already easing. “Don’t you have any self-respect, man?”
I raise my tatted arm, making the ink dance with a flex. “Jelly, old man?” I tease back, latching onto a rare moment of levity in the heavy.
“I’ll show you an old man.” E brings his arms down in front of him, doing his best impression of a bodybuilder, twisting his face and grunting for added effect.
“I can’t even with you two.” Bette rolls her eyes in a very Kay-like fashion.
“You’re not going to hear any complaints from me.” Tessa eyes me with a shrug, giving me a wink when I look her way.
Soft laughter comes from Kay, her hand squeezing mine as she comes back to the moment.
“You”—E swings an arm around to point at Tessa—“are too young to be noticing boys.”
Another laugh from Kay, but this one is followed by a groan and a mutter about not rolling her eyes.
“I’m sixteen, not six, E.” Tessa puts a hand on her hip and cocks it, punctuating her statement in true teenage fashion.
“Is he even allowed to be in here like that?” E waves a hand at me but directs his question to nurse Vicki. By the time she finishes checking the fluid levels on the IV, Kay has fallen back asleep.
“I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask. From what my daughter-in-law tells me, my son struggles to keep his clothes on…even inside her work kitchen.” With that parting shot, she pats me on the shoulder again, the slap of skin on skin only emphasizing my nakedness, before taking her leave.
E steps out, saying he needs to make a phone call before talking to the police, and I turn my attention back to Kay. I don’t care that she wasn’t awake for long; getting a few moments with her conscious is enough for now.
#Chapter6
Watching Dr. Nikols and her team wheel Kay away for surgery is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. Hell, I feel like that’s been the theme of the night, but I can’t protect her if she’s not with me, and I loathe that.
Nurse Vicki arrives at the same time as the surgical team, and with her is one Jordan Donovan.
“And you thought my kids kept you on your toes,” Vicki says to Jordan, a comfortable air of familial affection between them.
“Please, Mama Steele”—Jordan waves off the comment—“half the shit Vince gets into is because of my wombmate.” Shrewd hazel eyes track from me to E. “Plus, a little bit of football drama might be a nice change.”
I get the impression there’s something I’m missing, but I don’t have the brain capacity to handle it with everything else going on.
“For someone I pay to help manage my public profile, you sure do give me a lot of shit, Donovan,” E says as he and Bette exchange hugs hello with the PR dynamo. Jordan Donovan is nothing like you would expect given her cut-throat reputation when it comes to her clients. For starters, most of the “suits” in the sports business always come dressed the part—i.e. in a suit or such—not leggings and an oversized New Jersey Blizzards hoodie.
“I may talk shit”—Jordan splays a hand over the yeti printed on her chest—“but I was able to convince Mama Steele to use her pull here to get Kay into one of the bigger rooms with a couch and a large recliner. You can thank me for having a more comfortable place to sit, sleep…whatever…later.”
Bette turns, burying her face against E’s side to smother her laughter, but her bouncing shoulders give her away. Tessa has no such qualms and is bent over with her arms banded across her stomach.
I carry the surprising good humor with me while I take care of the unpleasant task of giving my statement to the waiting police officers. Hopefully, I can keep them from seeing the malice simmering beneath my surface.
The time I spent talking to the police was a lot shorter than I would have expected. Thankfully they meant it when they said they had enough evidence from others, because I wasn’t much help, seeing as I’m not completely clear on what went down. Most of what I gave was backstory about what led up to tonight.
As soon as I’m done, nurse Vicki—or Mama Steele, as Jordan refers to her—escorts us and what she says is “half the U of J campus” to the surgical waiting room on the fourth floor. It’s a lot nicer than the one for the emergency department.