Page 71 of Tex's Angel

“You’ve woken up a couple of times already but went back to sleep. The nurse says it’s the medication they gave you when y’all had your nephrectomy.”

I squint my eyes trying to figure out what in the world he’s talking about. “What the hell is a nephrectomy?” I ask, feeling pretty sure I’ve never heard that word before.

“You had one of your kidney’s removed, sugar. That was last night, about fourteen hours ago.”

“Good thing I have two, right?” I’m not trying to make light of my situation. I’m just stalling for time as I’m still trying to remember what happened, what brought me to the hospital. I don’t remember coming here.

A moment of silence spins out between us, and he gently squeezes my hand and brings his other hand up to cover our joined hands. It seems like a familiar gesture, one he’s done before. When I gaze into his eyes, I see a flash of alarm, like he thinks I might not remember. That look of panic seems familiar as well, so much so that it triggers a memory of him kneeling beside me, holding my hand just this way with a look of panic on his face. That’s all it takes for everything to come flooding back.When I remember being abducted by Mister Crazy Pants, I begin to tear up.

Tex moves closer and kisses my temple, murmuring, “You’re safe now, sugar. That asshole can’t ever hurt y’all again. I made sure of that.”

My abductor’s dead eyes flash through my brain and I only feel relief, relief that he can’t get to me again, can’t hurt the people I care about. I bring up one hand to grab onto Tex’s shirt. It shocks me to see how much my hand trembles and how big the IV in the back of my hand seems.

Pulling back he moves a strand of hair out of my face before asking, “Do y’all want to talk about what happened or shall we put that conversation off to later?”

Fighting back tears, I tell him, “Later, maybe. How long until I leave the hospital?”

He smooths out my wild red curls and gazes down at me. “Your doctors say if all goes well, you’re looking at getting discharged in two weeks, maybe sooner. Y’all have to be eating, drinking and voiding.”

A tiny smile creeps onto my mouth. “You said voiding. You aren’t the kind of guy to say void. You say things like pissing and drain the lizard.”

A smile lights up his handsome face. “Yeah, I’m being on my best behavior while you’re in here.”

“Why? I like your colorful personality.”

One corner of his mouth quirks up into that lopsided smile I love so much. “I’m glad to hear that because you’relooking at the guy who may or may not have shamed your parents into signing up for family therapy.”

I’m part curious, part gleeful, and part weirded out that he’s been talking with my parents while I’ve been out of it. “That story sounds like it might be filled with chaos and drama, so let’s save it for later too.”

“I’ve always liked how decisive y’all are when it comes to cutting toxic things out of your life.”

“Yeah, if I didn’t do that, I’d end up in therapy myself.”

“About that, your doctor wants you to see a PTSD specialist to help you cope with what happened to you.”

I try not to be annoyed but truthfully, I am. “How about we hold off on that and see if I need professional help in order to deal with getting abducted by that lunatic.”

His hands come up in a surrender pose. “Y’all won’t get any pushback from me. This is your recovery and as far as I’m concerned, y’all are running the show.”

“No, I’m not. Because if I were running the show, this bed would be big enough to hold both of us.”

He gets a sappy expression on his face and asks, “Does my sweetie pie honey bunch need a little cuddle?”

I start to giggle at his over-the-top words but wince. “When you put it that way, I guess not.”

He leans over and kisses the tip of my nose.

“How’s Levi taking this?” I ask.

“He’s been here the whole time. Poor kid’s currently molesting the vending machine for the third time today. I’m sure he’ll pop back in when we least expect it.”

“So what’s going to happen when I get discharged?”

Tex gives me an easy grin, “Don’t y’all worry about that. Levi and I have it all planned out. You’re gonna be staying with us. We’re gonna do all the cooking and cleaning and keep y’all company until you’re back on your feet. Levi has this ingenious plan to sneak all your possessions into our house one piece at a time, so y’all don’t notice that you’re living with us until it’s too late.”

“All that sounds pretty amazing,” I say with a yawn. “Maybe, instead of me living with you, the two of you could live with me? Since I own my house, you wouldn’t have to pay rent.”

His expression turns amused. “Levi and I aren’t poor. Y’all do know that, don’t ya?”

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