Eight
Istarted and jerked awake.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” a voice said gently, and I felt a hand on my chest. “Just settle down. You’re all right; we’ve got you. Open your eyes—look at me.”
I thought my eyes were open.
“Can you hear me, buddy?”
I let out a deep breath, and his voice was miles away before there was no sound at all.
Bright light. I blinked so I could see something. Hospital. I was in the hospital, and the IV bag, the bed, the beeping machines, and the white coats were a dead giveaway in case I missed the nurses.
“Crap,” I groaned.
“Jory, can you hear me?” someone asked me.
“Yeah,” I groaned, trying to sit up. “Shit.”
“No, no, no,” a woman in a white coat, said gently, hand on my shoulder as she looked at me. “Just stay down until we get you all checked out here, all right?”
Heavy sigh. “Okay.”
“Anyone I should call, Jory?”
I was having trouble focusing, but saw that she was a doctor.
“He’s got a business card for Dane Harcourt in here,” another voice said. “There’s one for a Detective Kage as well.”
“Wait,” I gasped out. “Please don’t call anybody. Please.”
“Jory, can you—”
But I didn’t hear the rest because the room did a sharp tilt to the left and I slid into darkness again.
Later, when I came to, a nurse explained to me that the staff had, in fact, not listened to my request, and had instead called Detective Sam Kage and explained to him about my arrival there at the hospital.
They had also informed the police officers who came to the hospital that they had called the detective.
I knew they had to, but still, I was disappointed.
I didn’t have long to think about it before I passed out though.
When I woke up, I was freezing, and I opened my eyes to find a curtain pulled around the bed, so even though I could hear a lot of noise, no one could see me.
I was hooked up to an IV bag, but I had seen enough movies to know that the needle came out just the same way it went in.
It hurt much more than I thought it would—everything looked easier in the movies—especially getting the tape off, but I pressed down hard, and it only bled for a second.
It took me a few tries to sit up without being too dizzy, and then to stand, but I was tenacious because I wanted out.
At first the nausea was like a wave that sucked all the air out of my body, but it calmed down, receded, and I was able to stand and breathe and then walk.
I hated hospitals—the smells, the freezing temperature, as well as the color of the walls and the fluorescent lighting.
It was all just vile. I needed to get out fast.
All my things, clothes, wallet, phone, keys, were in a bag in a closed cubby beside the bed which I was thankful for.
They hadn’t had time to transfer me upstairs which worked to my advantage.
It was easy to get out of a crowded, busy emergency room.
I slipped out with everyone else coming in and out.
And as I started home, I thought how the next time someone said my pants were too tight, I was going to bring up this night.
If you were wrestling for your life in the back of a big ass car, it sure came in handy to have chinos that fit like a second skin.
That way you made sure you didn’t drop anything and no one could get a good hold of you. Loose pants, my ass.
My phone startled me when it rang. I was still a little on edge. “Hello?”
“Where the fuck are you?”
“Who is this?” I asked, even though I knew exactly who it was.
“You know damn well who the fuck this is!”
“Oh,” I muttered. “Sam. Whaddya want?”
“What do I want? I want to know where the fuck you are!”
“I’m going home. I hate hospitals.”
“I don’t give a fuck; you weren’t cleared to leave. I talked to the staff and you should be in bed.”
“It’s fine. I’m fine.”
“It’s not. You don’t just—”
“Let it go.”
“Jory, you need to go back to the—”
“I won’t, I’m done.”
“Tell me what the hell happened, then?” he demanded.
“They said they called you; they must have explained what happened.”
“I know all about your injuries, but not what went on.”
“I dunno. Some guys came after me and I think one of them hit me harder than I realized.”
“Jory, you’re a fuckin’ idiot!” His voice got even louder.
My head couldn’t take the yelling. I hung up and stopped walking so I could figure out where I was. When I saw the stairs that led to the elevated track for the L, I started to climb. I answered my phone on the fifth ring.
“What?” I whined. My head hurt.
“Where are you?” Very controlled voice, but I knew he was talking to me through clenched teeth.
“On my way home.”
“Where are you right now?”
“I have no idea. Leave me alone, okay?” I mumbled as I hung up on him.
As I sat on the L, I had a vision of him sitting outside of my place in his monster car, waiting there so he could yell at me.
That idea kept me in my seat five stops beyond where I was supposed to get off.
As I sat on the steps leading down from the platform, trying not to freeze, I realized my exit from the hospital had been poorly planned.
I wasn’t sure who to call since it had to be either very late or very early at this point.
When my phone rang, I answered because it was a distraction I needed.
“Jory?”
“Oh. Hey, Ben.” I sighed because this was not who I needed.
