✯✯✯✯✯
After getting a major scolding from the police chief, we were all released and sent home. He decided that while our actions were horrible, our intentions were well meaning and he dropped the charges based on the information we were able to obtain. Sean let me know on the way out that we really hadn’t gotten them much of anything useful and the chief was really just being nice. He also suggested that I take tomorrow off of work and get my head on straight. I got the distinct impression that he was upset with me.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Sean
I WALKED INTO the station a few days later, only to be called right into the chief’s office. He told me that Carlos Ramirez was ready to talk, but only to me.
From that moment on, my day was chaotic. Ramirez didn’t have a smoking gun for us, but he did have supply routes, shipment dates, and the guy he reported to. We agreed to take him into protective custody with his continued cooperation. Sebastian agreed to let the department use his safe house on the outskirts of town since we didn’t have our own. I was taking Ramirez over there to meet up with his security detail that was getting everything set up.
After grilling Carlos all day and getting paperwork in order for his protection, I was beat and wanted to get home, but I still had to drop him off and it was never as simple as a hand off.
I also hadn’t dealt with any of the shit that had happened the other night with the girls. They could have gotten in some serious trouble. Lillian could have been fired from her job. Any of them could have been hurt if the dealer had gotten spooked. I still couldn’t believe they did something so stupid.
I needed to cool down though before I went to see Lillian. That wasn’t our only issue at the moment. We still hadn’t discussed what was going on with us. I wanted to make things work with her, but I hadn’t been able to find out where her head was. I wanted to give her space to think, so I hadn’t contacted her over the past few days.
I pulled up to the safe house, noticing that the two men on duty for the night were inside and seemed to be setting up. One of them came to the door and headed down to meet us. I recognized him immediately. He was a few years younger than me and a damn good cop.
“Hey, Stevens. All good?”
“Yeah, it’s been quiet so far.”
He glanced around the yard, not seeing anything and walked toward the car.
I closed the car door and walked around to Ramirez’s door, opening it after I scanned the area. Not seeing any threats, I allowed Ramirez to step out. Stevens took up a position on the other side of him and we headed for the house. Movement out of the corner of my eye had me drawing my weapon, but it was too late. Something hard smashed into my hand and then moments later, my ribs. The wind was knocked from my lungs as I bent over trying to suck in a breath. Pain spread through my side as I was hit multiple times until I fell to the ground.
My head lulled to the side as I verged on blacking out, but I forced myself to stay awake. Lying next to me on the ground was Stevens with a bloody face. It didn’t look like he was conscious. I heard grunting and forced my head to turn. There were three men standing over Ramirez, each of them taking a turn beating him with bats. He would be dead soon if they didn’t stop.
Gun shots fired from the front of the house and the men took off down the driveway. I looked around and saw my gun within in reached and grabbed it with my left hand. Sucking in a breath as best I could, I fired off several rounds. Two of the men dropped to the ground, but the third disappeared into the night. I had no idea if any of my bullets connected or if it was from the other officer. I couldn’t hold my head up anymore as each breath I drew became more painful. I vaguely heard someone shouting and a face came into view, but I was fading fast.
✯✯✯✯✯
I managed to get a call in to Chief Jameson before I passed out for good in the back of the ambulance. When the paramedics arrived and started jostling me all around, I came to my senses enough to realize that I needed to let the chief know what happened and get officers to the hospital to stand watch outside Ramirez’s room. That’s if he made it.
I had been at the hospital for six hours now and I was getting pissed just lying around, waiting for X-rays. I already knew my ribs were at least cracked. I had heard them breaking with every swing of the bat. I didn’t have the luxury of walking out, though. I was injured on the job and I had to follow procedures.
No one but the chief had been allowed into my room, though I suspected it wouldn’t be long before Cara came back. She was my emergency contact, so I was sure she would be nagging the nurses to be let back very soon. No doubt she would have called Sebastian and informed him of what happened. Soon enough, all my friends would be here and that was the last thing I needed. I just wanted to go home and lick my wounds in peace.
The nurses had given me something for the pain, so I had been able to relax a little, but I asked her not to give the full dose because I didn’t want to be completely out of it. Call me paranoid, but it was always a possibility that someone could come back to finish the job.
“Alright, Detective Donnelly. We’re going to get you down for X-rays now.” The nurse looked to be in her sixties, but wore her hair like she was already eighty. She had tight curls that looked like something my grandma used to get when she went to the salon.
“I can already tell you I have cracked ribs.”
“Oh. Well, I’m so glad you were able to make that diagnosis for me. I’ll just write you a prescription for pain medicine, how about the strongest I’m allowed, for the next two months and you can be on your way. Imagine if all my patients were as talented as you. I wouldn’t even have a job.”
She pursed her lips and gave me a stern look that said to shut up and do as she said.
“Fine.”
“Fine what?”
“I’ll shut up.”
“You’ll shut up what?”
I rolled my eyes as the woman treated me like an eight year old boy that had sassed his momma.
