“The fuck I am!” I bit back.
Kade sighed. “Don’t fight me on this, Evan. You are staying in the hospital, and that is an order from your Don.”
I couldn’t argue. Kade’s words were final.
“I’m sending Bohdi on it,” Kade continued.
I scoffed. “Fucking Bohdi, really Kade?”
“He’s the next best guy I have, Machine. Now enough. You need to get some rest.”
Yeah, like I was going to be able to sleep knowing that Lennie was missing. I hung up the phone, then grabbed a chair and threw it across the room. My abdomen screamed at me, making me keel over.
I heard a gasp and looked over at the door. There, standing like a goddess, was Badger.
THIRTY-FOUR
BADGER
I let out a gasp as I watched the chair fly across the room and smash against some medical equipment. Machine was hunched over, clearly in pain. I rushed to him as our eyes met. Those hazel eyes looking right through me. I placed a hand on his back and one of his arms and led him to the bed.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Phantom had filled me in on what had happened to Machine. I couldn’t keep myself from checking in on him. He plopped on the bed with a groan of pain. I moved his hand off his stomach and noticed a fresh red stain spreading through the hospital gown.
“You brute of a man!” I huffed out as I turned to get a nurse.
Before I could walk away, Machine grabbed my arm and pulled me to him. He wrapped his good arm around my waist and looked up at me. My eyes stung. I was not a crier, but seeing how defeated he looked made it so much harder for me to keep the tears from falling.
“You're going to tell me what that was about, Hammer?” I nodded my head toward the chair.
Machine’s mouth quirked to one side. “Just needed to let some pent-up frustration out,”
I knew he was lying to me, or at least telling a partial truth. Machine nuzzled my neck, his stubble tickling my skin. I felt his body relax in my arms, making me feel things that I tried to push away. How did I go from hating him to finding comfort in him? Before I could let my thoughts get out of control, I stood. Machine looked at me, confused.
“You need a nurse.”
Before he could say anything, I walked to the hallway to find someone. It didn’t take long before an older woman came into the room, tsking at Machine. She fixed him up efficiently, making him swear to stay in bed before she left again. I shifted my weight and wrapped my arms around myself.
“When do you get to go home?” I asked.
“A couple more days.”
I nodded. “I will stay with Lucy until you get home.”
Machine looked away from me, clenching his jaw. “Great.”
“Don’t do that,” I said, stepping closer.
“What am I doing, Jessica?” he asked angrily.
The use of my name was like a slap in the face. I bristled.
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,Evan.”
He rolled his eyes at me, making anger ignite in my bones.
“I’m not doing anything. You’ve made your decision, and it’s final. You’re leaving, I get it. Thank you for watching Lucy.” After a brief moment of silence, Machine spoke up again. “Thank you for coming, but you should go.”
