Cowboy Logic - B.A. Tortuga Page 0,72
she could watch six kids.
Chapter 25
“When can I go home?”
The first two nights in the hospital had been a fuzzy blur, but it was morning, and he was ready to get the fuck out of here. He’d talked to the police, and Conor was going for two counts of attempted murder. It was time to go.
“I think we ought to keep you one more night,” the internist said. Dr. Lee? Law? Something. “That rib worries me. The collarbone is going to heal well if you take it easy, and the arm is a clean break, but—”
“Okay. One night. I need to go home.”
“Where’s home?”
“Monterey, California.”
“Flying could be very hard on that arm. Though your lungs weren’t punctured, luckily, I’m still worried about your ribs—”
“Look, can you clear me to fly or not?”
“Technically, yes.”
“Okay. I’ll make my ticket for the day after tomorrow. I’ll stay one more day here. You release me tomorrow.” He could deal with that. That gave Sister a chance to pack his shit up.
“All right. I’d like one more chest X-ray tonight.” The doc smiled tiredly. “If you want, you can have a shower this evening.”
“God yes. I stink. Thank you, Doctor. Seriously. This is a shit situation.”
“It’s a tough one. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” The doc made all the right noises, moving toward the door. “Oh, sorry.”
“No problem.” That was Jericho. He’d been there in the ER, but Bailey had taken his place and had only gone home today to bathe and change and bring more shit.
He ate the vision of the man up. He’d remember this when he was home and lonely. “How goes it?”
“Crazy, a bit. What did the doc say?” Jericho jerked his head toward the door.
“One more night in the clink. Did you stop and see Adrian?” They’d both bypassed Greenville Pres and ended up in Lake Pointe.
“I did. He’s recovering well from the surgery, and he’ll be out next week.” Jericho pulled up a chair, sitting close to the side of his bed.
He sighed softly and relaxed. “Good. That’s good to hear. He’s dogged.”
“He is, and he has good insurance…” Jericho winked. “So you get to come home tomorrow?”
The day after. “I’m ready to get out of here. You can’t rest, you know? How are the kids?”
“Still a little wigged-out. They’re begging to come, but you can only have two guests max, so Bailey says she’ll bring them when she comes to pick you up.”
“I’m sorry. It was necessary. I needed to finish this.”
“Well, you sure did it up with a bang.” Jericho was going for wry, but the way he stared made Logic all warm inside.
“I did. Now everyone can have their lives back. I should have thought about this forever ago, but—” I was busy falling in love. “—sometimes I’m not so bright.”
“Stop it. You’re brilliant, baby.” Jericho touched his hand, gently, thank goodness, because that was his bad arm.
He let out a soft sob, closing his eyes against the wave of longing that wanted to drown him.
“You okay? Do you need something for the pain?” Jericho leaned closer, almost close enough to kiss him.
“There’s nothing that’s gonna fix this hurting, honey. Not a thing.”
Jericho blinked at him. “It will get better. The doc said nothing was permanently damaged.”
“Yeah. I’ll get back to the gym and get strong.” He had a ton of work to do too. Writing, promotion—he’d wasted enough time.
“You have some healing to do first. I’ll coddle you a little, huh?”
“Oh, honey—” He cut off when the nurse came in, which he was actually grateful for. Jericho wanted to play house a little, but that wouldn’t change anything. They were still never going to resolve the great land divide.
“Did you order supper, Logic? You need to.” The nurse, Angie, was new today. She glanced at Jericho. “Hi, I’m Angie, the day nurse. You’re…?”
“Jericho.”
“Ah. Are you family or—”
“Just a friend,” Jericho said, a little too fast.
“He’s my sister’s next-door neighbor.” And that was it. Logic needed that to be it.
“Isn’t it nice for him to stop by? You need to order food, okay?”
He nodded, but he wasn’t hungry. He wasn’t anything but empty.
“He’ll get something.” When she left, Jericho grabbed the menu. “What do you want?”
“I’m not hungry.” He’d lost his appetite. “I think I’ll sleep until tomorrow.”
“How about peanut butter and jelly?” Jericho called down to the cafeteria for him, ordering him PB&J, apple slices, and a chocolate chip cookie. “There you go.”
While Jericho had called, though, Logic had turned his head to one side,