Page 31 of Ruthless Angel

The nurse patted him on the shoulder. “I understand that, dear. Just doing my job. Make sure you follow the doctor’s orders and take your meds as prescribed.”

She left the room, smiling at Cash and me on her way out. Seeing Blaze in the light of day hit hard. The purple and black bruises covering his face seemed more pronounced. The blood splashed across the white of his left eye from broken blood vessels was bright crimson, drawing my gaze.

He sat awkwardly on the side of the bed. “Can you help me get dressed, Cash? I’m not wearing this hospital garb out of here.”

“Yeah, no problem. I brought you some clean clothes.” Cash held up a backpack filled with things.

I stood off to one side while Cash helped Blaze into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. He was in too much pain to even put on his own socks and shoes. No wonder the doctors and nurses thought he should stay longer.

There was a pronounced limp when Blaze stood up and tried to walk. My heart squeezed at the sight of him so badly beaten. Brady Rollins couldn’t get away with this. That man deserved to die. More importantly, he deserved to suffer first.

Blaze leaned heavily on Cash who helped shoulder his weight. I stood on his other side, wishing I could do more to help. Blaze grabbed my hand, holding tight as we made our way down the hall to the elevator.

“You sure brighten up a bleak day, Rainbow. I missed you.”

I glanced up at Blaze, finding it hard to look at his battered face. Not because it was so bad but because of the pain that crushed my chest every time. Brady had wanted me. This happened to Blaze because he’d refused to give me up. How would I ever repay that?

“I’m so glad you’re coming home,” I said when we were closed in the elevator. “It hasn’t been the same there without you.”

“Do you need anything before we get home?” Cash asked, looking Blaze over, his brow creased in unspoken concern.

“I’ve got a prescription for some painkillers to fill.” Fumbling the paper from his pocket, Blaze handed it to Cash. “Maybe you can run into the pharmacy for me. I’d kill for a fat joint right now too.”

“No worries, bro. We’ll get you taken care of.” Cash patted Blaze’s back, apologizing when Blaze made a pained sound.

Downstairs Daire waited with the car in the pickup zone so Blaze didn’t have to walk far. He got out to help Cash get him into the front passenger seat. There was much groaning and swearing from Blaze as he folded himself into the car.

We made a stop at the pharmacy for pain pills and the dispensary for marijuana. The moment Blaze had the pills, he popped one in his mouth. Resting his head on the seat, he stared out the window until we got back to the house.

“Fuck. Now I have to move again. All right, let’s get this over with.” Struggling out of the car, Blaze let Daire and Cash help him up the front walk and into the house.

It took several minutes to get him upstairs to his bedroom. Stiff and sore, Blaze had to move slowly, taking every step with care. Seeing him like this killed me.

I ran ahead to pull back the blankets and fluff the pillows on his bed. Blaze let out a stream of obscenities as the other two helped him into the bed. Finally, he managed to lie back and get comfortable.

“God, this fucking sucks,” Blaze groaned. “At this rate, I won’t even be able to take a shit without help.”

Cash and Daire exchanged a look before they both pointed a finger at each other. “I’ll help him onto the toilet,” Daire said. “You can wipe his ass.”

“Fuck that,” Cash fired back. “You get the first wipe.”

“Real helpful, dicks.” Blaze winced in pain as he tried to adjust the pillow beneath his head. “Can someone get me something decent to eat? Hospital food sucks my ass.”

“No problem. What do you want?” Cash pulled out his phone to place a food order.

Needing to feel helpful, I shook my head, pushing Cash’s phone back toward his pocket. “I’ll cook something. We got agrocery delivery recently. There’s actual food in the house. Want anything in particular?”

Blaze’s small smile was everything to me right then. “Surprise me. I’m sure I’ll love anything you make.”

Leaving him with his friends, I hurried down the stairs and got busy making parmesan chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and steamed veggies. As I went through the motions of cooking, I found myself trying not to cry.

We got Blaze back. He was alive. There was no reason for tears. And yet, I kept thinking about how close we came to losing him. How much suffering had been inflicted upon him. It was all so overwhelming.

I wiped away my tears before they fell into the potatoes. Maybe some tea would help. I turned to fill the kettle with water, finding Cash standing on the other side of the island.

“I came to get Blaze some water.” He rounded the island, coming to stand in front of me. “Are you okay, Sunshine?”

I nodded, doing my best to meet his inquisitive gaze. “I’m fine. Just a little emotional overload. It’s been a hard week.”

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