Page 41 of The Queen's Denial

Chi leans into me and puts a hand to my ear, whispering one word, “Food?”

I smile, knowing that Chi is going to complain about anything they bring us but excited to see her reaction to it anyway. “Can we get some dinner in here?”

“Yes, your majesties, of course.” Miller rolls his eyes and walks away without another word.

“He likes you,” Chi says with a smile. “He’s a total asshole, but he has a soft spot for you.”

“Well, I would hope so. I saved his ass on numerous occasions. Every time we see each other, he tells me he owes me. But I think after this favor, especially after you coming here, we might actually be even.”

*****

Chi calls her father before dinner comes. I’m amazed by how matter-of-fact she can be with such an important man, making it sound like she simply lost her security detail, but it’s fine because she’s with me, Cas, and Mara. And technically, she’s really not lying. Her father would like to know where the fuck we are, of course, but Cas and I are his heads of security, and he knows Mara is her best friend. Chi tells me he’s just made bail and was able to pay it immediately, but none of the charges are going to stick anyway, and he is considering legal action against the city of Boston.

At the moment, the city is not having an easy time of things. The dirty politicians who chose the wrong side in the war are scrambling, trying to figure out how they can turn things around for themselves. The heads of the families who were against us are playing bitch to their county prison’s top dog.

For now, with everything so upended, Chi and I are free to hang out here for the few days it takes me to heal enough to be discharged. To my surprise, Chi eats the food she’s given with little to no comment. She sleeps on the tiny army cot they bring in with only weak complaints in the morning when I ask her how she slept, always followed up by, “But it’s fine!” She came without any extra clothes, but she even tries to make the best of the standard issued hospital scrubs and undergarments by saying, “The undies are so soft and, uh… stretchy.”

I can tell she’s trying so hard to act like she can handle the terrible food, the stiff sheets, and the hard, lumpy bedroll; but I know there’s just about no time during the day that she feels comfortable here. It occurs to me that she’s doing this all for my benefit. She’s doing this all to help me, and I know that’s not normal for some girl you’re simply having great sex with. There is so much more behind this gesture than I think either of us want to admit.

There’s the gesture, but there’s also the long stretches of time together, too. Chi works her charm on one of the staff and they find her an old chess set for us to play. Each night, when we’re lying in the dark talking, she seems possibly happier than I’ve ever seen her.

“Andy,” she whispers, and I already know by now what she’s going to ask. “Tell me a story?”

I tell her stories from the army, how I got to know Miller from an ambush of our base in Iraq, and how he came to feel indebted to me through multiple near-death experiences in which I saved his life. He was the one I saved when we were both 19-years-old in that Humvee that got hit by a grenade. We were the two that survived, and he was so injured that I had to carry him to safety.

Once I joined Special Ops, and he came to work in this underground shithole, I got beat up pretty bad a few times and had to come see him. Once he even had to shock my heart back to life, after some rich Chinese officials poisoned me for trying to steal some of their government’s secret computer codes. Unfortunately, they won that round.

I tell Chi all about it, night after night. During the day, she really stays true to her word to take care of me: walking with me around the hospital, grabbing me things so I don’t have to wait for a nurse to come get them for me, and basically being really fucking helpful all the time. She seems so happy simply being here with me. I can’t believe that a woman like her can act like this. I can’t believe she’s hanging out with me in this dingy, beaten down hole in the ground masquerading as a hospital. Instead of the clubs, fame, and attention, she’s opting to play fucking Scrabble or chess and cater to the needs of a boring, wounded man with a fresh scar down his face.

After only three days, I’ve had quite enough of it, and I’m starting to walk okay on my own. I’m taking less and less pain meds also, on top of everything else. I’m ready to get the fuck out of here and go home.

“If you leave, you know what to do, but I doubt you’re going to do it. That’s the problem. You need to keep resting. Tell Chi to wear a maid outfit and cater to your every whim. Aside from sex. No sex for two weeks,” Miller says.

Chi’s face goes red as a tomato, but I scoff. There’s no way I’ll be taking that advice.

“Chi? Don’t have sex with him. Use the safe word if you have to.” I shake my head and smile. He knows me too fucking well.

Chi’s eyes go wide, and her face is brighter than the fucking chili pepper on those underwear she wore for me weeks ago. She looks at me and gulps.

“I would never fuck a girl who used the safe word.” I look back at her and cock an eyebrow. “Never. Ever. Again.”

“You’re still as fucked up as you were when I met you, sir,” Miller says with a little salute.

“You’re way worse than when I met you,” I retort with a lopsided grin.

He looks at me with a hint of fondness that no one else would ever see in his gaze besides me. “I know.”

*****

Chi and I sit together the day before I’m scheduled to leave, although I’m worried that if Miller isn’t happy with my progress by tomorrow morning, he’ll chain me to the bed so that I can’t force my way out the doors. He probably wouldn’t even have to chain me to the bed if he wanted me to stay, though. There’s a slight chance I’d be able to get out of here without being high on drugs and having my insides sewn up with stitches, but as it is right now, there’s no way.

Chi laughs as I plead my case to Miller, but as we sit together after I’ve succeeded, she stares serenely out the tiny window near the ceiling of the room, seeming deep in thought.

“What’s up, Chee-chee?”

She looks over at me quickly, her brows rising. “Hm?”

“What are you thinking about in that gorgeous head of yours?”

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