by AS Teague
She gave a quick shake of her head and pulled her hand from mine, patting my leg. I tried not to wince at the contact. “Honey, I talked to the doctors. They want you to stay another couple of nights.”
I didn’t want to stay in the hospital any longer. “But I’m fine.” I tried to argue.
“The hell you are.” Hampton’s voice rang out from the doorway. “Not a chance you’re leaving here until you’re one hundred percent.”
“Hey, honey,” Mom cooed.
Hampton came in and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her against him for a quick hug. “Hey, Mrs. Kelley.” He dropped his arm and came to me. “Pip.” His voice was low, his eyes so full of worry it scared me.
“What is it?” I whispered.
He squeezed his eyes shut. When they reopened, they were clear. “Nothing. You just scared the fuck out of me.” He put his hand on my shoulder and bent down, putting his mouth by my ear. “If it weren’t for Law, Pippie, you would have died,” he whispered. “You ever pull some shit like that again, I’ll kill you myself.”
He stood and smiled wide. “Now.” He clapped his hands together. “Talked to Dr. Bills. Your labs all look good, white count is improving, and he’s pleased with your oxygen levels at this point in your recovery.”
I squinted at him. “Dr. Bills is violating a lot of laws telling you my lab results. Maybe I should turn you both in to the medical board.”
Hampton laughed and dropped into the seat beside me.
I sniffed the air. “What’s that smell?”
With a dramatic flair, he pulled a burrito from his pocket and began to unwrap it. “Oh, that’s just my lunch.” He took a huge bite, the rice and beans inside spilling all over his white lab coat. “Damn. I just had this one laundered.”
I glared at him, my mouth hanging open. “You’re a jerk!” I snapped. “I haven’t eaten anything other than chicken broth since I woke up! Why would you do that to me?” My stomach rumbled loudly, right on cue.
Hampton took another bite of his mouthwatering lunch and lifted a shoulder. “Dr. Bills also said you could have solid food today.” He winked, as though he were the one who had pulled a few strings to make it happen.
My eyes lit up. “Do you have another one of those in your other pocket?”
Making a show of patting his obviously empty pockets, he shook his head. “’Fraid I don’t, Pippie.” He held the last remaining bite out to me. “Want the rest of mine?”
I clamped my jaw shut and crossed my arms over my sore chest. “You are a—”
“Jerk, I know. But a jerk who loves you. Georgie’s on her way here with a pineapple and olive pizza as we speak.” He winked again, that devilish grin on his face.
“Really?” I squealed. When he nodded, I announced, “Fine, I forgive you.”
Right on cue, Georgia knocked on the doorframe, her other hand holding a large pizza, the smell wafting over to my bed.
“Oh my God, come in!” I nearly shouted. My stomach grumbled loudly as she set the pizza on the hospital tray.
I didn’t bother waiting on anyone else, just opened the lid and grabbed the biggest slice of pizza I could see. Taking a bite, I closed my eyes and savored the salty flavor of the salty olives mixed with the sweet of pineapple.
“What’d you say to make Lawson turn down pizza?” Georgia quipped as she settled into the plastic chair across from my bed.
“Lawson? I haven’t seen him,” I told her around another large bite of pizza. “God, this is so good.”
Her lip curled. “That’s the grossest thing I’ve ever seen.” She took a sip out of her to-go cup and looked at her brother. “You piss him off?”
Hampton shook his head. “Nah, I haven’t seen him either.”
I shrugged. “He hasn’t been here since he brought me into the ER and they transferred me up here.”
My mom shook her head. “No, that’s not true. He sat here with you until you woke up.”
I looked at her, my brows furrowed, and set my slice of pizza down. “He did?”
Hampton nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I told him to go home and take a nap and we nearly came to blows in the hallway.” He leaned forward and snagged a slice of pizza out of my box, ignoring me as I batted his hand away. “You would’ve thought I asked him to unplug your life support or something.” He finished with a shrug before shoving half of the pizza in his mouth.
I turned to where Georgia was perched. “You saw him just now? In the hospital?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I was getting off the elevator and he was getting on. Asked him how you were, and he muttered something about having to get to work and took off.” She lifted her shoulder again. “I just figured you’d said something to aggravate him again. You are good at that, you know.”
Boy, did I know that.
What I didn’t know was that he’d been by my side for nearly two days while I was unconscious. Why? I also didn’t know why now that I was awake he’d stayed away. I figured he was just bogged down with work. Or that he was getting updates from Hampton and figured he didn’t need to come here to see me.
But he had been here. Why hadn’t he come into the room?
“Mom, have you seen him?”
Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. “Well, yes.”
We all stared at her, waiting for her to elaborate. When it became apparent she wasn’t going to say anything more, I prodded. “Well? Why didn’t he come in my room?”
Her cheeks pinked and a bit flustered, she said, “Well, he just didn’t want to bother you, I suppose.” She checked her watch and then looked back at Georgia. “You’ll be here with her a while, right?”
Georgia nodded. “Yep, I cleared my entire schedule to spend the day with Pip.”
Hampton chuckled. “She’s playing hooky from work because she hates her boss and using your illness as an excuse. But keep telling yourself that you’re here for Piper.”
