Chapter 7 Because You Have to Be
Because You Have to Be
Savannah
I woke up and saw someone holding my hand with their head hunched over it. I’d know that honey-blond head of hair anywhere.
“Ted,” I rasped.
His head snapped up and he aimed wide blue eyes at me. “Save your strength.”
I licked my lips. “Why are you here?”
“Nowhere else I want to be. Let me get the nurse.”
He must have pulled the short straw. Nowhere else he wants to be, my foot.
The nurse came in and told Ted to wait outside. He wandered off with his cell in his hand.
“What day is it?” I asked.
“Tuesday.”
I gasped.
She patted my arm. “Calm down. Your boss was here earlier. It’s all gonna be fine. Let me get Dr. Lester.”
Half an hour later, Ted came back when the doctor was done.
“Thanks for being here, Ted - I mean, Puncture.”
“Don’t thank me,” he grumbled.
“Why?”
“You never should have been attacked. So don’t thank me for being here. It’s every brother’s fault you’re here.”
“That isn’t right.”
“Rest. Cat should be here soon. She and Alanis were pulling into the parking garage when you woke up.”
“I’m sorry I was attacked.”
The way he stared at me should have unnerved me, but instead I found it to be oddly soothing because nobody had ever looked at me like that. Like I mattered… like I was precious.
He dropped into a chair. “Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault.”
I cleared my throat. “It’s nice that you stuck by my side here.”
“Nice?” he asked.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s… you’re just here because you have to be.”
The air felt heavy, and his expression changed. If I wasn’t mistaken, he looked stern. “Savannah, that isn’t the reason—”
“Thank God you’re awake,” Catalina said, charging into the room.
A nurse insisted only one person could be with me. “She’ll be moved to a regular room soon. Then all of you can see her.”
Cat grabbed my hand, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from Punc. His troubled eyes stayed locked on me until Alanis pulled him down the corridor.
The drugs had to be messing with my brain. Something in the way he looked at me, the tone of his voice before he left… he seemed downright ravaged.
“Are you tired? Do you need water?” Cat asked.
I nodded and she handed me a cup with ice chips.
I eyed the cup.
“Yeah, I know. You hate ice, so there’s another reason to steer clear of any hospital situations.”
“Thanks,” I whispered, shaking the cup until an ice chip fell into my mouth.
Catalina rambled through an update of everything that had happened since Sunday night.
Hearing that Ted went to the house in the middle of the night and drove her here… yeah, he was doing the right thing. My drug-addled brain wanted to read more into it.
I dozed off at some point and woke up in a different room with a roommate. Cat and I exchanged a look. She didn’t care for this set-up, either. This was the real reason to avoid hospitals.
The next time I woke up, I was in a private and very swank room - as hospital rooms went, anyway.
“About time you woke up,” Rita said.
I turned my head in her direction. “Hey, I—”
She shook her head. “Don’t. You can save it. This isn’t your fault. I’m paying you while you’re laid up in here. No arguments.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
Her eyes slid to the door and back to me. “Why didn’t you tell me about your hunkalicious boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend. He’s my best friend’s older brother, and we work together. That’s all.”
Her chin dropped toward her neck. “That’s all? If you believe that, girlfriend, you need to open your eyes.”
“He’s just being nice.”
She laughed. “Listen to you. Being nice! A security guard wanted to toss him out, but Muriel and I set him straight.”
I blinked. “Muriel? Why was she here?”
Rita patted my hand. “She’s the one who insisted you get this room.
Seems her husband gave a whole bunch of money to the hospital - and she used her clout.
More people care about you than you realize, Savannah.
Now, what’s it gonna take to keep you awake?
Rumor has it that if you can stay up for a while you might get outta this joint by Sunday. ”
Good grief. Six days in the hospital!
Yeah, I needed to get out ASAP.
The next day Rita swung by to visit me. At one-thirty, Punc sauntered into the room.
The sight of him in his leather cut, jeans, and motorcycle boots made my breath catch.
His blue eyes scanned me from head to toe. “You look much better, Smythe.” He came closer and set a McDonald’s bag on the table in front of me.
The scent of french fries filled the room. My stomach growled, and I widened my eyes at him. “Is this for me?”
“Unless your favorites changed, I got you a Big Mac, Coke, and fries. Seeing as you haven’t eaten much the past three days, I bumped the small fry to a medium.”
A fast-food order should not make me want to cry, but here we were. This hinted at how thoughtful Punc could be, and I yearned for that to be my future. But we were wrong for each other, and probably always would be.
