When Day Breaks

“I simply explained who Eden was and that it wouldn’t do for her not to have the absolute best plastic surgeon in the region. She’s on the phone now calling in the top doctor in the plastic surgery field to see if he can come in immediately.”

After a few more moments, the nurse hung up and rushed around to where Swa

“What?” Swa

“She wants to know your relationship to Eden and whether you have authorization to grant permission for surgical procedures.”

“You tell her I’m her goddamn husband and I’ll be the only person authorized to grant permission for medical procedures and I want to know exactly what’s going on every step of the way.”

Edge relayed Swa

The nurse hurriedly ushered her into a private cubicle and then explained to Edge that while they waited for the plastic surgeon they would do a complete medical examination including X-rays and that they would prep and clean her wounds on her face so that when the surgeon arrived they could take her straight back to surgery.

“Just let her know I’m not budging,” Swa

A smile hovered on Edge’s lips as he translated Swa

Swa

He stood, arms crossed, his gaze never leaving Eden as the medical perso

He curled his fingers into tight fists, tension bristling in tangible waves. His edgy mood bled over to the medical staff and they made certain to keep Edge in the loop over every discovery and the fact that they’d be bringing in a portable X-ray so they didn’t have to move her from her current position.

Swa

At one point she seemed to stir and Swa

An hour later, a physician bustled in wearing street clothes. He went immediately to Eden’s bedside and removed the loose dressings on her face. He studied extensively, muttering to himself as he completed his examination.

Swa

Finally he turned to face Edge and Swa

“We are fortunate in that the cuts to Miss Sinclair’s face aren’t deep. I don’t believe there will be any tissue damage. The cuts are very precise, not jagged. It’s my opinion a scalpel was used to inflict the cuts, which certainly makes my job easier.”

“Thank God,” Swa

“They’ll prep her for surgery and I’ll go get scrubbed down and change and be waiting in surgery for her to arrive. Expect them to move her within the hour, and of course we’ll keep her comfortable throughout the entire process.”

Swa

“It’s no problem. I’m well aware of who Miss Sinclair is and she’s graced the covers of so many magazines. I will make it my utmost priority—and pleasure—to ensure that no permanent scarring remains. I’m very good at what I do,” the doctor said in a serious tone. “I have no reason to believe that the surgery won’t be one hundred percent successful. She’ll need time to recover, of course. She won’t be back to work immediately, and she’ll likely need additional procedures. It won’t happen overnight, but in my professional opinion the damage can be corrected.”

“She won’t be lifting a finger,” Swa

The surgeon hurried out and in a matter of moments the nursing staff came back in and began the task of prepping her for surgery. After a few minutes, one of the nurses turned regretfully to Edge, though she included Swa

“We’ll take her to the OR to finish prepping her. We have to make sure we’re in a sterile environment. I know it’s hard not to be able to see her or be with her, but I promise she’s in the best of hands. If you’ll wait in the surgery waiting room on the second floor, we’ll update you periodically, and then when she’s brought to recovery you’ll be able to see her.”

Swa

“Come on, man,” Edge said quietly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go find the others and hit the waiting room. If I had to guess, Eddie and her brothers are already in the air flying over. They’re going to want to know everything.”

Swa

Before anyone could ask, Swa

“This is my fault,” he said furiously. “I took out the wrong person.”

“None of us were looking for the sister,” Joe said quietly. “We’d been told both mother and daughter had perished in the mission Eddie headed that went all to hell. It only made sense to focus on the brother after the threat Eddie received. We all carry part of the blame for not finding this out until it was too late. We accepted Eddie’s word since it had happened years ago, and we should have thoroughly researched the entire situation and broadened our scope beyond the son.”

But no matter who was taking the blame, Swa