“I’m a nurse. You think I want to get called into surgery on accident?”
Greg glanced over at her and must have noticed her puzzled face. “Zoe, this is Charlie.”
“I figured that out. Thank you for what you did for my friend.”
“No sweat.” He waved her off like it was a trifle thing. It was anything but to her.
“I don’t remember seeing you.” She tried racking her brain to place him from the other night but couldn’t.
“That’s the point.” He gave her aduhlook.
There was nothing memorable about the man, sad as that was to say about him. He was of average height and build. He didn’t have tattoos or scars. His hair was short and brown, his eyes the same color. He wouldn’t stick out in a crowd. No wonder he was so good at what he did.
“What are doing here, man?” Greg asked him.
“I came to bring you this.” He handed over a file that was sitting on top of his clipboard. Greg took it and handed it to Zoe.
“What’s this?” she asked without opening the folder.
“Look and see,” Greg encouraged her.
Zoe opened the folder. Her eyes scanned the words. She had to read over it twice; she couldn’t believe what it said. “You did this?” She looked up at Greg in disbelief, noting Charlie was already gone.
“Of course.”
There was no ‘of course’ about it. “Why?”
Greg gave her a lop-sided grin that always set her heart racing. “Because I love you and I told you, I would do anything for you.”
Zoe looked back down at the paperwork, the words blurring as tears filled her eyes before looking back up at him. “I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
“Where is Aleksei now?” she asked; she had so many questions but asked the most important at the moment.
“We have him at our office. Shay is watching over him. The team is working on getting him a new ID and then getting him an apartment and registered for school.”
Zoe was overwhelmed by Greg’s generosity. Tears sprang into her eyes. That this man would do this for someone he barely knew, for her. It was incredible.
“Hey.” Greg scooted closer to her, taking her face in his hand. His thumb wiped the tear trickling down her cheek. “Are you in pain? Do I need to call the doctor to up your meds?”
He looked around for her call button, but she stayed his hand. “That’s not it. I’m fine. I’m just shocked you would do that for Aleksei. For me.”
Greg’s eyes softened, and he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. “I told you before, I would do anything for you.”
“This is well beyond anything I could have imagined.”
“He’s a good kid. You were right about him. Now that he’s on the right path, he’ll be fine. Because of you.”
“Because of us.” She placed her hand over his and tried to lean forward to kiss him again, wincing in pain at her stitches pulled.
Greg extracted himself from her arms and laid her back down, making sure to fluff the pillows behind her and get her situated. “Better?”
“All except you in bed with me.”
“Soon, the doctor wants you to rest for the next few weeks. No strenuous activities that would pull those stitches.”
That didn’t sound good at all. It was going to be a long recovery. Especially with Greg around. She didn’t have much willpower when it came to him.
