Page 230 of Cross & Crown

Kelly left the card on the table, along with Nick’s badge

and sidearm, and followed after him, stripping as he went.

Two hours later, they were curled together in bed, Nick’s

head resting on Kelly’s chest and his arm wrapped around

him as he snored. Kelly stared at the ceiling, frowning. They’d showered and Kelly had checked Nick’s stitches. Nick had

even taken a few of the painkillers the hospital had given him, which meant he thought everything was over.

230

Nothing felt over.

Nick’s phone rang from beneath the pillow, where he

apparently stuffed it all the time. It made the pillow vibrate.

How that didn’t set him straight off into a flashback every

time it rang, Kelly didn’t know.

Nick woke with a gasp and dug the phone out, answering

it before he even had his eyes open. “O’Flaherty.”

Kelly was so close to Nick’s face that he could hear the

voice on the other end. “JD’s out of surgery, he’s awake and

he’s remembering more and more,” Hagan was saying. “He’ll

only talk to you, though.”

“Okay,” Nick said on a sigh. “Be right there.”

He hung up, and they stared at each other for a few

seconds, both of them silent, both of them frowning.

“I have to go,” Nick finally mumbled. “Take his statement,

wrap this up.”

Kelly nodded, unsure of why this simple phone cal , out

of everything that had happened in the last few days, was the

first thing to truly upset him. He tried not to let it show, but Nick could read him like book. He had been able to from the

day they’d met.

Nick swallowed hard. “It’s always going to be like this,”

he said slowly. “There’s always going to be another case.

Another call.”

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