Chapter 3 #2
He lifts her face by the chin to get a look at the bruise already forming where that prick’s fist hit her. But it’s this asshole with his fingers on her who’s pissing me off now.
I can’t explain my reaction to it, and there’s no time right now, anyway, to dwell on it.
“That place keeps us in business,” he frowns. “Charlie needs to get another set of hands to help him there. Especially during this time of year.”
“Yeah, Henry’s working on it.” Mira tries to pull her feet out of my grip, but I’m not letting go.
“Well, I’ll get the nurse to set up a suture kit, and we’ll get those stitches in, and I’ll put the order in for the head CT. Just sit tight, all right?” The doc flashes her a warm smile and she nods in response.
“Thanks,” I mutter as he passes me and closes the curtain behind him.
As soon as we’re alone, Mira yanks her feet from my grasp and tucks them closer to her.
“Who the hell are you?” she whisper-yells at me.
Smart girl, not wanting anyone to overhear us.
“My name is Rurik Mikhailov. Alexander Volkov asked me to find you.” I fold my arms over my chest. “And I have.”
“I don’t know any Alexander…does he work for Marco DeAngelo? Is that who wants you to find me?” Panic trembles along her voice, but she clears her throat as soon as she hears it.
“No, I don’t work for anyone. Your friend Megan Reed is with Alexander.” Before I can finish the explanation, the doctor walks in with a nurse wheeling a tray up to the bed. I move around to stand on the opposite side and sit on the edge while they get to work.
Mira pretends I’m not even there, jerking her hand away when mine brushes hers.
But when they get started, and the needle pokes into her flesh for the first time, she grabs hold of my hand and squeezes. She keeps a death grip on me the entire time they put in the six stitches to close her wound.
“Sorry, I know it’s tender.” The doctor pulls off his surgical gloves with a snap. “The CT guys should be here in a second. After we get that done, you should be good to go.”
“I need to call Megan,” she says to me as soon as we’re alone again. “Why didn’t she tell me you were coming? She would have told me. ”
She’s back to whisper-yelling once we’re alone again.
The curtain rolls back again before I can answer, and I have to clench my jaw to keep from barking at these people to leave us alone for a fucking minute.
“We’re ready for her.” A tall guy in a pair of nurse’s scrubs glares at me when I don’t get up from the bed immediately.
“You can just go home, hun.” Mira emphasizes the last word with too much sweetness. “I’ll have Cara drive me home; I know you need to get to work.”
She can’t possibly think she’ll be getting rid of me this easily.
“I promised Megan I’d wait,” I say.
“Megan will understand.” Her eyes narrow a fraction.
She’s right to be suspicious. She’s been on the run for six months, and she’s finally been caught.
I lean over her bed, bringing my lips right above hers.
“I’ll be right here when you get back. Don’t do anything stupid, Mira. I’m tired of chasing you.” I brush my lips across hers, then press my mouth to hers, intending to put on a show of a husband saying goodbye to his wife.
But once my lips touch hers, it becomes something else entirely. Something deeper, something darker, like I’m free falling with no charted course ahead. I deepen the kiss, shifting from soft to savage.
When I break away, Mira stares up at me like she’s uncertain what just happened. Her lips puffy from the harshness of my kiss.
The nurse reaches across Mira to bring up the railing of the bed, effectively pushing me out of the way. “You can wait here; we’ll bring her back to the same room.”
I step away as they wheel her out of the small room and down the hall. My instinct is to go with her.
The woman is slippery. She’s been able to stay hidden this long, and I’ve always wasted enough time finding her this time.
My phone goes off just as they turn a corner with her. She’s with the staff, and she won’t be able to go anywhere while she’s with them. I answer my phone just as the old woman from the front comes hustling toward me
“Oh, good. Can you come up front for a second. We need to get your wife’s insurance situation all settled.” She peeks into the empty room. “I’ll have you back before she gets back.”
I end the call. Sasha can wait.
“Fine.”
She doesn’t react to my glower as I follow her back up to the waiting area. There’s no insurance to deal with, so this shouldn’t be difficult. I’ll pay cash, whatever the bill is.
It takes the administration people twenty minutes to get through all the screens on their little computers before they finally tell me what sort of deposit they want since we’re not using insurance. I throw a bundle of bills on the desk and walk out.
Mira’s got to be back by now. I throw the double doors open and stalk back to her room. The doctor who had been treating her stands at the desk chatting with the nurses. No one seems to be in any hurry .
The curtain to her room is closed. Already I feel anger simmering in my veins.
I throw back the curtain.
The bed is empty, a Mira sized wrinkle in the bedding where she’d been sitting.
“Where’d she go?” The male nurse taps my shoulder. “The doctor wanted to go over her CT results.”
I glance down at my shoulder, where he put his hand on me before slowly raising my gaze to meet his. He retreats a step, the color draining from his cheeks.
She’s gone.
Again.
Oh, Mira. You should have listened to my warning.