Georgia grabbed a napkin from the tray and balled it up before throwing it at Hampton. “Shut up, asshole.”
“Georgia!” my mom admonished.
She immediately dropped her gaze to the floor and mumbled an apology before standing to hug my mother.
Mom came around and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, promising to be back this evening before slipping through the door.
The phone on Hampton’s hip beeped and he looked at it. “Shit. Duty calls. I’ll check in on you later,” he said before quickly rushing from the room.
He pulled the door shut behind him, leaving just Georgia and my pizza.
“Lawson really tried to fight Hampton about leaving?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I have no clue. But I know he sat in this chair and didn’t move the entire time you were…asleep.”
“Huh,” I murmured, grabbing another slice of pizza and taking a bite. I chewed slowly, no longer tasting the food.
20
Lawson
My phone chimed with an incoming message and I rolled my neck before picking it up.
Hampton: Yo, asshole. Open the door.
I groaned and dropped the phone back to the wooden desk before pushing my stiff limbs out of the chair I’d been sitting in for the last few hours. My feet tingled, the blood rushing back into them as I made my way down the hallway of my empty house.
Piper had been in the hospital for four days and aside from the occasional noises Seven made, it had been quiet.
And I fucking hated it.
I pulled the door open to see Hampton dressed in green hospital scrubs standing on the other side.
“I’ve been ringing the doorbell for an hour,” he rumbled, elbowing his way inside.
I rolled my eyes at him and stepped aside. “You’re full of shit.”
He grinned as he threw himself onto the couch. “Yeah, I am.”
After sitting at my desk all day, I opted to lean against the wall. “What’s up, Hampton? Piper okay?”
He nodded as he stuffed one of Piper’s th
row pillows under his head. “Yeah, she’s doing good. That’s actually why I’m here. She’s being discharged tomorrow and I came to get some of her stuff.”
“She need some clothes to wear home?” My brow furrowed. “She could have called me. I would have brought something.”
“Yeah. And some stuff to make her comfortable while she’s finishing her recovery.”
His phone chimed and he pulled it out of his pocket, reading whatever the message said and chuckling under his breath.
I waited a few moments, but when it became clear he wasn’t going to elaborate anymore, I huffed. “Why do you need to get stuff for her recovery?”
Hampton tore his attention from whatever was so funny on his phone screen and looked at me. “I’m taking her home with me.”
Instantly, I saw red. “The hell you are,” I snapped.
The moment the words left his lips, it hit me.
This was Piper’s home.
I looked around at all of the décor she’d added against my will and realized that before she’d moved in with me, it was just a house. She’d turned it into a home. Her home. And I’d be damned if she was going to be doing any more recovering anywhere but inside this house.
Hampton sat up, his large frame taking up most of my couch, and rested his elbows on his knees. “What the hell?”
I shook my head. “She’s going home when she gets released. Her home. Here. With me.”
A sly smile crept over his face. He made a show of looking around the room. “This is home, huh?”
“Yeah. It is. Besides, you don’t have room for her.”
Hampton pushed to his feet. “You miss her, don’t you? You like having her here. Admit it.”
I shrugged. “She just needs to be in her own bed. Besides, I work from home, so I’ll be here with her for the first few days.”
“Smith doesn’t work during the day, so he’d be with her. And we’ve got a couch that’s just as comfortable as a bed.”
I couldn’t believe he was even suggesting letting Smith take care of Piper. “No way. No chance I’m letting that asshole take care of my girl.”
Hampton leaped to his feet, surprisingly agile for a man his size, and crossed the space between us in two long strides. His face had darkened by the time he got in my face. “What’s your problem?”
I held my hands up. “How long did you know Smith before you two got married?”
“Not this shit again.”
I put a hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off. “I’m just lookin’ out for you. There’s something about him I don’t like.”
“I don’t need you to look out for me.” Exasperated, he pushed a hand through his hair. “What the hell do you know about relationships anyway? I practically gift-wrapped Piper for you and you still haven’t made a move. Instead of worrying about my love life, how about you worry about your own.”
“You gift-wrapped her for me?” My gut turned, disgusted at how callous my little brother was. “First you ask me to take her like she’s an unwanted pet and now she’s an object you gave me? What the fuck, Hampton?”
I knew Hampton loved and cared about Piper, but he’d been a dick the last couple of months. He blew out a breath and shoved a hand through his hair. “You’re right. That was out of line.”
I nodded. “I’m not in the mood for a fight today. When Piper’s released, she’s coming here. End of story.”
Hampton jerked his chin in agreement and stalked to the door, but he paused when his hand touched the knob. Craning his neck, he dropped his voice to barely above a whisper. “Don’t know what your problem with Smith is, but I’d really appreciate it if you would at least try to give him a chance.”
“I just don’t—”
He turned all the way around and cut me off. “Just give him a damn chance, Lawson.”
With my hands raised in surrender, I conceded. “All right.”
Hampton turned back to the door and pulled it open. Over his shoulder he winked, “Your girl should be discharged tomorrow,” and then walked out, slamming the door behind him.