I glanced out the picture window at the river. I needed to thank Muriel for getting me into a room with such a fantastic view.
“Shit. You didn’t wake up and suddenly decide to be a vegan now, did you?” Punc asked.
I looked at him. “You remember my McDonald’s order.”
He settled a hip on the bed. “I also remembered how much you love Renna’s pepperoni. It’s not that hard, sweetheart.”
“Well, I’m going downstairs. The smell of those fries reminded me it’s time to eat,” Rita said, standing.
I shot her some side-eye. Rita kept a strict schedule and always ate lunch at eleven-thirty.
“See ya, Rita,” Punc said.
“Great to see you, Punc. Take care of our girl.”
I ignored the fact that Rita not only knew his road name, but called him by it.
I pulled my food out of the bag. “Don’t you have to get to Platinum’s? It’s almost two.”
“I’m off this week.”
My gaze caught his. “You are? Have you been on vacation?”
He stared at me for a long moment. “No, Savannah. Eat.”
The moment I swallowed my first french fry, I realized how hungry I was and all decorum fell by the wayside. I snarfed down my burger and Coke like I hadn’t eaten in days.
The satisfied smile on Punc’s face didn’t make my breath catch - it made my heart skip a beat.
“Why are you looking at me like that, Punc?” It struck me that I had to look awful. “Oh God. I must look like hell after—”
He leaned forward and slid my hair behind my ear. “Savannah, you’re healing up, but your beauty is more than skin deep. It’s a fucking shame neither of your parents helped you see that.”
I swallowed. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you looking at me like that?”
He leaned back. “Sweetheart, I’m fucking thrilled you’re awake for me to look at. Now, do you need anything? They were out of cookies. Do you want dessert?”
“No,” I blurted. Then I realized I should have said yes. He’d have to leave the room and it would give me time to regroup. All of his attention on me wasn’t exactly unnerving, but it felt unusual. Especially since we’d agreed Wednesday night that we had to stop because we were co-workers.
“You’re covered,” he said.
My brows furrowed. “What?”
“The bills. The club’s got you covered.”
My eyes went wide. “Use some of my money from Sunday night—”
“Fuck, no,” he bit out.
“Ted.”
“Punc,” he corrected.
I shook my head. “That’s going to be thousands, probably tens of thousands—”
“You’re covered, Savannah. We still don’t know who attacked you and Prime, but it never should have happened and we’re covering you.”
My head tipped to the side. “Then I really have to get out of here soon.”
“Come again?”
“Rita said I could get out by the weekend. I’ll have to make sure that happens so you and the others don’t have to pay more—”
“Stop. Don’t fucking worry about that shit and don’t try to get out too soon. That only leads to problems.”
“Right,” I whispered. I raised my chin and stared into his eyes. “Thank you, Punc… and tell the others I’m grateful, too.”
His full pink lips jutted out a touch while he mulled over my words. Then he patted my bicep. “Yeah. You need dessert. I’ll be right back.”
Punc
He couldn’t stand it. Yak or Turk should have come down here, but they hadn’t.
After one session of church, they were no closer to knowing who attacked Savannah. Add in the fact she couldn’t figure out why he was looking at her ‘like that,’ and he’d never been so frustrated.
He couldn’t remember being so pleased to watch a woman devour her food.
Her boss assumed he was her boyfriend, and he didn’t correct her.
From the moment she stood up for herself at the audition, he’d wanted to drag her to the office and keep her off the stage.
Not to control her, but so they wouldn’t be coworkers.
Alanis would lose it if he went there with Savannah. But to a man like Punc, that shouldn’t factor.
As though just thinking about his sister conjured her, Alanis stepped off an elevator and strode up the corridor toward him. “Excellent. I hoped I would catch you alone.”
“What do you want, sis?”
She cocked a brow. “To ask you the same thing: what do you want from Savannah? Are you leading her on with this bedside vigil routine?”
His jaw clenched and he guided them both to the side and out of the flow of foot traffic. “I would never do something that shitty. Can’t believe you think I would.”
She looked slightly contrite. “I don’t think you’d do it intentionally. Shit happens though, and more than enough bad shit has happened to Savannah.”
Something in her tone bugged him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Alanis kept at him. “Are you leaving? Or is she awake?”
He dipped his chin. “She’s up and I was going to get her a cookie to chase her Big Mac.”
She lifted a grocery bag. “Got that covered. Sugar cookies - her favorite.”
His brows arched. “Lemon cookies are her favorite, Alanis.”