Jos
It took another hour before the doctor was finally finished cutting away all the decayed flesh on Tanner’s back. No sooner were the nurses cleaning up, than the ICU team was there to take him upstairs.
All three nurses appeared to be in their late thirties, early forties. They each had their hair neatly pulled back from their faces. Two of the three didn’t even blink when they saw Tanner’s state, letting me know they must have seen some crazy medical shit over the years. The third one took one look at Tanner and blanched, but she also seemed to be the one in charge.
Feeling his bed moving, he clutched at me with his four-fingered hand. “Don’t leave me,” he whispered. “Every time I open my eyes somewhere new, you’re gone.”
I leaned over him, kissing his cheek. “I’m not going anywhere,” I promised.
The nurse in charge made a disapproving sound and started to say something, but the ER doctor pulled her aside, whispering something to her. Her eyes scanned over me disdainfully, taking in my pajama pants and long-sleeved sleep shirt. Both had holes and stains on them thanks to my son, but at least I had on a bra.
With a twist of her lips, the nurse gave him a nod and didn’t protest when I walked with them out of the room and down the hall to the elevators.
“Jos!” Tanner shouted weakly, only to groan in pain.
I bent in the cramped space of the crowded elevator so we were on an even eye level, my hand skimming over his shaggy, dirty hair. “I’m right here. Shh, shh. I’m right beside you.”
He blew out an exhausted breath. “You’re so pretty.”
I lifted my lips in a halfhearted smile. “Only pretty? You called me beautiful earlier.”
“Beautiful. Pretty. Gorgeous. The sexiest female I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” He seemed to lean into my hand, wanting more of my touch. I didn’t know what to make of what he was saying. Tanner Reid wasn’t one to go around tossing out compliments on a woman’s beauty unless it was about how nice her tits were.
Seconds later, the elevator stopped, and the three nurses pushed the bed forward. I followed behind them, while Tanner kept calling my name. I rushed to keep up, following them straight into the ICU ward and to the room directly across from the nurses station. The three women worked quickly, getting him hooked up to everything again, checking both IV sites, confirming all his information through me since he wasn’t in the right frame of mind to answer for himself.
Once he was finally sorted, two of the three left, and Tanner was starting to struggle on his bed.
“Jos,” he growled. “Where the fuck did you go?”
I leaned over him, kissing his brow. “I’m here. Stop moving around so much. You need to save your energy.”
He blew out a relieved exhale, his four-fingered hand tucking mine against his heart. “Stop fussin’. Ain’t no need, baby. Gonna die soon.”
I couldn’t hold back my whimper. “Don’t say that,” I whispered fiercely. “You’re not going to die. Do you hear me? I won’t let you.”
His smile told me how tired he was, how much pain he was really in. “Always liked it when you got all bossy. Even when you were just a little girl, you threw out orders like you owned the world.”
“My grandpa was your boss. Of course, I got to order you around,” I reminded him. “I guess I’m your boss for real now.” At least that was what Grandpa always said. When he passed, I would take over the construction company he’d spent his entire life building up. Dad didn’t want to run it, had never shown any interest in the business side of Barker Construction.
Tanner’s brow puckered in confusion, but he didn’t comment.
“Ma’am, I let you stay so we could get him comfortable, but there are rules here in the ICU ward. I need you to go now until visiting hours.”
I glanced up at the nurse. “Why? I’m not causing any trouble. He’s more comfortable when I’m close to him. Isn’t that more important?”
She pressed her lips together, that disdainful look returning tenfold, and I felt insulted just from the way her eyes kept going to the spaghetti sauce stain on my left boob. I refused to fold my arms over my chest to hide it. “He needs to rest. That is what is most important right now. This is a quiet floor, with limited outside contact to help the patients recharge. You will only hinder not just Mr. Reid’s recovery, but also that of my other patients.”
I wanted to punch her in the face for the snide way she was talking to me, but I didn’t want them to kick me out of the hospital—or worse, arrest me.
Kissing Tanner’s brow again, I straightened, but he didn’t release my hand. “Where you goin’?” he demanded, his voice slurred. “You said you’d stay with me.”
“I’m not going far. Just out into the waiting room. You need to sleep,” I tried to explain. “I’ll be back as soon as visiting hours start.”
His fingers clutched at me, the stitches on the nail beds catching my attention. Would his fingernails ever grow back? I kissed the back of his hand, fighting tears.
