Nightingale: A Reed Security Romance

by Giulia Lagomarsino

  “Is she okay?” Jamie asked worriedly.

  “Probably, but there’s nothing we can do down here. I know she hit her head pretty damn hard, but I can’t see the damage in this light. We have to get her up top and then we can see what we need to do.”

  “What if she needs a hospital?” he asked urgently. “Shouldn’t we just go back up and take our chances?”

  I stopped and turned to him. “No, we need to make sure you’re safe. Florrie would kick my ass if she knew I risked your life to get her to the hospital.”

  “But she’s your fiancé,” he said incredulously. “Don’t you care at all-”

  “Yes, I fucking care! Do you really think I want to risk her life for yours? If I could, I would make sure that she was taken care of first, but you’re the job, and nothing comes before the job with Florrie. I’m doing what she would want, and what she would want is for us to make sure that we get you to safety first. So, let us do our fucking jobs so that we can take care of her.”

  He took a step back and nodded to me. I turned on my heel and followed Craig, trying my best not to keep looking down at Florrie. Yeah, I was fucking worried right now. I had no idea how bad the hit to her head was, but I had to pray that she just had a concussion. She had been up and moving around for a few minutes after the hit, so I just had to think positively that everything would be fine.

  We hurried through the tunnels for another fifteen minutes before Craig finally shined his light on a ladder leading up to another manhole cover. “We’ll take this one.”

  “Are you sure about this?”

  “According to the map on my phone, we should be hidden pretty well. There should be a motel right around the corner from where we are. We can lay low there while we get another plan in place.”

  “Let’s do it.”

  “Alright, I’ll go up first, and Jamie, you follow. Alec will follow you up.”

  Craig climbed the stairs and slowly started lifting the cover, his face straining as he pushed the heavy cover up. He peeked out and then gave the signal for Jamie to follow him up the ladder. Once they were up, I shifted Florrie and started climbing the ladder. Craig and Jamie took her from me, gently laying her down on the ground while I climbed out. I glanced around quickly, checking all the dark corners to make sure that it was safe. When I didn’t hear anything, I picked up Florrie and started carrying her in the direction that Craig led us. We stuck to the shadows as much as possible, and when we reached the motel, Craig casually walked into the office in his tux and asked for a room. The manager didn’t even bat an eye at him from what I could see.

  He jerked his head for us to follow and I shifted Florrie in my grasp again, pulling out my gun to hand to Jamie. “Do you remember how to use this?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Point and shoot. Just don’t shoot me,” I said as I stepped out of the shadows. “Stay on my right.”

  Jamie nodded and followed me out of our hiding spot across to where Craig was waiting, watching for any sign of someone watching us. Luckily, it was dark and this was a pretty empty part of town. We hurried over to Craig and slipped inside as he opened the door. I laid Florrie on the bed and quickly examined her head. She had a pretty sizable cut on her head that was still oozing blood. That wasn’t necessarily a bad sign. Head wounds always bled a lot, and while I knew that in my head, I just couldn’t get my heart to catch on to that. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed a towel, hoping it was actually clean, and pressed it against her forehead.

  “She’s going to need stitches,” Craig said, examining the wound. “We have to get her to a hospital and get her checked out.”

  “Not here. Blakely will be watching out for us at the hospital. He’s probably already figured out that none of us are dead.”

  “So, what do we do then?” Jamie asked.

  “We call it in. We don’t have any transportation,” I answered.

  “What about your SUV?”

  “No, they’ll be expecting us to show up at the hotel. We have to stay away from anywhere that they might look for us. They might not know yet that we work for Reed Security, so our best bet is to call in for help.”

  “I’ll call Cap. See what you can do to clean her up,” Craig said.

  I was impressed how he was taking the reins. It made me feel better about walking away from my team when this job was over. But I wasn’t surprised. Just because Craig wasn’t the team leader didn’t mean he wasn’t qualified. I cleaned up the cut on Florrie’s head as best as I could and waited it out with Jamie and Craig.

  I ignored the fear settling in my gut. I knew that she could be severely injured, but there was also a very good chance that she was okay. I just needed to push aside everything else and focus on what needed to be done, because if I started thinking too much about what it would mean if something was wrong with Florrie, I would go insane. When the SUVs finally pulled up outside the motel room, I was relieved to see Hunter and Rocco hurry over to the room, followed by Derek.

  “How is she?” Hunter asked, rushing over to Florrie’s side.

  “She’s been unconscious for over an hour now. She hit her head in the blast, but was conscious immediately after. We made it down the manhole and walked for a few minutes before she passed out. She was stumbling around, but seemed to know what was going on around her.”

  Hunter checked her over, flashing the light in her eyes and checking her responses. “Alright, we need to get her to the hospital. Craig, you need to get Jamie to safety.”

  “I’m going with you,” I insisted.

  “You need to stay with your team,” Hunter reminded me.

  “I’ll take his place,” Rocco said, nodding in my direction.

  “I’ll take Florrie’s,” Derek added. “You two get Florrie to the hospital and Craig, Rocco, and I will make sure Jamie gets safely back to Reed Security.”

