Sizzle

by Sarah O'Rourke

  Molly rolled her eyes. “Maybe I just needed better teachers than the three of you,” she snapped. “All three of you spent a fair amount of time screaming like little girls. Besides, a lot has changed in eight years and I happen to be a very competent driver with the insurance premiums to prove it. Now, do you wanna stand here arguing, or do you want to get to the hospital and find out how Nana is?” she asked impatiently, snatching the key ring from his hand.

  “Just remember that this vehicle has a lot of horsepower behind it,” Devil grumbled, jerking open the passenger door and climbing inside. “It’s a lot different from that tin can on wheels that you zip around in, Molly.”

  “That tin can is a perfectly good car for me,” Molly replied, rolling her eyes as she slid into the deep bucket seat and adjusted it to fit her much smaller frame. “Just because it’s got a few miles on it…”

  “A few hundred thousand, you mean,” Devil muttered, fastening his seatbelt as Molly copied his actions. “That vehicle of yours is a menace that should have been sent to the great car graveyard in the sky a long time ago, Mols.” Glaring at the VW Bug parked a few slots down from his Mercedes, he shook his head. “Better yet, it should be melted down into a nice desk ornament.”

  “Touch my car and find out just how violent I can become, Devil,” Molly threatened, twisting the key in the ignition and shifting with ease. “I love The Trailblazer,” she added with a fond look at her lime green Bug.

  “The Trailblazer,” Devil echoed with a snort, rubbing his hand over his worried brow. “The only trail that thing could blaze is with the exhaust from the leaky tailpipe it has.”

  It was an old argument. One she’d had with every male in her family. Her dad, her brother, and Devil all agreed. They thought The Trailblazer needed to be put out of their misery. She, however, liked antiques. The twenty-year-old car had served her well and more importantly, was completely hers. It had been bought and paid for by a summer spent babysitting her niece and nephew during her senior year of high school. She’d part with her brother before her car, she thought darkly as she stepped on the accelerator and sped out of the parking garage.

  She ignored Devil’s gasp as she hit a particularly high speed bump on the way out of the structure and bit her lip as she caught him pumping invisible brakes on his side of the car out of the corner of her eye. “So, what exactly did the nurse say about Nana’s condition?” she asked as much to distract him as to learn anything new.

  Hanging on tightly to his seatbelt as Molly swung his car into traffic, he swallowed. “She said Nana was stable for the moment and being taken to the cath lab. She was asking for me,” he answered, eyes widening as Molly ran a red light. Looking over his shoulder as a car honked behind them, he gulped. “Did you see that red light?” he asked.

  “It was yellow,” Molly replied lightly. “Yellow doesn’t mean stop. It’s just a suggestion to slow down.”

  “A suggestion?” Devil yelped.

  “Uh huh.” Molly nodded. “Green means go. Red means stop. Yellow means stop if you can, but don’t feel obligated. I couldn’t, so I didn’t. We’ve got places we need to be, Devil,” she reminded him ever so patiently as she passed a slow-moving Buick and ignored the driver beside her flipping her the bird. It wasn’t a double yellow line, and she had plenty of time.

  “Yeah, and I’d like to arrive alive, Molly!” Jumping in his seat as the driver of the car beside them laid on his horn, Devil caught the man’s rude hand gesture to them out of the corner of his eye. “Christ, Mols, slow down!” he ordered, bracing one hand against the dashboard as Molly veered back into the correct lane of traffic.

  “Would you please stop side seat driving? For heaven’s sake, you’re worse than Grant. Close your eyes and think of England or something,” she returned as she took the ramp onto I-85. “Do you remember what exit we need?” she asked, turning her head to stare at the wan man beside her.

  “Keep your eyes on the road!” Devil roared, pointing out the windshield with an imperious finger. “You’re a hazard to drivers everywhere when you are watching where you’re going! God knows what will happen if you look away from the road!”

  “You have got to be the most critical man on the planet,” she mumbled, pressing down on the accelerator as she shifted the Mercedes into the passing lane and whizzed past two cars. She would admit to herself, however, that he was endearing when he was flustered. And the way his eyes darted frantically around the road and his fingers gripped the seatbelt in a white-knuckled hold while sweat shined on his forehead…that was just too cute.