“Don’t go,” he pleaded raggedly. “It’s dark when you’re not with me.”
Twin tears fell over my lashes and onto the gown the nurses in the ER had dressed him in earlier, once his back had been bandaged. “I’m sorry, Tanner.”
I tried to pry my hand free of his grasp, but he had surprising strength even in his weakened condition. “Don’t go. Don’t leave me here.”
“I’m not,” I soothed when his heart monitor started going crazy. “Baby, I’m not. I swear. I’ll be right outside.”
“No. Fuck that.” His eyes were wild, and I ached to give in. “I want you here. Beside me.”
The nurse grasped my elbow, pulling me backward roughly, and suddenly I was in the middle of a game of tug-of-war with me as the rope. I twisted my arm, pushing the nurse off me. “Don’t you ever fucking touch me again, bitch.” I grabbed her scrubs top and pulled her in close now that I was free, getting in her face. “I might look sweet and malleable, but you put your hands on me a second time, and you will become a patient in this ward.”
The woman paled, but she didn’t lose that “I’m better than you” expression on her face. “If you don’t leave now, I’ll call security, and you won’t be allowed back.”
“Jos!” Tanner roared when I started to tug my hand free again. His heart monitor was screaming now.
My mind made up, I leaned over him, stroking his brow as I tried to soothe him. “I’m right here. Shh, shh. I’m here.”
Muttering under her breath, the nurse left the room in a hurry, no doubt to call security on me. They could try to kick me out, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Not when his heart did scary things when he thought I was leaving him.
Fuck them and their rules. All I cared about was taking care of Tanner.
Slowly, his heart rate lowered, and I sat on the edge of his bed, stroking his face, murmuring softly to him.
His eyes were just starting to drift shut again when the nurse returned with two men in security uniforms. I eyed them both. Lean, lazy-looking. The scariest thing about them was probably the Tasers attached to their belts.
Even as small as I was, I was fairly sure I could take them both if I needed to. I worked two jobs to take care of Reid. One of them was as a bartender at a club a few blocks from my apartment in Oakland.
I dealt with guys six evenings a week, and they tended to get handsy a lot. Especially when they were drinking. Sometimes, I had to show them who was boss when they thought they could order more than just beer or shots from me.
“Ma’am, we’re going to have to ask you to leave,” the one on my left said. He was the nicer-looking of the two, with short, dark hair and brown eyes.
Beside him, his partner, a blond with a snarl on his face much like the nurse’s, shifted as if he thought he was going to have to take me down.
I smiled sweetly up at the dark-haired security officer. “I would like to speak to your administrator in regard to filing a complaint against the nurse beside you.”
His eyes narrowed, as if he thought I was only trying to start trouble, and my smile turned sweeter.
Oh, honey. You haven’t seen trouble yet.
“Ma’am—”
“She put her hands on me and tried to physically pull me out of this room. Now, I don’t work in the medical field, but I’m pretty sure no one is allowed to touch me unless I’m causing trouble. As you can see, she’s considerably larger than me.” I let my eyes skim over the nurse, who had a good thirty pounds on me. I wouldn’t ever judge another person by their weight, and she wasn’t fat by anyone’s definition, but she’d pissed me off. “I don’t think I’m much of a threat to her.”
“Ma’am,” the blond officer bit out. “I’m going to give you to the count of five before I pull my Taser. You’re causing a disturbance on the ICU floor. I don’t want to have to drag you out of here by force, but I will if you don’t start listening.”
“Yeah, no, that isn’t happening. I want to speak to Tanner’s doctor and the administrator before I even think about stepping outside this room.” I stood up, but the movement woke Tanner, and he grabbed my hand, his heart monitor making awful noises again.
“Jos,” he whispered brokenly.
I took his hand, but I kept my eyes on the three people in front of me. “I’m sure there is a waiting room full of big, scary men right now. All I have to do is scream, and they will all beat down those metal doors out there. Give me a reason to scream,” I told the blond, leaning my head closer. “I dare you.”
He looked skeptical, but the dark-haired officer moved forward as if to intercept his partner’s next step in my direction. I met his gaze and nodded. “Smart man.”
Shifting closer to Tanner’s bed so I could hold his hand easier, I turned my gaze back to the nurse. “Doctor. Administrator. You have ten minutes to get me what I want.”