Chapter 10
Richie pushed the door open gently so as not to make any noise. In the bed, Dominique slept peacefully, the stuffed dog he’d given her tucked under her arm. There were monitors hooked to her and an IV hanging from a bracket behind the bed.
A young nurse was checking her vitals and looked up to see him. She recognized him immediately. “You’re Richie Sambora.”
Smiling, “Yeah, I am.”
“You’re here to see Nikki?” Then it hit her. “YOU’RE the Richie she’s been asking for! OH MY GOD! She’s so lucky. Her father loves her so much. I can’t believe he called you and got you to come visit her. Are the other guys with you?”
Clearly a fan, Richie quickly decided not to give her too much right away. “I’m alone. Will you be here long?”
“I was just getting ready to leave.”
Richie set his guitar on the window sill and watched the young girl finish her duties. When she was gone, he moved to the bed and sat down. He reached over to brush her hair back before leaning to give her a tender kiss. He was rewarded as her eyes fluttered open.
“Sleeping Beauty,” he smiled.
“Prince Charming,” she countered, her voice a soft whisper.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I’ve been run over. Has it been two weeks already?”
“Barely forty-eight hours. Your dad sent for me after the show in St. Petersburg and is going to get me back in time for the show in Fort Myers.”
“WOW!”
“That’s what I thought too.”
“How long can you stay?”
“You have my undivided attention for the next twenty-four hours, Princess.”
“And I’m going to play Sleeping Beauty the whole time,” she whispered as she closed her eyes again.
“I don’t mind,” he reassured taking her hand in his.
Dominique squeezed his hand and drifted off to sleep, a slight smile on her lips.
Richie watched as she slept, her hand in his. He began to wonder about Sonny’s motives for bringing him to the island. Had Santadio threatened him? Was it because Dominique had been asking for him?
An hour passed as Dominique slept and Richie never moved from her side. That’s where Dr. Drake found him.
“Good morning,” greeted the doctor. “You must be Richie.”
“Richie Sambora,” he replied as he stood and shook hands with the doctor.
“Dr. Noah Drake but you can call me Noah. Have you been able to talk to Nikki?”
“She woke for a few minutes when I first got here. How is she doing?”
“She’s had some bad hallucinations and extreme paranoia so I’ve kept her sedated to get her through the worst of the detoxification.”
“Did she hurt herself?”
“No, thankfully, but she still has a long way to go.”
Looking back at her, Richie said, “She’ll make it. She’s tough.”
“Sonny said she told you everything.”
“The
night I helped her escape.”
“Did she tell you she was pregnant?”
“No, she didn’t but from the way she talked, I don’t think she would have realized it. How far along is she?”
“It appeared that she was three months but she’s lost it now. From all I’ve been able to tell by the tests and X-Rays, it was a miracle that she got pregnant in the first place. I don’t think she’ll be able to have children. There is severe trauma to her abdomen from what appears to have been beatings.”
Richie hadn’t taken his eyes off Dominique while the doctor had been talking and saw the tears streaming down her cheeks. He reached out to touch the doctor’s arm and pointed to her. He signaled for the doctor to remain quiet as he moved to the bed.
Tenderly, he wiped the tears away and placed a kiss on her lips. “Are you awake, princess?”
With her free hand, Dominique reached for his but still didn’t open her eyes or speak.
“Okay…I’m right here. Let Dr. Drake do what he has to and then we’ll talk.”
Softly, almost inaudible, she said, “Sing.”
Richie gave a soft chuckle. “Whatever my princess wants.”
Richie stepped out of the way to let Dr. Drake examine Dominique. As he watched, he thought about what the doctor had said. He still couldn’t fathom a person proclaiming his love for a woman and then treating her the way Santadio had treated Dominique. The man had ruined her future for having children, not to mention the drugs.
Dr. Drake finished and moved away. “She’s stable. I’m going to back off the sedatives to see how she handles today.”
“I don’t want you to risk anything just because I’m here.”
“Sonny seems to think she’ll be calmer with you here. That’s the ONLY reason I agreed to do this. If she seems agitated or has any problems, press the call button and let a nurse know.”
“Sure.”
