Page 53 of Stay in Your Lane!

“You’re lucky tonight,” Nurse Eshun said after a moment of tapping at her computer. “There’s no line, for once. I can get you a private room to wait for the doctor.”

I smirked.Private room, ha.“You mean there’s a curtain and everything?”

“It goes all the way around the bed,” she said with a real smile this time. “Everett, you can wait out here while?—”

“I’d like him to stay with me,” Kyle blurted.

Oh, thank goodness he went ahead and said it first, because I totally wasn’t too dignified to beg.

“Whatever you want,” Nurse Eshun agreed. “Here, let’s get you signed in, and I’ll need to make a copy of your insurance card.”

Ugh. Paperwork. The worst part about coming to the ER, bar none. I took the clipboard and handled as much of it myself as I could, because Kyle seriously looked one bad minute away from losing his lunch on the floor and focusing on a lot of tiny words wasn’t going to make him feel any better.

Eventually we ended up in his private room, which was just a bed sharing a central triage area. It was separated from the rest of the room by, yep, a flimsy blue curtain that could be pulled all the way around the bed to make a little enclosure of sorts. There was a stool for me, but once Kyle lay down on his stomach, he tugged me over to sit on it next to him. I went immediately, ignoring the sounds of the other patients in the room—crying in at least two cases, cursing in one—to focus on Kyle.

“You’re going to be okay,” I said. It might have had the air of an order to it, but that was just because I couldn’t imagine any other outcome.

“Yeah, I’m sure I will.” He did look a little less like sour milk now that he was prone, but his brow was furrowed. “I just…” He ran a hand down his face. “I think I actually could have died today.”

I shivered and leaned in a little closer to him in reaction. I couldn’t imagine being stuck in a piece of machinery like that while someone threatened to turn it on. “That must have been terrifying.”

“It’s fine. I mean,” he amended, “it’snotfine, but I’ll get over it. But we’re both being threatened now—that guy knew more than just my job, he knew where I was working at the time. Someone must have been tailing me, or reporting from the medical examiner’s office to whoever assaulted me. And for Reardon to know about your family’s business and be able to threaten it like they did, it means they’ve got alotof pull.”

I nodded. “People in the police department, people in the M.E.’s office, someone in the permit office at City Hall…”

“It’s a conspiracy,” Kyle said grimly. “The kind of conspiracy that’s gotten at least one person killed so far. We’ve got some circumstantial evidence and one name, but I have no doubt Detective Reardon’s got an alibi for everything we might try to pin on him.”

Fuck.Kyle was right. This was a lot bigger than I’d thought when I first noticed something was amiss back in Ricky’s trailer. “What do you want to do?” I asked. “Do you want to…stop?” I couldn’t blame him if he did. Shit, we were in the hospital because somebody had decided to deliver a warning with their foot. Had it been Reardon? Or even Leon? How many people in this town were wearing black Air Force 1s?

Kyle shook his head, and I let out a breath of…it might have been relief, but it felt more like concern. I was in this with him, but I hated seeing him injured. It made my skin crawl. “Weshould be careful, though,” he said. “I think we need to talk to my brother again, and call Leon and warn him, just in case.”

Ah. Looked like he hadn’t recognized Leon’s voice as his attacker. “We can do that,” I assured him. “Just, later. I’d have to leave to use my cell phone, and?—”

He gripped my hand so tight I felt his nails dig into my palm. “Don’t leave.”

I leaned over and kissed him gently. “I won’t.”

The doctor came before we could do more than reassure each other, which was probably for the best. I waited on the sidelines while the guy asked Kyle some questions, palpated his ribs, and then sent him for a quick X-ray, which I went along for. It didn’t turn up anything, but the chest MRI did. The final diagnosis was?—

“Bruised ribs and intercostals on the right side. You should be able to manage the pain with Advil, but I can give you a script for something stronger for the first few days if you’d like,” the doctor offered. “You should definitely take some time off work. I know you have a physical job, but now’s not the time to push it.”

Kyle’s mouth flattened with distaste, but he didn’t outright object. “I don’t need the prescription,” he said instead.

“That’s fine.” The doctor went over the rest of the treatment plan—mostly ice, rest, and careful movement for a while—then let us go.

“Thanks for doing that,” I said, feeling a little abashed after the fact. “I didn’t mean to nag you. I just wanted to make sure you were going to be all right.”

To my surprise, Kyle smiled at me. “I don’t mind. It’s kind of…nice to have someone care.”

I was sure his family cared…or at least his brother would care, but we hadn’t called them yet and Kyle didn’t suggest it, so blissful ignorance it was. I pivoted to a less fraught subject. “Want to come home with me tonight?”

Kyle blinked at me in confusion, like I was speaking in tongues. “Why? I’m fine, we just established that.”

“You’re notthatfine,” I pointed out. “Bruised ribs are no joke—I’ve had them a few times myself.” I’d tried to jump from the top of the slide to the parallel bar at the playground and…yeah, I’d missed. “I could get you stuff, help make sure you’re comfortable. My bed is huge, you’d have plenty of space, and…”And I really don’t want to let you out of my sight if I don’t have to right now, and I know that’s kind of stalkerish but it’s true.“It would make me really happy,” I finished.

“Oh.” Jeez, why did he look surprised at the idea of me being happy around him? What the hell kind of family did he even have, other than one brother who wasn’t an asshole? “That’s…all right, sure, but we’ve got to go to my place first and take care of the animals.”

“Sold,” I said. “Are you kidding me? I wouldpayyou to let me feed Steve.”

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