Total pages in book: 227
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 220940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1105(@200wpm)___ 884(@250wpm)___ 736(@300wpm)
“Here.” Danny pushes down on my shoulder, and I lower, not checking there’s anything to sit on.
“Sir, it’s one person at a time, I’m afraid.” The nurse looks over her glasses at Danny as she fiddles with one of the lines into Pearl’s arm.
“It’s okay, Lyn,” the doctor says, appearing on the other side of the bed. “So long as they don’t get in your way.”
“I thought you said she was coming around.” I stare at Pearl’s eyes, seeing total stillness. And then, as if she’s heard me, they open. The greenness I love looks directly at me, and she blinks, before gazing around at the rest of the room. “Jesus, Pearl,” I whisper, moving in and taking her hand, careful of the canula on the back. “You scared the fucking shit out of me.”
I see her swallow, flinching as she does, trying to wet her mouth to talk. It’s painful just watching the effort it’s taking. In the end, she sighs and settles, without the strength to speak.
“Give her time,” the doctor says, wandering around the bed and machinery, checking everything. “It’s an exhausting business being shot.” He glances at me and Danny in turn. “Something tells me you’re familiar with that.”
“Oh?” Danny says. “What’s that something?”
“A friend.”
“Who?” The animosity reeks from Danny.
“Fred Boot.”
“I don’t know no Fred Boot.”
“No,” he says, unaffected, still smiling. “You all know him as Doc.”
I shoot him a shocked look. “You know Doc?”
“Fred Boot?” Danny blurts.
“He mentored me in my early career. He called me to make sure you were taken care of.”
“Oh.” Danny pipes down.
“He’s a very good man.”
“I know,” I whisper, looking at Pearl again. She’s watching me. Listening. Definitely smiling a little. I want to ask her if she knows. But if she doesn’t, she’s too fragile for that kind of a shock. Fuck me, in the space of a few weeks, I’ve found myself a kid, a woman, and a baby. “My love,” I whisper, moving in.
She strains a smile, closing her eyes again. Resting. She needs it.
The door opens and Beau’s head pops round. “There you are.” Her eyes go to Pearl on the bed. “How is she?”
Pregnant!
“She’s good,” I say, realizing in this moment that this news could hit Beau and James really hard, and a quick look at Danny confirms he’s on the same wavelength. Beau was in Pearl’s situation in the past. Shot. She lost that baby.
Beau holds up some swabs and wound cleaner. “Can I clean you up?”
I look at the doctor, and he nods. “Sure. Like I said, let the nurses work.”
“Of course.”
Danny goes to the doctor and helps himself to the pen in his breast pocket, writing something down on the papers he’s holding. “In case you’re looking for a good retirement plan.”
The doctor laughs lightly. “I’ll bear it in mind.”
Danny’s gesture is a stark reminder that we’re still on many wanted lists. And our resident Doc isn’t getting any younger.
Beau perches on a chair next to me and sets herself up, checking the cut on my head before motioning for my hand. I give it to her on a sigh. “What was all that about?” she asks, nodding to the doctor’s back.
“Nothing,” Danny and I say in unison.
“Don’t let me interrupt you.” Her tone is loaded with sarcasm.
“We’re never talking about anything business around any of you women ever again.” Danny sits forward in his chair, getting his face closer to Beau’s. “Ever.”
She cocks her head, unaffected, and returns to my hand, holding it while she dabs at the endless cuts. She won’t poke the bear.
“How’s James?” I ask, diverting the conversation as Danny rests back, moody.
“Fine,” she says, short and high.
I frown, reading her persona. Guilty. He doesn’t like this place. I understand. But it’s just occurred to me; Beau is here, and James would walk through fire, hell, and everything in between to be with his wife. So why isn’t he here? “Where is he?” I fire, and she recoils, her working hand faltering. I know Beau. Before Pearl, she was one of only two women I knew inside out. “Where is your husband?”
“He’s . . . I think . . .” She growls. “He hates hospitals,” she spits, dunking her swab roughly.
“Yes, but you’re here.”
“And?”
“Beau,” I say slowly, withdrawing my hand, looking at Danny’s thoughtful face. He’s wondering the same now.
“Hmm,” she hums, fiddling with the things on the bed.
“Beau,” I snap, reaching for her face and directing it to mine. “Where’s James?”
She glares. “He’s—”
Danny’s phone rings, and all attention redirects his way as he looks at the screen. He answers. “Higham?” His scar deepens by the second, his chest dipping with his long breath. “What?” He looks at me. “Where?”
I sit up straight, listening, watching Danny’s expressions, hating every one of them. He eventually hangs up, rubbing at his chin, looking disturbed.