“Thank you.”
He walked out and I stared down at the card. That was weird, right? Doctors didn’t just hand out their personal numbers. And he would tell me to talk to the nursing staff, not call him.
“You can thank me anytime you want,” Hunter said, a smile in his voice.
“For what?”
“For getting the good doc to see things our way. He left his other patients to fill you in on his concerns with Florrie, and I may have convinced him that you would be more tolerable if you felt reassured that he was just a phone call away.”
I barked out a laugh, shaking my head at Hunter. “Thank you. I needed this,” I said, holding up my hand with the card in it.
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I did it. Listen, I’m gonna grab some coffee. You want anything?”
“No, I’m good.”
“Alright, I’ll be back.” He glanced at Florrie and then headed for the door. Taking my seat next to Florrie, I pulled her hand back into mine and rested my head on her bed. This must have been what it was like for her when I was shot. I hadn’t understood it at the time, her need to be near me night and day. I thought she was overreacting. I had been cleared by the doctor. I was at home recuperating, but she stayed every night with me and checked on me every time she thought something was wrong. Now I got it. It was fucking torture to see the woman I loved in this bed while I was useless to do anything. I tried to get some sleep, knowing there was nothing more I could do for her, but my anxiety was too high. I spent the rest of the night staring at the woman I loved, just praying over and over again that nothing else happened.
CHAPTER ELEVENFlorrie
“I told you, I’m fine,” I said for the hundredth time this week. I had been released two days ago from the hospital, and Alec had been on my ass every minute of every day, aside from when he had to go talk to Cap about our job. It was the best fifteen minutes of my life.
“Florrie, you’re supposed to be resting. The doctor said-”
“I know what the doctor said. I was there, remember?”
He gritted his teeth together, trying his best not to snap. I knew he just wanted to protect me and help me through this, but I wasn’t a person that liked to be babied. I wanted to make my own damn decisions about what I was capable of doing. But this was Alec, and he didn’t have it in him to allow me to do things my own way when he was worried about me. I was surprised at his restraint when I was in the hospital.
“Florrie-”
“It’s fine,” I cut him off. “I’ll stay here and lay in this fucking bed for another three days if it’ll get you to back off.”
“I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I just need to make sure that you’re okay.”
“I’m fine.”
I was not fine. My head was killing me, which the doctor said would be normal, as long as it didn’t get worse. He said that it could take up to ten days for the pain to go away. The Tylenol was doing jack shit for me right now, but I didn’t want to say anything to Alec, because I was scared that he would fly off the deep end and have me admitted back into the hospital. What I really needed was a way to relax and not think about the pounding in my head.
“I know you are,” he said knowingly. “Here.”
I felt something cool being pressed against my head and sighed in relief. It felt so good and there was a slight fragrance to it that helped me relax. I sank back into the pillows and tried not to think about anything else. There was so much I wanted to know still about Jamie’s case, but no one was talking to me about it.
“There’s someone that wants to see you in a little bit if you’re up for it.”
“Who?” I asked in my sleepy state. This cool pack was really starting to work its magic on me.
“Jamie. He’s been bugging me every hour to tell him more about how you are. He’s asked to come in here three times already, but you know me.”
I chuckled slightly. “Yeah, I know you.”
“So, do you want me to call him?”
I nodded and felt a slight squeeze to my hand, and then he was gone. I wasn’t sure when Jamie came by. I must have fallen asleep at some point, but when I woke up, Jamie was sitting in a chair beside my bed and watching something on the TV.
“Hey, Jr,” I said with a grin.
He shook his head, laughing a little. “Not you too. I thought I only had to deal with Craig calling me that.”
“He’s kind of right, you know. You do have a JFK Jr. quality to you.”
“I really hope that’s not true. They all seem to die young.”
“True. Can I make a suggestion?”
“Go for it.”
“I would suggest that you be more choosy with your women. You seem to attract all the wrong kinds.”
“Well, I was hoping to convince you to leave that neanderthal, but you seem to be pretty attached to him.”
“Eh, he’s okay.”
“I heard that,” Alec shouted from the other room.
“Yeah, your guard dog wouldn’t leave me alone with you. Apparently, he thinks I’ll try and seduce you or something.”
“He’s a softy. He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” I lied.
“Yeah, I don’t buy that.”
“So, have you talked to Tessa?” I pushed myself into a sitting position, ignoring the twinge in my head.
“It was suggested by your boss that I don’t take any of her calls,” he huffed out a laugh. “I gotta say, I was really hoping that she wasn’t working with her father.”
“Do you know for sure that she was?”
He shook his head. “No,
