Chapter 2
Feather
Tonight has been a night from hell. First, the run in with Blake and then a full ER. I wasn’t prepared for this when I started nursing school. I knew it would be busy but this night has been insane. And that guy. Pike, is what they called him. How could he have seen what everyone else has ignored? The thought he could see right through me has thrown me off a little. I wasn’t expecting that.
Now, my shift is over, and I’m sitting in the waiting room to see how he’s doing. I don’t always check up on my patients, but this one just felt different. Something about him was different. So I wait.
There are a ton of guys in here, all wearing the same kind of vests he had on. I assume they’re waiting for him to get out of surgery, too.
“This is bullshit. I can’t believe it takes this long to pull a fuckin’ bullet out,” one of the men snaps.
“There could have been internal bleeding, or something else was hit,” I offer up. All eyes turn to me, and I smile slightly.
“Who are you? A doctor?”
“No. I was his nurse in the emergency room.”
“You can’t see what’s takin’ so long?” he asks.
“I can try,” I say as I move out of my chair and walk out of the waiting room and find the nurse’s desk.
“Hey, Julia. There’s family here for Pike Osmond. Any word?” She looks down at her computer and types in his name before she nods.
“He’s out of surgery and going into recovery. They should be able to see him soon.” I smile my thanks and head back to the room to tell the guy. He’s on his feet when I walk back in.
“He’s out of surgery. He’s going to recovery and then you can see him.”
“He’s okay?” he asks.
“Sounds that way,” I tell him. He grabs me unexpectedly and pulls me into a hug. It’s not the first time this has happened to me so I go with it. I let him hug me until he finally pulls away and turns to the others, who are now on their feet.
“What’s your name?”
“Feather.”
“Strange name.”
“I had strange parents,” I tell the other guy who’s now talking to me.
“Guess so. Thanks for checkin’ on him, Feather. That means a lot,” I nod my head before I sigh and step back. I suppose I should go. I’m sure they are going to want to see him but there’s something that’s bothering me. I just need to see him.
I walk back out of the room and down the hall before asking for his room. Once I have it, I walk down the hall and straight to his door. I don’t know what I’m going to say to him. I don’t know why I need to see him, but there’s just something nagging me, and I need to see he’s okay.
I push the door open and walk in as he blinks his eyes rapidly.
“Everything’s blurry.”
“It’s the drugs. They’ll wear off,” I explain to him. His head snaps in my direction and his eyes seem to lock with mine.
“You’re young,” he says, making note of how old I look.
“Not that young.”
“Jailbait.”
“No. Not that young,” I giggle at his choice of words.
“You’re blurry, Jailbait.”
“It’ll clear up. How are you feeling?”
“Are you stalkin’ me?”
“No. I was just checking on you.”
“Didn’t you see enough of me when they were cuttin’ my clothes off?” My cheeks heat at his words. I didn’t look at him if that’s what he meant.
“I … No. I didn’t look at you. That’s unprofessional.”
“Calm down, Jailbait. I was just messin’ with you. How long before I can get outta here?”
“I don’t know. You just got out of surgery. It’s going to take some time to heal,” I tell him. He huffs out a breath before raising his hand and looks at the IVs.
“I really need this shit?”
“It’s giving you fluids and medicine, so yeah.”
“What a fuckin’ mess.”
“Your friends are here,” I tell him. He looks back over at me this time and nods his head.
“Figured they would be.”
“You want them to come in?”
“Not yet.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll let you rest.” I get ready to leave the room. The temperature in here is hot as hell and I can feel sweat trickling down my neck. I need out of this room.
“I didn’t tell you to leave, Jailbait. In fact, come here,” he says, taking me by surprise. I walk over next to the bed and stand there as he looks at me.
“Why’d you come in here?”
“To see how you were doing.”
“You do that for all your patients?” I shake my head, feeling like a complete fool now. I shouldn’t have come up here. I should have left it alone, but I couldn’t help what I felt.
“No. I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t have come,” I blurt before taking a step back.
“Not what I said. Don’t put words in my mouth, Jailbait. I’m glad you came to see me,” he says, shocking me.
“You are? Why?”
“I read your name on the name tag. Why did they name you Feather?”
“My mom had a thing for birds. She loved them almost more than she loved me. My dad wouldn’t let her name me Birdie so Feather it is.”
“You’re serious?” he asks. I nod my head.
“I am.”
“That’s an interestin’ story, Jailbait. Now, how about you tell me the one about the bruise,” he urges. He’s still groggy from the medicine, and I see his eyes slowly slip closed. I think he’s fallen asleep, so I attempt to slip out of the room. I’m almost to the door when he calls out to me.
“Stop tryin’ to leave. In fact, come sit in this chair.”
“I shouldn’t be here. I need to go,” I tell him quickly, trying to get myself out of this mess.
“I said no.” Why am I taking orders from this man? Why am I even listening to him? I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me, but I walk over and drop my ass into the chair next to his bed and sigh.
“I’m not telling you my personal life,” I tell him. He smirks, and damn, does it look hot.
“Yeah, you are. I wanna know where it came from.”
“A fist, obviously,” I snap. Pike shakes his head slowly before attempting to shift on the bed. I see him wince and quickly stand to try to help him. As soon as I touch his arm, something like a shock rocks my body. His eyes shoot to mine, and that’s where they hold. Did he feel that too?
I want to rip my hand away from him, but his other hand comes up and rests over mine, holding it in place.
“Whose fist was it?”
“Why does that matter?”
“It matters, darlin’. Just tell me.”
“It really doesn’t matter, and I can’t say. I’m sorry. I hope you feel better soon.” I force my hand away from him and start for the door when he stops me once more.
“Men aren’t supposed to make women cry, Jailbait.”
“He’s not a real man.” With that, I walk out of the room and close the door behind me, taking a deep breath. Silently and a little stunned, I walk back down the hall to find his friends.
“You can go see him. Room two ten,” I tell them. They stand but it’s the one who hugged me that moves toward me.
“He okay?”
“Yeah. He’s on a lot of medicine right now, so I wouldn’t stay long,” I let him know.
“Thanks, Feather.” I nod my head and walk back out of the waiting room, ready to finish my day with a drink.