“Hank.” I shifted a little bit but hissed as my foot screamed in pain. He stood immediately and pulled up the morphine drip button forme.
“Thanks.” I squeezed it once, twice, three times the charm and sighed as I felt the cool drug pour into my veins. “You have about one minute before I get loopy.Speak.”
“I am so sorry. I spoke with Charity this morning. What I did was inappropriate. In my defense, it was mostly ignorance, but that doesn’t excuse it.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. I couldn’t make out his expression in the dim light of my room, but he sounded tortured. “I have never had someone who gave me more than half a glance but, if they did, I didn’t even realize it. Not untilyou.”
The morphine was starting to kick in. “You punched someone forme.”
“I did,” he said. “I’d do it all overagain.”
“Why did you push me away somuch?”
“The last thing I wanted to do was push you away. But you never showed even a hint of interest in me until that stupid letterarrived.”
“I think that’s what they do. Stick us all in a cup, shake us up, and see who doesn’tdrown.”
“Her methods are certainly unorthodox,” he admitted. “So...Lucienstayed?”
I nodded. “I fell asleep but he and Pepper were here for quite awhile.”
“He doesn’t seem like a bad sort. For avampire.”
“He isn’t.” I really didn’t want to delve into the vampire’s good qualities while on a morphine drip. “Lucien came by to give me some news. That’s what caused theaccident.”
“First tell me you’re okay. The fact that you’re still here is concerning.” Hank pulled a chair over to my bed and sat besideme.
“Thirty stitches and a fracture. I’ll be on crutches for quite awhile.”
“Damn. Whathappened?”
I filled him in on what Lucien had told me and my stupid accident with themug.
“That’s ridiculous. Do they have any legal standing?” He scrubbed his hand across hischin.
We both knew the court systems in Midnight Cove were different. Whether or not they could actually get the case listened to in court was up in theair.
Hank stood. “I’m going to talk toPortia.”
I snorted. “Portia Kadish? Hank, that’s insane. She hasn’t opened the door to anyone inyears.”
“Portia was just recently seen by a friend of mine. She showed up at his girlfriend’shouse.”
I stared at him convinced the morphine was affecting my judgment. “What?”
“Yes, apparently she has a daughter she gave up. She’s trying to make amends. I’m going to go see them rightnow.”
“Hank,wait!”
He was already half out of the room. “No. They want that door. This is Portia and that stupid agency’sfault.”
He left me sitting there slowly slipping into morphinedreams.
The next morning,the doctor visited. He was a short, portly man with a friendly demeanor and a nose that could have had its own zip code. He made sure the cast was still intact and ready to go and told me the stitches in my foot should dissolve on their own within a few weeks. I was under no circumstances to get my foot wet, nor should I overexert myself. Pepper and Lucien walked into my room right after heleft.
“Ready to go, gimpy?” Pepper asked as she rolled in awheelchair.
“I’m not getting in that thing.” They’d cut my pain meds down and I was a smidgegrumpy.
“Doctor’s orders,” Lucien said and bent down to help me up. He wrapped an arm around my waist and lifted me. I wobbled a bit, but he steadied me. Piper wheeled the chair over so I didn’t have to move too much and I sat down gingerly. She lifted the bottom contraption so I could elevate my leg. Lucien grabbed my crutches and bag and she wheeled me out of thehospital.