“I’ll shut up and do as you say.” She raised an eyebrow. “Ma’am.”
“I’m so glad we could come to the same conclusion. Now, let’s get you moved on down to x-ray.”
An hour and a half later, I was back in my room with a diagnosis of three broken ribs and a broken hand. Luckily, none of my ribs had caused any further damage, so I was able to leave in the morning.
My hand was splinted soon after with strict instructions for aftercare and follow up appointments. I was just settling back into my bed when I heard commotion outside my room. As expected, Cara was yelling at the nurses and the police officer stationed outside.
“I’m his sister. You let me through right now or you’ll be wearing your balls as a necklace.”
I rolled my eyes at my sister’s antics. She’d obviously been hanging around with the wives for too long. She pushed into the room and stopped in the doorway, her hand flying to her mouth. I prepared myself for the tears, but they didn’t come.
“You asshole. What were you thinking?”
I quirked my eyebrow in confusion. “Um..what?”
“You are my only brother and you went and got yourself beaten. I thought you were a better officer than that.”
“Cara, it’s not like I asked for a fight. They snuck up on us.”
“Right. My brother, the badass that doesn’t let anything past him, found himself on the receiving end of a baseball bat.”
“I love you, too, Cara.”
“Don’t you ever do that again. Do you have any idea what it’s like to be called and told that your brother was injured on the job and is now in the hospital?” She shrieked.
“Gee, Cara. I would imagine it’s not nearly as bad as finding out that your sister has been kidnapped and then was gone for ten days.” I shouted as much as my ribs would allow.
I groaned when I finished my rant, knowing I shouldn’t have done that. Cara rushed to my side and held my hand.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. You just
had me worried.”
“I know, but I’m fine. Now I get to lay around the house all day and watch TV. Every man’s dream, right?”
“Well, I wouldn’t bank on laying around watching TV. There’s a whole lobby full of people out there that are worried about you.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I figured there would be. You can go out there and tell them I’m fine. I’ll be going home in the morning, so tell them to leave.”
“Even Lillian?”
“What?” I jolted up in the bed, instantly regretting the movement. “Why is she here?”
“I think the better question is why have you not introduced me to her? She’s very nice. Not really the kind of woman you go for, but definitely an improvement from Vira.”
“Can we not do this now?”
“What? You don’t want to tell me about the perfectly nice woman that you started dating and then screwed over when Vira came back to you?”
“She told you that?” That didn’t sound like Lillian.
“No, but the room full of women out there were very willing to fill me in on what’s been happening with you recently.”
“Can you ask Lillian to come back here? Tell everyone else to go the fuck home. They can come see me in a few days.”
“Fine, but this conversation isn’t through.”
She leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room. I couldn’t believe Lillian had shown up. I figured that she was still pissed at me. More than that, I didn’t think any of my friends would think to call her.
The minutes ticked by and my eyes started to droop as I waited for Lillian to come back. It was taking forever and I was finding it harder and harder to force my eyes to stay open. Something soft touched my cheek and I willed my eyes open, not remembering where I was. Lillian’s beautiful face was inches from mine, concern showing deeply in her eyes.
When her hand came up to cup my cheek, I turned my face into her hand, relishing in the comfort of having her so close.
“When Sebastian called me, I completely freaked out,” she whispered softly.
“I’m fine. Just a few broken ribs and a broken hand. Nothing time won’t heal.”
My eyes continued to drift open and closed. I grabbed her hand in mine and held on tight. “About our situation-”
“Not now. We can talk about it later. You just need to rest and get better.”
I nodded and finally let sleep take over. I hoped that she would be there in the morning. I hoped that she would say we could make this work, but I also knew I had a long way to go before she would give in to me.
✯✯✯✯✯
“I am not sitting in a damn wheelchair. I can walk out of this hospital on my own and there’s nothing you can say that will make me change my mind. Now move,” I growled at the nurse.
“Sir, this is against hospital policy.”
I was in a pissy mood. When I woke up, Lilian was gone and it was now almost noon and I had yet to hear from her. Maybe she had been a figment of my imagination. I was on painkillers last night, so it was very possible my mind had conjured her out of thin air.
“Listen, lady-”
“Sean! What are you doing?” Lillian stood outside the elevator looking horrified. She looked beautiful, wearing a fifties style dress in a deep blue that made her blue eyes even more vibrant. She rushed over to me and wrapped a hand around my upper arm. “Why are you not in a wheelchair?”
“I don’t need a damn wheelchair. I can walk out of here on my own.”
“Sean, please. Sit in the wheelchair. You scared me last night and I can’t deal with anything happening to you. What if you collapsed?” Her voice caught and I noticed tears in her eyes. Damn. I couldn’t stand to see her so upset.
“Get the damn wheelchair.”
Lillian gave me a watery smile and then helped me into the wheelchair the nurse brought over. I sat down and was actually happy it was here. I wouldn’t admit that to anyone, of course. Lillian bent over and gave me a kiss on the cheek, but when she stood, I saw she sent a wink over to the nurse. Goddamnit. I’d been played. Who knew Lillian had it in her?