  I nodded my thanks and helped Hunter get Florrie into the back of the SUV. They had laid down the back seats and placed a stretcher in the back that we could transport her on.

  “You’re going to need to drive,” Hunter said, starting a line in her arm.

  “Okay.”

  “Listen,” he said, snatching my shirt in his fist. “I get that you’re scared right now, but I need to focus on making sure that she’s okay, and I need you to focus on getting us to the hospital, understand?”

  “Yeah,” I nodded. I got in the front seat and pushed aside what I was feeling right now. He was right. Florrie needed me to do this, and I needed to trust that Hunter was doing everything he could for her.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  We had been waiting in the emergency room for a half hour when Craig called to check in. “Everything good?” I asked.

  “Jamie’s currently filling Cap in on everything he knows about Blakely. I just slipped out to find out about Florrie.”

  “They took her back, but we haven’t heard anything yet. It could be a while.”

  “Yeah, just keep us updated.”

  “I will.”

  There was silence for a minute and then Craig spoke again. “Listen, I know this is hard on you right now, but you did the right thing back there. Florrie would have kicked your ass if you had handled things differently.”

  “I know.”

  “I’m sure she’s going to be fine. Florrie wouldn’t let a little thing like a car bomb take her down.”

  I chuckled, because he was right. Florrie would probably wake up and be pissed that a head injury from a car bomb had finally landed her in the hospital.

  “And we’re not done talking about you switching teams,” he said right before he hung up.

  We waited around for another half hour, just praying for any kind of news when a nurse finally came out and said that Florrie was awake and I could head back.

  “I’m really sorry the doctor couldn’t come out and see you. We’re pretty slammed tonight. But he said that he would be by to check on her as soon as possible.”

  “It’s no problem,” I
told her as I stepped into the room. Florrie laid on the bed, her eyes closed and her blonde hair all disheveled on the pillow. They had pulled out her pony tail holder, so her hair was going everywhere. She would hate that. Florrie wasn’t the kind of girl that wanted her hair down and all pretty. She wanted it up and out of her face so that she could do what she needed to without her hair getting in the way.

  There was a bandage on the left side of her face and a little bit of bruising peeking out, but other than that, she just looked like she was sleeping. I sat down beside her and slipped my hand around her smaller one. Her soft skin encased in my rough hand made something hard settle in my chest. I felt like I was on the verge of losing her, but here she was, lying here with her hand in mine. The urge to protect her and keep her safe was overwhelming, but that wasn’t a possibility. That wasn’t who we were, and I had to fight those urges or I would lose her. I knew this from all our previous fights.

  “Hey,” she croaked, her eyes open just enough that I could see their beauty.

  I smiled, fighting down the need to tell her she had to quit. “Hey, you’re awake.”

  “You know, you’re smarter than you look,” she said, wincing slightly when she smiled too big.

  “Yeah, well, I have to impress you somehow. I figured that pointing out the obvious would do the trick.”

  She nodded and her whole chest heaved like she was trying to take a deep breath. “How bad is it?”

  “I’m not sure. The doctor hasn’t been by yet. I guess you’re not the only one that tried to risk life and limb tonight.”

  “Well, I try to keep up with what everyone else is doing.”

  I smiled and squeezed her hand tighter for just a second. I really wanted to climb into her bed and hold her to me, but that would only piss her off. So, I sat there and pretended like I was totally cool.

  “Hey, I’m fine.”

  “Yeah,” I snorted. “I’ll wait to hear that from the doctor.”

  “Well, I’m awake. That must be a good sign.”

  I held back my temper and didn’t tell her that head injuries weren’t something to mess around with. She already knew that, but she was trying to placate me. She didn’t want me to freak out like she knew I was already doing internally.

  “What happened with Jamie?”

  “Well, after you swooned in my arms in the tunnel,” I joked, “Craig got us out of there and we hid out at a motel until we could get reinforcements. Derek’s team showed up, and Hunter and I brought you here while the rest of them got Jamie back to Reed Security.”

  “So, he’s okay?”

  “Not a scratch, as far as I could tell.”

  She nodded and let her eyes drift closed. It wasn’t long before she was asleep again, and I was left to watch her and pray that she woke up again. Until I heard it from the doctor that she was fine, I wouldn’t be able to calm down. Leaning forward, I brushed the hair from her face, letting my fingers linger against her cheek. My hand was shaking and I snatched it back, shaking it out. I needed to calm the fuck down. She was fine. She was right here in front of me and I had just spoken to her.

  The door opened and Hunter walked through with a doctor. He gave me a knowing smirk and walked to the other side of Florrie’s bed.

  “Doctor, is she okay?” I asked.

  “She should be fine.”

  “Should?”

  “I’d like to keep her until morning, just to make sure that she responds the way I think she will. I hate to discharge head injuries before I’m one hundred percent certain there’s nothing I missed.”

  I glanced at Hunter and then back to the doctor. “What does that mean? What do you think is going on?”

