“You passed out. Does anything hurt?” I shielded her from the blast, but maybe she has an internal injury.
“I’m okay. Haven’t eaten much today and not always great with blood.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” I say in a low voice. Stiffening at the pain as the doctor probes deep into the wound, I break out into a sweat.
Her cool hand comes up to rest on my face. Sitting up slightly, she looks over me at the doctor. “Can he have something for pain?”
“I’m all right.”
“Of course,” the doctor says, ordering morphine.
“I don’t want it.” I’ve had a couple of injuries that required narcotics, and I don’t like the way they affect me. I almost always end up dizzy and puking. “Local is fine.”
“All right, but let me know,” the doc says. “I’ve tied off the artery that was pumping. We’ll get a CT scan, and then I’ll repair the wound.”
“No scan. Just stitch it up.”
“Mr. Sorensen, I’d recommend it. Sometimes the wound is deeper than it appears, and your kidney is only a few inches away.”
“I don’t think it’s that bad.”
In a soft voice, Arya says, “Erik, baby, come on.”
The way she looks at me when she calls me baby hits me right in my pounding heart.
“All right,” I say.
“Good,” she whispers.
“She can’t go with you to cat scan, but she can wait for you here in the room,” the nurse says, lowering the rail on Arya’s side and helping her off the bed. They bring her a chair and set it in the corner of the room. Once she’s seated, they offer her juice and crackers.
They may be letting her stay close because they figure I’ll be a more cooperative patient with her in the room. They’re not wrong.
As she drinks apple juice, she glances at her phone. “Can I tell people? Shane Moran is texting me.”
My gaze shifts to my belongings resting in the corner. He probably texted me first. “Go ahead.”
The nurse bags up everything and sets it on the floor next to Arya, as though she’s my wife. That sends a strange sensation through me. Officially, we’re not even dating. Which needs to change.
“CT is ready,” the nurse says as she and a tech roll me toward the door.
“Wait for me here, Arya. Don’t go out to the waiting room alone.”
Her eyes rise and meet mine. She nods with a sober expression, understanding that I want her in a secure location.
Casanova’s intentions are clear now. He wants Arya out of the picture. It makes me wonder whether she saw even more than she realizes, because something about our being together has Casanova worried.
* * *
ARYA
As usual,things take forever. And the process is made even longer by the arrival of the Foxgrove police who take statements from us.
At least the results of the CT are good. No kidney injury or internal hemorrhage. The wound is stitched and dressed with sterile gauze. Then the medical team gives Erik a dose of antibiotics and releases him.
When we emerge, Shane and Avery are sitting in a deserted corner of the waiting room. At the sight of us, they rise and come over.
“How are you doing?” Shane asks.
