"And that is two times too many." Sal sighed deeply before pinning me with his intense stare. "I don't know what is going on with you lately, David, but it needs to stop before I have to take you off rotation."
I grimaced as something ugly curdled in my stomach. I knew Sal was right. My head wasn't in the right place right now. I'd been making mistakes at work, and mistakes on a SWAT unit could get someone killed.
"I'll be more careful, Sal. I promise."
Sal squatted down beside me, clasping his hands together and letting them dangle between his knees. "Is something going on, David? Is it your parents? Are they okay?"
"No, they're okay." I normally would have appreciated Sal's concern, but not this time. Mostly because I didn't want to discuss what was really bothering me, and had been bothering me for weeks. "I think I'm just tired."
"Then take some time off, man. You've more than earned it."
I gestured to the drying blood on my arm. "I guess I'm going to have to until this is healed."
"Look, go up to the hospital and get your arm looked at and then come back to the bunkhouse and we'll discuss a little vacation time. Maybe you can go somewhere warm and find some sexy babe in a bikini to spend a few days with."
Oh, I wouldn't mind the downtime so much. I just wouldn't be looking for a cute babe in a bikini. I'd had my fill of women when Julia had betrayed me and everyone else in my unit. I was done with women.
I didn't seem to be having much luck with men either. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't get that night with Skip out of my mind. It was like one big continuous loop that played over and over again in my head.
I'd seen him once in passing when he'd come by the Delvecchio estate when Lany had fallen out of a tree and hit his head. I'd kept my distance the entire time, and Skip had made no move to speak to me. He hadn't even looked in my direction.
That had kind of smarted.
I wasn't used to being ignored, especially by someone I'd spent the night with. It could get a man to start thinking there was something wrong with his technique.
Sal stood and then held his hand out to me. I smiled as I grabbed it with my good arm and he pulled me up.
"Do you need me to have someone drive you to the hospital?"
I lifted my injured arm. "Might not be a bad idea."
I didn't think driving myself was my brightest move.
"Get Brodsky to drive you."
"Yes, sir." I started looking for Officer Sam Brodsky as I walked away from the bench I'd been sitting on. When I spotted him over by the command vehicle, I headed in his direction. "Hey, Brodsky, the boss wants you to drive me to the hospital to get my arm looked at."
"How bad is it?" Sam asked as he turned to look at me.
I shrugged as I glanced down at the wound. "Just a couple of stitches."
Sam raised an eyebrow.
I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Yes, Sal chewed my ass out."
And threatened me.
Sam chuckled and then nodded his head to the left. "Come on, let's get you stitched up. I still have to come back and write up my incident report."
"Yeah, me too." Unless we were in a coma, Sal required us to write up an incident report no matter what, and he wanted them as soon as we could get them written up so we didn't forget anything.
I followed Sam over to one of the SWAT vehicles and climbed into the passenger side. After buckling myself in, I leaned my head back against the seat rest and closed my eyes. My arm ached, but not as much as my head. I felt as if I was headed into the lion's den and I was wearing raw meat wrapped around my neck.
The need to see Skip was like a dead weight in my stomach. It wouldn't go away, and it kept getting heavier by the minute, but seeing him was the last thing I needed to do. My fascination with the sexy doctor hadn't waned after the night we spent together. If anything, it had grown more intense. Skip was all I could think about, which explained why I hadn't had my head on my work.
I was feeling decidedly worst by the time we pulled up in front of the emergency room doors. My stomach had turned into one giant knot, my hands were sweating, and I had a lump in my throat the size of Cleveland.
Oh yeah, I was so ready for this.
