As long as I was already out there, I had given in to Sam’s suggestion that we go pick up my car. It had been left at the theater and, the way my luck had gone lately, it would have been towed before I got to it, otherwise.
I’d gone ahead and had my MRI on Monday to get Sam off my back. They were able to do it in this hospital, so I didn’t even have to go anywhere, which was a major part of why I’d agreed. I hated those things; like being trapped inside the world’s noisiest coffin.
Regardless of his early reservations about Faith, Sam had been a true friend through this ordeal. He went back and forth between my place and the hospital so I wouldn’t have to contend with the media circus outside. Among other things, he brought me a few changes of clothes and some toiletries, as well as a small air mattress so I could stop sleeping sitting up.
Despite the horrible reason for being there, Faith and I grew even closer. With nothing to do to pass the time except talk and watch horrible daytime television, we chatted about anything and everything. Things that we probably never would have ever discussed outside this place became lengthy conversations. We had spirited debates. I now knew without a shadow of a doubt that my feelings for her ran much, much deeper than anything I had ever known.
We’d been interviewed again by Detective Bentley, the cop whom I’d spoken to outside the theater. Faith remained convinced that Jacob had not had anything to do with the fire, but had no explanation why he’d been there in the first place.
I glanced at the clock. Six in the morning. The sun would be up soon. Grabbing my laptop, I powered it on and pulled up an internet browser. Being cooped up in a hospital room meant that I’d been effectively cut off from the outside world. Thinking about the press outside made me wonder what was being said about the fire.
Typing the name of the theater into the search bar brought up several news articles. I read a few, scrolling further down the list.
I paused.
My hand shook as I enlarged a picture on the Times website. The image’s focus was of me carrying Faith toward the loading dock. Damn, we looked a mess. But to the right there was a familiar yet blurry image of a blonde woman. Squinting, I realized it was Lily. Not all of her, but enough that I could definitely identify her.
What was she doing there? Why would she be in this picture? I stared at the photo, willing it to give me a clue. Finally, I dismissed it. Lily was a reporter. There was no reason she shouldn’t be there. I was just glad that I hadn’t seen her.
Lily’s appearance in the same picture as me was unsettling. I closed the screen and set the computer aside.
I watched Faith sleep. I’d missed seeing her face unobscured by the mask, and now that it was gone, I couldn’t get enough of looking at her.
A shrill beep startled me. Adrenaline coursed through my body and made my heart pound. Shit! That IV alarm was loud. I stood to hit Faith’s call button when the nurse knocked on the door and entered.
“I knew that thing would need to get switched out soon,” the night nurse said, way too perky for this early in the morning. I scowled and tried to calm my racing pulse.
“What time is it?” Faith said sleepily.
“Quarter to seven,” said Nurse Perky. “I’ll just change out this IV and be out of your way, unless you need anything.”
Faith yawned, stretched. “No, I’m good. Thanks. Will I be able to go home today?”
“That’s up to the doctor. I’ll be leaving soon, and Ashlyn will be taking over as your nurse for the day. Have a good one.”
Faith climbed out of bed and padded over to the bathroom. After answering nature’s call, she wandered over to me and climbed into my lap. “Haven’t you slept?”
“Wasn’t tired.”
“You have dark circles around your eyes, silly. What have you been doing?”
I shrugged. Oh well, not like I needed to hide my infatuation from the woman I loved. “Watching you.”
“All night?”
“All night. I missed being able to see your face. You’ve been hiding behind a mask all week.”
“Hiding?” She giggled. “Like I had a choice. Kiss me.”
I stroked her bare cheek with the side of my thumb, then leaned forward and kissed her chastely on the mouth.
“Kiss me again. Stop holding back. Come on, they already think you’re my fiancée. This is what engaged couples do.” Faith seemed to think that little ruse had been hilarious. She’d ribbed me for it often throughout the week. “Xander, I need you to kiss me like you want me.”
“Christ. Faith, I do want you. How could you even say that? Don’t you realize how desperately I want to really kiss you?”
“Then why don’t you?”
“Because I won’t be able to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop.”
I chuckled. “I think the hospital staff would object if I did what I really want to do here. Besides, you’re still sick. I shouldn’t do things that will tire you out.”
My phone rang. Faith tried to get up, but I held her in place and shifted to pry the phone out of my pocket.
“Phoenix.”
“Xander! It’s Sam. They got him!”
“What?”
“They found Armistead. He’s been taken into custody.” I had told Sam everything over lunch on Monday afternoon following my MRI.
“Where was he?”
“I’m not sure, but they picked him up on Disney property yesterday.”
“That’s weird,” I said thoughtfully. I’d never understood why anyone would go there if they were trying to hide. Yes, there were huge crowds, but also high-tech security and facial recognition software. Possibly the worst place to go if you were trying to be invisible. As a security guard himself, he should know that. Something wasn’t adding up. Where had he been? Why now?
“Yes, it is. But what a relief. Anyway, that’s all I’ve got. How are your hands?”
I scratched at the calluses of my left hand. “Much improved. Still a little itchy.”
“Any shortness of breath?”
“No. I’m good.”
