“What?” I asked.
She frowned.
“I made you try pineapple once when you were here with us,” she said. “You threw up thirty seconds after you ate it.”
I took another hesitant bite, expecting to become sick to my stomach, but felt nothing but pleasure at the taste.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But this is fucking good.”
“Luca turned me onto pineapple on my pizza,” she said softly, looking at me with her seeking eyes. “He said that it was the best thing that I’d ever taste. I haven’t eaten any other kind of pizza since.”
I didn’t know what to say to that.
“I’m not the same man that I used to be,” I admitted. “I don’t know who that other man was, nor do I know who this one is. But I can tell you that I wish I would’ve gotten the chance to know your Luca. He sounds like he was a great man.”
And he did.
I just wish I wasn’t constantly being compared to a ghost.
Both Luca and the old Malachi.
“I was invited to dinner,” I said, leaning back in my chair and changing the subject. “They said that you were coming, too?”
She smiled then.
“Gabe and Ember would’ve made great in-laws,” she said softly. “Did you agree to go?”
“If I can make it off of work in time,” I admitted. “They’re having it kind of early in the day. I don’t even get off until six.”
“That was my fault,” she said. “It’s my only day off this week. I have a doctor’s appointment at four, and I didn’t really want to go home just to turn around and run right back out again.” She paused. “If you need us to, we can wait until you get off. You’d only be about six-fifteen, correct?”
I shrugged.
“Generally, that’s about when I would get off, yes.” I agreed. “But then you have to counter in the fact that, like clockwork, there’s a wreck that I usually end up having to work. So, six o’clock is when I’m supposed to be off. Not when I’ll actually be off.”
She grinned.
“I think I’ll just call them and change the dinner to breakfast. Maybe you can join us before your shift,” she admitted. “Your job sounds very similar to mine with the responsibilities before you are allowed to leave. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to go home hours after my shift was supposed to end.”
I frowned. “Is that normal?”
She pursed her lips.
“Our emergency room is smaller than the one down the road,” she said. “The policies are different than bigger hospitals. So, generally, the staff at Kilgore Memorial aren’t allowed to get overtime, no matter what. When they find out that we get overtime, they’re generally not very happy about it. But Dr. Cromwell is one of three doctors that are full-time on staff there in the ER. They like to keep him happy so that they don’t lose him to the bigger hospital where Piper works.”
“What I’m understanding is that Dr. Cromwell gets what he wants, and if that happens to be overtime, then okay,” I drawled.
The guy really was a dick.
“Did you hear anything more about his brother?” she asked. “The one that was shot?”
I shook my head. “The protest died down that next day after Lock’s dad, Downy, did a press conference and explained what had happened. And Yao used the kids being there to his advantage and started questioning them on what had happened that night. That’s how he got the other kid’s name that was involved in the shooting.”
“Did anything more come of that?” she asked, taking a slow bite of her pizza and chewing.
I looked away from her mouth and picked up another piece of pizza, downing it in about six bites.
“It was originally thought that the kid was the one to shoot Brent Cromwell, Dr. Cromwell’s brother,” I said. “But after interrogating him…” I trailed off when she took another bite of her pizza. Only she had to lick the sauce off the side of the pizza first before it fell off the crust.
The door to the break room was shoved roughly open, breaking me out of the spell that only Frankie seemed to be able to hold me in.
“Oh, sorry,” a smiling nurse said as she walked in the room. “Just have to use the potty.”
Then she was disappearing inside.
“So, the kid that they suspected shot Brent Cromwell’s brother…” She started. “How did they clear him?” She tilted her head. “What’s the kid’s name again?”
“They didn’t clear him.” I shrugged. “He’s still a suspect. Just has a fairly tight alibi,” I answered. “And I don’t know his name. But the kid played on the football team with him. Was a kicker just like him. They were competing over the two spots. Caused a beef, according to the students that were friends with both. The other kid is still defending his innocence in it all, however. At least from what I’ve heard.”
The toilet flushed in the room beyond us, and the now frazzled-looking nurse smiled tightly at us as she left the break room.
“What was that about?” I asked.
She looked at the closed door and snorted.
“That’s Melly,” she said. “Dr. Cromwell’s side, side piece.”
I blinked. Slowly.
“What?”
“His side, side piece,” she answered. “He’s married, you know. He’s also got another doctor he sees that works at the other hospital in Longview. She’s one of the other possibilities I would’ve had to be under through my residency, FYI. I’ve heard she’s a lot cooler than Cromwell. Easier to work with.” She scrunched up her nose. “Melly is the other, other woman.”
“How do you know all of this?” I asked. “Is he not discreet about it?”
She snorted.
“Dr. Cromwell,” she whispered, leaning in so that I could hear. “Is the Dr. McDreamy of Kilgore Memorial.”
I blinked. “I have no idea what that means.”
She started to giggle.
