It’s good to be back,” Scott murmured, then stared up at Terk. “We have a lot to discuss.”

  “We do,” Terk agreed, “but not today. You still have a lot to adapt to, and your brain isn’t fully functioning.”

  At that, he snorted. “My brain is always functioning.”

  “You might think so,” Terk replied, “but you have an awful lot of information to assimilate.”

  Naira took a deep breath and sat down at the table. She could be an adult about this. The decision to be here had come from her heart, and it was really good to see that Scott was doing so well, compared to what she’d seen yesterday. With that, she smiled at him. “I’m really glad you pulled through this,” she said, as she reached across and touched his fingers. “Terk called me,” she murmured. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have known.” He just gave her a flat stare, and, after a moment, she shrugged. “So you can be as unhappy as you want to be that I’m here, but, if you want to be pissed about it, you can be pissed at Terk, okay?” And, with that, she cheerfully threw Terk under the bus.

  Terk snorted. “And it worked, didn’t it?” he murmured.

  She stared at him. “Says you.”

  “What worked?” Scott asked.

  “You weren’t showing enough progress,” Terk explained calmly. “So I needed to pull in the heavy guns.”

  “Naira’s the heavy guns?” Scott asked, with an odd tone.

  Terk just smiled a mysterious smile that made everybody stare at him. “It worked, so I’ll say yes.”

  Naira looked over at the man who was studiously avoiding her. “This is hardly the time to talk,” she noted, “but I certainly don’t regret coming over and seeing you. When I found out what had happened,” she said, with a head shake, “I was pretty stunned.”

  “Well, you know more than I do,” he stated, “because I don’t even know what happened.”

  “And you won’t for another day or so,” Terk replied.

  “Do you really think a day will make any difference?”