“When will you be up to starting practice again?”
“I’m not sure, Sam. After Faith is discharged.”
Sam paused. “He can’t hurt her now.”
“I know.”
“You promised you’d focus.”
“And I will. My hands still aren’t perfect, anyway. I’ll get back to you, okay? Soon.”
Sam grumbled something. “All right. Let me know.”
The call ended and I put the phone down. “Now where were we?”
“They found Jacob?”
“Yes.”
“I still don’t think he did it, Xander. He wouldn’t risk his career. Not for me.”
“If they arrested him, I’m sure they have proof.” I caressed her cheek and ran my thumb over her plump lower lip. “I love feeling your skin here. I’d missed this while you had your mask on.”
She caught my thumb in her mouth and sucked, moaning. My cock instantly hardened beneath her. “Shit, Faith. Stop that.”
She shifted her weight, making a point to rub against me. “Uh oh. Feels like someone is getting excited.”
“Doesn’t take much when you’re around. Now what am I supposed to do?”
“Well–”
Her words were interrupted by a rapid knock and the door flying open.
“Can I come in?” Faith’s doctor asked. Without waiting for an answer, she barged right into the room. “And how’s my patient today?”
“I’m feeling much better.”
“That’s what we like to hear. Hop on the bed so I can listen to your lungs.”
Faith uncurled to climb off my lap but I held on to her. Shit! She was going to get up and leave me exposed with this massive hard-on. She chuckled and pulled away again. I crossed my legs and adjusted my shirt as nonchalantly as possible.
The doctor asked Faith to cough, listening through her stethoscope. Then she looked down her throa
t and in her nostrils and eyes. She examined her burns which, like mine, were almost healed. The silvadene cream was good stuff.
“Well, Ms. Richardson, I’d say you’ve made excellent progress in the last couple of days.” The doctor walked over to the monitor and pressed a few buttons. “You were on the mild end of the spectrum for carbon monoxide poisoning. You were lucky. You’ve shown no sign of mental difficulty. Your blood oxygen levels are looking pretty good. Not quite to where we’d like them for a non-smoker your age, but looking pretty good. Up to ninety-seven on average. Tell me about your home situation. There anyone in your house with you?”
Faith shook her head. “My parents live a few hours from here, up in Gainesville. They’re off on a Mediterranean cruise thing right now. They don’t even know I’m here. I’m the only one in my apartment.”
“Well… I was going to discharge you today. However, I don’t really want you to be unsupervised for a week or so, in case your condition worsens. Perhaps someone can stay with you? Or we can arrange a home health nurse, but it’ll take a few–”
“That won’t be necessary,” I said. “She can stay with me.”
“I wouldn’t want to intrude,” Faith said softly.
“Faith, don’t be ridiculous. I’ve been staying here with you. What’s the difference?”
“I guess…”
“Besides, you don’t want to stand me up for our date tomorrow, do you?” I said with a wink.
Her grin could have lit up the room. “All right. I guess I do have someone with me. So I get to go home, then?”
“I see no reason why not,” said the doctor.
“What about exercise? Or am I on bed rest?”
“Do you work?”
“Of course.”
“Well, today is Wednesday. I don’t want you to return to work until a week from Monday. You are not on bed rest, though. You can exercise, just keep it reasonable. Listen to your body. If you feel burning or irritation in your chest, stop immediately. If you start wheezing and it’s uncontrolled by the rescue inhaler, come back in. If you notice your lips or fingernails turning blue, come back. If you cough up any blood… guess what I want you to do?”
“Come back?”
“See? You’ve got this. I’ll write up the orders and you’ll be free to go. Your nurse will be in soon to remove your IV.”
The door shut with a bang. Faith’s eyes glittered with mischief. “Smooth, Xander.”
“Hmm?”
“With the shirt.”
“Oh, like you weren’t obvious with your exercise question.”
“A girl’s gotta keep in shape.” She winked.
“That so?”
“Yep. So tell me something, Xander.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you put out on the first date?”
“Faith, I–I don’t know. We’ll see how you’re feeling.”
“I feel great.”
“We’ll see.”
Faith walked back over to me and waited, her hands on her hips. I uncrossed my legs so she could crawl back into my lap and curl up against my chest.
“I can hear your heart beating,” she murmured.
“It beats for you, baby.”
“That was cheesy.”
“Yet you’re smiling.”
“Maybe I like cheesy.”
I chuckled.
“What are we doing tomorrow night?”
I tapped the side of my nose. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”
In truth, I hadn’t really put much thought into it. All my energy had gone into worrying about her health and keeping an eye on her. I was glad she’d be staying with me; it made it easier for me to watch over her.
“Give me a hint.”
“Mmm… we’re going rock climbing.”
“Very funny.”
“I don’t know, Faith. Date options are limited because I don’t want to tire you out. Maybe we should just go traditional and catch a movie?”
“Fine with me. Or we can stay in and watch one.”
“I’d like to take you out, unless you don’t feel up to it.”
“Okay. It’s a plan. Now where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?” Faith grabbed my hand and kissed my fingers, sucking my pinky into her mouth. I snatched my hand away.
