Raiden (The Kent Brothers #2) - A.M. Hargrove Page 0,18
eyes on the door at all times. Anytime it opened, he was on his feet in a flash. After the first time, I asked him about his experience.
“Former special forces.”
“That answers one question.”
“Question? What was that?”
“Your quick reflexes. I’ve never seen anyone jump to their feet so fast.”
“Yes, sir. It was that, or fail.”
“How long have you been out?”
“About four years, sir.”
When the doctor came in, he asked Adam to leave. I nodded and Adam walked out. “Is he your bodyguard or something?”
“Matter of fact, he is. So is the one in the hall.”
“I didn’t see anyone in the hall.”
Jumping up, I ran to the door and opened it. Adam jerked when I flung the door open, but the other guard stood next to him. That was strange.
“Sir?”
“The doctor said he didn’t see anyone in the hall.”
The doctor had joined us in the hall. “Is there a problem?”
“You didn’t see him?” I pointed to Adam’s partner, who I’d found out was Ben.
“No.”
“I ducked in the bathroom for a second,” Ben said.
“That explains it. Let us know whenever you do that.”
Adam shuffled his feet. “He did, sir. He texted me.”
Feeling foolish, I nodded and went back into the room.
The doctor followed me and asked, “Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, a bit jumpy with things.”
“Let me examine you. Maybe it’ll calm you down.”
He unwrapped the bandages and appeared happy with the progress.
“Any chance you can spring me from here?”
“I think we can manage that tomorrow. Mr. Kent, I’m happy to tell you skin grafts won’t be necessary.” He turned me around and then examined my wrist. “You are certainly a lucky man. But I need some promises from you. One, do not skip a dose of the antibiotics I’ll prescribe, two, call me if any unusual redness or swelling develops, and three, go to rehab every day. If you don’t, the scar formation may inhibit motion later on.”
“You have a deal. I’ll follow all of your instructions.”
He showed me how to wrap my wounds using special breathable bandages. I was to see him in a week unless something happened.
Scottie showed up around dinnertime. She carried a large bag with her and pulled out a bunch of containers. There was enough Asian food for us and the bodyguards, hers included.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“Tell you what?”
“About the bodyguards?”
Shrugging, she said, “I figured we’d discuss it when you got out.”
“Which is tomorrow, by the way.”
“That’s awesome.”
“Yep. The doc just left and no skin grafts.”
A huge smile lit up her face. “Raiden, I’m so happy for you.”
“But I have to follow his rules to the T. And I also have to start rehab hand therapy.”
“That’s great. It’ll get your motion back, right?”
“We can hope.”
“I have confidence it will.” She kissed my cheek. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”
She called all the guys in and we dispersed the food. They were very thankful they didn’t have to eat the hospital food.
I said, “You know, the hospital food isn’t bad. They have all kinds of choices in the cafeteria.”
They all stared at me like I’d lost my mind.
Scottie laughed. “Not a chance. I’ve eaten their food. And I’m not a picky eater.”
“Cruze brought me some breakfast from there the other day and I swear it was tasty.”
“Are you sure he didn’t get it from somewhere else?” Adam asked.
“Positive. He said he’s been grabbing meals there since I’ve been in here. He recommended the lasagna.”
Scottie let out a huge laugh. “I prefer the eggplant parmigiana if they have it.”
All the men eyed her, and I cracked up right along with her. Too bad we had bodyguards now. There’d be no banging in the bathroom tonight, dammit.
Chapter Nine
Scottie
Drex called me on his way back from the hospital. One of his men was missing, and the police were assisting with the investigation. He told me about the arrest and it made me wonder.
“Do you think the arrested man was our bomber?”
“No. He swore he had nothing to do with it.”
“And you believed him?” I didn’t trust any of O’Brien’s men.
“Weirdly enough, I did. But Rodriguez is working the case, so we’ll know as soon as he does.”
I’d met Rodriguez a time or two. He showed up after the bombing too, along with the feds. We’d let Isla handle them since, as a former FBI agent, she was familiar with their protocol.
“Thank God you have that connection.”
“True. And Rodriguez is a blessing with these types of cases. But I’m worried about the bodyguard. They wouldn’t just take him. They’d get