care what Ian gave me, just wanted the next lightning strike headed off before it hit ground zero.
"No, Ray's right." Ian smiled at me. "It's a cocktail of a common antihistamine and a muscle relaxant." He glanced at Penny. "Your fledgling saw me fill the syringe out in the living room after she described your symptoms."
"That's right, I did. You want me to read the labels on the vials? Look the stuff up on the Internet?" Penny didn't know much about Ian's history with Jerry, but she had a lot of respect for Mr. Blade.
"No, just shoot me." I looked at Ray and Penny. "I appreciate the protective bit, but Ian is just trying to help. And if this kills me? He won't live to see another sunset. Jerry will see to that." I handed Ian my arm again. "Now get after it."
"Sorry, Glory, but this goes in the bum. Like I said, these are common meds, but pretty strong doses. They'll make you drowsy, but should take care of this reaction." Ian frowned. "As for the swelling? Well, we'll just have to wait and see if it goes down." He gently rolled me over until he could see my hip, slid down my panty and injected the medicine before I could object to the familiarity. To tell the truth, I was in too much pain to care.
"Penny, why don't you come into the other room and we'll go through the symptoms you noticed as Gloriana presented them. She needs to rest." Ian closed up his bag and led her toward the living room. "Ray, you'll let me know if she shows any new signs of distress?"
"What? Any new signs?" Ray's eyebrows went up. "I thought what you just did was supposed to fix her up."
"So it was. But Gloriana never responds to any treatment as I expect, so I'll trust you to keep a close eye on her." Ian smiled at me. "Feeling any better yet?"
I smiled, surprised to realize I was. "Hmm. Yes, I think, um, well, maybe." I looked over at Ray. "Come lie next to me. I'm worn-out and cold. Will you hold me?"
"Sure, babe. Whatever you want." He kicked off his shoes and climbed in under the covers. "How's the stomach?" He laid his hand over my tummy. "Still swollen, isn't it?"
"Stupid me. Can't anything be easy?" I sighed as he pulled me against him. "But chocolate cake, Ray. It was delicious." I ran my hand over his cotton shirt. "You feel delicious too. Whatcha been doin'?"
"Are you okay?" He looked down at me. "You sound drunk. And I should know."
"Just relaxed. Ian's medicine is pretty good. Took the pain right away." I slid my leg over Ray's. "Now talk to me while I'm waiting for my tummy to shrink. Tell me what's up. Besides Little Ray here." I discovered the bulge behind Ray's zipper. "Shame on you. I'm a sick woman."
"I'm not the one making moves. And it's Big Ray who's happy to see you, nothing little about him." Ray picked up my hand. "Lie still, woman. You should know a guy can't always control his body."
"Liar, liar, pants on fire." I put my hand over my mouth. "Oops. Not mentioning fire or hell or any of that stuff. Don't want the demons bugging me now." I blinked when the room blurred. "Last night was a bad night, Ray." I buried my face in his shirt and sobbed.
"What? What happened, Glory?" Ray stroked my hair.
"Lucifer tried to do something horrible to me. In, in the shower." I couldn't seem to stop crying as I poured out what happened. Why now? Why to Ray? Some part of me realized it was the medication working on me, loosening my inhibitions. But another part of me realized I needed to get this out and Ray had always been easy to talk to. I could trust him to get me and not judge. Or rush to take over and try to fix things.
I finally came to the end, cried out and drained. Ray rocked me against him, humming a sweet song in my ear that soothed me and lulled me into a calm I hadn't felt since I'd fallen to the bottom of that bathtub. My own abyss.
"I'm sorry, Ray." I lifted my head and looked at him.
"Sorry for what?" He kissed my damp cheeks. "Glory, Glory, Glory. I can't believe you kicked Lucifer's butt. Damn, girl."
I smiled. "Yeah, I did, didn't I?"
"Hell, yeah. I'd like to hear