21
Piper
“You don’t have to take care of me, you know?” I grumbled before erupting into a coughing fit. It took several seconds to catch my breath, my lungs burning. Lawson waited patiently and though he was smirking, he wisely kept his mouth shut. When my chest finally stopped spasming, I groaned, “Fine, maybe I need just a little bit of help.”
Once he was convinced I was okay, he set the tray he’d been holding on the nightstand. I peeked at the contents and spied a steaming mug of black liquid. “Is that coffee?”
“Yep.”
Greedily, I grabbed the mug from the tray and brought the steaming mug to my nose. I inhaled deeply and as I did, my lungs spasmed, causing me to slosh coffee all over the bed. Through the coughing I grumbled, “I need a lung transplant. All this coughing is starting to piss me off.”
“You had the worst case of pneumonia the doctor had ever seen,” Lawson deadpanned. “If anyone should be pissed, it should be your lungs. Seriously, Piper, what the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking I had one last shift in the ER. I didn’t want to have to make it up.” I whined as I flopped onto the mountain of pillows Lawson had just fluffed for me.
“Well, dying would have been one way to avoid making it up.” He shrugged and tried to play it off like he was joking, but the crack in his voice told me he’d been just as worried about me as everyone else.
“You have a point,” I murmured as I squeezed my eyes shut.
Lawson had had a lot of points lately. Starting with his insistence that I go to the doctor. They always say that doctors and nurses make the worst patients and apparently that was true. My stomach twisted as I thought about what would have happened to my poor mother if I had died. How could she have ever gone on without either of her children?
I shook my head to clear the image of my mother’s worried face, but the same concern was reflected in Lawson’s face as he watched me. I couldn’t stand the guilt that was rooted in my belly, so I changed the subject and pleaded, “I’m tired of being in a bed. Let’s go somewhere. The mall. The zoo. Anywhere.”
“One thing at a time,” he answered, holding the coffee mug out to me.
“Okay,” I grumbled. I took a small sip, the hot liquid scorching my taste buds. “Jesus, Lawson, this is terrible. Where did you get this from?”
His lips pursed. “I made it.”
“It’s not that bad. I mean, I can drink it.” I was backpedaling. I apologized again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your coffee-making skills. It’s just a little…stronger than what I’m used to.”
His lips twitched. “My coffee prowess is about as good as your curry-making abilities, huh?”
I laughed, and even though it hurt to do it, nodded my head. “Pretty much.”
He chuckled along with me before announcing, “I’ve gotta get some stuff taken care of today, but I’m working from home, so I’ll just be down the hall.” He pulled my phone from the nightstand and handed it to me. “If you need anything, just text me.”
With more energy than I’d had in nearly a week, I bolted upright in the bed and grabbed his hand. “Please stay and hang out with me for a little while?”
His gaze traveled to where our hands were joined, so I gave his fingers a squeeze. I really needed some company. I could have asked Georgia to come over or called Smith and chatted for a while. But it was Lawson who I wanted to spend time with. He’d been full of surprises lately, and I found myself wanting to figure out why. I’d also wanted to know why he’d stayed with me while I was unconscious but had disappeared the moment I woke up. And more than that, I needed to get to the bottom of why I was starting to feel things about him that I couldn’t explain.
When his gaze came back to my face, I pleaded with my eyes for him to stay, just a little while. “Come on. Just an hour,” I whispered.
He dropped my hand and the cool a
ir where his skin had just been almost burned. “I wish I could. But really, I’ve got a lot to catch up on.”
“What’s one more hour?” I tried again.
He squeezed the back of his neck with one hand, checking his watch that was on his other wrist. “One hour?”
I nodded and flopped back against the pillows. “Thank you. I don’t think I can stand to listen to one more lecture. I need an actual person to talk to.” He didn’t move, so I teased. “You gonna just hover over me?”
I watched him closely as he made his way around my bed and settled onto the opposite side. He was careful not to jostle me too much, leaving plenty of room between us. I remembered the last time we’d sat together, and suddenly I wanted to feel his thigh pressed against mine again.
“The zoo, huh?” he asked. His head was resting against the headboard and he stared at the ceiling.
I lifted a shoulder. “Hey, I’m desperate here. I’d go hike a mountain right now if you’d let me.” I nudged him with my elbow.
We sat in silence for a few minutes and I began to wonder if asking him to stay was the right thing to do. Our relationship had improved over the last few weeks, but I doubted we would ever have the level of comfort Hampton and I shared. Ham wouldn’t have thought anything of climbing in the bed beside me, lying right against me and chattering on about nothing for hours.
But, as much as the silence was strange, it wasn’t awkward. It was something I’d come to actually enjoy about Lawson. He didn’t need to ramble on about unimportant stuff just to fill the emptiness.
“Hey, you remember when we were kids, and we were all out in the woods, building that fort?” His eyes were closed, but there was a wistful smile on his face.
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me and then tilted my own head back, mirroring his position. “Yeah. We spent all summer constructing it. We thought it was the coolest thing ever. Then Mom came out and took one look at it before declaring it a death trap and condemning it.” I laughed at the memory. “She was always ruining our fun.”
