And suddenly I felt so much better that a few years ago I’d tried to kill a man. Because had I not met him — I wouldn’t be here, living my last few weeks with some of the most caring and amazing people in the world.
Had I not met Luca.
I wouldn’t have met Sergio.
I owed Luca Nicolasi my life, my everything, and a small part of me had to wonder, if he somehow had known it would come to this.
And I would need someone to hold my hand in the end.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Sergio
I THINK I PREFERRED GETTING SHOT. That was my first thought when the needle went into my body. They’d given me drugs, but I didn’t want drugs. Drugs meant I would recover slower. So I told them to give me the bare minimum and tried to think of anything but strangling the nurse when the procedure started.
The nurse with the needle and kind eyes told me it would take a few hours to get the results back from the lab. Luckily, everything would be done on site so I wouldn’t have to wait very long.
In the meantime, my only job was to not fall on my ass and make sure I powered through the pain so Andi didn’t find out. The last thing I needed was her getting suspicious.
It would mean pestering.
And questions.
And it would be exhausting.
“Hey!” Tex said from the door. “You’re alive!”
I gave him a thumbs up.
“Did they stick a catheter up your—”
“Mr. Smith?” The nurse gave Tex a wary eye and sidestepped him. “Your discharge papers.”
“Ma’am.” Tex nodded his head and gave her what I’m sure he thought was a reassuring smile, but he bared way too many teeth.
She took a step away from him and handed me my papers. “Now remember, you may be sore for a day or so. If you have any excessive bleeding, please come back to the hospital.”
“Great.” I winced and rose from the hospital bed. “You’ll call with the results?”
“As soon as we have them.” She flashed a smile and left the room, careful to give Tex a wide berth.
“Huh.” Tex scratched his face. “Is it because I’m tall?”
“Your gun’s showing.” I pointed.
He looked down.
“Kidding.” I laughed; it kind of hurt, but the look on his face was worth it.
“Jackass.” Tex punched me in the shoulder. “Seriously, you feeling okay? They didn’t switch your man parts out for girl parts or do anything freaky, right? That nurse looked a bit handsy…”
“No bad touching.” I rolled my eyes. “Not that I would have cared. I was on drugs, you know.”
“Clearly not enough if you can still hold a conversation with me.”
I winced as I took a step toward him. “Don’t suppose you’d give me a piggyback ride?”
“Burn in hell.”
“That’s what I thought.” I bit back a curse and finally met him at the door. “You know, Nixon would at least have given me a high five or something.”
Tex nodded. “You’re right.” He slammed his fist into my shoulder. “Good job. You lived.”
“Now who’s the ass?”
“Don’t forget it, bitch.”
The nurses had horrible timing in that hospital, plain and simple; we scared at least two more on the way out when Tex started clapping behind me and yelling, “Mush!”
He needed a kid to torture. I almost felt sorry for Mo; no wonder she was packing half the time.
“How did Andi’s appointment go?” I asked once we were out in the parking lot.
Tex’s face didn’t give away anything, but his body tensed. Every single muscle seemed to stand at attention.
“Shit.”
“What?” He shrugged. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Didn’t have to,” I muttered, trying to will my body to get into the car without my hip actually breaking off my body. Damn, walking hurt more than it should have. Hell even breathing hurt more than it should have.
Tex, probably irritated with my turtle-like speed, came over and helped shove me very lovingly into the passenger side of the car and nearly slammed the door on my foot.
Once we were both in and driving out of the hospital, he spoke again. “Look, all I know is that Mo sent me an I love you text. It’s not that I don’t get those type of texts, but lately she only sends them when she’s really upset about something, like she doesn’t want me to forget we’re a team and— Why the hell am I sharing this with you?”
“No idea,” I muttered, “but for what it’s worth… thanks.”
“Serg…” Tex tapped his fingers against the steering wheel then gripped it tightly with both hands. “I have a bad feeling.”
I swallowed the hollow feeling in my chest and glanced out the window so he wouldn’t see the fear in my eyes. “Yeah, Tex. Me too.”
“Sergio…” A soft voice said my name, whispered it in my ear. “…wake up.”
I shook my head and hugged the pillow tighter.
“Wake up, and I’ll show you my boobs.”
“Huh?” I mumbled, blinking my eyes open.
Andi was hovering over me, her smile wide. “You’ve been sleeping for a really long time.”
“What?” I covered my yawn with my hand. “What time is it?”
“Well…” She grabbed my hand and read my watch aloud. “…six at night.”