Page 56 of Revived

“Can you go sit with Gabe until Chevy gets here? We have to both take a trip to the police station to give our official statements.”

“Wouldn’t they want my statement too though?”

“I don’t know. I guess they’ll get to you eventually too. Right now, we’ve been asked to come in,” John told me while waggling his cell phone in the air, as if to show me how they had been summoned.

“Okay,” I finally answered. “Where am I supposed to go?”

“Come on, I’ll walk you back,” John told me before putting his hand at the small of my back and guiding me in the direction of Gabe’s hospital room.

“All right, I gotta head out, buddy,” John called to Gabe when we entered, even though his eyes were closed.

“I told you that I didn’t want to talk to anyone until Mel was brought back.”

“Yeah, I know that.” John didn’t say anything else, instead he turned on his heels and left so quickly, you’d think someone had lit a fire under his ass.

I moved quietly across the floor and took up the seat that was beside Gabe’s bed. It was only then that he opened his eyes. “You’re here,” he whispered.

“I am. How are you feeling?”

“Like someone shot me,” was his quick answer. I couldn’t help the small smile that tipped my lips at the corners. Nor could I help the stinging of tears in my eyes, but I could at least hide that a bit better behind my hair that had fallen lose of the ponytail I’d been wearing all night. “My leg is throbbing. Shouldn’t it be pretty numbed up after surgery?”

“You’ve been out of surgery for a while. Everything is probably starting to wear off now.”

“Well, it sucks. I swear it feels worse than it did before.”

“They had to remove some bullet and bone fragments and repair a slight tear to your artery. It’s not going to feel great while that heals.”

“Thank you,” he mentioned before closing his eyes and grimacing.

“For what?”

“For helping me,” he explained.

“It’s my job.”

“But you hate me.”

I sighed then. “I don’t hate you, Gabe. I’m just angry and confused and well, angry. This isn’t really the time to have a conversation like this.”

“Why not? I’m not going anywhere. Stay, let’s get to the bottom of this so you don’t have to be angry anymore, and I don’t have to keep hoping for just a glimpse of your gorgeous face every day when I wake up.”

I stared at his lips a little too long, unable to respond, while I thought about just leaning in and kissing him there. Then I saw him wince as he shifted his body the tiniest bit in an effort to get comfortable. I reached over and hit his nurse call button for him and waited for her to come in. “Can I help you Mr. Northman?” The kind woman asked as she entered the room.

“He’s complaining about the pain in his leg,” I informed her when Gabe gave me a look that seemed to ask several questions all at once. He remained silent though.

“Let me have just a quick look beneath those bandages, and then I’ll get you something for the pain.”

“Actually, can we hold off on the pain meds for a bit? My son will be here soon, and I don’t want him to worry if I’m passed out again.”

The nurse offered up a knowing smile, but she quietly and politely scolded him for ignoring his own needs. “We can make sure that your son knows you’re well and that you just needed pain medication.” She went on to explain, as I had once done for Chevy, that he needed to stay ahead of the pain in order to keep his dosages of the meds as low as possible, and to avoid complications.

“I like her,” I told Gabe. The nurse turned her head and winked at me. As soon as I knew the room number, I’d texted it to Chevy. My phone pinged as the nurse was finally able to talk Gabe into taking the pain medication immediately versus later.

“Chevy’s here,” I told him as I read the text. “On his way up now.”

“We still need to talk, Mel.”

“I know.” There was a quick knock on the door before it opened and then Chevy and Kendra entered, both of them looking the worse for wear. “Your family is here now. I’m going to get back and see if I’m needed for anything else. I still need to give a statement to the police too.”

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