Raiden (The Kent Brothers #2) - A.M. Hargrove Page 0,37
grump.”
“I know what it’s like. I’ve been shot before and it doesn’t feel very good.”
I wriggled up to a decent sitting position and winced in the process. “I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, it happened in Atlanta when Isla and I were first working on the O’Brien case. Before my abduction.”
“Damn, Acer, you’ve really had your fill, haven’t you?”
“Guess you might say that. It’s made me a better man, though. Funny thing, that.”
“You have a good attitude about it.”
He shrugged. “It’s something I learned in rehab. After I quit feeling sorry for myself, I learned a lot. But my hard head got in the way at first.”
I squinted at him. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
His attitude went from casual to serious. “I won’t beat around the bush. Take the morphine, Scottie. You won’t become an addict in one or two days. It will help you sleep through the pain. Trust me.”
“It totally scares me after some of the things I saw working for the DEA.”
“It scares the shit out of me too. But in your case, take it. One day and you’ll be so much better. They don’t randomly prescribe the stuff. They do it for a good reason.”
Out of all the people I knew, Acer was the one to trust on this. I watched him as I tapped the button that led to the pump. In seconds relief washed over me and I felt better. My muscles loosened as the pain diminished.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I sighed, “and I keep getting better.”
His nostrils flared. “I can practically smell the stuff. Do me a favor, will you?”
“What’s that?”
“Actually, two favors. Keep using that while you’re here and tell my brother I’m a miracle worker.” He winked.
“I will. Are you leaving?”
“Yeah, I, uh, need to get out of here. Besides, you’re going to be able to sleep now. Take advantage of it. And by the way, my recommendation is to move in with Raiden. We moved to Cruze’s place. There’s more room and it’s quieter there without Olivia.” Then he was gone. Why did I get the feeling he and Isla were playing matchmaker?
The morphine took over and I fell asleep and stayed asleep until the nurse came back in to check on me. That’s when I noticed the pain again, so I pushed the button. Raiden made an appearance after that.
“Thanks for sending Acer over. He talked some sense into me.”
“I’m glad he did. You’re less gray than you were this morning. Some color has come back into your cheeks.”
“I was gray?”
“Yeah. And your mouth was sort of pinched. I felt awful for you, feeling that way.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“What woman wants to be told those things?”
He was right. I would’ve thrown a pillow at him had he said that. It made me chuckle and I grabbed my side. “Damn.”
“Why’d you laugh?”
When I told him, he did too.
“You know something, Ms. Sullivan?”
“What?”
“You’re a hot mess.”
“Can’t agree with the hot part but the mess, you hit the nail with that one.”
He set a bag on the tray table by my bed. “What’s that?”
“Why don’t you have a look?”
I peeked inside and there was a container of Thai chicken broth. “Yum.”
“I know you can’t eat solid food yet, so I thought some good broth was in order.”
“Thank you. I love Thai.” I sipped the tasty soup and it warmed my stomach. I thought back to the last time I ate and couldn’t remember.
Raiden’s grin also heated my belly as I noticed him staring. “Looks as though you’re getting your appetite back.”
“Maybe. I haven’t eaten in a while, but the broth was excellent.”
“There’s something else for you in there.”
I looked to find a large cup. When I pulled it out, I was happy to see it was an Icee. “Ooh, my favorite. Cherry!” I scooped some into my mouth and hummed my delight. “I haven’t had one of these in forever.”
“Since it fell into the realm of what you could eat, I figured it would be a good choice.”
“An excellent choice. Thanks for not gloating over me taking the morphine.”
“I would never do that. It was something you needed but were afraid to do. I understood that part of it.”
Smoothing the blanket over the sheet, I tried to figure out how to bring up the next subject. “Raiden, there’s something I need to discuss with you.”
“Okay.”
“It’s about staying with you when I get out of here.”