  “Stop looking at me and watch the damn road,” Devil growled. “And you want Exit 91 onto Clairmont Road,” he added, rubbing the back of his neck as she changed lanes again, jerking the wheel into the far right lane and cutting off a driver behind them. He stiffened as another angry honk reverberated inside their car. “For God’s sake, use your turn signal, Molly! And while the yellow light might be a suggestion to stop, the posted speed limits are set in stone. You’re speeding!”

  “We’re in a hurry,” Molly reasoned aloud, her little hands tightening on the wheel. You’d think the man would be appreciative for her speedy skills behind the wheel. You’d think he’d be shouting at her to step on it. But nope, not the ever cautious William Delancy. He’d been complaining since he strapped his seatbelt and hadn’t shut up yet. Maybe she could teach him to parlay some of this caution into his love life.

  “It’s the next exit, Molly,” Devil warned a few minutes later as the traffic seemed to slow.

  “I know,” Molly muttered, groaning as the SUV ahead of them threw on its brakes. “Crap, there’s construction ahead. I swear, if they ever get done improving this city, it’s gonna be great,” she said under her breath. “Hang on, Devil!”

  “What?” Devil questioned quickly as Molly shifted his new car onto the shoulder of the road without losing speed. “What the hell are you doing?”

  Molly would have giggled at his high-pitched scream if she weren’t trying to navigate through construction and Atlanta rush hour traffic. “I’m getting you to the hospital. The exit is just a few hundred feet ahead.”

  Staring out the window as they passed incredulous travelers watching as they burned rubber down the shoulder of I-85, he was pretty sure he was coming perilously close to wetting his pants. “Molly!” he shouted as she suddenly jerked the wheel again, shifting them back onto pavement as when she steered them onto the exit ramp. “Pull over!”

  Sparing him a quick look, Molly noted that he was no longer looking like a ghost. Instead, he was a remarkable shade of green. “Suck it up, Devil. We’re almost there. Just take a few deep breaths,” she ordered as she merged with traffic.

  “You’re a menace,” he mumbled. “Oh, you come wrapped up with in a pretty package and you seem relatively harmless, but it’s a disguise. You’re actually a demon. A fucking speed demon sent from Hell itself to torture me.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ll tell your Dad that you said ‘hi’ when I get back!” she snapped, sparing a moment to glare at him. “You’re the one in this car known for being the spawn of Satan.”

  “Those people just don’t know you!” he countered, gripping his car door as she made the right turn onto North Decatur Road on two wheels and a prayer.

  Wincing as the car’s tires squealed, she murmured absently, “Sorry ‘bout that.”

  “She’s sorry. Hear that, God, she’s sorry!” He could barely hear her soft curse of response over the blasting horns around them. “You know, I’d really, really like to live long enough to see Nana,” he informed her through gritted teeth. “At this rate, I’m going to beat her into the Great Beyond!” he roared as the woman beside him swerved around another vehicle.

  “You are such a reactionary,” Molly accused, unaffected by the volume of his shout. She was accustomed to Devil yelling. He did it on a regular basis. “We’ve got just one more mile or so to travel. Grin and bear it.”

  “You want me to smile while y
ou drive like Mario Andretti on speed?” he asked hoarsely, turning to stare at the woman behind the wheel in horrified fascination.

  “You really are an overly dramatic jerk. I don’t see what all these women see in you. If I had to date you, you’d spend all your time gagged,” she grumbled under her breath as she turned right onto Clifton Road. The hospital loomed in the distance. “I just want you to know that as soon as Nana is better, I’m telling on you,” she continued to complain, following the signs toward the Emergency Room parking structure.

  “Ha! You’ll have to beat me to the punch. I plan on telling on you. And not only to Nana! The whole Ramsey clan needs to be aware that you need your driver’s license revoked. I’m pretty sure you had to bribe somebody to get it anyway. Hell, I may even take an ad out in the Atlanta Journal with your picture and a warning label. The citizens of our fine city need to know that you are definitely a hazard to their health.”

