“Hey, buddy,” I said.
“Holy shit, are you okay?”
“I’m alive.”
“I watched that video. Dude, where did you learn to fight like that?”
I smiled and closed my eyes. “Long story. But what do you think?”
“Looks like imminent danger to me.” He paused for a long moment. “You didn’t… instigate that, did you?”
“I might’ve warned Maria that I had the goods on her.”
He sighed loudly. “I wish you hadn’t done that.”
“Sorry, bud. I know it’ll make things a little harder, but I needed this. I couldn’t wait.”
“Yeah, yeah. Well look, even I recognize that little bald fucker. He’s a real sick one, did you know that? Aldo, I don’t know his last name. He’s a suspect on more than a few murder cases.”
“And now you’ll get him for assault.”
“Among other things. I’ll forward that video along. Expect to hear from the investigators tomorrow.”
“I can’t wait.”
“Get some rest, bud. Looks like you need it.”
“See you.”
He hung up and I tossed the phone back onto the table.
Fiona shifted and held my hand. “Well? We’re all set?”
“He thinks that’ll be more than enough to get the feds to move fast.”
She let out a relieved laugh then kissed me. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
“I know it.”
“Nobody does this sort of stuff.”
“What can I say? When there’s injustice, I have to act.”
She kissed me again, and this time we lingered there, before she pulled back, her eyes on mine. I thought there might be something she wanted to say, but instead she pulled up a second chair and put her feet up on it before turning on the hospital TV.
“Let’s watch a movie,” she said. “Make a night of it.”
“Oh, great, yeah, I’d love to. We’ll call it a date.”
“Fitting, since we’re in a hospital.”
I smiled. “Think they’re hiring?”
“I thought you’d come back to Mercy once Maria was gone.”
“I don’t know. This place is nice. And besides, do you really want to work in the same place as me?”
She opened her mouth, about to speak, then shut it again. “Let’s find a movie,” she said, and flipped through the channels.
I watched her more than I watched the screen, her long auburn hair, her full pink lips, and I knew— knew without a doubt in my mind— that I was going to marry that girl.
One way or the other, she’d be all mine.27FionaOne week after Dean was released from the hospital, his lawyer friend, Curt, called him early in the morning. I answered Dean’s phone, because he was trying to sleep in for once, and I had a shift at the hospital.
“It’s nice to hear from the infamous Fiona,” he said, laughing.
“Infamous? I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“Infamous in my circle, at least. And with the feds.”
“That’s probably not a good thing.”
“No, it’s definitely good. How’s our boy doing?”
“Trying to sleep in, which is why I answered. When I saw your name pop up on his screen, I figured it was important.”
“You might want to wake him up.” He sounded delighted, and I got a weird little itch in my spine. “Something big’s about to happen.”
“How big, exactly?”
“Legally, I can’t say, you know what I mean? But if you show up at Mercy this morning, say, around nine, you’ll see something very interesting.”
“Will it involve a lot of cars with flashing lights?”
He sounded like he was smiling. “It just might. See you then?”
“See you then.”
I hung up and slipped back into the room. Dean was awake and sitting up on one elbow. He was shirtless, and the bruises still covered his chest and ribs, black and yellow and nasty. His nose was swollen, and bruises lingered under his eyes. I’d been taking care of him since he was released, and I could tell that was starting to get on his nerves. He liked some of my attention, but he didn’t like feeling like a patient.
“Who was that?” he asked.
“Curt. Sorry, I should’ve let you get it, but I wanted you to sleep in.”
“No, that’s fine, I’m glad you answered. I might’ve ignored it.”
I grinned at him and tossed the phone onto the bed. “Good thing you’re awake, because we’re taking a little trip.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Something’s happening at the hospital and Curt says you’re going to want to see it.” I checked the time. A little past six. “I have to be there at eight, but meet me in the lobby a little before nine?”
“I can do that.” He stretched and grimaced. “Goddamn, girl. Don’t ever let me get my ass kicked by mafia thugs again.”
“I promise.” I knelt down on the bed and kissed him. He grabbed me and pulled me on top of him, and I was careful not to press down on his bruises. He kissed me longer, hands on my hips, and I wiggled my back a little. I wanted to stay there, stay in bed with him like we’d been doing every night, and every morning when possible, but I had to be at work soon.