Confused why this would be an issue for me, I snorted, “What, did we get a visitor from the Terminator?”
Not even cracking a smile which was rare for DB these days, he shook his head slowly. “No, this was what Chad’s prison pal passed to the guard.”
And then it all clicked… and I lost my fucking shit.Chapter ThirteenRoseI was reeling, that’s the only way to explain it. I’d been called into Philippa’s office after Garrett and I came back from lunch, and she’d told me that DB had called to request that I be put on day shift until further notice – and she’d agreed. Marta never agreed to anything unless it was her pay rise, but apparently because it revolved around an incident that included me being punched in the face at work, she was doing it. I suspected it also had something to do with the fact that it was DB who’d asked, seeing as how she’d had a huge crush on him and found a reason to be on the floor whenever he was around, though.
Was I scared that the man who’d hit me in the face was now out of jail? Well, it didn’t fill me with the warm and fuzzies, that’s for sure, but I was more worried for Tana.
“You good?” Garrett asked, falling into step beside me out of nowhere. “What did she say?”
“I’m on day shift until further notice,” I muttered, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I never carried my phone with me when I was at work, but things were definitely changing in that respect. “And before you think she has a human bone in her body, it’s more than likely only because DB asked her to do it, not because she gives a shit about my wellbeing.”
Pulling up my messages, I sent an update to Raoul to let him know, adding what I’d just said to his brother about my boss.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, he shyly looked away from where a group of nurses were smiling at him. “That’s still good, isn’t it? At least you’ll always have someone around,” he shrugged, groaning when one of the younger nurses called Missy started walking toward us. “Hide me, hide me, hide me.”
This was something I’d found out about Captain Evans earlier today, he was shy. The guy hated the attention he was getting from the women in the building, and if I was honest, I don’t think he knew how to handle it. Missy was the youngest out of us all, having just left college. Unlucky for him, she was also the most ballsy out of everyone, and was well known for not being picky when it came to men.
“Come on,” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth. “She can’t be that bad.”
Grabbing my arm, he tugged me into the staff room. “She’s worse than bad,” he hissed. “She’s like an octopus.”
“Did you know that the box jellyfish has sixty anuses?” A voice asked behind him. “So if you get stung by one, you’ll end up with a scar with one of them on it for the rest of their life.”
Slowly turning around, Garrett took in the woman who was sitting eating celery like it was her worst enemy. “Are you for real?”
Tearing off another mouthful with her teeth and making a face as she chewed it, the woman shrugged. “Eh, I saw it on a meme, so I’m not sure if it’s true or not.”
“I was stung by a box jellyfish four years ago when I was on vacation in Indonesia,” he told her, leaning down to pull up the leg of his jeans. “It burns and goes red when I eat shellfish and seafood.”
Leaning around the chairs, she looked at the scar, still chewing. Swallowing awkwardly and throwing it on the table, she got up and squatted down next to him, examining it more closely. “Huh, and I thought people who got butt holes tattooed on them were weird,” she drawled, reaching out a finger to touch the scar. “Do you think that’s an ass there? It looks different to the other ones.”
The conversation was so strange and both of them were so engrossed in his leg, that I backed up against the door. “Do y’all want me to leave you alone, or…?”
Almost as if he’d forgotten I existed, Garrett stood up straight, looking over his shoulder at me. “You don’t leave my sight, hear me?”
Saluting him, I smiled at the woman who was standing up from her crouch. “Hey, I’m Rose Beauregard. I don’t think I know you?”
Grinning widely, she held her hand out to me. “Digging the last name. I’m Zuri Valentine and I just started yesterday.”
I released her hand and gave Garrett a nudge forward. “This is Garrett Evans. Garrett say hello to the lovely Zuri.”