“If you’re a nurse, I’ve already rated my pain at a four and I don’t want lime Jell-O,” he calls from inside.
“I have a pizza delivery for an Officer Mickey Weaver,” I call out.
“What kind?”
“Extra-large. Double stuffed. Everything on it. Extra pepperonis.”
“What are you waiting for? Get in here.”
I’m already smiling when I push the door open with my hip because my hands are full.
He’s sitting up today, the bed raised, pillows behind him, and he looks better than last night. More color in his face, more sharpness in his eyes, that jawline freshly shaved. Even in the hospital gown, even with the monitors and the tubes, he still looks damn good.
He’s bigger than I remember. That sounds wrong because he’s lying in a bed and can’t move, but the bed looks too small for him. His shoulders take up the whole width of the pillow and the hospital gown gaps at the neck where the ties don’t close. I look away before my eyes go somewhere they shouldn’t. I hate myself for looking.
His blue eyes move from the pizza box up to my face and then down to my outfit. “Is that how pizza delivery guys are dressing these days?” he says. “Kinda fancy, isn’t it?”
“I came straight from a client meeting. I didn’t have time to change into my hospital casual.”
“You look like you’re about to sell me a timeshare,” he says.
“Damn, you caught me red-handed. Trust me, you’ll love it. Floor six, ocean views, very competitive financing.”
This actually gets a smile out of him. I take that as permission to move further into his room. I set the pizza on therolling tray table and hand him the coffee, then pull the chair closer to the bed.
“Here’s your coffee. As requested. The woman behind the counter told me the cold brew is aggressively caffeinated. Her words, not mine. Are you even allowed to have that? Should I go check with the nurse first?”
“Don’t you dare! Who is going to stop me?”
He twists the lid off and takes a long sip. His eyes close for half a second, and when they open the tight line of his jaw has softened. The hospital coffee must be worse than he’s letting on. Days of that stuff will break a man.
“That is the best thing I’ve had today,” he says. “The food here is terrible and my food standards aren’t that high.”
“That’s why I brought pizza,” I say. “No man should be forced to survive on Jell-O and whatever that gray stuff I saw on your tray last night.”
“That was supposed to be meatloaf. I couldn’t eat it.”
“Are you on a special diet? Will I get in trouble for bringing you pizza? I’m sorry, the thought didn’t occur to me until now.”
“I swear, Benji, if you walk out of this room with the pizza box, I’ll kill you,” he says. “Bring it to me and let’s eat.”
I lean closer and open the pizza box right under his nose. The smell fills the room, warm and greasy.
“Oh my God, that smells delicious,” he says with a groan.
“Hang on, let me put a slice on a plate for you.” I grab a paper plate out of the bag and carefully transfer the biggestslice onto it for him. “Be careful about the cheese. It’s still hot and you don’t want to burn your tongue.”
He picks up the slice and bites into it. “Damn, this hits the spot,” he says. “Thank you.”
I sit in the chair pulled close to the bed and take a slice of my own. For a few minutes we just eat. The room is quiet except for the beeping monitors and the soft hum of the air system.
It’s not the best pizza in the world. The cheese is mediocre and the pepperoni is doing its best and none of that matters because the point was never the pizza. The point is me having a legitimate reason to sit in this chair beside him.
He’s almost finished with his second slice when he sets it down on the plate, wipes his hands carefully, and turns those blue eyes on me with a directness that makes my stomach tighten.
This is a different look than last night. Last night he was groggy and worn down from the day. Today he’s rested, clear-eyed, and the cop is right there at the surface, the part that asks questions.
“I need you to tell me what happened at the bar,” he says. “I’ve already asked Tex and I’d like to hear your version. Tex said it was hard to talk about and I’m sure it will be for you too. I’ll only ask once, I swear. Then we’ll put it down.”