She wheeled me to the elevator and then out to a vehicle that Sebastian was standing next to.
“I didn’t think you had it in you, Lillian.”
“It took hardly any effort at all.”
“What are you talking about?” I questioned Lillian.
“Sebastian didn’t think I could get you down here in a wheelchair.”
“Well, I would have walked out of there if you hadn’t started the waterworks,” I said a little breathlessly. I stood and was surprised at how much effort it took. Even the few steps I’d taken had really taken its toll on me. I was relieved when Sebastian came over and took my arm. Every step was agony and that was most likely because I had refused any pain meds this morning. Getting into the SUV proved even more painful and I had to stop several times to take a few short breaths.
“Didn’t take any pain meds, I see,” Sebastian quirked an eyebrow at me. “We have to stop on the way to your house for your prescription, so you’re gonna have to tough it out for a few more minutes.”
I laid my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. Sweat had beaded on my forehead, but I didn’t have the energy to wipe it away right now. Lillian had climbed in the backseat and her hand threaded through my left arm, momentarily squeezing before she sat back. Sebastian got in the driver’s side and took off.
The drive was painful to say the least. I felt every bump in the road and holding myself so my right side didn’t get bumped was exhausting. I kept my eyes closed to keep the nausea at bay. I was almost ready to ask Sebastian to drop me at home first, but then he pulled through the drive thru at the pharmacy, nixing that idea. When we finally pulled in the driveway, Sebastian turned to me with a grin.
“You can thank me anytime.”
“For what?”
“The ride. I’m guessing it was long and painful. I really doubt you’ll be going without your pain meds any time soon.”
He got out and walked around the SUV while Lillian snickered in the back.
“Asshole,” I muttered under my breath, causing Lillian to laugh harder.
When I finally got inside, I went right back to my bedroom, not wanting to be upright any longer than I had to. I was just getting comfortable on the bed when Lillian walked in with a bottle of water and my pills. There was a whole handful of them that I had to take for a while and I grudgingly swallowed them down. I laid back, ready to drift off.
“Hey, sleeping beauty. Before you drift off to lala land, your chief wanted me to let you know not to bother going in to work until you got the all clear from the doctor.”
“Thanks.” I couldn’t give two shits at the moment.
“Thanks for the help, Sebastian. I’ll take it from here.”
“Do you need anything?”
“I’ll need someone to stay with him for a little bit this afternoon so I can go home and get some things.”
“Sure. I’ll send someone over around dinner time with food.”
“I appreciate it.”
I opened my eyes and looked at Lillian. She was walking Sebastian out, but returned moments later.
“Why do you have to go get things?”
“Because I’m going to stay with you.”
“You really don’t have to do that.”
“Well, if I don’t take care of you, who’s going to? I really don’t think you want your sister here.”
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I’ll be fine.”
“Sure you will, but I would feel better knowing that someone is here to help. Besides, the more you’re able to rest and not overdo it, the faster you’ll heal. I’m guessing that by the end of the week, you’ll be ready to get out of here.”
“How are you going to be here when you have school?”
“I took off a week with my sick days. We’ll see what happens after that.”
“Lillian, I don’
t want you using up your sick days on me. Really. I’ll be fine.”
“I’m confused. Do you not want this time with me to convince me that we should be together?”
She was right. I was a dumbass. I was trying to convince her to leave when this was the perfect opportunity to patch things up between us.
“Does that mean you’re willing to give me another chance?”
“That means I’m willing to hear you out.”
“Any chance you’ll dress up in a sexy nurse’s outfit?”
✯✯✯✯✯
The first few days, I basically slept and did my exercises so I didn’t catch pneumonia. The pain pills were taking it out of me and I hated that. I tried to get up and move around at least a little bit every day. By the fourth day, I made a point to hang out more in the living room so I wouldn’t be a comatose lump in bed. I was missing out on all my good time with Lillian and I needed to find out where her head was before she left.
We were watching TV when I decided to broach the subject with her. I just didn’t know how. I didn’t want to just blurt it out, so I decided to sidle my way into it. When a commercial came on for cave exploring, it gave me my opening.
“You know, Laurel Caverns is pretty cool. I think it’s only about an hour drive from here. We should go see it.”
“Up for cave diving already?”
“Maybe in another month. I could take you down there for another adventure.”
She looked back at the TV for another minute and I was afraid she was just going to ignore me, but then she turned back to me.
“How can you want me back? You just told Vira you loved her and now you suddenly want to be with me. I don’t understand it.”
“I thought I loved Vira, but when she walked out on me, I guess it finally hit me that what we had wasn’t love. If I really loved her, I probably would have fought for her when she showed up on my doorstep later. Instead, I was just over it. Maybe I was more in love with the idea of being with her. I don’t know. I guess I really didn’t know her.”
Sean: A Love Triangle Romance (For The Love Of A Good Woman Book 6) Page 15