“Have you ever heard of Grey’s Anatomy?” she questioned, leaning back in her chair and once again resuming her normal tone.
I shook my head.
“I don’t think I have,” I admitted. “Is it a movie?”
“No,” she said. “Grey’s Anatomy is a television show about a resident like me. She comes to Seattle and begins her internship. The very first episode is her waking up next to a man and her telling him he has to go. She has to be at work. Fast forward an hour later, she’s getting to work only to find that the man she kicked out is a doctor at the hospital that she’ll be interning at. A very married doctor.”
I shook my head.
“Isn’t that exhausting?” I asked. “Jesus, I just don’t understand the point of cheating. It seems like it’s more trouble than it’s worth. All the lies. All the sneaking around. All the constant fear that you’ll be caught.”
She laughed. “That’s why some people do it, I suppose. But shit, I love Grey’s Anatomy. At least until they killed Dr. McDreamy. I haven’t been able to watch it since then. They broke my heart, ripped it into a million tiny pieces, then ran it through a juicer just to make sure that they tore it up the entire way.” She sobered. “I could deal with Dr. McSteamy dying. And Lexie. And Denny. And…you should really watch this show. It’s good.”
I had a feeling it would suck if all those people died.
But, I’d be willing to give it a go if it came with her watching it with me.
“I’ll watch it with you sometime,” I offered.
That way, if I was stuck watching that show, at least she would be in the same room with me.
“Deal.” She smiled then. “I…”
“Time to get back to work, Miss Solomon.”
I looked up to find the devil himself standing in the doorway of the break room.
I’d heard the door open, of course, but Frankie had been way too animated about her show for me to interrupt her by looking away.
Frankie stood and started to gather her trash.
&
nbsp; “Oh, has it been an hour already?” she asked, looking worried. “I’m sorry, Dr. Cromwell.”
“It hasn’t been an hour,” I said as I looked at my watch. “It’s been twenty minutes.”
Dr. Cromwell narrowed his eyes at me.
“We’ve had a bad car wreck come in,” he said. “I’d like Francesca to help with it.”
Frankie winked at me and started to put the pizza away, but I waved her off.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll finish this before I go,” I said.
Because I was still hungry, and I still had forty minutes left of my own lunch break. One that didn’t get interrupted by dick hole doctors who said Frankie’s name in a way that I didn’t like.
“That’s fine,” she said as she pushed the box toward me. “Just put away what you don’t eat.”
“Actually, only staff members are allowed to be back here,” Dr. Cromwell interrupted. “Unfortunately, you’ll have to leave.”
I would’ve rolled my eyes had I not cared about Frankie.
Instead, I held in the eye roll and gathered the pizza.
“It’s okay,” I said as I looked at Frankie who looked like she’d like to argue but knew she shouldn’t. “I’ll just eat this outside. I need a drink anyway.”
She followed me out with the pizza box in hand, both of us skirting past Cromwell who hadn’t bothered to get out of the doorway as we passed.
When I passed him, he fell into step behind me, and I knew he was trying for intimidation.
It wouldn’t work.
I’d dealt with worse than him before. Cromwell was a sweet little kitten in comparison to the shit I’d had to put up with.
“Stop by the first responder area on your way out,” she instructed as she pointed to a door at the far end of the hallway. “They have drinks and snacks in there for all police officers, paramedics, and firefighters.”
“I’m fairly sure that’s just for the paramedics and firefighters.” Cromwell tried to be a dick and dissuade me from stopping.
“Actually,” I said as I stopped next to Frankie and tossed her a wink that only she could see. “I’ve stopped in there before. I have the code. The director of the hospital gave it to me when I was in a couple of days ago. She even asked me what kinds of drinks were my favorite so she could be sure to stock them.”
Frankie smiled, and it nearly filled my heart up to see such joy on her usually stoic face.
“Have a good day, Riel,” she said softly, backing away.
“This way, Miss Solomon. They’ve already been waiting for over five minutes,” Cromwell growled.
I watched her leave, my eyes taking in the people that were in the accident.
It was a family of four.
They were all on their phones. None of them looked up when Frankie and Cromwell entered the room.
Frankie looked over her shoulder at me, widening her eyes, causing me to chuckle as I left.
After stopping in the first responder lounge, I walked outside to the bench that I’d parked next to and finished off the pizza.
Once I was done, I placed another order for a pizza exactly like the one I’d just eaten, paid for it, and had it delivered to the ER.
Hopefully the dick wouldn’t intercept it.
Chapter 7
Hustle juice.
-Coffee cup
Frankie
“What do you want out of your life, Franks?” Luca asked me, looking over with a small smile on his face.
He and I were sitting side by side in the sand.
His feet were far enough forward that they were getting touched by the water that continuously rolled in wave by wave.
Mine were far enough back that my feet were still dry.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said softly, looking at the waves. “What do you mean, what do I want out of life?”
“I mean, are you happy?” he asked.
I frowned. “I’m happy.”
