Page 140 of Hard Heart

“It isn’t Mum, is it?”

Crap, I needed to call my parents and let them know Flora had arrived safely. Lying through my teeth was becoming easier the more I did it.

I slipped out of the room, and a uniformed soldier blocked my way. This wasn’t a regular hospital. There were no harried doctors, no patients on gurneys in the corridor, only silence, empty hallways, and occasional beeping from the machines monitoring Flora.

“You have to stay here, ma’am.”

“I just need to make a private phone call.”

He didn’t look particularly happy, but he turned on his heel. “Follow me.”

I answered before Levi gave up. “Hold on a sec.”

The soldier motioned me into an empty room, the bed neatly made, the chart above the pillow blank. This place was waiting, but for what? A whole empty hospital in a land where medical care cost a fortune and many people went without. The door clicked shut.

“Hey,” I said.

“Everything okay?”

“I’m still breathing. That’s about as positive as I can be at the moment.”

“Fuck, what happened?”

“An old acquaintance of Ruby’s met Flora off the plane, and things got messy.”

“Is she okay? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. The doctors are keeping her in the hospital overnight as a precaution.” I took a deep breath to steady myself. “Jerry’s in surgery. I don’t know how she’s doing because no one will tell me, but it looked bad.”

There was the longest silence.

“Are you still there?” I asked.

“Yeah, just not sure what to say. There’s nothing I can do to help. Nothing I can do to make this any better. There’s a part of me that wishes the guys from the El Camino car had better aim.”

“Don’t say that.”

“People keep getting hurt.”

“You didn’t start this. And I think—I hope—we’re getting close to ending it. I’m going to visit as soon as I can. I’ll try for Monday, okay? I want to make sure Flora’s okay before I make the drive.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“I do need to. I just…” My voice cracked. “What I really need is a hug, but I’ll settle for another foot rub.”

“I’ll give you a hug. Jim can pry me away from you and drag me back to my cell afterward, but I’ll give you a hug.”

“Hey.” Someone shook my shoulder, and I looked up to see Alexa standing there with Chase. She held out a deli bag. “We brought breakfast.”

I glanced at the bed. Flora was still sleeping, and my neck had a crick from where I’d dropped off in the chair.

“What time is it?” I asked, keeping my voice soft.

“Eight thirty.”

“Do you know how Jerry is?”

“We can talk outside.”