Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
I rose so fast I nearly knocked the chair over. “Great. Thank you.”
“He’s still groggy,” she said as we walked down a quiet hallway. “But he keeps asking for you.”
I swallowed hard as we entered the ICU. The big room was bright, with a chorus of monitors beeping in the background and a faintly antiseptic smell. The nurses’ station was in the middle, and the perimeter was lined with glass-walled rooms. Some had curtains drawn, others gave me a glimpse of patients connected to tubes and blinking lights.
When I saw Wes, I forgot all about the nurse and rushed into his room. His eyes were open but he looked so, so pale.
“Oh my God. How are you?”
He gave me a half smile. “Been better.”
The nurse interrupted. “Don’t be alarmed if he goes in and out of consciousness. The anesthesia will do that. But I’ll give you two a few minutes. Then I’ll need to take a full medical history.” She smiled. “We still know nothing about Mr. Callahan other than he’s worried more about his girlfriend than himself.”
I smiled down at him. “You scared the hell out of me.”
He lifted his head, but it looked like it hurt, and his voice was just above a whisper. “Is there a lock on the door?”
My face scrunched up. “The glass door?”
“Yeah. I can’t protect you. I don’t even know where my gun is.”
I laughed and leaned down to hug him. This man was lucky to be alive after being shot, and all he cared about was protecting me. “Don’t worry about anything except getting well.”
“You need to call your father.”
“I did.”
He strained to push out words. “And listen to what he tells you to do.”
I frowned.
“You have to leave and go somewhere safe.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Juliette—” his voice strained.
“I’m not leaving you. You almost died.” Tears filled my eyes just from saying the words. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if something happened. I’m in love with you, Wes.”
CHAPTER 21
* * *
Wes
I love you too.
That was the last thing I remembered going through my mind before I must’ve drifted off. I woke hours later—I could tell because outside the window was dark now, and Juliette was no longer standing next to me. Some thug was. I recognized him as one of Vince’s guys—Eddie, I thought.
“Where’s Juliette?” My voice sounded so damn weak.
The thug smiled. “She’s fine. Tommy just walked her to the bathroom to change her bloody shirt.” He chuckled. “You’re hardcore, man. Took a bullet, lying in bed hooked up to all kinds of shit, and still worried about protecting her. We got her now. We’ll keep her safe. You just rest.”
Eddie took out his phone, pressed some buttons, and held the cell to my ear. “Someone wants to talk to you.”
“Wes?”
Vince. I attempted to clear the grog in my throat so I could speak a little louder. “Hey, Boss.”
“Wanted to say thank you for taking a bullet for my girl.”
“Just doing my job.”
“Yeah, well…it might be a job to you, but it’s my only daughter. I appreciate it.”
I swallowed. “You’re welcome.”
“I’ll let you go because you sound like shit. But I also wanted to remind you to keep your fucking mouth shut to the cops.”
The balls on this guy. “Of course.”
“Good.” Click.
A few minutes later, Juliette came back. She sat by my side while Eddie stood at the door.
“How are you feeling?”
“Frustrated. I keep nodding off.”
She smiled. “I know. You did it before when we were talking.”
“Did you at least get the honey?”
“Honey?”
“The table you were looking at in the market. You had honey in your hand. Not sure you had time to pay.”
She grinned. “I actually stole it by accident. I didn’t even realize I was still clutching it until I got to the emergency room.”
“And here I thought you wanted to lead the straight life...”
The smile on her face made me feel better than any of the shit they were feeding me through the IVs.
“We should get going soon,” Eddie said to Juliette.
She shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“The boss said—”
“Save your breath, Eddie. I’m not leaving. Tell my father I’m home safe if that’ll get him off your ass. But Wes nearly died for me. I’m going to sit here and make sure he is well taken care of.”
It shocked the shit out of me that Eddie gave in so easily. But I guess arguing with the boss’s daughter wasn’t the smartest thing to do either. Since there was only one way to enter the ICU, Eddie decided to change his post from on top of me to guarding the entrance. Though a few minutes later, we got new guests. Two guys in suits that I immediately clocked as cops.
“How you doing, Mr. Callahan?” one of them asked. “I’m Detective Olson, and this is my partner, Detective Barkley. The doctor said it was okay for me to talk to you for a few minutes. We also need to take your girlfriend’s statement, and we’d like to do that in the waiting room just outside the ICU.”