Page 80 of Fatal Attraction

“I know.”

“You sexy sons’ of bitches,” Carter said merrily as we entered his room, finding him sitting up in bed in an ugly white gown, jubilantly shaking his body side to side with his arms outstretched wide like he hadn’t been beaten to a bloody pulp.

He winced with a grin on his unbearably bruised face.

“Did you miss me?”

“You cocky fucker,” Spike said lightly, cracking what he could of a smile as he approached Carter and offered him a gentle hug.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I swooped in, claiming my hug when they parted. Damn, it was so good to see him and hear his voice.

“Well,” he said, releasing a deep chuckle as he stared between us, his dark eyes glossy. “I’m higher than a goddamn kite right now, so yeah, I’m swell.”

“When did you wake up?” asked Spike.

He offered us a shrug, the movement making him hiss a little. “I haven’t really been keeping track of the time. All I really know is that I woke up stoned and happy.” He paused then, his lips dipping down into a slender frown. “A nurse told me she was going to fetch me some food, but she hasn’t come back yet. Everyone that comes in here acts like they’re terrified to come near me.”

I opened my mouth, then clamped it shut, keeping my lips sealed tighter than a zip-lock. Carter was awake, functional, and in a prominently good mood. It wouldn’t be wise to spoil it by telling him he’d attacked multiple people.

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” he said after a beat of silence.

Spike and I shared a look. “You remember?” Spike asked him.

“Unfortunately, I do.”

Shit.

Well, so much for that.

“I’ve apologized countless times to the nurses and Dr. Giles. He doesn’t seem to be as iffy around me, but the nurses keep staring at me like I’m a monster.”

“You’re not a monster, Carter.” I gripped his hand, squeezing it. “Don’t even worry or think about any of that right now. The most important thing is that you’re alive. We’ll figure out what to do about the PTSD later.”

He nodded, but it didn’t fix the sadness flashing through his glassy gaze. “Dr. Giles filled me in on what happened. I’m so sorry. For everything.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

“But it is,” he said a bit tightly, a muscle feathering along his bruised jaw. He sat up a bit straighter then and blew out a sharp, painful breath. “Theperp never would’ve gotten inside the house if I hadn’t forgotten to lock the front door and set the alarm.”

“What else do you remember about that night?” I asked.

“Everything,” was his profound response. “Where do you want to start?”

“From the beginning,” said Spike. “What happened when you got back to Charlotte’s house?”

“I scoped the place out first thing. The outside cameras were working when I got there, and the front and back were clear. I went in, shut the door, then gathered up some fresh clothes so I could take a shower. I heard the front door open from upstairs. I assumed it was Charlotte, but when I called her name, she didn’t answer. I thought that was kind of odd, so when I went downstairs to check, the front door was wide open.”

“And then what happened?” my partner asked.

“I went to shut it, then the next thing I knew, I was tackled. It was like the fucker had magically appeared out of thin air. We fought for a while, and that bastard grabbed anything and everything he could get his hands on to knock me out. I won’t lie… To be so much shorter and smaller than me, he wasremarkablystrong. Anyway, he caught me off guard and bashed me in the side of my head with something metal—a picture frame, I think—and then ran upstairs to Charlotte’s bedroom. By the time I made it up there, he already had Charlotte’s gun. I ran inside the room just to be struck upside the head with it. Long story short, he tied me up, gagged me, and then beat the shit out of me until Charlotte got there and found me.”

He paused then, and bit by bit, the frown on his face morphed into a wide, proud smile.

“That’s not the best part though. He was wearing the deer mask when he showed up. When we were fighting, I managed to get a nice blow in, good enough to knock that mask straight off the fucker’s face.”

Spike and I shared a look, our lips parted.

“You-you mean—”

---