“I am freaked the fuck out,” I snap.
She laughs. “You know that, and so do I. But if something has happened, you have to be strong, and part of that is looking put together. You know how these men are.”
I do, and apparently, so does Heidi. “Take a shower. I’ll scrounge up some breakfast or brunch, whatever I can find, and try to get some info.”
I feel her hand on my shoulder, and then she gently guides me toward the bathroom. “I’ll get you a change of clothes. Go ahead and get the water warmed up.”
I don’t know what I did to deserve a friend like Heidi. But when I start the water and close my eyes, I can’t help but thank whoever sent her to me. She’s the only thing keeping me together right now. When I left, I thought it was a way to protect her, but she didn’t need protecting. I’m the weak one who needs that.
Flicking my gaze to the mirror, I take in my reflection.
I am the weak one.
PIGGY
When I come to, it’s not in my police car the way I expect. No, there are bright lights, beeping, and the smell of antiseptic. I fucking hate hospitals. I look around and grunt.
I’m indeed in the hospital.
Turning my head, I look at the door. It’s closed, and there isn’t anyone in the room. I’m alone. I’m alive but alone. When I try to sit up, I moan as my head pounds, so I lie back down and pinch my eyes closed as I try to calm myself down.
The pain radiates from my head and throughout my entire body.
Rolling onto my side, I stare at the door, wondering and waiting. I don’t know what the fuck is going to happen, but whatever it is, it’s going to be huge—I can feel it. I also don’t know who the fuck did this to me, but when I find out, they’re going to meet the same fate as Dante Barone.
They will die.
And I will enjoy watching it happen.
I’m thinking about all the different ways I could kill someone when the door flies open. There, standing in front of me, are both my chief of police and my sister. Lainey rushes toward me, wrapping her arms around me as she buries her face in my neck. I can feel the wetness from her tears.
I wrap my arms around her and hold on to her. She needs this. She probably thought I was as good as dead.
A throat clears behind the chief, and I watch as he takes a step to the side. Both a doctor and a nurse pass through the door and head straight for me. That’s when they tell me all the testing they did and what happened to me.
Something was slammed against my head.No fucking shit. They did scans and tests and shit. I’m alive and well, so there’s that. I guess that means I’m alive another day, so I can figure out who the fuck did this to me and make them pay.
“We’ll only keep you overnight for observation, then you should be good to go. Although…” the doctor says, turning his head to look at the chief. “He should be on light duty for at least a month.”
I curl my lip thinking about being on light duty, which is desk duty, and that shit pisses me off. No way in fuck do I want to be on the desk. That’s fucking worse than being in my patrol car instead of on my bike.
The doctor and nurse leave me, Lainey, and the chief alone. “I know it’s going to kill you on a desk, and it’s going to kill you even more because it’ll have to be during the day,” he mutters. “But not until Monday morning.”
I snort, jerking my chin toward him. “Great.”
“I’m glad you’re okay, Colter. I’ll leave you be. Keep me posted?”
“I will.” I give him a smile.
He leaves, and that’s when I turn to Lainey. She’s sitting on the side of my bed. Her eyes find mine, and I fucking hate the fact that there are tears pooling in them. I hate that I’m making her cry. I’ve tried my entire life to do anything in my power to keep Lainey from crying.
“Who did it?” she demands in a whisper.
“I don’t know.”
She narrows her gaze on me, then leans forward. “But you suspect.”
I suspect. But I don’t tell her that. Instead, I just give her a smile. Then I cup her cheek, sliding the pad of my thumb beneath her eye in an effort to wipe the wetness from there.