  “She has a skull fracture. What I’m watching for is fluid leaking into her brain that could cause swelling. It doesn’t appear that any arteries were damaged, which could also lead to swelling. And the skin around the fracture was broken, which could lead to bacteria entering the fracture and cause infection or severe brain damage. I just want to keep an eye on her and make sure that none of that happens. In the morning, I’ll have some more scans run and if everything is clear, she can be released.”

  “But you’re not seeing any of those signs now,” I clarified, my heart pounding out of control.

  “No,” he smiled. “Like I said, this is just a precaution. I’ll be back in a few hours to check on her, but if you have any questions or think something is wrong, please contact me,” he said, handing me his card with his personal number on it.

  “Thank you.”

  He walked out and I stared down at the card. That was weird, right? Doctors didn’t just hand out their personal numbers. And he would tell me to talk to the nursing staff, not call him.

  “You can thank me anytime you want,” Hunter said, a smile in his voice.

  “For what?”

  “For getting the good doc to see things our way. He left his other patients to fill you in on his concerns with Florrie, and I may have convinced him that you would be more tolerable if you felt reassured that he was just a phone call away.”

  I barked out a laugh, shaking my head at Hunter. “Thank you. I needed this,” I said, holding up my hand with the card in it.

  “Yeah, I know. That’s why I did it. Listen, I’m gonna grab some coffee. You want anything?”

  “No, I’m good.”

  “Alright, I’ll be back.” He glanced at Florrie and then headed for the door. Taking my seat next to Florrie, I pulled her hand back into mine and rested my head on her bed. This must have been what it was like for her when I was shot. I hadn’t understood it at the time, her need to be near me night and day. I thought she was overreacting. I had been cleared by the doctor. I was at home recuperating, but she stayed every night with me and checked on me every time she thought something was wrong. Now I got it. It was fucking torture to see the woman I loved in this bed while I was useless to do anything. I tried to get some sleep, knowing there was nothing more I could do for her, but my anxiety was too high. I spent the rest of the night staring at the woman I loved, just praying over and over again that nothing else happened.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Florrie

  “I told you, I’m fine,” I said for the hundredth time this week. I had been released two days ago from the hospital, and Alec had been on my ass every minute of every day, aside from when he had to go talk to Cap about our job. It was the best fifteen minutes of my life.

  “Florrie, you’re supposed to be resting. The doctor said-”

  “I know what the doctor said. I was there, remember?”

  He gritted his teeth together, trying his best not to snap. I knew he just wanted to protect me and help me through this, but I wasn’t a person that liked to be babied. I wanted to make my own damn decisions about what I was capable of doing. But this was Alec, and he didn’t have it in him to allow me to do things my own way when he was worried about me. I was surprised at his restraint when I was in the hospital.

  “Florrie-”

  “It’s fine,” I cut him off. “I’ll stay here and lay in this fucking bed for another three days if it’ll get you to back off.”

  “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I just need to make sure that you’re okay.”

  “I’m fine.”

  I was not fine. My head was killing me, which the doctor said would be normal, as long as it didn’t get worse. He said that it could take up to ten days for the pain to go away. The Tylenol was doing jack shit for me right now, but I didn’t want to say anything to Alec, because I was scared that he would fly off the deep end and have me admitted back into the hospital. What I really needed was a way to relax and not think about the pounding in my head.

  “I know you are,” he said knowingly. “Here.”

  I felt something cool being pressed against my head and sighed in relief. It felt so good and there was a slight fragrance to it that helped me relax. I sank back into the pillows and tried not to think about anything else. There was so much I wa
nted to know still about Jamie’s case, but no one was talking to me about it.

  “There’s someone that wants to see you in a little bit if you’re up for it.”

  “Who?” I asked in my sleepy state. This cool pack was really starting to work its magic on me.

  “Jamie. He’s been bugging me every hour to tell him more about how you are. He’s asked to come in here three times already, but you know me.”

  I chuckled slightly. “Yeah, I know you.”

  “So, do you want me to call him?”

  I nodded and felt a slight squeeze to my hand, and then he was gone. I wasn’t sure when Jamie came by. I must have fallen asleep at some point, but when I woke up, Jamie was sitting in a chair beside my bed and watching something on the TV.

  “Hey, Jr,” I said with a grin.

  He shook his head, laughing a little. “Not you too. I thought I only had to deal with Craig calling me that.”

  “He’s kind of right, you know. You do have a JFK Jr. quality to you.”

  “I really hope that’s not true. They all seem to die young.”

  “True. Can I make a suggestion?”

  “Go for it.”

  “I would suggest that you be more choosy with your women. You seem to attract all the wrong kinds.”

  “Well, I was hoping to convince you to leave that neanderthal, but you seem to be pretty attached to him.”

  “Eh, he’s okay.”

  “I heard that,” Alec shouted from the other room.

  “Yeah, your guard dog wouldn’t leave me alone with you. Apparently, he thinks I’ll try and seduce you or something.”

  “He’s a softy. He wouldn’t hurt a fly,” I lied.

  “Yeah, I don’t buy that.”

  “So, have you talked to Tessa?” I pushed myself into a sitting position, ignoring the twinge in my head.