Page 24 of Resolution

“You’re seeing a doctor and that’s final, Miguel.”

I looked up at the ceiling. “Emergency rooms are always terrible.”

“We’ll go to one in a better part of town. I know not all of them are awful or as busy as the ones here in Hollywood. In fact, there’s a brand-new urgent care center in an upscale part of town which sees patients at all hours. The new insurance I got for the business covers all hospitals and urgent care centers.”

“Isn’t it sad that we have insurance that lets us go to whatever hospital we want while so many people can’t?” I asked seriously. “Where is this upscale part of L.A.?”

He ignored the first question. “Brentwood, twat. They’ll see you and I bet we can get in and out in a few hours if we go early.”

“A few hours,” I groaned.

“It’s gonna be fine, Miguel.” He sat up, taking hold of my bicep. “Now come on. Let’s get up and get dressed. Dolly is probably already awake, and I want to be able to talk to Nana and pack a suitcase with all her favorite clothes and blankets before she hears about the arrangement from Dolly.”

“Fine, we’ll get up. But urgent care really isn’t necessary, Raven.” I reached up and prodded my sore eyelid. “There’s nothing in there. I’d know.”

“I don’t care!” he said, raising his voice to me. “We’re going! I’m not letting you go blind because you want to be a stubborn asshole.” He began to get off the bed, but I was faster. I fought my way out of the sheets, and caught his arm, pulling him up short. He stopped but didn’t turn around.

“Raven…what’s going on? I was only nagging a little. Giving you a hard time. I’ll go get checked out, Sunshine. Don’t get mad.” I watched his chin drop to his chest, and I scrambled to get next to him, throwing my legs over the bed, and wrapping an arm around him. “What’s wrong?”

He hesitated. “You’re…I was…you could have lost your eye.”

“And you could have gotten shot in the head but we’re both fine, Sunshine.” I reached up and pulled his head down to my shoulder, cupping his cheek as I spoke into his soft hair. “I love you. We’re fine. We just know that we have to take special care of each other right now. And we will. If Alex Filmore or someone else, has marked us for death, we just have to get to them faster. I’m good, Raven. I really am. I’m trained and I can take care of you. I’ll kill anyone coming after us. Be clear on that. I won’t let anything happen to you. I’ll kill them and I’m confident you’ll do the same if my life is threatened. You’ve gotten pretty damned good with that firearm you carry. With Nana and Dolly safe, we won’t have to worry about them either. Okay?”

He nodded, staring into my eyes. “Okay, baby. Okay.”

Chapter Seven

MIGUEL

Nana took the news that she’d be staying with Dolly for a while with grace. I’d never seen a woman so confident in Raven…in whatever he did or whatever situation he found himself in. She understood that Raven hadn’t made the decision to have her leave her home—the one she was familiar with—lightly. She knew some bad people had come into her beloved grandson’s life. And that the decision to move her in with Dolly wasn’t only about keeping her safe, but perhaps more about making sure Raven wouldn’t have to worry about her. He needed to focus on finding the person or persons who’d tried to kill us, and she got that. I loved her complete and utter trust in him, and so did Raven.

We packed up her things and followed Dolly’s car all the way to Compton, helping her into Dolly’s house while she ran ahead of us to let her husband know she and Raven’s grandmother were here. She’d called ahead, so he was expecting us.

When we walked inside the 120 year old Craftsman style bungalow with hardwood floors and braided throw rugs, Eddie Turner immediately came over with a big, welcoming smile, and shook our hands. He was a huge man, not tall but round. He most likely topped the scales at 280 or more. When Dolly’d said something about how she liked men with meat on their bones, the offhand comment suddenly made complete sense.

“Hi there. You must be Miguel and Raven,” he said in a pleasant, rumbling voice. “I’m Eddie. Welcome to our home.”

“It’s so nice to meet you, Eddie,” Raven said, smiling widely as he took his hand. “I can’t tell you what it means to me that you’re opening your home to my nana.”

He laughed. “We’re happy to have her. Now that Dana works nights, we rarely have visitors other than the grandkids, of course. They all live here with us.”

I knew that. Dolly’s only daughter, Dana, was a single mother of two who worked at Good Samaritan Hospital as a registered nurse. Eddie, who was a retired bus driver for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, was responsible for dropping the kids off at school in the mornings, picking them up in the afternoons, and handling homework until Dolly and Dana got home. Dolly had been right. Their home was beautiful, big, and filled—from what I could tell at first glance—of love.

“And you must be Angelica,” he said, bending over to place a gentle paw on the frail woman’s shoulder. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”

Raven’s nana looked up at him through sightless eyes and smiled, taking his big mitt in both of hers when he offered it. “Thank you, Eddie. Dolly has told me so many good things about you.”

Eddie laughed, taking her hand and wrapping it in the crook of his elbow. “You know I’ll want to hear all about what she’s said. My Dolly exaggerates so.”

Nana smiled, walking with him easily as he led her to a chair with deep cushions close to a welcoming fireplace. The room was cozy, and very clean, just as Dolly said. Hardwood floors often had dust balls on every surface, but you could eat off the wide planks of the very old wood. They were probably original to the house, just like the crown molding in the same rich, warm wood.

I adored these old Craftsman style homes, but they were few and far between in our neck of the woods. From the raised foundation with wide steps in front of the house, to the tapered wood columns that held up the covered porch, and the inside details like the hand painted mosaic tiles adorning the fireplaces, these homes were a dream come true. I couldn’t imagine living in Compton, though. The crime and murder rate had decreased over the years due to the crackdown on violent gangs like the Crips and Bloods who’d once terrorized neighborhoods like this one on L.A.’s south side, but it still wasn’t a neighborhood I wanted to live in. The warm and welcoming home Dolly offered was very nice, though, we both wanted Nana home with us as soon as we caught Filmore and whoever else he may have helping him.

I glanced over at Raven, noting that he’d turned to look at me. The shared glance between us conveyed the same message. We needed to get going. We needed to get this recovery over and done with.

“Can I offer anyone some coffee? Breakfast?” Eddie asked, leaving Nana’s side and walking across the room. His bulk rolled fluidly side to side just a little as he walked.

“Oh, no, thank you,” Raven said. “We need to get going.” He pivoted to me, gesturing with his hand. “We have to go to urgent care to have Miguel’s eye seen to.”

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