Chapter 11 #2
My heart dropped straight into my stomach, but I kept my expression calm. “Several of us were handling his care. I completed part of the property inventory.”
He nodded like that answer made sense. “Everything get logged?”
“Yes.”
“Even clothes?”
“Anything received by the emergency department gets documented and sealed.”
His eyes stayed on mine, not accusing and not rude, just steady enough to make me uncomfortable. “So if something wasn’t on the list, that mean the hospital never got it?”
I hated how dry my mouth suddenly felt. “Not necessarily because EMS may have documented items separately, and sometimes law enforcement takes possession of certain belongings depending on the circumstances. Security can trace the chain of custody if he files a report.”
“He don’t fuck with police.”
Kendra’s eyes got a little wide, but she looked back down at her computer like she hadn’t heard him. I kept my tone professional. “Then there’s only so much the hospital can investigate without him reporting what’s missing.”
Lev rubbed his beard while looking at me. “He didn’t say what it was?”
“Not to me.”
That part was technically true. Marvelous had never said the words fifty thousand dollars to my face. He had only asked about his things and said he was still trying to figure out what was missing.
Lev studied me for another second before nodding once with a small smile showing his gold teeth . “Aight then.”
I hated that the smile looked good on him because nothing about this situation was supposed to feel light. This man was standing right in front of the person who had taken his cousin’s money, and instead of suspecting me, he was playing it cool.
“Is there anything else you need?” I asked.
“Nah.” He glanced back toward Marvelous’s room. “Just make sure that hardheaded nigga don’t do too much.”
“That depends on whether he listens.”
“He don’t.”
“I noticed.”
Lev looked back at me, and that small grin returned. “Yeah, I can tell.”
He walked away before I could ask what that was supposed to mean. Kendra waited until he disappeared into the room before slowly turning her chair toward me with the biggest smile on her face.
“So you weren’t paying attention?”
I frowned. “Please don’t start.”
“I didn’t say nothing.”
“You didn’t have to. Your face is doing enough.” She laughed quietly. “All I’m saying is that man has been coming up here for three days and barely says more than five words to anybody. Now all of a sudden he’s standing at my desk talking to you.”
“He asked about his cousin’s belongings. Nothing more nothing less.”
I shook my head and went back to documenting because Kendra clearly had too much time on her hands.
Although I didn’t know her, she did seem cool.
Whatever Lev had been doing wasn’t flirting anyway.
He was asking questions, and that was the part I needed to remember.
It didn’t matter how fine he was, how good he smelled, or how calm his voice sounded.
By the time Marvelous’s pain medicine was due, I had convinced myself I could walk back into the room without looking like I had anything to hide.
When I pushed the door open, Lev was sitting in the chair near the window while Marvelous stared at the television with an irritated look on his face.
They both looked over at me at the same time.
“Finally,” Marvelous complained. “I thought you forgot about me.”
“It has been exactly thirty minutes.” I walked toward the medication pump and scanned his wristband. “You are not my only patient.”
“I’m your favorite though.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Lev shook his head from the chair. “This man almost died and still annoying.”
Marvelous pointed toward him. “See what I gotta deal with? I need a better support system.”
“No, you need better decision-making skills,” Lev replied.
I tried to stay out of their conversation while verifying the medication and checking Marvelous’s pain level again. “Still a six?”
Marvelous looked at me and smiled. “A real six.”
Lev looked between us. “The fuck is a real six?”
“He lies about his pain,” I explained.
“I don’t lie.”
“You do.”
Marvelous looked over at Lev. “She don’t trust me.”
Lev leaned back in the chair. “Smart woman.”
I looked down before either one of them caught the smile trying to form. “I’m going to administer the medication now. It may make you drowsy.”
Marvelous watched me connect it to the IV line. “You staying until I fall asleep?”
“No.”
“Damn,” he playfully sighed.
“You’ll be fine.” I assured him.
“You cold.”
“I’m doing my job.”
Marvelous smiled and then winced when it pulled at whatever was still sore. “Damn.”
“See,” I said, checking the line one last time. “That’s why you need to stop worrying about everybody else and focus on healing.”
“I can do both.”
“No, you cannot.”
His eyelids were already getting heavier from the medication, but he was still fighting it like going to sleep meant he’d lose the argument. “You gone be here when I wake up?”
I glanced at my Apple watch. “My shift ends at seven.”
He looked toward the clock, then back at me. “Aight, so yeah.”
I didn’t correct him because the medicine was already doing its job.
His body relaxed deeper into the bed, and within another minute his eyes closed even though his mouth still looked like he wanted to say something.
I gathered my supplies and turned toward the door.
Lev stood from the chair at the same time and followed me into the hallway.
I glanced back when the door closed behind us.
“He’ll probably sleep for a while,” I explained. “If he wakes up confused or his pain gets worse, use the call button.”
Lev nodded. “I know.”
Him standing this close to me had me feeling many different emotions. It wasn’t just his looks; it was his demeanor and the way he gazed in my eyes. “Anything else I can help with?”
He looked like he wanted to say more buy before he could, he was distracted by a call. He immediately looked at the screen and answered before walking away talking about a house or something like that. He didn’t even say ‘excuse me’ or ‘give me a second’ no nothing.
As soon as I walked away I ran into Natalie, whom I hadn’t seen since the mall. “Hey Navy, how are you? Has everything been okay?”
“Yeah.” I told her not really wanting to chit chat right now.
The lie came easier every time I told it, and that was probably the scariest part because I was never fully okay.
Between Rome sitting outside waiting on me, Marvelous asking about his missing belongings, and Lev standing a few doors down asking questions I had no business answering because the peaceful little life I was trying to build suddenly didn’t feel as far away from all this mess as I thought it was.