“We’re in a hospital.”
“I know where we are. I’m in a good mood.”
“My little exhibitionist. Although I’d like nothing more than to accommodate you, I really don’t need any tabloids hearing that we got caught having sex in a hospital room.”
“Pretty sure medical staff isn’t allowed to talk about their patients.”
“Pretty sure I don’t count as a patient anymore. Besides, you need to get better.”
“I’m better!” Faith started coughing heavily. I sat her up straight and forced her head back, tilting her chin up so her airway was as straight as possible.
“Sure you are,” I said when she recovered.
“I’m better. Really.”
“I can tell. We’ll get there, Faith. I’d just like to not kill you in the process.” Another knock sounded at the door. I chuckled. “This is why I stopped you. Come in!”
The silence that followed puzzled me. I nudged Faith to get off my lap so I could go check the door. “Hello? Come in,” she called.
The click preceding the slow creak of the door seemed louder than normal.
My eyes widened as I saw who was on the other side. I jumped to my feet, nearly knocking Faith over. “You’ve got balls to show your face here, Jacob.”
Faith looked from Jacob to me and back again, the shock on her face so clear she almost looked like one of those over-dramatic carnival sketches.
“I wanted to see Faith.”
“Well, there she is. Now you’ve seen her.” I interposed my body between the two of them. Faith wore nothing but a hospital gown. Despite their history–or maybe because of it–I didn’t like her being so exposed to him. “I got her out of that theater, no thanks to you. Speaking of that night… heard you’d been arrested. Why the fuck are you here?”
He started to say something, but snapped his mouth shut. Focusing on me, he squared his shoulders. “Brought in for questioning, actually. Then released. I had nothing to do with the fire.”
“Bullshit!” I snapped.
“Xander…” Faith walked around me and placed a hand on my forearm.
I ignored her. “What the hell were you doing there, then?”
“Working. One of the regular security guys had a family emergency. The theater called my firm and they sent me.” Jacob looked like he wanted to say something else, but changed tracks. “Faith, can I talk to you alone for a minute?”
“What the fuck?” I said. “Absolutely not. Anything you want to say in front of her, you can say in front of me.” Did he think I was stupid? He’d threatened her the last time they’d spoken. The last time they’d been in a building together, she’d almost died. He’d get alone time with my girlfriend over my dead body.
“Xander.” Faith’s voice was calm. Too calm. I was ready to rip this asshole apart, but she sounded cool and collected. “It’ll be fine. Please give us a minute.”
“I will not. He threatened you. He threatened both of us. He knew you were in my home that day, which means he followed you or tracked you or something. Now he expects me to believe he just happened to be in the theater on the exact day that a fire got set off in your dressing room and landed you in the hospital? I don’t fucking think so. Anything he has to say can be said with me here.” I lowered my voice. “We’re a team, baby. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Faith’s eyes searched mine. She looked like she was going to argue, but seemed to realize I wasn’t going to back down. She nodded, bringing her hand up to briefly stroke my cheek.
“Xander’s right,” Faith said, turning to Jacob. “We’re a team. I don’t mind if he hears whatever you have to say.”
Jacob regard
ed us for a moment, a look of pain on his features. Good.
“Are you happy, Faith?” he asked.
“The fuck kind of question is that?” My fists clenched so tightly the knuckles ached.
“One I didn’t ask you.”
“Xander… you can stay, but let me speak for myself. Please.” Faith turned to Jacob. “Yes, I am.”
Jacob closed his eyes and inhaled sharply. He nodded once. “I’m glad. I wanted to ask where we… what I…” His eyes darted between Faith and me, once more looking uncomfortable.
Fuck’s sake. Asshole tries to kill her then wants to know where things went wrong between them.
“…Faith, I told you I loved you, then you left me for another man. I deserve to know why.”
“Jacob, it wasn’t like that.” Her voice was thick with unshed tears. She looked at me, a plea in her watery gaze.
I shook my head. Snatching her bathrobe off the foot of the bed, I thrust it at her. I walked to the room’s only window and stared down at the parking lot. This was as far away as I was willing to go.
“I’m sorry,” Faith said, her voice barely more than a whisper. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“What did I do wrong? Tell me that.”
Her voice broke. “You didn’t do anything. I just… Xander and I… I… I love him. But that doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. It’s just different.”
Jacob heaved a big sigh. “It hurts, Faith.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.” He paused. “The cops thought I had something to do with the fire. I want you to know I didn’t. I helped the guests get out front. My mom caught wind of the fire on the news, and kept calling, so I went to see her. I decided I needed a break from life, so I called work and told them I wouldn’t be available for a few days. I had no idea anyone was looking for me until security pulled me aside at Disney. I swear I had nothing to do with any of it. I wasn’t even supposed to work that night.”
“I never thought it was you,” Faith said.
Jacob snorted. “That makes you the only one, apparently. It’s okay. I’m not proud of how I reacted. I’d have probably thought it was me, too, if the roles were reversed.” I turned to see Jacob watching me, a resigned look on his face. “Listen, are you going to the funeral, or will you still be here?”
Deeper In You (The Phoenix Series Book 2) Page 12