“Better?”
I nodded.
“Do you need some pain meds?” she asked.
“No, I’m okay,” I said, although, it came out more like, “Na, em, othay.”
“Can you hold it there by yourself, or do you need my help?”
“I can do it.”
“Right, love.” She turned to Flea. “Would you like a beer? Are you hungry? I can make you something”
“A beer would be great,” Flea said. “I’ve alreadyeaten, so I’m good. Thanks, sweetheart.”
“Razor, would you like another beer?” she asked.
“Sure, Maisie, thanks.”
She went about grabbing them for us, then sat on the sofa next to Hatch, and both of them acted as though nothing had happened. The whole thing was weird, but exactly normal at the same time.
I slid the icepack off my jaw and nodded to Flea. “I’m gonna fix it with Kate. I promise.”
“That’s between the two of you,” he said. “But you make her cry again, and I swear to Christ, I’ll break your other leg.”
“Fair,” I said, and sat back in the chair.
He finished his beer and rose to his feet. “Okay, I need to get back to Grace and the kids. Thanks for the beer.”
Hatch walked him to the door and Maisie faced me. “You doing okay, darling?”
“I’m fine.”
“You know I love you like crazy, right?”
“I know, Maisie.”
“Are you going to work on some of this shit now?”
I sighed. “Yeah.”
“Good. I’m going to head to bed.” She stood, then leaned over to kiss my cheek gently. The one Flea had just annihilated. “You’re worthy to be loved, darling. Don’t ever forget that.”
With that parting shot, she threw the icepack back in the freezer, then left the room.
Waverly
GIO ARRIVED ON Monday morning with Connor, and a giant bruise on his left cheek.
“Do you need me to stick around?” Connor asked.
“I think we’ve got this,” I said, smiling. “We’ll be about forty-five minutes if you want to grab a coffee and come back.”
“Sounds good,” Connor said. “See you later.”
I wheeled Gio back to one of the treatment offices and closed the door. “What happened to your face?”
“I fell.”