  Pulling into a parking spot in the covered garage, she killed the engine. Mission accomplished, she thought as she expelled a long breath. She’d gotten them both here – alive – and she’d managed to distract him from worrying about Nana. Of course, she’d done it by scaring the living daylights out of him, but the effort still counted. “You’re here, Prince of Darkness,” she informed him pertly, tossing his keys in his lap. “And you don’t have a scratch on you. Congratulations and you’re welcome!”

  “Wish I could say the same for my car,” he growled back, opening his door and glaring at the damage the gravel had done to the Mercedes’ undercarriage when she’d sped down the shoulder. “There are ding marks everywhere!” he hissed over the hood of the car at her, slamming his door as he spoke.

  “Devil, if you don’t get your rear in that hospital, the car won’t be the only thing with lasting scars. Stop acting like an ass before I choose this moment to give them to you,” she threatened, slamming her own door and shivering as a brisk breeze blew through the structure. Now, that they’d arrived at the hospital, her fear of the situation had reared its ugly head again. She wasn’t ready to lose Nana, and she knew the tall man circling the front of the car wasn’t either.

  Shucking his suit coat as she shivered again, Devil frowned and dropped the warm coat over her slim shoulders. “Come on,” he ordered, grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the ER entrance, “Let’s find out where she is.”

  Hurrying to keep up with his long strides, Molly tightened her fingers around his.

  God, please, let this all work out okay.

  Chapter Five

  Pulled along by the grip Devil had on her hand, Molly stumbled to a halt as he reached the reception desk in the busy emergency room.

  “Kathleen Delancy,” he barked at the middle-aged desk clerk sitting behind the counter. “Where is she?”

  Molly grimaced when the woman lifted her eyes from the computer, raising a dark eyebrow at Devil and gazing at him coolly. He’d obviously made quite a first impression on the lady with smooth caramel skin and piercing brown eyes. Speaking to somebody like they were a dog would do that. “Please excuse him,” Molly interrupted, squeezing Dev’s hand in warning. “He’s a bit overwrought.” Smiling when the other woman shifted her gaze to her, Molly began to explain. “We just received a call about fifteen minutes ago from one of your nurses. Jasmine, I think. She informed us that Kathleen Delancy had been admitted through the emergency room. She’s his grandmother,” she said, jerking her head toward an impatient Devil.

  “Yeah, and I’d like to see her. Now,” he demanded roughly, ignoring the pinch of Molly’s nails digging into his hand.

  “He’s terribly worried about her,” Molly added quickly, shooting the other woman a beseeching look. “Please excuse his poor behavior.”

  “My behavior is fine,” Devil snapped at her as the desk clerk began tapping on her keyboard.

  “Settle down before you get us thrown out of here, Devil,” Molly ordered, keeping her voice low as she shot the clerk an anxious look. “This lady is the Keeper of the Gate. If you want to pass through it, shut up and play nice.”

  “I’d listen to the lady,” the woman behind the computer advised evenly. “She makes a lot of sense.”

  “Thank you,” Molly said prettily while Devil growled under his breath, his hand tightening around hers. He was scared and Molly didn’t blame him. Ripping off the heads of unsuspecting, underpaid hospital employees wasn’t going to accomplish anything, though.

  “Alright, I’ve found a Kathleen Delancy in my files,” the desk clerk said, looking up from her screen. “Your name?” she asked Devil.

  Looking between Molly and the expectant clerk, he snorted. “I’m allowed to speak now?”

  “Just your name, Sugar,” the woman taunted, her ruby lips lifting in a half-smile as she exchanged an amused look with Molly.

  “And only your name, Devil,” Molly warned in a low voice beside him.

  “William Delancy.”

  “Or she might have called him Devil,” Molly interjected smoothly. “That’s his nickname.” She lifted one shoulder in a shrug when the woman smirked.

  “It fits,” the woman replied dryly, eyeing the tall dark-haired man beside the petite redhead.

  “Where is my grandmother?” Devil ground out.

  If somebody didn’t act fast, Molly was pretty certain that he was going to show the entire waiting room why he’d earned his nickname. “We’re a little frantic,” she added for emphasis.

