Better When He's Brave
Page 63
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I settled back into the too small chair and gratefully watched Bax’s chest rise and fall until I drifted off at some point listening to him breathe. It wasn’t comfortable and I never slept deeply anyway, so I was wide-awake as soon as my chin slipped off my hand. I shook the fog out of my head to clear it and squinted into the dark to try and figure out what time it might be. I climbed to my feet stretching my arms over my head, making every vertebra in my spine pop painfully. I was too big to try and curl up for a catnap. I rubbed a hand over my short hair and was scrolling through e-mail on my phone when the door snicked open and a familiar shock of red hair appeared.
Dovie tiptoed in, silent as a cat until she saw me wide-awake and watching her. She blinked slowly and shrugged without guilt.
“I don’t go to bed without him.”
She moved toward the hospital bed and reached out a finger to brush it across Bax’s star.
“He’s worried he can’t keep you safe.” It was a rough whisper but she heard it and nodded. She kicked of her canvas tennis shoes and hopped up on the edge of the bed.
“I know he is, but I can keep both of us safe until he gets better. And he’s just going to have to get used to it.”
Bax muttered something in his sleep and instinctively reached for her. She gingerly lay down next to him and put her hand on his chest that was concave and thinner than it had ever been. “We take care of each other. That’s what love in this place looks like. You have each other’s back.”
She sighed softly as Bax turned his head and rubbed his nose in her wild hair. Neither one had ever looked so removed from the grime and grit of their everyday. They just looked like a couple united and in love. It twisted something deep and hard in my gut. Bax had gone through hell to get to this place. It was a victory hard won.
“I’m gonna take off since you’re here with him. Call me if you need any help getting him home. He might be more of a handful once he isn’t tied to a hospital bed.”
She giggled a little bit and waved me off in the dark. “I like it when he’s a handful. It’s my favorite when he makes me work for it.”
“You guys are perfect for each other.”
“No, we are so not, but we aren’t right for anyone else, so I guess that means we’re stuck with one another until the end of time.”
Bax made a noise in his sleep and moved his broken wrist toward her. She whispered soothing sounds to him and continued to rub the pad of her finger over that black star. Like I said, that was what love in the Point looked like and I couldn’t be happier for either of them.
I closed the door quietly behind me and pulled my phone out so I could text Reeve that I was headed back to the loft after all. She didn’t text me back, so I assumed she was already asleep since it was the middle of the night. I was pulling out of the hospital parking lot when my phone starting ringing. I thought it was Reeve calling me back to let me know she was awake and ready to play some after-dark games once I got home. My blood froze when the unnaturally calm voice of one of my fellow detectives came across the line.
“Detective King, we just got called out to those high-rise condos on the docks. Shots fired and one reported fatality. One of the witnesses on the scene demanded that we call you. Said you’ve been staying there.”
I had to concentrate on breathing after my lungs seized and my heart dropped into my shoes. “The fatality, is it a male or a female?”
I heard the typical background noise that went along with a crime scene and practically put the gas pedal through the floorboard of the GTO as I raced across town.
“Male suffering multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Looks like a break-in and attempted sexual assault. The victim said she shot him in self-defense. She told the female officer on the scene that she’s your girlfriend and asked us to call you right away.” The other cop coughed. “Pretty girl. Looks like she took a nasty beating before she pulled the trigger. She won’t go with the paramedics until you get here.”
A nasty beating? What exactly did that mean? My mind was racing with every worst-case scenario I could think of. I couldn’t believe Reeve had shot someone. Where had she even gotten a gun from and how had someone gotten past all the high-tech and extreme security measures Race had in place at the condo? None of it made any sense to me, but all that mattered right at the moment was that Reeve was okay and that whoever had tried to hurt her was the one not breathing anymore.
When I pulled up in front of the condo, it looked like a scene out of a bad TV cop show. Flashing sirens, worn-down docks, bored bystanders waiting to see the bodies rolled out to the coroner’s van, patrol cops and tired-eyed detectives keeping the scene secure, and sure enough, a lovely victim dressed in practically nothing sitting in the back of an ambulance while a paramedic fussed around her. Reeve was wrapped up in a rough-looking blanket. Her dark hair was snarled and sticking up all over her head like someone had been using it to scrub floors or something. She was talking to another cop and the spinning red and blue lights cast harsh shadows on her pale face. She looked calm. She looked composed. She looked like a miracle and it wasn’t until she caught sight of me and turned to look in my direction that I saw the damage the other detective had described.
She had white Steri-Strips over one of her dark eyebrows. She already had a black eye starting to form around one of those dark blue orbs. Her chin was split open and sporting spidery black stiches, and as she got up and started to move toward me I could see the scratches and bruises that decorated her soft skin. An angry and bright red slash decorated her throat, and it made me clench my fists. All she had on was a tank top that was being held up by one strap as the other one dangled torn and useless off her shoulder. She also had on those too-short shorts she liked to sleep in and I could see that her knees were torn open and raw like she had been dragged across the floor.
I let out a soft little “oomph” as she hit my chest and tucked her head under my chin. She started crying as soon as my arms closed around her. She cried and cried. Her body shook so hard I thought she was going to fall apart. I stroked my hand over her messy hair and muttered soothing words to her as the other detective meandered over to where we were standing. He looked at me and then at Reeve and lifted his eyebrow.
