Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 43536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“Thank you,” I told her, jostling Rafe to wake him.
Lexi looked like shit. I went to one side of her bed and Rafe crowded in against the IV pole and the heart monitor on the other side.
“Hey, girl,” I said. “Welcome back. Don’t ever take a nap like that on us again.”
“You won, Lexi,” Rafe said, “You did it. You scared the living shit out of me.”
He scrubbed at his eyes. She tried to lift her hand toward his face, but it dropped weakly on the blanket.
“Sorry,” she said, her voice barely a rasp.
“No. No, no, don’t be sorry,” Rafe said, gathering her hand in both of his. “We’re just glad you’re awake. If they’d let us, we’d carry you out of here right now. We can’t wait to have you home.”
“Yeah, we still have to make those empanadas. Which means you’re going to have to figure out how to use the deep fryer. No lie, it freaks me out,” I said.
“You’re a fireman,” she said with a wheezy laugh. She was smiling. It felt so good to see her smile, but her weakness, the gray pallor to her lips were like a punch to the gut.
“You’re about to bust out of here to a better room. I hear they have TV and more than one chair. Maybe they’ll even give you breakfast in the morning,” I said.
11
Lexi
“What happened?” I said. Everything felt heavy. My skin was itchy. My eyes didn’t want to stay open.
“Oh, honey,” Rafe said, “You’ve had an overdose. Somebody drugged you.”
“Oh no,” I said, tears leaking from my eyes. Sobs shook my body, little gasps and coughs that racked my shoulders. Even crying felt wrong and different, everything seemed far away and frightening.
“It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now. We’re here, we’re not leaving you alone again,” Leo said.
I was two more days in the hospital before they pronounced me well enough to go home. Leo held my hand while I answered questions for police detectives, but I was still confused about what happened. Counselors and social workers talked to me and I was given a pamphlet on how to manage anxiety after trauma. Rafe made me pancakes and smuggled them into my hospital room.
They settled me in at home, and Rafe brought me a bottle of water. “It’s important for you to stay hydrated,” he said, waving the paper packet of discharge instructions we’d signed.
“I’m fine, guys,” I said. “I’ve got to take next week off to get back on my feet, but I’m okay. I’m a little weak, I get dizzy once in a while, but the doctor said in a week or so all the drugs will be out of my system.” I didn’t want them fussing, but mainly I didn’t want to inconvenience them any more than I already had. It was like I’d been plucked out of my life and dropped into a new, nightmare version where I was helpless, and someone had tried to kill me. I clutched the blanket over my lap, trying hard not to bite my nails or burst out crying.
“Tomorrow we have to go for a complete deposition,” Leo said, “but we wanted to let you know, we’ve worked things out at the station and the gym so that we’re working opposite shifts for a while. That way one of us will always be here with you.”
“No! You shouldn’t have done that for me. I don’t’ want you rearranging your schedule so you can babysit me. Please,” I said, the tears coming to my eyes again. Rafe sat on the edge of the couch and stroked my hair.
“It’s okay, baby,” he assured me. “We want to be here for you. You know, in case you need a foot massage or something.” Rafe teased, trying to get me to smile, but I shook my head.
“I’ve ruined your lives. It’s such a mess,” I said, sniffing.
“You have not,” Leo said. “All we did the last week was talk about how we can’t lose you.”
“Yeah, Leo said he’d become a celibate vegan if it would bring you back.”
“Wow, giving up bacon? You must have been serious,” I teased, but it wrenched me that I’d put them through all that worry.
“I’m serious,” Rafe said. “We talked this over while you were unconscious. This isn’t a competitive thing. I mean, we shared practically everything growing up anyway, right? The point is, I love you. And—” he looked at Leo and nodded.
“I’m in love with you, too. We had a kind of extreme situation to figure that out in, and it was pretty clear. We’re both in love with you. And we’d both give you up if it would make you happy. So when all this is over, when the Watts thing is cleared up, when you’ve had time to get your equilibrium back, we’ll all have a talk about how to move forward and what you want,” Leo said.