She reached a hand up and carefully removed the tape from her mouth. “El Socio?”
“We caught him. He was trying to steal a baby…”
Her hands free, Lillian surged forward and caught him up in a kiss.
The scissors clattered to the ground as he kissed her back with overwhelming hunger. Two days without her had been hell, and facing the possibility of never seeing her again. Well, that deserved a lot of kissing.
Eventually they had to breathe, so they pulled apart. “I love you,” she said, beating him to the punch.
“I love you too,” he answered. “I’m sorry I had to lie to you. It was the hardest thing, and I promise to make it up to you.”
“I forgive you. And I’ll let you make it up to me. Kiss me again,” she ordered.
He did, but he stopped to confess more. “I’ll do anything for you. Anything to regain your trust. Say the word, and I’ll quit the force.”
“What?” Both Charlie and Lillian chimed in at the same time.
He stared into her eyes. “When I saw El Socio was alive I realized… you are the most important thing to me in the world. I’m sorry I hurt you and made you doubt yourself.”
“That hurt, but you helped me grow, and get past some stuff by just being there and listening. I hope the best parts of Gene and Murphy are what make up Sean.”
“All versions of Sean love you, every second.”
“Good, now more kissing.”
He was about to do exactly as told when Charlie cleared her throat. “Okay, everyone loves everyone and everyone forgives everyone for every lie. Can we deal with the felony Sean stopped in the act?”
Kissing on hold, he helped Lillian up and held her hand as they faced the fallout.
Chapter27
They were giving her a whole week off, but she stopped by Monday morning to make sure Dr. Gallo was updated on her patient schedule, which he was seeing. “Nevaeh Hartford should be familiar to you. She’s coming in for a follow-up.”
“Which one is she?” He didn’t look up from continuing to complete his charting.
“African American girl, swollen right hand. You sent her to two different specialists.”
“Oh, I remember. What did you diagnose her with?”
“Juvenile psoriatic arthritis. Her lab work came back with elevated inflammatory factors but negative ANA. I sent her to rheumatology. She feels a lot better after her steroid injections.”
“Nice catch.” He clicked on some more screens.
“Well, thanks,” she said, uncharacteristically sarcastic.
That made him turn his head. “Is there a problem?”
“Nope, I caught a super rare illness—that you didn’t—and ‘nice catch’ is what I got? You demanded I come in to the hospital before my Veteran’s Day shift, and you didn’t even thank me. I fought a baby stealing drug dealer and you’re ‘nice catch?’”
“What? You need me to pat your head and give you a chocolate?”
“I got tied up in my own office.”
“We can tighten up our security a little bit.”
“A little bit?”
“I’m glad you’re safe, and you seem to be coping fine. Though if you want some more time off for therapy, I’m sure the hospital will be happy to cover it.”
