A nurse insisted only one person could be with me. “She’ll be moved to a regular room soon. Then all of you can see her.”
Cat grabbed my hand, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from Punc. His troubled eyes stayed locked on me until Alanis pulled him down the corridor.
The drugs had to be messing with my brain. Something in the way he looked at me, the tone of his voice before he left… he seemed downright ravaged.
“Are you tired? Do you need water?” Cat asked.
I nodded and she handed me a cup with ice chips.
I eyed the cup.
“Yeah, I know. You hate ice, so there’s another reason to steer clear of any hospital situations.”
“Thanks,” I whispered, shaking the cup until an ice chip fell into my mouth.
Catalina rambled through an update of everything that had happened since Sunday night.
Hearing that Ted went to the house in the middle of the night and drove her here… yeah, he was doing the right thing. My drug-addled brain wanted to read more into it.
I dozed off at some point and woke up in a different room with a roommate. Cat and I exchanged a look. She didn’t care for this set-up, either. This was therealreason to avoid hospitals.
The next time I woke up, I was in a private and very swank room - as hospital rooms went, anyway.
“About time you woke up,” Rita said.
I turned my head in her direction. “Hey, I—”
She shook her head. “Don’t. You can save it. This isn’t your fault. I’m paying you while you’re laid up in here. No arguments.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
Her eyes slid to the door and back to me. “Why didn’t you tell me about your hunkalicious boyfriend?”
“He’s not my boyfriend. He’s my best friend’s older brother, and we work together. That’s all.”
Her chin dropped toward her neck. “That’s all? If you believe that, girlfriend, you need to open your eyes.”
“He’s just being nice.”
She laughed. “Listen to you. Being nice! A security guard wanted to toss him out, but Muriel and I set him straight.”
I blinked. “Muriel? Why was she here?”
Rita patted my hand. “She’s the one who insisted you get this room. Seems her husband gave a whole bunch of money to the hospital - and she used her clout. More people care about you than you realize, Savannah. Now, what’s it gonna take to keep you awake? Rumor has it that if you can stay up for a while you might get outta this joint by Sunday.”
Good grief.Six days in the hospital!
Yeah, I needed to get out ASAP.
The next day Rita swung by to visit me. At one-thirty, Punc sauntered into the room.
The sight of him in his leather cut, jeans, and motorcycle boots made my breath catch.
His blue eyes scanned me from head to toe. “You look much better, Smythe.” He came closer and set a McDonald’s bag on the table in front of me.
The scent of french fries filled the room. My stomach growled, and I widened my eyes at him. “Is this for me?”
“Unless your favorites changed, I got you a Big Mac, Coke, and fries. Seeing as you haven’t eaten much the past three days, I bumped the small fry to a medium.”
