of his heart and every fresh thump was new agony. He pried open heavy lids to see the blurry white walls of a hospital room. Fuck. Not again. Although it beat the fiery walls of hell, so maybe he shouldn’t complain. Remembering he’d woken up earlier to a nurse hovering over him, he turned his head a fraction. A huge mistake. His skull threatened to topple off his shoulders.
He needed to get his shit together, find some answers. First and foremost: where was Julie and how was Julie? He remembered the blood flowing from her arm before he’d passed out.
A nurse entered the room. Her very bright smile contrasted to her very dark skin. “Hello. Welcome back.” She stopped at his bedside and looked at the monitors before meeting his gaze. “How’s the head feeling?”
“Like a bomb exploded inside.” The words barely passed out of his drier-than-dirt mouth. “Water?” Please, God.
She smiled and let him have a sip from the cup on the tray table. Lifting his head set off more alarms between his ears. “I just saw your doctor a few minutes ago. I’ll go find him.”
Troy would’ve called her back to ask about Julie, but she escaped too fast.
No sooner had she cleared the door than his uncle—father—Zach came in, concern clear in his dark eyes.
“Well, that took about ten years off my life,” Zach said, taking the chair next to the bed. His relief came out in a long sigh. “I didn’t realize that private investigating was this dangerous.”
“It isn’t,” Troy mumbled. “It’s usually very boring and quiet. How’s Julie?”
Zach nodded. “She’s a tough one. She’s okay.”
“Is she here?”
“Yeah.” Zach nodded. “Down the hall. They gave her the biggest room on the floor. Word got out that she was here, and cards and flowers have been trickling in steadily.”
He had to see her. Troy made a move to get up, but the blast of pain from his gut and head made it impossible. It didn’t help that the room spun around him like a Tilt-A-Whirl.
“Hold on,” Zach said with a steady hand on his shoulder. “You’re not going anywhere for a little bit. You just got out of surgery and recovery.”
“Surgery?”
“Yeah. That bullet made a mess of your insides, but they cleaned you up. And that rock you fell on gave you a solid concussion but you’ll be fine. You’re just like a Mills. Hardheaded.”
Troy couldn’t muster a smile. “Did you see her? Talk to her?” Exhaustion crept in on him and he could barely hold his eyes open.
“Yeah. She’s taking the heat for this. Blames herself for not listening to you in the first place.”
“What happened to Carrie Ann?” She’d killed the man Troy had found.
“She’s here too. In serious condition, but she should pull through.”
“I’m glad...” Julie’s voice came from the door and Troy gingerly turned his head. “I’m glad I had cruddy aim, but hate that it took four bullets to slow her down.” Leaning against the door frame, wearing a hospital gown with her arm wrapped in thick white bandages and tucked into a sling, she watched him.
“Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” That was really the only thing Troy wanted at this point. A clean slate with her.
She moved in slowly and sat next to him, her hip connected with his. This close, he got a look at the bruises on her neck and jaw and wished she had shot Carrie Ann fatally. “Since you’ve taken not just one, but two bullets for me now, it would be hugely bitchy of me to be mad at you.”
“True,” Zach murmured behind her and Troy scowled at him.
Julie chuckled. “It is true.” She adjusted his sheets, then met his gaze.
Floored at the emotion he saw in her eyes, Troy vowed then and there to never fuck up as bad again. “You know, I’m the one who has to say thank you now. You saved me this time.” He remembered seeing Carrie Ann’s gun aimed straight at his chest, and Julie flying through the air to tackle her just as the shot rang out. “Thank you. See, I knew you were tough.”
She canted her head to the side and gave him her quirky smile. “Two more times and we’ll be even.”
“Bite your tongue,” Troy said. “I’ll be happy with a nice quiet life after this.” His throbbing head testified to that.
“I don’t know how quiet it’s going to be,” Julie replied. “But I’ll take the press over a bullet any day of