Page 15 of Stone Deep
I opened the box with the toy car, and after a major battle with the plastic packaging around the batteries, we got them loaded into the car and remote.
Like a little kid, Slade grinned as he held the car and spun the tires.
“I might be going out on a limb here,” I said, “but I’ll bet, when it comes to the rules, racing a remote control car around a hospital room is right up there with visitors climbinginto your bed.”
“Yep, and that’s why people always leave here feeling worse than when they came in. Besides, this room is too small.” He handed me the car to put on the ground.
He turned it on. It buzzed like a swarm of bees as it raced out into the hallway. Seconds later, it came buzzing back into the room.
“You aren’t really into following the whole rules of society thing, are you?” I asked.
“This coming from a girl who marched into a crowded bar and held a guy at gunpoint.”
“You’re right. Carry on. Just hope you don’t trip anyone or give some old guy in a wheelchair a heart attack.”
Slade moved the lever, and the car zipped out the door. He spun the control to bring it back, but it didn’t return. “Hmm, must have hit something.”
The same nurse returned holding the car in her hand and wearing an even sterner expression than before. “I won’t even discuss this unstated rule. Please save the toy for home.” She handed it to me with an admonishing glance. I put the car into its box.
The nurse left in a huff.
I sat on the edge of the bed. “Well, I’m really glad you’re going to be all right. I guess I should head out. They’ll be bringing your dinner soon.”
He took hold of my hand. “Can I see you again? I know you took off while I was sleeping, which should’ve been my cue that you don’t really want to see me anymore, but—if you wanted to see me again. Think we might have fun together.”
“My life is sort of complicated right now.”
“Right. Got it.” He looked slightly hurt as he leaned back against his pillow. “Thanks for the car. Take care of yourself, Tink, eh?” The way he looked at me made me question my sanity. Why the hell would any girl in her right mind walk away from him? But then, I wasn’t in my right mind.
I got up. Everything in my head and heart told me to just walk out. That would be the end of it, and Slade would just be an extremely good memory. Instead, I walked to his nightstand. I had no right to do it, but the few hours I’d spent with the guy had been the best few hours I’d experienced in the last six months, heck, in the last year. I picked up his phone, punched in my number and returned it to the nightstand.
I looked over at him. “Just if you feel like calling. No pressure. There aren’t many people like you around, Slade.”
Before I could walk away, he took hold of my hand and pressed my knuckles to his mouth. He kissed my hand. “Funny, I was just about to say the same thing about you.”
He released my hand. I could still feel the heat of his touch as I walked out of the room.
NINE
SLADE
Hunter and I had parked a few blocks down from the police station. Of the three guys involved in the attack, only one, the one who had actually stabbed me, was still inside. But I’d given my statement and I admitted that I’d started everything by assaulting the guy in a bar. I’d dropped the charges. Of course, I wanted something in return. Information.
A couple of days in a hospital bed and the reality that I’d be off work for a few weeks had given me a crazy fucking idea. I wanted to help Britton find heranswers. I wanted to help her find her sister’s boyfriend. I had no understanding of why I wanted to do this except that she seemed so incredibly distraught about her sister’s death. Of course, the fact that she was beautiful, funny, sweet and altogether unforgettable might have had something to do with my wild idea.
Hunter leaned back in the passenger’s seat and closed his eyes. “I think you lost just a bit too much blood out there on the highway. You should have left the fool in a jail cell. Like the doctor said, a couple inches north or southand we’d be burying your ass instead of melting inside your car outside, of all places, the county jail. She must have been some fuck.”
“That’s right, a couple of inches. The way I see it, I’ve been left on this wonderful earth for a reason. And right now, the only reason I can think of is to help Britton find the guy responsible for her twin sister’s death.”
He looked up. “And then what? You going to play vigilante? So far that pretty wood sprite, as you call her, has cost you some blood, several days stuck in a hospital bed and two weeks wages. Seems to me you should be running the other way.” He lit up a joint.
I looked pointedly at it. “Uh, you do realize we’re just a hundred yards from the county jailhouse.”
He ignored my comment and took a hit.
I reached for the joint. “Actually, I could use some of that. I’m going to need something to keep me mellow when I face this guy because what I really want to do is break every bone in his fucking face.” I took a hit and held it deep in my lungs while we watched the front door of the building slide open. “That’s him,” I said through clenched teeth. I blew out the smoke, stuck the joint in the ashtray and opened the car door. Hunter climbed out too.
The asshole looked smaller and stupider than I remembered. He was checking his wallet to make sure the police gave him back everything. He looked at his phone and jammed it angrily in his pocket.