“I still have a few more questions to ask.”
I narrowed my eyes at him as Reeve shook even harder against me. I wasn’t used to being on the opposite end of this conversation and I couldn’t say I cared for it at all.
Dovie tiptoed in, silent as a cat until she saw me wide-awake and watching her. She blinked slowly and shrugged without guilt.
“I don’t go to bed without him.”
She moved toward the hospital bed and reached out a finger to brush it across Bax’s star.
“He’s worried he can’t keep you safe.” It was a rough whisper but she heard it and nodded. She kicked of her canvas tennis shoes and hopped up on the edge of the bed.
“I know he is, but I can keep both of us safe until he gets better. And he’s just going to have to get used to it.”
Bax muttered something in his sleep and instinctively reached for her. She gingerly lay down next to him and put her hand on his chest that was concave and thinner than it had ever been. “We take care of each other. That’s what love in this place looks like. You have each other’s back.”
She sighed softly as Bax turned his head and rubbed his nose in her wild hair. Neither one had ever looked so removed from the grime and grit of their everyday. They just looked like a couple united and in love. It twisted something deep and hard in my gut. Bax had gone through hell to get to this place. It was a victory hard won.
“I’m gonna take off since you’re here with him. Call me if you need any help getting him home. He might be more of a handful once he isn’t tied to a hospital bed.”
She giggled a little bit and waved me off in the dark. “I like it when he’s a handful. It’s my favorite when he makes me work for it.”
“You guys are perfect for each other.”
“No, we are so not, but we aren’t right for anyone else, so I guess that means we’re stuck with one another until the end of time.”
Bax made a noise in his sleep and moved his broken wrist toward her. She whispered soothing sounds to him and continued to rub the pad of her finger over that black star. Like I said, that was what love in the Point looked like and I couldn’t be happier for either of them.
I closed the door quietly behind me and pulled my phone out so I could text Reeve that I was headed back to the loft after all. She didn’t text me back, so I assumed she was already asleep since it was the middle of the night. I was pulling out of the hospital parking lot when my phone starting ringing. I thought it was Reeve calling me back to let me know she was awake and ready to play some after-dark games once I got home. My blood froze when the unnaturally calm voice of one of my fellow detectives came across the line.
“Detective King, we just got called out to those high-rise condos on the docks. Shots fired and one reported fatality. One of the witnesses on the scene demanded that we call you. Said you’ve been staying there.”
I had to concentrate on breathing after my lungs seized and my heart dropped into my shoes. “The fatality, is it a male or a female?”
I heard the typical background noise that went along with a crime scene and practically put the gas pedal through the floorboard of the GTO as I raced across town.
“Male suffering multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Looks like a break-in and attempted sexual assault. The victim said she shot him in self-defense. She told the female officer on the scene that she’s your girlfriend and asked us to call you right away.” The other cop coughed. “Pretty girl. Looks like she took a nasty beating before she pulled the trigger. She won’t go with the paramedics until you get here.”
A nasty beating? What exactly did that mean? My mind was racing with every worst-case scenario I could think of. I couldn’t believe Reeve had shot someone. Where had she even gotten a gun from and how had someone gotten past all the high-tech and extreme security measures Race had in place at the condo? None of it made any sense to me, but all that mattered right at the moment was that Reeve was okay and that whoever had tried to hurt her was the one not breathing anymore.
When I pulled up in front of the condo, it looked like a scene out of a bad TV cop show. Flashing sirens, worn-down docks, bored bystanders waiting to see the bodies rolled out to the coroner’s van, patrol cops and tired-eyed detectives keeping the scene secure, and sure enough, a lovely victim dressed in practically nothing sitting in the back of an ambulance while a paramedic fussed around her. Reeve was wrapped up in a rough-looking blanket. Her dark hair was snarled and sticking up all over her head like someone had been using it to scrub floors or something. She was talking to another cop and the spinning red and blue lights cast harsh shadows on her pale face. She looked calm. She looked composed. She looked like a miracle and it wasn’t until she caught sight of me and turned to look in my direction that I saw the damage the other detective had described.
She had white Steri-Strips over one of her dark eyebrows. She already had a black eye starting to form around one of those dark blue orbs. Her chin was split open and sporting spidery black stiches, and as she got up and started to move toward me I could see the scratches and bruises that decorated her soft skin. An angry and bright red slash decorated her throat, and it made me clench my fists. All she had on was a tank top that was being held up by one strap as the other one dangled torn and useless off her shoulder. She also had on those too-short shorts she liked to sleep in and I could see that her knees were torn open and raw like she had been dragged across the floor.
I let out a soft little “oomph” as she hit my chest and tucked her head under my chin. She started crying as soon as my arms closed around her. She cried and cried. Her body shook so hard I thought she was going to fall apart. I stroked my hand over her messy hair and muttered soothing words to her as the other detective meandered over to where we were standing. He looked at me and then at Reeve and lifted his eyebrow.
“I still have a few more questions to ask.”
I narrowed my eyes at him as Reeve shook even harder against me. I wasn’t used to being on the opposite end of this conversation and I couldn’t say I cared for it at all.