  “She’s in Cubicle 3C, but it’s family only from this point,” she said to Molly. “Are you his wife?” the clerk asked with a nod toward Devil.

  “Molly is family, and she’s staying with me,” Devil growled, hauling Molly against his side before she could open her mouth.

  Rolling her coffee-colored eyes, the clerk gestured toward the metal double doors behind her left shoulder. “Through the doors, take the second hallway on your right, and go left when you reach the water fountain. I’ll alert her physician that the patient’s family has arrived.”

  Sparing the woman a brief smile of gratitude before Devil yanked her toward the doors, Molly ran to keep up. Together, they weaved through a throng of nurses and patients as they made their way down the corridors, following the desk clerk’s instructions. As they drew closer to Nana’s cubicle, she silently noticed Devil’s stiffening back as she trailed a footstep behind him. She could see his handsome face was twisted with concern for his grandmother. “Devil,” she murmured when they finally reached the closed curtain of the cubicle, “I can wait here while you have a private moment with Nana. I don’t mind.”

  Pausing to frown down at her, Devil blinked. “Why would you do that? Like you said, she’s been your Nana, too. You’re coming inside with me,” he replied implacably, pushing aside the curtain and ushering her into the tiny room with an insistent hand at her back.

  Biting her lip as her gaze zeroed in on the elderly woman resting in the bed, Molly swallowed hard as tears filled her eyes. Letting Devil step ahead of her, she waited as he crossed the small space to stand beside the bed.

  “Nana?” she heard him whisper softly, taking the hand that didn’t have an IV in it into his. “I’m here, Nana.”

  Molly watched as Nana’s eyelids flickered, her keen blue eyes lighting up as she stared up at her grandson. Devil had those identical eyes, a family trait passed down through the generations, she guessed. One moment they could be filled with humor, and the next, they could burn a person alive. It all depended on the mood of the owner.

  “Willy, lad, you made it, my boy,” Kathleen greeted her grandson in her lilting Irish brogue. Lifting the hand that held her IV to his face, she patted his lean cheek gently. “I wondered when ye’d be arrivin’.”

  Molly smiled at Nana’s greeting. No one, save her, would ever dare call Devil by the name Willy. Well, not to his face, at any rate.

  “We’d have been here faster, but we had to deal with Attila the Desk Clerk out there,” Devil joked softly, jerking his head toward th
e curtained entrance.

  “We?” Kathleen echoed, trying to lift her head to peer around Devil’s broad shoulder. “Who did you bring with you, Willy?”

  Stepping to Devil’s side, Molly smiled down at the woman who’d spent as much time kissing her boo boos as a child as her own mother had. “It’s just me, Nana,” she said softly, smiling at the elderly woman in the bed.

  “Oh, you brought my bonny lass with you, Willy!” Nana smiled happily and reached for Molly’s hand. “What a lovely surprise you’ve brought an old lady,” she praised her grandson.

  “You’re not old, Nana,” Molly protested. “Just a little seasoned. How do you feel? Any pain?”

  “Not a wee bit,” Kathleen denied, waving off the question. “I feel much better now that ye two have arrived.”

  “Nana, what happened?” Devil asked, frowning down at the woman in the bed.

  “Ach! I had a wee episode in the garden, lad. ‘Tis naught to worry about.”

  Shaking his head, Devil’s eyes narrowed. “Try again. I already know that it was your heart. The nurse that called me shared that you’ve already made a trip to the cath lab and that you’ll be moving for a few days into the cardiac care unit. So, I’m going to ask again, what happened? Or, I can go find your doctor and harass him. Which would you prefer?”

  Pressing her lips together, Kathleen glared at the boy she’d raised since his parents died. Her son and daughter-in-law had left the world much too soon in a deadly car accident when William had been a mere child. She’d spoiled the boy rotten, and he’d gotten entirely too well accustomed to getting his own way. It didn’t surprise her that he stood by her bedside making demands now. That didn’t mean she’d let him get away with it, even if she was lying in a ridiculous hospital bed. “I don’t know who ye think ye be talkin’ to in that tone, lad. It couldn’t be your beloved Nana,” she chastised sternly, offering him an arch look as she pursed her lips.