“Held a gun to his head, did you?”
“Figuratively.”
Deklan snorts. I reach over and take his hand.
“I was worried. He wouldn’t tell me what really happened, and he’s a terrible liar.”
“It was nothing.”
“You just came out of surgery. How, exactly, is that nothing?”
“Just a scratch.” He looks down at our hands and twines his fingers around mine. “I’m fine.”
“What happened?”
“Misunderstanding.”
“That’s vague.” I squeeze his hand slightly.
“What happened?” I ask again, but Deklan just stares at our hands, ignoring m
y question. “You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”
“No,” he says succinctly, “I’m not. I don’t want you involved. It’s taken care of.”
“So I hear.”
Deklan turns his head swiftly, his eyes narrowed.
“Tell Brian that he’s a dead man.”
“Leave him alone.”
“Are you giving me orders now?”
“Maybe.”
He finally cracks a smile, but it quickly turns to a wince. I reach over with my other hand and stroke his cheek. He leans against me for a moment.
“Go home,” Deklan says. “The doc said I can leave in the morning. They just want to watch me overnight.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Deklan. If something happened, they wouldn’t even be able to reach me.”
“God, woman” he shakes his head and closes his eyes, “you are frustrating.”
“Well, you left me pretty frustrated this morning. I’m just returning the favor.”
“Don’t make me laugh anymore.” He gives me a half smile, and his eyes soften. He gives my hand a squeeze and closes his eyes briefly. “I hate the way painkillers leave my head feeling.”
The curtain moves, and Dr. Henry walks in with a smile.
“How are we doing?” she asks.
“I’ll be fine when you get rid of the painkillers in the IV.”
“You just came out of surgery,” Dr. Henry says. “You’re going to need that for a while.”
“Bullshit.”