“Where are you?”
“I was sleeping,” I lied, because it was easy.
“Oh, well, sorry, I just wanted to make sure we were okay from the other night.”
“Course.”
“Yeah? You’re not freaked out?”
“No, flattered is what I was.”
“Okay, good.”
“But I gotta let you go, okay? I’ll call ya.”
“You do that.”
I hung up, and immediately my phone rang again.
“Yeah?”
“Jory, goddamn it, where the hell are you?” Sam snarled at me.
I groaned. “I’d rather die of hypothermia than tell you.”
“Very dramatic. Answer the goddamn question.”
I grunted.
“The people at county told me you have a mild concussion and you’re all beat up and—”
“I’m fine.” I shivered hard, my teeth chattering. “I just don’t wanna go home unless you promise you won’t be there.”
“I am here.”
I sighed deeply. “I knew it.”
“You’re not coming home on purpose?”
“Yep.”
“Jory, you do understand that you were kidnapped and assaulted and—”
“Yeah, I know.”
“You know? That’s all you have to say?”
“Pretty much.”
“Jesus, you’re an idiot! Jory, they are not going to stop trying to kill you!”
I sighed heavily. “I gotta go to work. What time is it?”
“Work? Are you fuckin’ kidding me? Jory, your ass is going into protective custody today!”
“Yeah, no.” I yawned, shivering again, my teeth making the clicking noise that I was powerless to stop. “I’ve got a lot of shit to do, and I need to talk to my boss about something important because I think he’s making a big—”
“Jory! Where are you?”
“Why’d ya blow me off? Were you on a date?”
There was a beat of silence.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” he asked me, his voice quiet but filled with force at the same time.
“You were, weren’t you? Your buddies or whatever…you had to go on some date with some woman, so you couldn’t come see me.”
“That’s what this is about? A date?”
“Go to hell.”
“Are you on drugs? Did they shoot you full of shit at the hospital?”
“You know what? I don’t even care. Just leave me alone.” I hung up on him.
When my phone rang again, I saw that the number was different.
“Hello?”
“Jory, baby, where are you?”
“Hey, Nick.” I sighed deeply. For whatever reason, his voice was soothing.
“I saw your name on the board when I came in, but, honey, where are you?”
“I left.”
“Obviously. Do you know you can’t just take out an IV and walk out of a hospital?”
“Oh no?”
“Jory, you’re—”
“I’m fine.”
“Jory, you’re hurt worse than you think, honey. You can’t be alone right now. Tell me where you are. Are you home?”
No, I wasn’t home, I thought, and wanted to yell it at him.
Because for whatever reason, as it always did, his voice had gone from sounding sultry and sexy to whiny and needy in a heartbeat.
And it wasn’t Nick, I knew it wasn’t Nick…
it was me. I just didn’t respond well to begging or pleading or anything that sounded weak or clinging.
I responded to power and dominance and demands for my time and my body.
The gentle, sensitive guy did nothing for me.
I was a mess, but realizing that did nothing to prevent my honest reaction.
“Jory…honey…can I come pick you up?”
“No,” I said as I started shaking. I was so cold. “I’m gonna call somebody, Nicky, don’t worry.”
“But I do worry. You have a concussion, and you’re bruised and battered, and I really need to—”
“But I’m all right.”
“Honey, I’m afraid you’re gonna pass out and—”
“I’ll be okay,” I assured him. “I’ll call ya later.”
“No, no, no. Jory, baby, just tell me where you are, I’ll pick you up, and you can come home with me and—”
“How ’bout I call you tomorrow?”
“Jory, whatever you’re mixed up in, I can handle it. Please, baby, let me take care of you.”
“Nick, I—”
“Jory.” He sighed deeply. “I am crazy about you. I think about you all the time.”
“You do?”
“Yes. God yes. I just… You need to give me some of your time. I know I’m not as exciting as whatever else is going on in your life, but, Jory, I’m good for you. I want to be with you.”
It was hard to breathe suddenly, partly because I was turning into a Popsicle and the rest because brutal honesty wasn’t usually my gig.
I favored the disappearing act in most cases.
“You know, Nick.” I began quickly because it was better to do it like pulling off a Band-Aid—just really fast. “We’ve got no chemistry at all. You know we don’t.”
“Is that right?”
“You know it is.” I winced. This was just as painful to say as it was to hear.
“Well, I think you need to give me another chance to impress you. Because if we’re being honest, being in bed with you was amazing.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m not flattering you, it’s a fact. I didn’t want it to end.”
“That’s nice.”
“Nice? Jesus.” He laughed dryly.
I chuckled because he sounded so deflated.