Jackson Hospital was across the city from Mercy, but Fiona convinced them to take me there. I lay on the uncomfortable bed, every breath a painful reminder that I’m a complete asshole, as Fiona paced around the room. I had to admit, the place was pretty nice, although the floors were stained a strange, sooty-gray color, and the sheets were insanely scratchy. Otherwise, it was the same wood and plaster decorations as at any other urban hospital in the country.
“Would you sit down?”
She shook her head. “You nearly died out there.”
“No kidding.” I grimaced then raised my hands. “But I’m alive.”
“Dean—”
“Come on, sit down, you’re making me nervous.”
She chewed on a piece of hair then sighed, frustrated, and sat down in the red-upholstered plastic chair. She leaned back, crossed her legs and arms, and glared at me.
“This sucks,” she said. “This really sucks.”
“It’s not that bad,” I said.
“I had to watch you almost get killed, you realize that, right? We just found each other, and you’re getting yourself killed.”
I raised an eyebrow at her, and her face turned red as she realized what she said, but I decided not to push her on it. She could only take so much before she tried to kill me herself.
“I know that was hard,” I said softly, because talking too loud hurt. I had several broken ribs and some very minor internal bleeding, but the doctors didn’t think I’d need surgery, which was a miracle. My knees hurt, my arms hurt, and my fists were smashed open—but I was alive, and I would heal, probably without any lasting damage.
All in all, the plan went perfectly.
“It was really hard.”
“But we did it. You got the video, right?”
“I got the video.”
“Send it to me, and I’ll email it to Curt.” I leaned over, grabbed my phone from the side table with a grunt of pain, and held it up.
She narrowed her eyes. “Right now?”
“Right now.” It’d been a few hours since the fight, and I wanted to get out ahead of this as fast as we could. Maria would know about what happened, and she probably thought that would be enough to keep me off her back for a while.
I wanted to surprise her.
Fiona typed on her phone and sent the video through. I saved it then emailed it to Curt, along with a short note. Take a look at this. I bet your fed pals will recognize those two guys. I’m currently at Jackson Hospital, but I’m OK. Get to work.
She watched me the whole time, and even though she was showing anger, I knew she was worried. I shouldn’t have put her through that, but then again, I was the one that got my ass kicked. I reached out and took her hand, and for a second, I thought she might pull away, but then she leaned forward and kissed me. I kissed her back, slightly surprised that she was willing to do this in semi-public, but not questioning it.
A man cleared his throat. Fiona pulled back, blushing. My doctor stood in the doorway, a man named Dr. Heckler that I’d met once or twice at conferences, a nice enough guy.
“Dr. Coarse. How are you feeling?”
“Better now, thanks.”
He smiled a bit, looking over his glasses at my chart. “Looks like your imaging came back good. I’ll have someone else take a look to double-check, make sure there won’t be any surprises, but you seem to be in pretty good shape for a guy that got jumped.”
“Thanks, you know, I try.”
“I’m curious, why didn’t you go to Mercy? I think that was closer, but the ambulance guys said you wanted to come here.”
“I’m too well-known at Mercy,” I said, grinning. “Plus, they canned my ass, so fuck them.”
He raised his eyebrows, glanced at Fiona, then back at me. I realized he must figure it was because of her that I got fired, but whatever, let them gossip. I was done with that, done with the whole damn thing.
I’d taken enough abuse. It was time to finish this.
“Well then, you’ll stay overnight, and in the morning we’ll see how you’re feeling. Sound good?”
“I’ll tell you right now, I’m going to feel awful in the morning, but I’m going home.”
He smiled. “I bet you are. Have a good night. I’ll check on you later.” He nodded to Fiona then left.
“That guy’s going to tell everyone in here that you got fired because you’re banging me,” she said.
I laughed then groaned. “Don’t be funny. Not right now.”
“It’s worth it though,” she said, leaning toward me.
“What is?”
“Banging me.”
I grinned, kissed her, and nodded. “Goddamn right it is.”
She kissed me again, deeper this time, and I briefly wondered if she could fit in the bed with me, and maybe I could try a little something— but my phone started ringing, and Curt’s name showed up on the screen.