“Are you really, though?” he asked. “Because, it doesn’t seem like you are from where I’m at. It seems like you’re really sad.”
Was I?
“I’m happy when I’m dreaming about you,” I told him. “Right now? I’m exactly where I want to be.”
He smiled, and his feet started to sink underneath the sand.
“I want you to be happy outside of your dreams, too, baby,” he rumbled. “You need to give the new Gabriel a chance.”
I frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Was the man speaking in riddles?
“He’s not the same person that he used to be, but he’s still Gabriel,” he said. “You made him fall for you once. You can make him fall for you again.”
I frowned. “Malachi is sweet and all but…”
“Gabriel needs you now. Wake up,” he ordered.
Then his calves sank into the sand.
“Luca…” I said, feeling my heart start to race. “What’s going on?”
“He needs you,” he repeated, now up to his knees.
But the funny thing was, the water wasn’t touching me at all.
Each wave that rolled furiously in took him under more and more, leaving me untouched.
I sat beside him, watching in horror as he slowly sank, farther and farther.
“Gabriel is still there, baby. Don’t let him quit.”
I blinked open my eyes and groaned, rolling over and staring at my alarm clock that was projected onto the ceiling.
Five oh two in the morning.
I frowned.
You’ll get up and run if it’s before five-thirty, I told myself last night before I went to bed.
I had said that.
But, I’d also not considered the fact that I’d sleep like utter shit and dream constantly about Luca.
Groaning, I sat up in bed, blinking my eyes rapidly as I tried to figure out what in the hell had woken me after only two solid hours of sleep.
Then I saw the flashing red and blue lights that were turning my room into a disco.
Forcing myself to get up and walk to the blinds that covered my bedroom window, I flicked them open with two fingers and stared out the window.
After looking left and not seeing anything, I turned my head right and blinked rapidly when I saw three police cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck.
I frowned hard.
Then, before I could think better of it, got dressed in my running clothes and headed outside.
I sat on the porch steps and quickly put on my socks and shoes, keeping my eyes on the activity across the street.
I could see the Winslows standing on their porch steps directly across the street from me, also watching what was going on. Mr. Winslow had his arm wrapped around his younger daughter who went to the high school.
I only knew that she went to the high school because I’d see her and about ten other girls out in front of their house practicing cheerleading moves in their Kilgore Bulldogs uniforms.
Then there was the Carpenters that lived next door to me.
They weren’t on their porch. They were down by their mailbox because the fire truck that was parked directly in front of their house obstructed their view.
The Carpenters had two children. One that was about eight or nine, and one that was in high school as well.
Now, the only reason I knew that they had a high-school-aged kid was because the boy was in band, and he had a massive Kilgore Bulldogs Band sign in what I presumed to be his window.
I quickly tied my shoes into double knots, then studied the rest of the neighborhood.
There were quite a few people on their porches, watching the events unfold across the street.
But, from what I could hear of their conversations, none of them knew what was going on.
So, I did what first came to me and dialed a number that I was beginning to both love and hate.
I hadn’t actually called Riel before.
No
r had I texted him.
Not before Luca had been captured, and definitely not after.
But, I was beginning to find it harder and harder to stay away from him.
And, after last night, I decided that maybe I was doing an injustice to myself by staying away.
Maybe this was the path that I was supposed to take now.
I mean, I love Luca. Love him with all of my heart.
But it had been over two years since I’d seen him last. Two years since he’d been gone from my life. A year and a half since I’d found out that he’d gone missing.
I struggled to remember my dream from earlier and found that I couldn’t quite remember the dream.
But somehow I knew that Luca was there. That he played a part in my dreams, just like he always did.
“Gabriel is still there, baby. Don’t let him quit.”
I frowned hard.
Gabriel is still there?
What the hell did that mean?
Sighing in frustration, I waited for the call to connect.
I wasn’t surprised when he sounded a hundred percent awake when he answered after three rings.
“Hello?” he rasped, his voice dark, menacing and rough.
I swallowed hard at the sound of that voice.
God, why did it do things to me?
“Riel?” I said softly. “It’s Frankie.”
The roughness didn’t go out of his voice, but the menace did.
“Frankie?” he sounded adorably confused. “What’s wrong?”
I looked over at the police cars across the street, then told him everything I knew.
“Where do you live?” he asked.
He sounded like he was moving outside, because I could hear the wind picking up, blowing hard, just as it was doing here.
“I live off of Spruce,” I said, reciting the directions that would bring him here from any direction.
“I’m just down the road from you,” he said. “I was going to call, but I’ll just go ask.”
Before I could ask him why he was just down the road from me—he lived clear across town according to Gabe and Ember—he hung up.
I looked at my phone that was now black, then looked back up at the flashing lights.
Then sighed.
My eyes once again went to my neighbors, and this time I didn’t stop the urge to stare.
If You Say So (KPD Motorcycle Patrol Book 6) Page 7